This is Day 7 of 31 Days to Build a Better Blog, a group project 60+ of us bloggers are doing together in an effort to help each other become better bloggers. You can read an overview here.
Today’s assignment is to write a link post. The great thing about this assignment is that most of you already have experience doing this. And you’ve seen it pay dividends.
When?
Right here. If you’ve written a blog article about that day’s 31DBBB lesson and linked to the post here about that lesson, you’ve written a link post. And if you’ve posted a comment on that day’s post with a link to your blog article and gotten a bunch of visitors and comments as a result, you’ve seen the value of writing a link post first hand.
Today’s lesson includes some great advice for writing effective link posts, here are some tips – some from the lesson, some my own additions and examples.
1) Read other blogs. If you want to write about other posts, you have to read other posts. The 3 best ways to do that are
- Use an RSS feed reader and subscribe to the blogs in your niche
- Follow bloggers in your niche on Twitter
- Sign up to receive Google Alerts for keywords related to your niche
2) Post a comment on the original article with a link to your article. This will draw readers from the original article to your article. Be sure write a couple sentences in your comment to show how your post is related, something to get people curious enough to click.
3) Stop what you’re doing and write fast. The goal of a link post is to extend the conversation from the original post to your link post. The longer you wait, the more people will have already read the original post, and the fewer people will click to your post. Also the longer you wait, the further down the page your comment will be displayed. You’ve probably already noticed in this series that the people who post their comment & link early in the day get a lot more replies to their comment & visitors/comments on their post.
4) Tweet a link to your post and @mention the author of the original article. This will ensure the author of the original article is aware of your article. If your article is insightful and well-written, they may retweet you, which could bring lots of people to your blog.
About 6 weeks ago, Michael Hyatt wrote and tweeted a link to a post called The Leadership Strategy of Jesus. I saw his tweet and commented. Then I realized I had more to say on the topic, so I wrote a post called Leading Small and posted another comment to Michael Hyatt’s post with a link to mine. Then I tweeted “New blog post: Leading Small (inspired by @MichaelHyatt) http://bit.ly/bHSe62” Mike retweeted me, which brought my post a bunch of readers. Several people retweeted Mike’s tweet, which brought even more visitors (though unfortunately not many comments).
One mistake I made was to post the comment on Michael Hyatt’s post as a reply to a reply. Because the IntenseDebate commenting system collapses replies to comments, most readers probably didn’t see the link. Ideally, I would have thought of writing a link post right from the start and included a link to my post in my first comment.
Another example was published here about 3 weeks ago… John Saddington of Church Church posted 10 SEO Myths Ministries Need to Avoid Like the Plague. Several of the points in that post are inaccurate, so I grabbed my bro, Kurt, who is our director of search marketing, and we collaborated on a post we called Putting the Truth-O-Meter to 10 SEO Myths. I posted a link on John’s post. John and several Church Crunch readers commented on our post. It was good for both of our blogs, but even more importantly it was good for our readers who got a more complete and accurate understanding of the issue.
Discussion
- Do you have any other tips for making link posts more effective?
- Can you cite an example of an effective link post you’ve written in the past?
- Post a link to the link post you’ve written today.
The Extra Mile
A few other things you can do to take your blog, other bloggers, and this project even further today…
- Reply & give other bloggers feedback on the little things they do.
- When other bloggers include a link to a new article they’ve posted today, click, read, and comment on it.
- Check previous posts in the series for new comments.
- Tweet, share, & bookmark this post.
92 Comments
I have already seen so far in this 31DBBB how linking to other blogs and posts is a boon to traffic. I believe the key is to make sure that it really adds to the conversation and is not just an extraneous link. We need to ask, "Will the people who are engaged by my post be engaged by the link as well?"
I promised to do a link for justapen's 'The Ignition Point" blog. It will fit into my blog plans tomorrow (stay tuned). — and yes, I do have a plan!
Today's post is up: http://junctionforjesus.blogspot.com/2010/05/atti…
I haven't written many link posts, mostly just referencing other people, their blog, or giving a link when you quote something they said is how I've done link posts. I don't think I have any that are real effective yet, I've not done many.
My link post is about what we've covered the last couple days here at 31dbbb. "Email a Reader, Blogging Tips, and Link Postshttp://tijuanabecky.wordpress.com/2010/05/11/emai…
I wish I had more great ideas about marketing my posts. I am working on my making my titles more enticing. Let me know what you think about my last two!
