[begin soapbox] Why is it that (new) bloggers these days will only link to somebody if they can do a link exchange with that person? I remember back in the good old days of blogging (2 years ago) when people would simply link to bogs that they liked and/or read. It trips me out how things have changed. Some of the requests I get really trip me out. It's almost like me sending an email to Instapundit saying that I'll link to you if and only if you link back to me. Yeah, that'll be a successful tactic. Is blogging no longer about writing good content to get noticed or is it all about link exchanges to build traffic? [/end soapbox]
I guess I'll have to adopt and post an official link exchange policy. Generally speaking I'm in total agreement with what David Jackson said on the topic of 'link sharing':
It's well known that if you own a web site the number of other sites that link to your site is crucial, as the number and quality of inbound links determine your ranking in the results of the leading search engines. This has led to the proliferation of "link sharing", ie. "you link to me and I'll link to you" deals.The problem with link sharing, however, is that it adulterates one of the most useful aspects of the Web: carefully chosen links to contextually relevant topics. Link-sharers not only allow the inclusion of any and every link, but often allow the authors of the linked-to sites to choose and describe the links themselves. If linking is an integral part of Web content and editorial value, then link-sharing debases that content and value.
So my official policy is that I don't do link exchanges. Sure you can email me telling me about your blog and I'll gladly check it out. But if I choose to blogroll you, link to a specific article of yours or add your blog to my newsreader will have nothing to do with whether or not you link back to me.
P.S. New bloggers, please read my post about how to increase your blog's readership.
Thanks Mike for pointing me to that article you wrote on increasing your blog's readership. That checklist by Dave Pollard should help keep my posts interesting and accurate.
My pleasure. Dave has TONS of great tips on his site.
I agree 100% with you on this one, Mike. The links on your website should be carefully selected to match the content you're trying to provide to your readers.
For some reason, people don't view links as content. That's just exactly what they should be. Finding sites that offer value to your readers are sometimes just as hard as coming up with articles to write on your site.
I think you provided a great tip to aspiring bloggers trying to get readers...just write great posts. And if you see something you can add value to in the comment section of another blog...by all means do. You're doing a service to the blogger while at the same time getting noticed for your insight or lack thereof. Ha! :)
Well said Michael and very insightful! :-)
Good points. I agree,my blog is fairly new and yes I have linked to some other sights,that are relevant to my own material,and what I think readers may find of value.If I get a link back great,if not well then so be it.I will still link to those sites as long as it's relevant information.Sure the traffic increase would be nice, but hey I still have my day job,trading,which is what it's all about,and being able to share lessons learned with others is a fullfillment in itself.
Great posts man,you just keep 'em coming.:-)
Great post!
I'll link to it if you link to me.
I'm a long time blogger at http://www.wormus.com/aaron/ and I totally agree... I haven't really put any effort into my personal blog and yet I have loads of links to me and get at least 1000 unique visitors a day.
I recently started a blog about Hedge Funds, and by simply blogging and linking ot other bloggers have already gotten several non-requested links.
It's the way it should work.
Right on target - it doesn't do the readers any justice at all when you just link for the links sake without actually assessing the quality of the site that is being linked to.
Thanks