Linking to others blogs is a MUST for bloggers. It’s how the Internet has grown so much over the years. It’s how people that would’ve never met or connected, are actually meeting and connecting. I’ve noticed over the years that some type of Grinch movement has been happening over linking to other bloggers.
I kind of imagine that if you’re a blogger that’s not linking to others, you’re just standing alone on a soap box, trying to yell at a passing crowd. Maybe a couple glance your way, but the majority just move along and ignore your yelling.
For those linking, I like to think it’s like you’re in a crowd and eagerly meeting people, and shaking their hand. You’re welcoming feedback from those you’ve linked to, and their crowd. In return, you’re trying to share and authenticate your knowledge to your own budding blog reader community.
Rand Fishkin does an awesome job summarizing why you should be linking out to others. I’ll summarize it here, but you should check it out. He basically says.
- It’s a link that can be tracked and possibly reel in people curious enough to want to know why you linked to them.
- You add more value to your website by linking to other websites, and eventually become a great resource for your visitors.
- Linking out creates trust with search engines like Google, especially if you’re continuosly linking to quality content.
- Linking out attracts other website owners who do the same, and may contact you with quality content that they will suggest to you.
- Just linking out encourages participation and frankly, what I like to call “sharing the link love.”
Sure, you do want to link to other articles on your website, but you can raise the value of your website by making sure you can completely fill the need of your visitor. They landed on your website because they were looking for something, and honestly, if you think you’re a know-it-all, you’re not. There’s someone out there that always knows more, and providing excellent content that your visitors could end up loving. So, why not link to them? It’s a win-win because you get to learn something new, and your visitors get to learn it too.
Go forth and share the link love by linking out to others.
Hey Nile,
Amazing stuff regarding this subject. Blogging is all about thriving a healthy relationship with peoples – if you get success over it surely get success in blogging. This tips is really very helpful to maximize productivity level. Eventually, thanks for sharing.
With best wishes,
Amar kumar
Thanks for this post. I think I must have read about the same thing on Brian Dean’s blog. I now believe this is a good practice for every blogger. Most bloggers, including myself, think, “They should be linking to me not the other way around” Time to spread the love.
There are a lot of very smart, very dedicated, talented people on the web that can either contribute to making your efforts more successful or inhibit your growth. When you link out, especially in a consistent, opportunity-driven way, you build incentives for the Linkerati (bloggers, social media sophisticates, online journalists, website builders & forum participants) to engage with your site. Granted, when you’re small and just starting out, the incentive is small, but I’ve seen, via first-hand experience, the value it brings. Don’t underestimate the power of rewarding your community – it’s built some of the most amazing brands on (and off) the web.
I also agree with your point. Though I would like to draw your attention towards one thing that top bloggers like Neil Patel, Rand Fishkin, Brian Dean regularly link out to each other and refer each other’s content.
I think that’s best for community and networking. Also that enriches the knowledge of your readers.
What’s your input about this kind of blogger communities?
Thanks,
Parth Patel
Thanks for sharing this wonderful post. In my blogging Journey I have found out that linking to other bloggers in your niche tend to build more relationship as everyone loves to be called by their name.
This way as a new blogger, you’d get to build relationship with top bloggers in your niche.
Keep up the good work here
Hey Nile,
This is a topic that deserves a lot of attention from the blogging community, yet it is rarely being discussed.
We did a small case study recently on Lifestyle Updated with a page where we published an epic-long piece of content answering how to lose belly fat, just to see where it would show up for a certain set of phrases.
Then, we updated the same page, but this time included few more paragraphs and 20+ citations to authoritative university websites (mostly studies).
After just one week, the piece now shows higher for certain queries.
So all things being equal, a well written and relevant post will always be deemed more authoritative when it includes citation to other relevant and trusted sources.
This really is a valuable point. It’s easy to get caught in the trap of becoming selfish and keeping visitors to yourself, but as you said, the whole idea is to make their experience the best it can be. And the rankings will occur naturally if you can pull this off. Additionally, this article reminded me of the fact that if you link to others, you can ask them to check it out and possibly link back – a pretty aggressive tactic for sure. The analogy of being in a crowd is a great one I’ll be sure to remember. Thanks for the post! Have a great day.
Hello Nile,
You have created a very nice post here and also shows us the important of the linking to other blogger posts. This will help us to create a strong relationship between altogether.
A public relationship is must for every blogger to become a pro in the niche in which he/she trying to become a pro blogger.
Thanks
Couldn’t agree with this more. One of my favorite parts of blogging is being able to highlight awesome articles by other bloggers that others might not find because they may not be in the first page of search results. It gives blogging more of a community feel, rather than being stuck on the idea that everyone is just competition.
Nile, I do agree one should link to others, but how would Google know that you are not selling links? Afterall, what they run is an algorithm, and there is no way out to find if the outbound link is paid or free.
I am also seen many bloggers remove links from their blog comments. Why do you think they have removed it from their sites?
May be we should give links to other sites, but must always remember not to overdo it as it might backfire us.
Linking a most precious word in blogging. You said a lot by using this one word. And now I don’t have more words to comment.
Anyways, let me share my thought. How about building a community of bloggers, where we can share and ask for the link backs. This may help to support each other.
Thanks for sharing! I have an experience with blogging effort, previously I was not to engage with people on the web but now I can do it easily through like, share and comment on other blogs so that is much helpful to me for building brand and more traffic.
Hi Nile,
These days Blogging is like earning Bread & Butter for many people. So eventually It has been transformed into small business. Linking to others is like doing business meeting and I highly prefer to link others.
It gives extra exposure along with developing healthy relations with fellow bloggers.
Thank You for this incredible post.
Avinash
Hello Nile,
Wonderful stuff for SEO and Blogging. It is all about managing a good relationship between people and business – if you can make good links between peoples you will get success in blogging. this tip is really so much helpful for the bloggers.
thank yours for sharing this.
really thank you for the advice you just provide me, it is an asset in the blogging because we can not be able in all the topics we can develop in his blog. thus, another person can intervene to bring something new.
Hey Nile, Great Post!
But Can you please tell me if a blog post has 500 words then maximum how many external links I can add in that post?
Thanks
Hi Pratik!
There’s not really a limit to linking back to others on a blog post. As long as the link is to content that will support and add value to your post, you should be good. As for the amount/ number of links, use some common sense. If your article is littered with too many links, you’re probably overdoing it. Use links that will add the most value, not just randomly, because it seems related.
Okay Nile,
Noted That…
Thanks a Lot!
That helps a lot. I am new to blogging and SEO. And i am struggling very hard to improve the ranking of my blog. Thetechstories. But surely your article will help to focus on my weak points.
thanks for the awesome information
i have been sharing mine for a while now both on Facebook twitter and pinterest but i don’t find myself growing
what else should i do?
Make sure you’re interacting with other bloggers. Don’t expect that just sharing your content will do anything. Sometimes you have to make the first move by visiting other bloggers, and leaving mindful comments.
Now I believe this is a good practice for every blogger. This Is shows us the importance of linking to other blogger posts.
Thanks, Nile Flores Madam.
Excellent write-up and wonderful descriptions. Your post is very helpful for me.