I’ve talked about this a few times recently, but it’s the Day 8 topic of 31DBBB, so here it is again.
Linking internally to other posts on your blog helps your new and old readers navigate the space a little easier. It would be time-consuming and tedious for me to go back and link 500 posts, so I am highly dependent on both Simple Tags and SEO Smart Links, which link previous posts to the current one based on post title, content and similar topic. The Book tells me to take 10 minutes to link a few old posts then, I’m assuming, work at it until I’ve linked all 500. With the plug-ins, it took about 10 minutes total after installation, if that long.
You guys are mostly interested in the Jordan, Jon Alex, Ehren & Q tags. Sometimes, you’ll get suckered into clicking a term you thought was gonna take you to an external link, then you’re all pissed off because the butt tag took you to around 100 posts in which I mention the word butt. I’m not sure what else you might have been expecting.
My other most popular internal links:
The main purpose of internal links is to keep the reader on your blog for a few extra minutes, decreasing your bounce rate which measures the time spent on your blog before the person loses interest or gets called into a meeting. The secondary benefit is organizing your content for search engines, increasing your visibility for certain keywords. I’m relieved to no longer be the go-to blog for the word sp@nk!ng. That was a rough four weeks. I mentioned it twice, giving you a good idea of its popularity in searches.
Another feature of SEO Smart Links, beneath each post and labeled “chips and salsa”, are links to posts somehow related to the current one. If you like A, you might like B kinda thing. That works well for keeping old posts visible and on the front page for new visitors.
All of this is a fun experiment for me. As a writer, I covet new readers who will spend all day browsing my archives. If I can drop a few breadcrumbs leading a few like-minded readers from Google to the fringe then show them around a little bit, that’s even better.
Tomorrow’s assignment: joining and participating in a forum to promote my blog. If by forum, The Book doesn’t mean Twitter, I’m out. Internet forums give me the itchies.
Your most memorably ignored suggestion and/or skin rash in comments…
Well get the anti-histamine cream / spray / tablet ready and dive into a forum.
I understand the reticence as it appears that forums more than anywhere else feel like a childs playground and any second now you expect someoen to start chanting “scrap, scrap”. But they can be huge fun and I tend to hang around a number of techie ones – mostly to provide help, but occasionally I have to seek help – as is the case with my recent post about a DNS Problem http://www.churchtechy.com/2010/05/dns-problem/
.-= Stuart is dying for you to read 3 Links to Help Get Started on Twitter =-.
Technical forums are a little different, maybe, from general blogging forums? I’ve seen it get ugly over stupid stuff. But since you present such a compelling case, I will look for one that won’t make me want to scream at my monitor.
I am trying my own little experiment called 31 days of extreme laziness. I’m on day 6 and it is, contrary to what you might think, very easy.
My baby isn’t lazy, he’s carefree.
Thanks to you Erica I now know the secret ingredient my blog has been missing – a butt tag!
Must go back and revise Day 6′s post about the best blogging tips.
.-= Paul Steinbreuck is dying for you to read 31DBBB Day 8: Interlink Your Old Blog Posts =-.
Oh, there’s plenty more tips where that one came from. Perhaps hold off on those revisions until Day 31!
Sadly, I tend to join forums only to voice a product complaint. Only not complaint type forums I peruse are of the yo-yo nature. Honestly, they’re like overly structured chat rooms where more often than not some snot-nosed kid responds your entry just to tell you you posted it in the wrong place or that you’re too lazy to search because your question was already answered here, here and oh here too.
The yo-yo forums are cool because hey, it’s about yo-yos.
And yes, I know, I’m an overgrown kid. I like it that way.
.-= Orion is dying for you to read 18 Alternatives to Cussing at Work =-.
i think this kind of thing is absolutely fascinating! who clicked on what to get where– LOVE it! and btw, as a relatively new-ish reader, *i* was one of those all-day-readers. you’re so welcome!
.-= Minnesota Mamaleh is dying for you to read Minnesota Mamaleh: On Balance =-.