I sent an email to my distribution regarding a leadership issue and a blog I found with great advice about making meetings more effective. I posted it to my blog this morning:
http://divingdeepintograce.blogspot.com/2010/05/g…
Let me say thanks to those who have commented on my blog posts so far. I pray they have and will continue to be a blessing. Keep them coming!
My latest post (http://bit.ly/9bKcud ) is a link post to Justapen's post (http://bit.ly/cK7kK4 ), which linked to my post. Hopefully, that won't cause a feedback loop that will melt the internet.
Sometimes I feel a little…awkward? Selfish? …something…posting links on other people's blog comments. It can feel like "enough about you. Let's talk about me." This is why I think this strategy requires discernment and being judicious.
Crispone these are great. I like how you said to slow down and let God's Word help you. I need to remember to slow down, thanks for the reminder.
Heh…you and me both. Things have been INSANE for me lately! Thanks for the comment – I'm glad you liked the post!
Well yes and no. I think the key when linking ur blog on another person's comment is to go along the lines of "hey this is what I think. I wrote about it more here but the two sentence version is…" It isn't selfish if you really are, genuinely contributing to the conversation.
I love the loop melting the internet thing. It sounds so Star Trek for some reason. 😆
I seldom include links to my posts in comments because then I have to write html to do it, and I don't LIKE it!!! Because I do it so seldom, I don't remember the <a href thing, and I have to always look it up. (whine) Anyway, if I do leave a link to a post on anyone's blog, it's absolutely because I think it's extremely relevant. Otherwise I definitely would NOT bother. 😉
Blessings, Cindy
Cindy, most blog platforms automatically convert URLs into links. No HTML required. That's how it works here.
I do have to admit that I *am* a bit of a Star Trek geek. I've never been to a convention or anything, but still….
Chris, I think you're caution is well founded. You do want to be sure you don't want your comments to seem spammy or like you're trying to take the conversation away from the original post. That's why I think it's important to include a good insight in the comment before the link. It may also be a good idea to build up your relationships with the blogger and your reputation as a contributor before you post a comment with a link.
Definitely – I think you're right on with building up a relationship and reputation. That means I need to spend lots more time reading and commenting.
OK – so for today I took my inspiration from some of my fellow 31DBBB chums who haven't yet taken a dive into teh world of Twitter.
So I present to you: 3 Links to Help Get Started on Twitter.
http://www.churchtechy.com/2010/05/3-links-to-hel…
Any comments / brickbats more than welcome 😉
I loved your post and left a comment in your space.
Those are some great tips, great job on the link post. I love how you have 3 great links that lead to others link, that lead to others. Link post to link post to link post. Thanks for the links Stuart!
Pingback: 31DBBB Day 7: Write a Link Post « Christian Web Trends Blog « Cynthia C. Cutright
Here is my post for the day:http://campfirecowboyministries.com/2010/05/the-b…
This is in response to the video by Nolan. I know it was over the weekend but hopefully those that didn't get to read it will go back.
http://www.nolanbobbitt.com/welcome_to_nolans_wor…
Sorry, it's a video….I should have said, "Seen it"
Great post dude! I appreciate the honesty, and how well you built off of the linked post. Well done…
Have a/another link post up, since that was today's assignment. I do believe that all of my posts would qualify as a link post, but "it don't matter none". I linked back to a worship set list site. It helps to keep track of what you're playing (to report to CCLI) and see what others are playing as well. http://blog.beachdaze.com/?p=66
Peace,
B
I posted my link post last night, but the linked articles aren't new. I had already planned to link to these other posts, and I wanted to do it because they were all talking about the same thing within the past months and I thought them prophetic and relevant. I linked to them because I figured they'd be a blessing to my readers. My desire to increase readership is primarily so that more people will join the conversation. I'm not marketing or anything–just getting to know brothers and sisters. If you click on my name, you'll find your way to my latest post–until I post a new one. 😉
Blessings, Cindy
Today's post doesn't reflect this lesson, but most of blog posts includes links either to other blog post, or simply to other blog, or websites.
For example, if I talk about something I bought at Walmart, Walmast would be highlighted as a link. Same if I talk about a book, or other.
Today I write about Ideas for your school kid's lunch bag : http://lemondedenathalie.ca/2010/05/11/idees-pour…