: How to initiate a link exchange >
I've come across some blogs that have a "blogroll" - a list of links to other blogs - that is a mile long.Perhaps this is what happens when you get really big, but I'm not so sure - some of the biggest bloggers have quite short lists of links. This might be because they charge for those links, but I also think they keep on top of their links better than perhaps a newer blogger might.
Choose your links wisely
When you first start linking to other blogs, it's tempting to ask as many people as possible to exchange links so you can try and boost your traffic really quickly.
There are also "big linkers" that will be very happy to exchange links but have no intention of reading your blog. They just want you to link to them.
Personally, I'd much rather build my links slowly and only link to the blogs I actually like to read and comment on. Bloggers like comments, and if exchanging links leads to exchanging comments on each other's blog entries, it's a win-win.
Are they still linking back?
Although I'm happy to add new links at any time, I review all of the links on my home page every few weeks. I check to see if the blogs I link to have linked back to me. If not, I consider removing the link, because I think that linking should be a two-way thing.
However, it doesn't have to last forever - sometimes other people will tidy up their links too, and my link might disappear. If that happens, I'll remove that person's link as well. There are no hard feelings - I just like to keep my links up to date.
Clicking on your own links
If you link to other blogs and don't care if they link back to you, are you doing this to show other people the links, or are you doing it for convenience so you can click through?
Although the people you're linking to might appreciate the referrals, clicking the links several times can artificially increase the unique visitors for that site. Remember that some IP addresses are dynamic, therefore they may change when connecting to the Internet. I believe this is true of most DSL connections - it's not only true of dial-up.
If you exchange links, why not subscribe too?
When I link to a blog, I usually consider subscribing to it by email, too. This means I am less likely to click on the link to check out the latest entries because they already arrive in my inbox.
Linking may help to improve the search engine ranking for both sites, but helping the Feedburner subscriber count is a good idea, too. Show your support for the sites you enjoy by subscribing!
How do you manage your links?
Tags: blogging, blogroll, blog links, managing links, exchanging links, blog comments
Posted by Ben on November 18, 2007 22:39 / Edited: Never
Comments
Thanks for the comment, Ivy. Is there any way to tell if a blog is monitored by Google?
I don't think there is. But you can know if the site is selling TLA links. Some are fairly obvious, using the term "Featured Sites". But some are less obvious. But hey, if you have problem telling if links are paid links, so will google! ;)
That's a fair point. I'll watch out for those links. Thanks again!
I have a question in regards to the links, paid links and advertisements.
Are they the same thing? I have come across many blogs and websites that have 'featured sites' and other such things that are more often than not paid links or ads.
The only links I have to blogs at the moment are links to my other blogs!
Does my question make sense? It's late here and I have been looking at this computer screen all day! :-)
Hi Sarah, welcome to my site and thanks for the comment. :) I noticed that your link included a typo, so I've fixed that for you.
To answer your question: linking to another site simply because you want to is what you might call an unpaid outgoing link. Or just a link for short.
Linking to a site because they are willing to pay you is different due to money changing hands, but some sites disguise these links. Some search engines have been known to penalise sites who sell links, so those sites try to counter the method by not specifying whether a link is paid or not.
On the other hand, there are sites where you can get paid to review other sites and sometimes you will be asked not to state that it's a paid review. This further complicates the situation.
Affiliate links are different too, although they are easier to spot - for instance, if you go to my home page, you'll see a Hostgator image. Clicking that link will take you to Hostgator using my affiliate code.
Advertising networks that run banner ads or contextual ads (such as Google AdSense) will usually pay the site owner for each click on the ad. Paid links may be bought privately, are paid in advance and usually run for a specified period of time.
There are quite a few points to this subject. Does this answer your question or can I be more specific? :)
This is a good point. I have been to big blogs where the list of blogroll links to a totally unrelated field. They are obviously paid links, and I don't even bother checking out their links now because I know they're there not because they're relevant, but because they're paid for.
Another point to note when giving out links is to check that they are not from the 'bad neighbourhood'. Some blogs selling TLA are monitored by Google, and by linking to them you might be jeopardising your blog PR.