Recently a friend of mine; goldfries, came up to me in the forum to tell me he’s added me into his Blogroll due to my content. Goldfries blogs about computer related topics from hardware reviews to games and has got some insightful tips on how to buy your next computer.
When he told me that, I assumed he wanted a return link as well because that’s what most bloggers want in return if they link to you. However, goldfries isn’t your average blogger therefore he told me it isn’t necessary to link back as he noticed I don’t even have a Blogroll on my blog. But then we got to talking about the Blogroll and why the need to be selective.
The simple reason as to why I don’t have the Blogroll on my blog is because I’d like my mum to able to navigate my blog. I want to remove unnecessary clutter and most importantly, keep the blog simple enough that it is about the content.
He did mention to me if he became selective and only included the blogs which were of high quality, then it would be unfair and his list would be halved. Well, I believe a blogroll can work its magic yet give you witchery. If you’re a niche blog (blogging on a selected topic), then what sort of value are you providing your readers by including a mass library of links in your own blog?
While I was mentioning this to him, immediately I thought about the ‘Links’ page websites used to have. We used it to link to almost anybody, mostly friends who had websites and this was back in the 1990s. Today, the links page is still existent on blogs too.
I believe a Blogroll or links page can be a powerful marketing channel if used sparingly and strategically. Just like how blogs can be a great marketing communication tool in corporate blogging.
In order to create this value, I would set certain requirements for my Blogroll requests. For example:
- Must be in a related industry or business
- Have 4-10 blog posts in the first month
- Must NOT be over populated by advertisements
As you can see, the requirements need not be set to the highest atmosphere. It should be enough so it would add more value to your blog at the same time benefit your Blogroll-ers by reciprocating their links.
And to be fair, if you own a personal blog than you need not be selective. Personal blogs are more ‘free’ per se and well…it is about you, your life and the people around you. However, if you run a blog in a niche market than you might want to rethink about your Blogroll.
Question of the day:
How many links to other blogs do you now have?
[tags]Blogroll, Blog marketing, Reciprocal links[/tags]
Thanks for the publicity! :P
As you said – “if you run a blog in a niche market than you might want to rethink about your Blogroll.”
I agree on that (being a niche market blogger) and here’s my story – my site did not have a BLOGROLL column in it’s early stage, I had it on a page of it’s own some place. I wanted to be selective and add only blogs that I like.
Time went by, more people added me and I was in a dilemma. I decided to make the blogroll visible just as other blogs. While there were blogs with great content that I gladly return links to, there were others with lesser quality blog content that I’m actually returning link out of courtesy which I thought it would make me look like I was carelessly “blogrolling”. It wouldn’t be polite to tell people “hey your content sucks so I don’t return the linking” either.
So what was the best move? After some careful thinking I’ve decided to label it as “Supporters” and earlier today I changed it to “Supporters & Friends”. :) I believe choice words did give it a different impression. Being a Niche Market blog, it’s definitely than having a label that made it look like “Hey these are the sites I like / recommend”.
:D
Wow!
Well, sites that I would recommend not only produce quality content but I too would know the blogger’s personality.
As I can see, blogs are personal communication tools as well as marketing tools. And if the blogger themselves don’t have a good personality then I’m risking my ‘reputation’ in recommending them in a blog like mine.
But yes, not intended to tell them – your blog is not good enough. I’d rather put it, your blog is weak in certain areas you might want to look at.
Mine ain’t all strong as well. :)
Enough la, two of you are “strong” enough :P
Well, I will add sites/blogs that I like without letting the owner know most of the time. Heck, I think you’re good, then I will recommend you; I wouldn’t really request a some sort of link exchange :P I believe that people should only add my site/blog if they think its worth it :)
I got list of my frequent places as well, but haven’t figure out where to insert into my current layout. :( Will do a major revamp on the layout again after I finish my exam :P
James:
I see you’ve become a fellow follower for both our blogs. And I might add, your blog is also pretty good in content. I like the cast of bread story currently. :)
For your hurdle, you could place your list on the sidebar area below that twirling symbol. After all, you are running a personal blog. ;)
Actually I would count them, 100 links / page. Taking away the nofollow links.
There is no harm giving out some links (good ones) since it does not cost the owner of the blog anything usually.
Agreed. It is no harm to the author but when you get carried away, it does affect the blog in some way down the road. :)
You have some top notch content here man…. I’m reading thru this blog and it’s awesome stuff!
Thanks beef.
This makes me more motivated to produce more content of the same quality or better. :)
Among the personal bloggers, some think linkage is like high school “you friend me, I friend you”, so if they link to me, I should give a reciprocal link.
For awhile I did try to link in return because it was the kind thing to do. I put those links on a separate page. My blogroll proper only consists of those friends and people whose blogs I read every day.
That is another way of doing it but also adds an unnecessary page to your blog. Nevertheless, a personal blog has more freedom to dwell in.