Blogging Tip: Click Your Own Links
I love linkbait. Whether you’re linking to A-list bloggers or new bloggers that fit your niche doesn’t matter. Linking to get people’s attention is a great strategy.
But don’t stop there. The people you’ve linked to might not notice the link. And that defeats much of the reason for linking in the first place. If you’re using WordPress it will send a trackback to other WordPress users: assuming they allow them, and it doesn’t get caught in their spam filter. So you shouldn’t rely on WordPress to ensure that people notice your links.
Simple answer: Click your own links.
It’s good practice to ensure all links are working anyway, but it has the added benefit of helping people notice them. Lots of people might not see a trackback, but they do check their stats religiously, and they should be checking referrers. Even if it’s only 1 visitor that came from the link (you), they should notice it.
Heck, click on the links a few times. For blogs with lots of referrers, there’s a chance yours will get buried or go unnoticed.
Ultimately, if you really want someone to notice that you’ve linked to them, contact them directly. Email them and let them know you value what they wrote and linked to it for your own audience. That’s the best way to ensure they see the link and the best way to start building a positive relationship.
Hi Ben, I use Technorati to check and see who has sent me links in case I miss them otherwise. Seems like folks would soon find other blogs to visit if there’s no acknowledgement. Some top bloggers like Liz Strauss do acknowledge links while on the other hand Seth Godin doesn’t necessarily acknowledge links or comments. And, both are popular
As I think more about acknowledging links, it depends on whether your purpose is to connect to others with a conversation approach or be more of a presenter of your ideas to others without the conversations.
Great reasoning! Sometimes I only check by looking at what comes up in the field, not anymore . . . you’ve convinced me ! Thanks!
What a great relationship builder!
An excellent posting and reminder on one of the basics that we all seem to forget from time to time.
I certainly check my referrers religiously, so I understand what you mean.
But if your blog gets so little traffic that you’re the only one who’s going to click on a link, why would the other guy care that you linked to him?
Even though I check my referrers and other stats quite often, I never thought of doing this. It falls into the “why didn’t I think of that” category.
@Fagstein: Traffic through links isn’t necessarily related to the traffic your blog gets. I might link to 3-5 other blogs in 1 post, and although I don’t check that carefully, you can expect that not all of those links will get clicked heavily. Those links are there - not solely to send traffic - but to also start a relationship with the person you’re linking to.
And people shouldn’t just care about people that have high trafficked blogs - that doesn’t make any sense.
@Robert: “Why didn’t I think of that” is how I felt about this idea of clicking links, but I’ve never seen anyone recommend that people do it. I’m sure someone has, I just haven’t found them yet.
Religiously?
Ben, I have a feeling you receive email/blackberry alerts when people link to you lol.
Thanks for saying this out loud Ben. Okay maybe it was writing out loud, but it is that important. Many of our clients always ask me why I direct bloggers to link outside their blog. “You are sending them away” they always retort. My response to them is that I am casting nets, not sending customers away. When one of those people link back to their site, I send them a screen capture of the link back and then tell them the importance of the link. Suddenly the light comes on for them and they are asking me who I’ll be linking to today.
Whilst clicking helps, I don’t think it does enough.
I won’t see a single visitor in my stats, it would need to be 5-10 to be noticed especially with Stumbleupon and higher traffic links taking up a good 10 to 20 slots in the top daily referrers.
Technorati doesn’t help, it is heavily congested because I don’t use Feedburner tracking links (and thus get more links)
It is hard to spot a valuable contribution to just a list of links with some memes and lists, and those often get picked up by splogs.
I have spent a lot of time teaching people to use trackbacks, but it often falls on deaf ears. I want people to also link through to content rather than my domain if possible as that gives a better signal to Google and at the same time they can add to the conversation, not just link for the sake of it.
@Alex: Well, I get all emails to the old Blackberry, so I guess that’s true!
@Andy: I agree. It’s not enough. There’s no perfect system for tracking the people that link to you, especially as that number increases. I think clicking on the links to get a bit of attention helps - I also recommend emailing authors directly when you link to them; probably the best way to build an actual relationship.
Great tip. Never thought about it before. Also, thanks for the mention.
It might not be enough, but no one “thing” ever is, is it? You need abundant amounts of patience, good content, and smart strategies (like clicking your own links) to grow the traffic and get the attention you need to be successful. It’s all about attention. Good post, Ben.
Hey good tip Ben. I click on my own AdSense banners everyday, but never thought of this one. j/k.
No it really is a great tip.
@Chad: *chuckle* What I’d like to know is why aren’t you clicking on MY AdSense banners? Huh? Huh?
Well, truth be told I don’t have many. They’re “buried” on older stories and I’m no longer using AdSense. Too little results, too much hassle.
For my next redesign I’ll be going the sponsored ad approach. Feel free to click frequently.
that’s a good tip and I think should be practiced by bloggers. I myself make some typo error and I only find out after testing the links.
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You think people have been waiting for you to tell them to click their own links?
@Mohsin: I don’t think people should wait around for anyone to tell them anything, but I did get some positive feedback on this post. And very often what is obvious to one person isn’t to another.
Sure Ben. I meant to say that everyone secretly clicks their own links even though you are the first one to actually suggest that.
But now that I’ve reviewed my previous comment, it definitely looks as though I was scolding you.. lol. Sorry about that.