Why You Want To Link To Other Blogs

By Dawud Miracle of dmiracle.com

Just about anyone who’s blogging knows that they need to link to other blogs in their blog posts. You know it, right?

But how many look at linking as a strategy? I’m not talking about a strategy just to increase traffic or exchange links for Technorati rankings – though that certainly is a strategy. Rather, I’m talking about a strategy for reaching your overall blogging goals.

My main reason for blogging is to create conversations which have the potential to develop into mutually beneficial relationships. Sometimes those relationships are with people who become clients or whom I form business partnerships with. Other other times the relationship are more casual and friendships develop. All-in-all, my strategy is to use my blog to reach people.

That’s why I link…to reach people.

If you look at a few posts on my blog one of the first things that may stand out is how much I link. While it’s rare, sometimes I link out two or three times from a post. But more often I link twenty times or more from a given post at dmiracle.com.

But for me, it’s not just the number of posts I link too that’s important. It’s the quality of those posts. I don’t usually link to another blog post unless it’s well-written, informative and useful to the people who read my blog. So by linking out, first, I’m serving my readers by providing them with valuable resources while also building trust and establishing my expertise in the areas I write about. Ultimately, this goes a long way in developing relationships with my individual readers.

The second reason I link out is also to build relationships. But this time, I’m interested in the relationship with another blogger. You’ll see me link to friends and colleagues at times, as well as bloggers I don’t know. But the central theme is the same – I link to build, and then nurture, the relationship.

One of the most effective ways to meet a blogger you’d like to meet is to spend time linking to them. Sure, comment on their blog. But writing a post on your blog that links back to them creates quite a bit more of a statement. Do this a few times, with great content surrounding those links, and you’ll have the foundation for building a relationship. And who knows where that relationship can lead.

What’s your linking strategy?

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Hi, I’m Dawud Miracle. Professionally, I’m a blog and marketing consultant, business coach, educator and web developer who helps people use their websites to grow their business. I’m also a devoted husband and father to two, soon to be three, children. Please let me know if I can help you in any way.