Why Should You Link To My Blog?
Visited 2638 Times Published by Rico May 12th, 2007 in Blogging, Design and Why.Here’s a great way to thank people for linking to your blog.
You may notice that, after tweaking this blog to create an easier to follow layout, I’ve shrunk my lengthy blogroll into a drop down list. An unfortunate side effect of this is that there are no more actual links to the blogs I’ve linked to. At first glance, I’m no longer giving out link love.
You’re probably asking yourself why you should link to Fool for Five if I’m apparently being selfish. Here’s where a wonderful plugin, the Technorati Incoming Links Widget comes in. You can see it in action on the rightmost column of this page, under the heading “Incoming Links.” It’s a list of people who’ve recently linked to this blog, reciprocating with a link from here back to the source. So if someone links to Fool for Five from a post, they enjoy a link from me back to that particular page. Give me some, and you get some back. 
It’s a rare case of having your cake and eating it too. It’s possible to enjoy the compactness of a drop down blogroll, without coming across as self-centered. And the great thing is, the whole process is automatic. If it isn’t obvious from the name, the plugin regularly pulls the links from Technorati (it mimics the “Incoming Links” section of a Wordpress dashboard). So it’s a lot more convenient than your usual blogroll.
The Technorati Incoming Links Widget requires a Technorati account, and the Wordpress Widgets plugin installed on your blog. I think it represents a more intelligent way of linking to other blogs. Aside from linking to great content as you write your posts, you have a link list that automatically rewards those who link to you. Link Love 2.0 perhaps?
By the way, I’ve also shrunk my category and archive list with the Category Cloud and Drop-down Archive widgets respectively.
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48 Responses to “Why Should You Link To My Blog?”
- 1 Pingback on May 12th, 2007 at 4:13 pm
- 2 Pingback on May 13th, 2007 at 11:29 pm
- 3 Pingback on May 13th, 2007 at 11:33 pm
- 4 Pingback on May 13th, 2007 at 11:35 pm
- 5 Pingback on May 21st, 2007 at 2:36 pm
I’m always on the lookout for ways to keep my sidebar short, so I started using the drop down archives a long time ago. I’m definitely going to use that Technorati Incoming Links Widget though.
I’m thinking about the tag cloud…
For your Technorati tags? Check out Technorati’s own blog widgets.
That’s link-whoring, Rico.
How so Connie?
Because the link is not based on relevance but merely an incentive to generate a return link. Besides, if the list is generated by a javascript it won’t do anything for a blog’s PR because search engines don’t read javascripts. So it’s like blogrolling.com. Nice long lists but in terms of SEO, there’s nothing there.
As far as I know, search engine bots are now capable of following links generated dynamically.
To be honest, the title of this post should’ve been “What Happens When You Link to My Blog?” Because what I wanted to highlight was the convenience—and automatic gratitude—that the plugin brings.
I think I know what you’re saying about people linking to me just for the sake of reciprocation. But I’m sure people like that would rather spend their time on a more high-profile blog.
And I always have the option to disable the plugin.
No search bots only read HTML links. Javascript does not output HTML links.
“I think I know what you’re saying about people linking to me just for the sake of reciprocation.”
It’s not about you personally. It’s about ANYBODY who wants an artificial boost in popularity and rankings by inviting reciprocal links. I repeat, ARTIFICIAL.
“But I’m sure people like that would rather spend their time on a more high-profile blog.”
How can you be sure? Personally, I wouldn’t presume to know.
“Some crawlers may also avoid requesting any resources that have a “?” in them (are dynamically produced)…Google is an exception to this.” (Emphasis mine: source). The plugin generates the links through a query.
I imagine that if I was out to boost my popularity artificially (which I’m not), I’d concentrate on the big-time blogs. That way, my time would be more “worth it.”
“dynamically reproduced” has many meanings. it may mean a php output which generates html tags (as in the case of TLA). it may mean a javascript which does not generate html tags (as in adbrite, blogrolling, etc.)
I imagine that if I was out to boost my popularity artificially (which I’m not), I’d concentrate on the big-time blogs. That way, my time would be more “worth it.”
That’s assuming the big time blogs would be willing to reciprocate links with you, di ba.
I know the plug-in, at the very least, generates HTML links. Check out the source code of this page.
Yep, big time blogs hardly reciprocate. I guess they have their reasons. But there are two things which limit abuse: the links change over time, as new people link here. And if too many people are taking advantage, I’ll just disable the plugin.
the very concept itself spells abuse because it is equivalent to gaming search engines.
oops sorry, i hit the submit button too early.
to continue… a system that says link to me so that a link to you will automatically appear on my blog is abuse = gaming search engines. you call it intelligent, i say it’s artificial and unethical. instead of people linking to your blog because you wrote something good, you do it the convenient (and lazy) way by inviting a links exchange irrespective of relevance and quality.
