5 Tips to Write a Great Link Post
Take every pro-blogger out there and all will say the same thing: “Write link posts!” What are the reasons behind such an advice? Why would you send people away from your blog? Stop. I truly hope you did not just ask yourself that!
Writing link posts is definitely not about sending people away, but rather about guiding your users to even more wonderful content and letting other bloggers know you appreciate their work, just as you would like yours to be appreciated.
But just like with almost any other type of blog posts, there are some things you could do to make it GREAT instead on a simple or even a good link post.
1. Find new content
If the article or information you’re linking to has already been linked to by the most important/influential bloggers in your niche, there’s a good chance yours will only add noise and not value. The “new” factor will be lost, and with it, your readers’ attention.
2. Find relevant content
It’s always best to keep the links close to your blog’s main topics if you’re blogging in a niche. General blogs or news blogs could make exceptions, but most times your readers will need and look for more information in the same area of interest.
3. Find useful content
The best content is the content that satisfies the reader’s needs. May it be the need to engage in a conversation on a controversial topic or the basic need for help/advice, the posts you link to have to have the quality of being useful to your readers, and who knows them better than you?
4. Offer content previews
Whenever possible, offer a short excerpt from the article you link to, just enough to give users an idea of what to expect from the link they’re about to click. Keep your excerpt short though, to avoid unnecessary conflicts or duplicate content issues.
5. Add your own comments
Your followers respect and read you for your views and opinions. Give them the chance to find out what you think and feel about the link you provide in a small, descriptive paragraph. This way, you’ll gain both a new link for your post, and also make it “readable”, instead of “clickable”. Together with point 4, this easy-to-do thing keeps readers on your page for a little while, which is always good for statistics, user engagement and why not, ad exposure.
2 Bonus tips:
a. The bigger, the better
The more links you provide the better, BUT, always respect the five tips above. It doesn’t matter if you link to 5 or 500 articles, quality of links should be top notch. Collection posts have a good success rate on social media as users look for a place where they can find all the info they need on a certain topic.
b. Use contextual links
Whenever possible, try not to use “Read the article here” or “Read more” link. Use contextual links, like “Check out these (start link)10 amazing free WordPress themes(end link)”. Helps readers identify the information easier and also, the bloggers you link to will appreciate it even more.
Writing a great link post is not that hard as long as you follow these easy tips. It’s finding the right content to link to that’s harder, and that’s what you need to go and look for yourself!
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helpful list of tips. engaging is extremely important, as if your readers don’t hang around, come back or help spread the word about you, you’ll have a much harder job!!
Thanks for the tips, i will do it for my business.
Nice tips! these will help while writing a link post!
Cheers
Sandeep
Good ideas! In addition to adding content previews what do you think about including a small pic of the site your going to?
I know a lot of times I just scan a post and look for interesting things, seems like a cool pic would help the click through rate
i like what you said that writing a link post is not actually sending away your readers but actually builds up your reputation as a blogger who;
1st, reads about other bloggers’ write ups, therefore, your post is well-researched;
2nd, that you are not afraid to post and recognize the ideas of others, so as not to present a monopoly of your sole thoughts;
and third; that you are posting a well-prepared, and balanced post.
@Chris, I’m not very fond of the pictures idea. It adds time to build the post and might take the attention away from what you’re actually pushing forward, the content.
@elmot, you got it 100% right.
Thank you all for your comments and views on the matter!
Hey great post here.. really nice written. Its gonna help me alot. Thanks !
A rich-content post is a unique and informative article containing additional resources. There is always another link that could complete our words and be used as a main source for the article.
We need to mention what we are talking about on our blogs. That link could be a proof of our speech. So, as you mentioned above, even the link must be valuable.
Linking to another resource would enrich the content and give value to the readership. I really like your tips specially the fourth one, giving content previews.
Sometimes, that link could be a an informative sales page which would close the pre-sale process. It means it could be an affiliate product with a unique pitch page that gives more relevant content. At the end of the day, sending people away from our blog could end up more profit while gaining credit as well.
Thanks Alex for these helpful tips. I found them really useful.
To Your Success!
Hooshmand
Good information. Some of my friends have just started on their blogs, and being new, I want to also help them establish their place in cyberspace by promoting their links on my site. I think this information you have shared will help me be able to help them better.
Useful tips. Thumbs up.
Thanks for the great list of tips and for sharing them with us.
kind regards
sam
X
Great Post and Article. I have always search for this Topics but noch its easier to write interesst Post.
Greatings
Thomas