Don’t Be Afraid to Link Out
Bloggers are generally not afraid to link out, but the web overall suffers from some sort of delusion that if you link someone else, your reader will leave you forever. That’s not the case, in fact, if you can send your readers to a page or service that they really use and enjoy, you’ll be remembered as the source of this, and that’s great goodwill and an incentive to return to your blog or site in the future.
Performancing’s got 9 reasons why you shouldn’t be afraid to link out. Hear hear.
Thord Daniel Hedengren is a designer, writer, and blogger, and also the former editor of The Blog Herald. He used to be a hotshot in the gaming industry in Sweden, but sold everything and went International. Most recently he wrote a book called Smashing WordPress: Beyond the Blog, and does loads of kickass design.
Thanks for the link Thord. I’m hoping that those 9 reasons are enough to persuade others into thinking that Linking out isn’t so bad after all.
Linking out is one of the best things you can do for your audience, as they’ll see you as the person who knows the best resources around. I always link out whenever possible – what goes around, comes around.
Data points, Barbara
I’ve always tried to be generous with linking out on my blog. (I plan on doing even more of it in the new year.)
I’m off to follow your link out and gobble up those 9 reasons!
*smiles*
Michele
I think that a lot of people come to the web pre-programmed with certain ideas about competition in business and often linking to similar sites is seen as promoting your competition. But that’s just not the way things work here ;)
Melissa, I was under that impression for a very long time and still, I sometimes think twice before linking to a competitor but I’m learning to just go with the flow and link out anyways even if it is a competitor. As long as the reader benefits.
I link out in almost every post. When I don’t I will usually link to another post in my own blog. Before I blogged, I wrote an online newsletter and I always provided 3 links in each article. I believe that the more information people have, the easier it is for them to make conscious decisions.
Linking is a great way to establish authoritative sources which in turn would boost your own credibility. But of course, that goes without saying that the sites you were linked-out to must be credible in the first place.
I link out all the time – it brings me a lot of backlinks from other blogs all the time.