No problemo.
Anyways, I must say again that I placed the Incoming Links plugin not because I’m inviting links. My primary objective is to reward people who take the time to read my posts and link to the ones they found interesting. Especially since I shrunk down my blogroll into a non-linkloving drop down list (for the sake of cleaning up the sidebar layout).
This plugin has so many possibilities. Say another blogger links to my post about Manny Pacquiao’s recent victory with their own take on the issue, and the plugin automatically reciprocates. Visitors reading my post see a link to the other blogger’s post, and discover another voice in the discussion.
That’s not to say I’m naive about what some people out there could do. Again, it is always possible for me to disable the plugin if I see people are just linking to me just for the reciprocation, not because they’re genuinely interested in what I’ve written.
And convenience isn’t automatically laziness. I don’t think using tools to make life a bit easier lazy. is Unless the tool becomes a dependency. This plugin won’t define my linking behavior; I’ll still link to content that I find genuinely interesting.
“My primary objective is to reward people who take the time to read my posts and link to the ones they found interesting.”
Why would you need to reward? REWARD is an incentive to link further.
I think rewarding also means saying thank you and giving something in return. It isn’t necessarily an incentive, but a way to be kind.
And in blogging, that means links? LOL
Are you telling me that, for a blogger to be generous or kind, he shouldn’t link?
Linking is about relevance, not public relations.
Not always. Wordpress.org and theme designers always have a link on the bottom of wordpress blogs. Their links are meant to give credit and promote, and aren’t there for relevancy’s sake.
Rico, that is credit for using a free service. Giving credit is respect and respect is ALWAYS relevant.
Exactly. With how I plan to use the plug-in, I plan to respect/credit those who’ve linked to this blog. I’ve found that most of the people who’ve linked to Fool for Five have done so because they found my content relevant, and that trend doesn’t seem to be changing soon.
I said credit for a free service = respect.
You say giving credit for linking to you is respect?
There is a world of difference.
“I’ve found that most of the people who’ve linked to Fool for Five have done so because they found my content relevant, and that trend doesn’t seem to be changing soon.”
I just checked your technorati links, rico. Most of them are links to YOU and not to specific relevant blog posts. In fact, most are about “events” you attended. That’s linking to relevant content?
Isa lang naman point ko, rico, eh. If you want to “encourage” linking to you, just say so. Every blogger does it through one form or another. But don’t let’s pretend it’s something profound.
All I wanna do is explain my side, not be profound. Again, I was just highlighting the plugin’s capabilities, not asking for links. Admittedly, the title should’ve been different.
And yes, some people link to me because I’ve been with them for an event. If linking to a fellow participant isn’t relevant, I dunno what is.
In your May 18, 2007 @ 9.20 a.m., you said RELEVANT CONTENT.
Then, in your May 18, 2007 @ 2.21 p.m. comment, you say “linking to a fellow participant”
Gee, Rico, the second comment refers to a mere citation, not a link to relevant content. Clearly, you confuse the two.
You see, blogs are about content, not public relations. That’s why it’s an insult to be called a PR blogger. It means you just play nice to get links instead of developing relevant content.
Hello, I’m the plugin author. First some background:
The plugin was developed as an exercise in both using the Technorati API without consuming the daily query limit and coding sidebar widgets for wordpress. The plugin does indeed generate pure html links with no javascript.
It was made available for public download after a few friends expressed interest. I had not really thought of the implications until later.
Personally, I think that automatically generated reciprocal links are a double edged sword, but I don’t feel that it is really that different from a pingback or trackback (with the exception of rel-nofollow which is available as an option in the next version).
I’ve enjoyed reading through the discussion here, some very good points raised.
The issue of relevance is a tricky one, one thought I had was to only show the links to the page being viewed but this would cause huge issues with the caching and is really beyond the current scope of the plugin.
Ultimately as Rico says, the site owner has the choice to use it or not but I find Connie’s perception of this as link whoring quite interesting.
Anyway I’ve rambled for too long, thanks for the feedback and suggestions are always welcome.
Apparently, the spirit under which the plug-in was created and released is not how it is intended to be used in the context of the blog entry above.
I’m not quite sure what you mean there Connie, the plugin is released as open source software for people to do whatever they want with.
I’m still finding this discussion fascinating, as a simple coder my only concerns are something along the lines of “Can I make the plugin do X? Y? Can I do it more efficiently? Faster?” and so on. It’s quite a blinkered approach really.
For example Rico mentions above how he uses it to automatically generate reciprocal links.
This is blindingly obvious, but I never picked upon that as a possible usage until a friend pointed it out to me several weeks after release! I just wanted to write some code to replicate the WP dashboard and then see what else I could add.
This is a good thing, I’m guilty of getting too wrapped up in the creation process and not the end result. I suppose what I’m trying to say is, if people come up with a usage beyond what I expected, then good for them.
