CT Biz Blogs

In my last post, I wrote about how to find the correct web address (URL) to use when you want to link to a post on another blog. I also wrote a bit about why linking out is important.

Jim Durbin, on the blog Recruiting.com, agrees with me and adds:

Linking is the bloggy equivalent of saying “Please” and “Thank You.” While there are no requirements to blog, learning to link properly is a good way to give, and get respect.

In this post I want touch upon how to link. I see many new bloggers who simply type in the URL of the blog. This does the job, it’s true, but there’s a much more elegant and helpful way to link. Instead of using just the web address, or worse, saying “click here,” it’s better to embed the link into the flow of the text, by making some of the words serve as the link. (For more on why using “click here” for a link is a bad idea, read my earlier post on building traffic by how you link.)

See, that last sentence was an example of using text to give your readers more context and information about a link. Not only does it help your readers, and cut down on useless words, it helps search engines also. Search engines assume that the words used in the link are what the linked to post is about. There’s only about 6 billion search results for “click here.” (Make that: six billion and one.) Much better for everyone if you add some meaning to the link.

But that’s only the first step. Besides adding context through the words you use to link (called the “anchor text”), you can also add even more information through the title tag. The text you see pop up when you hover your cursor over the link is what is called the “title” of the link.

On the blog Johntp.com, John has an excellent example in his article on common weblogging mistakes, in the section on not using link titles.

Once again, Successful Blog has details on how to code links and how to code accessible links, so I won’t repeat that info here, except to quote Cas:

An “accessible link” therefore, is simply a link that imparts as much information to as many users as possible. It enables the reader to preview the link, making an informed decision about whether to follow it or not, and helps to differentiate between links that may share link text but refer to different targets.

If you have Wordpress 2.0, links are a piece of cake. Here’s a short demo on how to create a link in Wordpress.

So don’t be afraid to spread the link love by creating useful, well-crafted links. It helps everyone and makes you look like a pro.