Make Every Post A Link Post
May 27, 2009
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You’ll notice that unlike most bloggers, I don’t regularly write stand-alone link posts to external blogs at The Future Buzz. Instead, for most posts I incorporate a “related links” section at the bottom, (with three links to related posts here and three links to related posts around the web) in essence making every post a link post. I’ve been doing this for quite some time, and have noticed a few of my readers even adopted the same strategy on their own sites.
I know there are plugins that allow you to automatically generate links within each post, however I believe linking to both external and internal content is something you should take the time to do yourself with thought behind it. I’d even go as far as adding this to the list of things you should never automate.
Consider turning every post on your blog into a link post instead of creating a weekly roundup of links in one post. Utilize your reader to mark posts that are relevant to what you’re writing on that week and create a spreadsheet to organize the best content (or browse the archive sections of your favorite sites to dig up related, relevant material). Then when you publish, include 3 (or even 5) related links to high quality content that has to do with your material. The benefits are numerous:
- When you manually link readers to related content you’ve personally read, you know you’re sending them to high quality material. They’ll appreciate this immensely – automatically generated related links can never guarantee high quality results due to their nature.
- Each post lets you ping other bloggers/influencers with your post. At the very least this gets you on their radar. At the most, they may like what you’re saying and share your material with their network.
- Pure link posts are in many cases glossed over due to the fact that Twitter, FriendFeed and other real-time services are becoming the hotbeds for sharing content. I don’t see many, if any linkposts being shared like crazy or getting insane amount of views. Great content, however, gets plenty of views/shares. Take the time to highlight other posts within your posts that actually spread and are read carefully.
- Incorporating related links as part of your natural blogging process and post archetype could remove the need to create link posts altogether, allowing you to create a site known for signal. Link posts aren’t necessarily noise, (especially if done creatively) but if you are creating a new blog with the strategy of a less is more approach you might not want to use them. This is a way to get the benefit of link posts daily without diluting your signal to noise ratio.
- Blogging is all about networking/connections – and linking as part of your daily post routine is an easy way to incorporate this into part of your workflow right on your own blog each time you publish.
- We naturally link to others within our posts during discussions/references; however a separate section to call out specific content is a nice added value function of your blog, especially if you have an eye for strong content.
- It’s easy to dump links into Twitter, but a link to another blogger within the editorial section of your blog is the highest compliment. What if each post did this?
- This is more active and useful than a blogroll, which is static and perhaps glossed over – you’re calling out great content even if you’re not discussing it directly. Also, RSS readers may never even see your blogroll after the first visit to your blog – this is a way to share content you found useful/interesting/compelling in a way your readers are guaranteed to see.
- Don’t be afraid to send your readers off your site – in fact, you should embrace this. Just be careful to only link to sites with high degrees of trust and never to spam websites, or you will risk your site’s own trust in the engines. Also this must remain a 100% organic process, never influenced by anything other than quality content.
- If you’re worried about giving away linkjuice, just no-follow the links. You don’t need to do this though because you’re editorially choosing links – it is an organic process.
This strategy works especially well for new bloggers and/or those who want to make fresh connections daily in a natural way. It’s natural because it increases arithmetically over time, not exponentially and is chosen by you, not a robot or a script.
As a blogger, you’re not just a writer; you’re the editor in chief. As editor, you’ve probably got a set of ideas you’d like to communicate to the world. Consider your RSS reader which is filled with industry-related content as an extension of your own blog by integrating content within each post. It adds value to readers and over time builds an informal network of blogs surrounding your site – a win-win situation.
Related posts from The Future Buzz
As Your Content Expands, Things Get Easier
Paid Blogging Is A Lose-Lose Situation
10 Reasons Why Organizations (And Individuals) With Audiences Win
Related posts from around the web
50 Simple Ways to Gain RSS Subscribers (Daily Blog Tips)
Thriving on Social Media Network Effects (Chris G)
5 Content Strategies That Top Bloggers Use + 3 Things That Set Them Apart (Skelliewag)
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Anthony replied | May 27, 2009 (2 comments)
You are the king of linking!
