They love me, they love me not - “Link love” examined

Everytime I write an article for this blog I make an effort to locate at least one other blog which is talking about the same thing from a different angle or that will add relevance to my post. I then make certain I link to that other blog so that my readers might benefit from it the same as I have. The term “link love” is often bandied about when one site links to another. I decided to take a closer look at it and try to determine for myself what makes a link-worthy post. Milage and opinions of course will vary as with anything else in life, but the goal here is to get a rough idea of why someone is or isn’t linking to a particular post.

Why people link

There are a few reasons people link to other blogs and websites.

I get something out of it

If I link to you, yes my traffic will possibly visit your blog, but your traffic will do the same. It’s like an unpaid advertising campaign each time I link assuming I use the trackback feature properly.

My readers will get something out of it

If I send traffic to a site which my readers find valuable it adds value to my own site. Rather it helps to establish their trust in my judgment and hence their likelyhood of returning to my site.

You get something out if it

Aside from the obvious, free traffic, the owner of the other blog benefits as well. They have an opportunity to become a trusted source for the original bloggers readers.

Why people don’t link

I’ve come up with a few reasons that people don’t link to other sites and blogs.

Their readers will not get any value from it

I’m all for “link love”, but if you link to a post that has nothing to do with the topic of your article you’ll only hurt yourself. That other blog that you linked to might just pick up a new reader at your expense.

It won’t produce any reciprocal traffic

In a perfect world if I link to you then you will return the favor and link back to me. That almost never happens in the real world. Some bloggers even go so far as to edit out the url in a trackback comment. Not often but I’ve seen it happen before.

They don’t know you’re there

If no one knows you are there you don’t stand a chance of getting linked. Get out there and share your existence with the world. This post isn’t about promotion, but that’s what we all need to do if we want traffic

Some basic linking tips

Use the proper anchor tag text

If the site you are linking to doesn’t ask for a specific anchor text incorporate the post title into a sentence of your own and use that as the anchor tag. If you’re linking to the main page of the site use the name of the site and/or the tagline of the site. If the site asks for a specific anchor text use that to link with.

Be sure to trackback

Make sure you use the trackback anytime you link to another site. If you don’t you’re throwing away a lot of potential traffic, and you are negating almost entirely the free advertising that a link to another site can generate.

Double check the article you are linking to

Sounds like a no brainer, but actually read the article you are going to link to. Don’t just depend on the title and first paragraph to tell you what it is about.

Use proper names where possible

In other words if you know the name of the owner of the site you are linking to use their name and give them credit for making the site or as the owner. Something like “Since we’re talking about the how hippos use their molars to crush plants I thought you might like to take a look at Bob Jone’s site about how a chipped hippo tooth is repaired” No, it’s not a real link just an example.

That’s it a few points about “link love”. I’m also eager to hear your answers to a few questions.

• On average in each post you write how often do you link to another site?
• Do you link based on the content of the one post or the blog overall
• Do you ever link outside of your “niche”? If so under what circumstances
• Do you bother with customized anchor text?

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