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With blogs becoming quite the rage in online marketing, there has been a lot of focus put on link development for blogs as well. It makes sense. You spend hours on your blog(s), coming up with post topics, writing your little heart out and then you log in the next morning only to find that no one has commented on your brilliant post. I feel your pain.
So you install Google Analytics or use SiteMeter to track the traffic that you are convinced is coming. They just must be quiet, right? Your post was so brilliant that they had nothing to add and “nice post” would have sounded contrite compared to the article you posted some twelve hours earlier. You get everything installed correctly, set up the tracking, and make another post. Again, twelve hours later you’re checking the traffic bracing yourself for the ridiculously high number of “hits” your blog has gotten. Only to find that the number is much lower than you expected.
So you turn to some link development. Good choice, I must say. And yes, I’m biased. But many people either don’t do it right or don’t do it well – both of which will only result in frustration, mixed results, and very confused bloggers. Here are the biggest misconceptions of link development when it comes to building links for a blog.
1. Internal links don’t matter. Of course they do. Just as in a regular Web site, internal linking is vital to the search algorithm. When you are blogging look for appropriate and relevant opportunities to link to a previous post or another part of your blog to link to. This also goes for links to your regular Web site if you have one.
2. Commenting will get you links. Think again. Most blogging platforms have defaulted to adding nofollow tags to signature links in comments. While commenting and adding value to the conversation happening on other blogs will most likely get you traffic, don’t bank on those comments boosting your link popularity. Additionally, many platforms have also added nofollow tags to any URLs placed in the body of the comment as well.
3. I don’t want to link any other blog because it will take my traffic off my site. Consider this: if you’re not linking to anyone else, why would anyone want to link to you? Best practices when linking externally will be to have the link open in a new window or new tab, so that traffic is not leaving your site. Your blog should not be an island, but a part of an overall blogging community, especially in your industry.
4. A site has offered to do a link exchange and they have great PR. Check a few more things before you start engaging in link exchange programs. What type of page are they offering to place your link on? Has it been cached? Are the links nofollowed? Are there more than 100 links on the page? Is it a high value page with other links of value? Is it a blogroll link or a link on a page of resources? Choose carefully who you link to (I still stand by the recommendation that you should link to others especially when you are commenting on an article they wrote).
5. If I just write great content, I’ll get links. I agree to an extent, but if no one has heard of your blog, then how will they link to you? A bit of self-promotion won’t hurt but you need to find a balance between writing/maintaining your blog and promoting via links, comments, etc.
6. I don’t need Technorati or other blog directories to list my blog. Most companies when looking for a blogger to reach out to, research, or follow online start with Technorati. Plus, those listings count as links. Make sure you are listed in the best possible categories for your blog(s).
7. I’ll just use the blog name for my anchor text. Branded links are great if that’s your focus. But does your brand deal with keywords that your potential readers/customers will be searching for? Keep this in mind when you are requesting anchor text for links that other people will put on their Web sites, in directories, or blogrolls. Paying attention to the details could pay off in the long run.
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Thanks. This was helpful!
Great advise. I think a lot of people try to take the easy way out in regards to link development when it does take some elbow grease. Keep the tips coming!
This is really a great post. Thank you for taking the time to write it. Also, people think having massive blog rolls will help their sites. People don’t realize contextual links go a lot further than a link page.
Richard
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