Again, thanks for this discussion, definitely some food for thought.
Danny: Welcome Danny, glad you’ve found our conversation interesitng. Thanks for the wonderful plugin btw. It’s clear example of how programming can make life a bit easier…
One thing I’ve noticed with the plugin though is that even if I change the number of links in the widget options dialog, it always remains at 10. Should I clear the cache for the new settings to take effect?
Connie: Once again, I concede my title should’ve been different. So I understand why you’d have that impression.
Nevertheless, I’ve tried to make it clear that I only wanted to showcase the plugin’s abilities, not to encourage links.
The title characterizes your mindset when you installed the plugin and wrote the entry. In fact, the substance of the entry is merely an amplification of the title.
A different title won’t change the context by which you intended to use the plugin. It’s a Freudian slip.
No, I don’t think so. Here’s a summary of the post’s paragraphs:
I just wrote about what happens when you use this plugin, with some exclamations expressing how cool I found it.
You so conveniently forgot to include this, Rico.
“So if someone links to Fool for Five from a post, they enjoy a link from me back to that particular page. Give me some, and you get some back.”
That is the gist of the entry.
P.S. And that is precisely why I called it link whoring in my first comment.
So don’t day it was just a case of inappropriate title.
Like I said, “with some exclamations expressing how cool I found it.”
I think the way the plugin automatically reciprocates links is cool. Don’t you?
I don’t do reciprocal linking, Rico. A matter of standards.
Rico - Thanks for the kind words and more importantly the bug report, sadly clearing the cache won’t fix it. I’ll release a minor bugfix as soon as I can (6am here, really must sleep).
Connie - Curiosity has got the better of me. May I ask why you dislike reciprocal linking? I admit it’s not something I’ve given a huge amount of thought to.
Hi Danny. Because it defeats the purpose of page ranks in search engines. Instead of relevant content landing on the first two pages, bloggers “game” search engines by reciprocal linking.
It should be noted — and I am surprised that Rico doesn’t seem to be aware of this — that reciprocal linking is penalized by search engines. That’s why services like Blog Explosion harm more than help.
Second, generic links to blogs (especially links in the form of Rico, for instance) don’t really mean much. It only means a lot in terms of narcissism. It is the links to the permalink pages, with the proper use of keywords, that boost visibility in search engine rankings.
Connie: As far as I know from my one year of blogging, search engines do penalize reciprocal linking. But only if they see that a website was set up just for that. Not all of the outbound links of Fool for Five are reciprocal. Remember that the list isn’t static; I’ve set it to pull links from Technorati every 5 hours. So theoretically, it could change that quickly, limiting the drawbacks—and benefits.
Yet this doesn’t mean I find anything wrong with reciprocal linking, at least when used in a grateful manner. There is nothing wrong with saying thank you. And what I really find cool about the plugin is that it automatically says “thank you” for me. I don’t know why that automatically qualifies as asking for links.
And even generic links don’t point to a specific post of the blog, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s irrelevant. Like when I write about good copywriting and link to copyblogger.com (Brian Clark). The whole blog itself could be considered as relevant, because sometimes the the linker wants to feature the person behind it, his outlook, his perspectives, and his niche. Whatever it is, that is the linker’s call.
Yes, “links to permalink pages, with the proper use of keywords…boost visibility in search engine rankings.” But I didn’t install the plugin for that. I see The Technorati Incoming Links plugin as a tool that automatically says thank you for me and as a way to make-up for turning my blogroll into a dropdown list. That’s what I find great about it.
You don’t need to convince me — I’m just one blogger.
A leopard does not change its spots even if you wrap it silk. Have it your way.
Connie - I’m going to sit on the fence with this one as I can see instances where it could be a good or a bad thing depending on usage. Thanks for the explanation, it’s certainly given me a few ideas for future versions of the plugin (and indeed other plugins I may write).
Rico - Plugin updated, changing the number displayed will now update correctly. Also when changing from smaller to a larger numbers of links, clearing the cache will update immediately. Thanks again for reporting this.
Nice link bait. You should thank her, Rico. Your heated conversation just made this blog post even more attractive to uhm, link-ers.
Hmm. Interesting. I should try this plugin too. Hi Danny! *thats me, feeling close*
No problem, Danny. Just trying to maintain substance in blogs.
How profound, Riz.
Thanks for the link and interesting discussion, Rico.
Just wanted to note that the newest version supports multiple instances based on link category, so you can use a generic drop-down for most of your blogroll, but use a regular link for some sites you want to highlight (and give search engine link credit to).
Cool Alan. I see your plugin’s slowly but surely getting more powerful. I’ll check out the latest version as soon as I can. And I’m glad that you’ve found the discussion between Connie and me interesting. Hope it gives you even more ideas for improvements or new plugins.