Nice tips Ben. Searching for keywords to decide on who to link to is something that wasn’t even on my radar.

Part of me (the purist part) cringes at the thought of manipulating the system like this, though. I know, I know… I’m a naive fool.

the link (URL) for google blog search is wrong. It should be > http://blogsearch.google.com/

best wishes,

CHAN

Excellent tips, Ben.

When I'm piecing together a blog post, I'll often use Google's blogsearch to find others who are writing about what I am. That way I can both add to the resources of my post, and give a little mention to worthy bloggers who have similar interests.

Thanks for your kind mention, and for the useful anchor text. Very much appreciated.

Mat – How is it manipulation? *smile*

Using keywords to find other blogs is a perfectly reasonable way to discover new content.

An element of what I'm talking about is certainly “linkbaiting” (which I don't have any issues with as a practice) but I'm also NOT focusing on A-listers or top blogs whatsoever; just on blogs that are a good match.

Thanks for the tip! I always have a problem finding new blogs to link to. I typically just link to the ones that I read in my google reader.

Thats probably why my links aren't flowing in that much either…hmmm

Finding new _relevant_ blogs is always a challenge, even with Google blog search, anyone got any tips?

technorati helped me to find new bloggers. Do not underestimate the power of other bloggers blogroll. Check out the unfamiliar names and after going further down the line you may discover a new track of bloggers. Check who commented on these new blogs. Exploring bloggers from other countries is another of my tactic.

Kim – Those are all good ways of finding and discovering new blogs. But they're also a bit more time intensive and not as appropriate when you're just looking for a quick link or two.

But definitely worth the time to discover great content out there!

Thanks for stopping by and commenting, I appreciate it.

Great advice on searching same topic blogs for relevant quotes.

No one appreciates link love like a blogger, and I'm sure sending traffic to another blog will usually pay back in referred traffic to your site.

@Mat: Sure, you don't want to do this just because you're linking.

However, I often research a blog post (which I have a habit of doing, because of a journalism background). Clearly, quoting someone, or making claims that need support, are a good reason to link. But sometimes there are also blogs that have made good points about my subject, and they did so first. So in compiling a good overview of the topic, it makes a lot of sense to link to those blogs or websites, even if only to give credit where it's due.

The result, conveniently, is a post that can generate useful traffic.

@AV Enthusiast: Generally, what goes around comes around – same holds true in the blogosphere. I always enjoy hearing from someone I've linked to when they receive traffic. Not every blog you link to will send traffic, but a link is still very valuable.

I try to do the same, but it can be very hard at times. My nice is blog design, but any search on Google for web design info tends to turn up with design firm after design firm…

Google Blogsearch is extremely useful as you said though. I'm really starting to depend on it.

Michael – Certainly with a niche as big and popular as that it'll be hard to find quality content quickly through searches.

Your best bet might be to have a very long list of RSS feeds, and dig through those with searches.

Hi ben, Thanks for being part of my blog carnival, your article will be featured on my blog soon,make sure you check back regularly.

Rdgs
Etienne

Excellent tips Ben.
I'll try and get into this habit for my future posts on my blog.

Thank God I found this blog! ;-P