Whenever I start reading any of your posts, I have to open so many tabs because you link to something just as good.
My thoughts are if I wrote a post and can’t tell someone I wrote about them or linked to them, I haven’t done my job.
Thanks for the tips on making linking easier.
Jeremiah Hoyet replied | May 27, 2009 (2 comments)
Loving this tip! I usually skip over link roundups, but when a link is incorporated within a post it generally draws my attention.
Donna replied | May 27, 2009 (1 comment)
Great point..I often do this in my own blogs too. And I find it more interesting when reading others as well. And, I’ve found that the link works best for me when reading if the link opens in a separate window..so I can go back to reading the original post without getting lost.
Dayne replied | May 27, 2009 (44 comments)
Great point on linking out Adam.
I was lucky enough to find your blog sometime last fall and have enjoyed your posts ever since. As a reader I the articles in your Related Posts from around the Web very valuable.
I was so fond of this method and adopted it for my own blog.
The benefits you mention above are all true as I’ve made many connections with bloggers as a result. I’ve even had my readers comment on the quality of the articles I link to.
It’s a simple thing to do and as you say: win-win.
Thanks again for all you do.
Adam Singer replied | May 27, 2009 (550 comments)
@Anthony – cheers for the that, and glad you found this useful.
@Jeremiah Hoyet – agreed – I skim the link roundups but generally find them to be too much. A few at a time is more usable, IMO. I say why not just integrate into what we’re already doing in a logical way?
@Donna – you could do it that way, but my rule of thumb with blogging is not to open new windows. This is because when I’m browsing the web I generally just right click, open new tab if I want to remain on the page I’m at and read a link.
@Dayne – I am glad you are finding value with this strategy as well. I certainly have, and received enough positive feedback from both readers and bloggers I link to that I thought it was worth suggesting this to everyone directly.
Tim Jahn replied | May 27, 2009 (59 comments)
I like how you always include those links at the bottom. I’ve found cool articles and authors from those links. Very useful.
I also agree with you that it shouldn’t be automated. If you actually care about sharing useful ideas and content with your readers, you’ll take the time to pick it out yourself. Automated related posts are just the writer being lazy and not caring.
Adam Pieniazek replied | May 28, 2009 (3 comments)
The higher up in the content a link is, the more Google tends to value it too (just wrote a post today about why that means you should put guest post bylines at the top). So, another reason to not worry about losing link juice by linking out at the bottom of your post since those links are organically valued less.
Makes sense from a user perspective too. If you’re writing about “how to do x” and link to a plugin that does x near the top, it provides value to your reader sooner.
Think I’m gonna try your method of linking out but on a post by post basis. Some posts are short and don’t need extra info (or are site updates etc.).
Adam Singer replied | May 28, 2009 (550 comments)
@Adam Pieniazek – agreed, for shorter articles it isn’t worth it, only for flagship content.
Robin replied | May 31, 2009 (11 comments)
Internet marketing is become more and more interesting, everyone has their own strategy, like building an attack formation in pc games. I like your strategy (linking strategy), and thanks for sharing this strategy with us :)
Komarraju Venkata Vinay replied | Jun 12, 2009 (1 comment)
I was unhappy that Linkwithin will not work on my wordpress.com blog. And I am happy I found this tip. I will do it now. Thanks a lot.
Keiy replied | Jul 9, 2009 (2 comments)
Great idea Adam, it’s a new useful information for me actually. But, I wonder how to be linked with the related-post in the entire web, does it need plugin?
jan geronimo replied | Sep 28, 2009 (3 comments)
I’ve been doing your suggestion for quite sometime now. I’ve done away with related posts suggestion by Zemanta. I’m linking to 5 related links per post and as a result I’ve gained readers because of this trick.
After writing a post, I use my Google Reader to find related content. And on the rare occasions that I still lack a link, I go to Delicious and search for cool links.
You’re spot on in your observation that sometimes it’s hard to work into the post related content without affecting the coherence of one’s post. It’s still related, but it dilutes the potency of one’s post. Your idea of making a every blog post a link to related content is an excellent idea.
Thanks a lot for this.