#31WBGB: Write a Link Post

Welcome to Week 7 of 31 Weeks to a Better Genealogy Blog!  Week 5’s topic is about linking out to other blogs or websites.

Why should you link to other sites?

• Linking out gives something valuable to your readers.  There is a lot of great information out there, but who has the time to sort through it all?  When you share a post or a site that you have found valuable, your readers will be appreciative.
• Linking out builds your credibility.  Building on the above bullet point, by sharing the valuable information you have found, you establish yourself as an authority.
• Linking out builds relationships with other bloggers.  They’ll appreciate that you are sending traffic their way and if your post builds on their ideas, it could lead to a continued dialogue and ongoing interactions.  Plus, it’s just a great way to support others in our community.
• Linking out may help your search results.  Search algorithms consider outbound links to related content as a positive thing, so it could help you appear higher in search results.

3 Types of Link Posts

There are many types of link posts.  Here are three examples:

1. Build upon the Points of Others – take a post written by someone else and add a new perspective or some information that they didn’t include.  For example, if someone wrote a post, “17 Gadgets That Will Help Your Genealogy,” you could write a follow-up post called “7 More Gadgets That Will Help Your Genealogy” and link to the first post.
2. Build a Resource on a Topic – Maybe there is a hot topic floating around that a lot of people are writing about.  You could write a post that pulls together links from all those other blogs.  DearMyrtle did this a few weeks ago with a variety of posts relating to citation styles.  It doesn’t even have to be a “hot” topic.  Maybe you are researching something; you could pull all the posts you find on that topic together into a link post.
3. Suggest further reading – Another way to add value to your readers and create extra depth to your posts is to add links to what others are saying on your topic.

Note:  be sure to link to quality content.  You are basically endorsing any site that you link to.

A Tip on Collecting Links

An easy way to collect links that may be useful for future link posts is to use a bookmarking site like Diigo or Delicious.  Create a tag that you only use for links that you may want to share in a post.  For example, I use a tag called “31 weeks” for posts that I think I may want to share in this series.

Action Item

• Write a post linking out to another blog or blogs.

If you are just joining us, then “welcome.” You can read the kick-off post about 31 Weeks to a Better Genealogy blog here.  Feel free to start with this week’s reading and action items – you are not behind!

Giveaway

The giveaway this week is a $5 discount* from Familyarchives.com.   To enter, leave a comment below with a link to your link post. One winner will be selected randomly. Giveaway ends at 11:59 Eastern time on Saturday, August 20, 2011.

*This discount was a blogger gift from SCGS Jamboree.  I have no affiliation with Family Archives.

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