Recommended Reading on Link Posts and Link Love
As Mason Cooley said: “Reading gives us someplace to go when we have to stay where we are.” It is always a pleasure to find new things to read and a good starting point is checking out the blogs you already know to see who they recommend reading. Some blogs link within posts to other posts covering the same subject or theme while other supplement this sort of linking with posts dedicated to one or more recommendations in a more or less ordered fashion. After trying recommending more articles on various topics within the same link post have I this time chosen a focus and list only recommendations relevant thereto. While they all about links and linking the first three focus on link posts like this one, while the last two are about why links in general are so important and how you get more by giving more.
Dear Emperor: A Test for Your Next Link Post
“Oh Emperor. Your link shows a quality and relevant relationship that you want to share with your blogdom. It is your seal of approval, your vote for someone’s content. Your readers and your search bots pay attention. They see the folks that you endorse, even when you don’t.” I like this post a lot although I am somewhat in doubt about if everyone understands the literary reference made. Even if you don’t know which fairy tale Liz Strauss is referring to is the moral of the story clear enough, but you probably won’t enjoy reading it as much as if you know. Since I commented on the post with the answer can you take a guess and then see if you are right at the end.
Make Your Link Lists Matter
“Good bloggers understand that a link is a letter of recommendation for their readers to click away from their blog to visit another that they know will be so good, it will make the reader want to come back to their blog for more.” Very good point and one often overlooked in the linking discussion I think. There are a lot of good reasons for linking out, but if you send people away it better be for what they will consider a good reason. If you can say it all better then do so and only link if someone actually adds to what you write or cover aspects that go beyond the scope of your blog. People will note if your recommendations make sense and only return if they do.
Finding Value w/ Daily Links
“When I first began blogging, I thought daily links were a lazy way to publish a post. It almost stopped me from subscribing to some feeds. When I show these posts to others, their initial reaction is similar. Yet, I find myself gravitating to these postings first. Those who publish these types of posts are providing tremendous value to their audience.” I agree. I know a lot of bloggers still don’t consider link posts content, however is it in my opinion not only content, but some of the most valuable as well as it broadens your horizon and expands your world if done right. I cannot count the number of excellent articles and blogs that I have found this way and I for one certainly wouldn’t be without them.
Free Link Love - To Get It, Give It Up!
“Those of us who have been in the SEO biz for a while tend to want to direct and manipulate the PageRank on our sites. You know the tricks. However, things are very different with blogs and, if you want yours to rank well, you need to let go of that concept. Blogs are all about linking freely, not just to other posts and pages within your own site, but also out to other websites and blogs.” Isolating yourself and trying to keep on to your visitors for dear life is the best way to end up in isolation. Your visitors will leave whether you want them to or not even if you send them through a link jungle of internal links. Internal links are highly useful if you have enough complementary content, but to open your blog to the world you need to connect the two and that is exactly what external links can do for you.
The Ultimate Guide to Getting Lots of Link Love
“Good link love, bad link love, do we really care who links to us? A savvy blogger would say yes and no. Based on the 80-20 rule of business - 80% of your traffic will come from only 20% of your links (by my stats, it’s less than 20%).” The Pareto Principle is probably right on the money here as well, but it has the problem that you most often cannot tell which 20% will be the best over time and that you wouldn’t be able to get the 20 best percent without the rest. If you get 80% or more of your traffic from 20% or less of your links are you in my mind focusing to narrowly and should be looking to put your link eggs in more baskets to make you less vulnerable. Hence, the more links the merrier and this link post is a great starting point.
Go ahead and educate yourself and learn, but remember that if you want to continue the journey through the Blogosphere seeing the world with my eyes you will have to return and see where you can go next.
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3 Responses to “Recommended Reading on Link Posts and Link Love”
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Thank you for including me in this — I say that most of all because your trackback brought me over to read this most excellent post. What breath of fresh air on a Saturday. YEA!
Thank you!
You prove the example right here in this post. Think of your readers and “be the resource” by providing links you’ll know they value. Who knows the audience better than the author, right?
Thanks for including these links - and for doing the research!
[…] (thanks to Jan for helping me find these) […]