10 Ways to Link Out Responsibly

October 7, 2008 · by Joanna Paterson · in

Working links into your work is an integral part of blogging.

Linking out is good for:

Your readers: by providing them with ideas and suggestions (that they can trust) on interesting sites, new ideas, valuable resources, other blogs to explore and so on

You: linking out adds life to your blog, making new connections, forging new friendships, helping new readers to find you.

There’s no point writing great stuff if no-one knows you’re there.

This is one of the first and most valuable lessons I learned about blogging: if you don’t link out you’ll end up with a dead blog.

The interconnected web: links help everyone, including you, to find things on the web.

“Google (and pretty much every other major search engine) uses hyperlinks to help determine reputation. Links are usually editorial votes given by choice, and link-based analysis has greatly improved the quality of web search.” (Matt Cutts at Google)

Links are also easily abused (sold, traded, exchanged, hidden).

Given the value of credible links to everyone using the web it’s not hard to see why responsible linking matters, and why it should be something you think about very carefully when you’re publishing material on the web.

I’ve learned a lot from other people over the last 15 months, both in terms of what they’ve written about links, and the way they practice linking out themselves.

Much of this learning has come from the work of Liz Strauss and if you’re interested in developing your own practice I’d encourage  you to dig around in the archives at Successful Blog for more ideas and suggestions (and demonstrations of how it’s done).

1. Link to quality:

This is the fundamental principle, underpinning the rest.  Link out to resources, posts, sites, videos that are quality, that add value to your readers’ experience.

2. Visit the site:

Before you include a link, visit the site.  Check it out before you send your readers there.  That includes those times when you’re cutting and pasting long lists of links that you might have received from elsewhere (perhaps if you’ve been nominated or included on a list of blogs).  A link is a link no matter where it’s come from.  Visit it before you post it.

3. Watch your widgets:

Remember that some of the things you have in your sidebar are creating links to other work too.  Are you happy with the quality of the sites that widgets like Blogrush or even MyBlogLog are pointing your readers to?

4. Think of your readers:

Don’t go crazy with long lists of links – most of the time your readers won’t have time to follow them all up.  Tastes seem to vary but between 5 and 12 was the preference last time I asked

5. Think again about your readers:

There are different ways you can work your links into your writing. They can be written out as a list; interwoven, as a ‘natural’ part of the text; or set out as footnotes at the end.

The best approach will depend on your readers and the kind of web reading they’re used to. For more on this, you might be interested in this comment from Rosa Say at Managing With Aloha Coaching on ways she has adapted her linking style:

I’m trying to keep my writing more uncluttered, and defer to linking in a footnote style, giving readers a message without interruption. Every once in a while I remind myself that books have done perfectly fine without links— and still do!

6. Think twice before you do link exchanges.

I don’t trade or exchange links.  I link out (generously, I hope) and I’ll do my best to say thanks if you link to me.  But I only link to you if your work is going to add something of value to the experience of people visiting my site. I know some people trade amongst friends.

I prefer the clarity of a ‘no exchange’ rule.  Most people get it, I think, and only once has someone taken umbrage.

7. Don’t sell links.

8. Think about the anchor text.

This is a point I learned from Liz Strauss.  The anchor text (the bit of text that is hyperlinked, and that you can click on) counts a lot in SEO terms.  If you’re linking to sites, blogs and bloggers that you respect, the words you use can help them (in a practical sense, to get found) and is also a ‘signal’ of that respect.

Well-written anchor text is one more way that people and spiders know why you made the link — the relevance between your post and where you are sending them. Link anchor text is another way to reach out with respect to bloggers who offer information we value.

9. Monitor:

Use an alert system so you find out when other people link to you.  That way you can pop over and say a courtesy “thanks” to someone who’s taken the time to highlight and promote your work

10. Be transparent:

Let your readers know what your policy is towards link exchanges, affiliate links (where purchases through your site can generate some income for you), how you write links.

What else would you add to this list?  Are there points you disagree with or that you’d like to put differently? How have you learned to link out responsibly?

Photo Credit: You’re only as strong as the… by bigeoiono on Flickr