Loving the Link Love

How much do you link to other blogs and websites? Spreading link love is, I think, like good karma. As they say, “What goes around, comes around.” If you spread link love you might not see immediate results but it DOES help your blog in several ways. 1. Ups your user-friendliness – Blogs that mention sites or other blog posts without linking to the exact page they are referring to is one of my major irritations. I end up having to search for their source when I could just have got to where I could get more info in just one click had they linked to their source. The only thing more irritating to me than this are blog posts that use their main topic as anchor text to links but then redirect you to another blog post on the same topic instead of the main website of whatever topic is being discussed. Talk about misleading! It’s ok to link to your other but don’t be misleading in the use of your anchor text. Users will appreciate your being helpful in sending them on their merry way to where they need to go. In the end they’ll be more willing to go back to you because they know you give good info and good links. 2. Makes other bloggers happy – Bloggers usually don’t mind being quoted without being asked for permission first. However, they DO mind not being given proper credit for their words and ideas. Even if you do not quote another blogger directly, if you got your idea from someone else’s post, give credit where it is due and mention the blogger’s name/blog and spread the link love. This way you also avoid being accused of plagiarism!!! Oh, and the blogger you link to may even checkout the backlink and end up liking your blog – another (hopefully loyal) reader for your blog. 3. Keeps you on the straight an narrow – As mentioned earlier, avoid plagiarism by linking to your reference.

Originally posted on January 28, 2010 @ 4:34 pm