In general, the more links that point to your site, the better your site will preform. Now, that does not mean you should allow yourself to be duped by schemers looking to raise their own stature or line their own pockets. Be careful in soliciting businesses to link to you or you to them. You should only link to sites that have a genuine appeal to your audience. Sending your clients to sites that offer no value can irritate customers from wasted time.
By the same token, be particularly careful of linking to sites that you do not want to help. For example, there are some websites that I use as examples when explaining facets of website design and development. When I want our visitors to see these sites without creating a link to them, I will create an image of that link and ask that the link be typed directly.
So remember: offer links to sites with value, ask reputable companies with complimentary products to link to you, and never link to sites you do not want to help!
