Blog linking can provide benefits to both your blog and your readers. When someone is reading a blog, they are looking for credible, expert advice. Whether it be a recipe, dating advice, or even how to create a business profile, the reader is expecting the information they receive to be accurate and useful. Providing links within your writing gives your reader insight as to where you got your information and other articles that may be helpful. This article will explain the different types of links, the best ways to use links in your blog, and the do’s and don’ts of implementing links used top SEO consultants.
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External vs. Internal Links
The two main types of links that are used in blog linking are external links and internal links. An external link is anytime that you link to a site outside of your own website. This can include linking to other blogs within your blog or any other instance where the link leads the reader to other websites. Internal links or links within a blog post that will lead the reader to somewhere else on your own website.
Why Link?
Your first instinct when blog linking may be to include only internal links that will lead to other blog posts that you have written. While this is helpful for your own web traffic, you may not have already written articles or blogs that have related information to what you’re currently writing about. For example, if you are writing an article about the best times to plant roses and you haven’t written an article yet in any relation to roses, including your own links will not be as useful as including links from a different blog or website that has already written about roses. In these instances, using external links will be helpful for both you and your reader.
Examples of External Links
Some examples of external links include:
- Linking to an article or study that you referenced in your post.
- Linking to a service that you were viewing. Anytime that you speak about a specific product or service, it is best practice to link them in order for the reader to be able to have direct access to that product or service.
- Anything that helps your reader get more information on the given topic. This improves user experience, which will ultimately ensure that your readers have a good interaction with your site.
Examples of Internal Links
Some examples of internal links include:
- Links to another post on your blog.
- Linking your “Services”, “Contact”, or “About Us” pages.
- A link to a landing page for a specific product. An example of this is that if you are covering a book that you recently wrote in a blog post, it would be most helpful to link your new book’s landing page.
Things to Look For
Providing information outside of your own website in order to give credibility to your article is great, but it is just important to provide accurate information. A few things to look for when you are finding external links is to include links from other websites that rank higher than your own site. If you are using higher ranking websites for information and using those links within your site, it boosts your credibility.
Credibility is Key
You also want to make sure that each website that you pull information from is legitimate, and that they are not someone writing an article on a topic they know nothing about. Looking at websites that have credible domains, as well as using the first few links that pop up when you Google your topic are usually the most credible. As well as high-ranking and credibility, you also want to make sure that your external links are websites that offer similar content to your own. This helps search engines figure out what your website is about. If your link isn’t directly related to the topic, but it offers insight, the search engine will make that connection.
Do’s and Don’ts of Blog Linking
Now that you understand the basics of the different types of links for your blog and the best strategies to find credible external sources, the next step is to learn about the do’s and don’ts of internal and external linking.
Do’s of Blog Post Links
- According to Pro Blogger, “Web users spend 80% of their time looking at information ‘above the fold’ or ‘what you see before you scroll’.” Make sure to feature links towards the top of the page that show work and that will keep people interested.
- Make sure to have a clear call to action! If your reader doesn’t understand why you use specific links, it can decrease your credibility and confuse the reader. Make sure that each link is clear and moving towards a specific call to action that supports the topic credibility.
- Using an editorial calendar to improve your link building can help ensure that each link is aligned with your goals. If your links are all over the place, then there won’t be a clear goal to your marketing campaign. Editorial calendars can also help marketers incorporate related contact links into newly created contact for your blog.
Don’ts of Blog Post Links
- Less is more, especially when it comes to including links. If you’re adding multiple links to each paragraph of your blog post, this will overwhelm your reader. Try to stick to 3 to 5 internal and external links per 1000 words. If you are a content-based site that features educational blog posts, then you may be able to go a bit higher.
- Link signals tend to decay overtime, and popular sites can sometimes go stale. Make sure to stick to reference links that are no more than two years old, depending on the topic of the blog post. This way you know that you were getting the most accurate information.
- If you’re on the website and click on the link that sounds like it is exactly what you need, you expect to get right into the nitty-gritty. For a reader, there is nothing that is more frustrating than when you need to make an account in order to read more about a specific topic. There must be a balance between free content and gated content, as well as being clear with the reader about the gated content.
Backlinks
Another type of link that can be helpful in creating a successful business or website, is backlinks. Backlinks are extremely popular in digital marketing for content creators. A backlink is a link from one website that directs the reader to your website. It’s great to have back links from other websites but not all backlinks are made equal. Google ranks websites on their quality, so in order for Google to recommend your content, these back links need to be from a high domain authority website or credible webpage. Backlinking can help your business because you want people to view your website! Advertisers are more likely to choose your website over another one with less viewership when you have plenty of backlinking.
Recommending
When the market adds a website and adds a backlink to your website, it is essentially a positive recommendation for your website. Getting backlinks is the process of acquiring backlinks from other credible websites. Creating relevant contact is a great way to get back legs, and following trending content or topics is a great way for your website to be back worked. Promoting your content through good SCO is crucial in building backlinks. If your reader or consumer is unable to read your content, then they will not be able to link it. Backlinks are a great way for your content to promote itself.
Why is Using Good Links Important?
Using good links will allow for not only your blog to gain credibility, but it also leads your readers in the right direction. When you are writing about a specific topic, you want to make sure that your reader is receiving the most accurate information. However, you may not be able to fit all the information and that you want to within your blog post.
Make Yourself Credible
This is where including links come in. When blog linking, you are allowing your reader to either search your own website or search another website in order to have the most accurate and valuable information. If you are using links that are not credible or are not focused on your topic, you are discrediting your own writing, while also ensuring that your reader will not come back to your blog for information again. The main goal with blog posts is to make sure that you have a solid network of readers who can vouch for your information. Using links allows for you to be a credible resource to your readers.
FAQs
- Do’s and don’ts of blog linking
- What are examples of internal links?
- What are some examples of external links?
- Where do I look when finding external links?
- What is backlinking?
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