Take every pro-blogger out there and all will say the same thing: “Write link posts!” What are the reasons behind such an advice? Why would you send people away from your blog? Stop. I truly hope you did not just ask yourself that!
Writing link posts is definitely not about sending people away, but rather about guiding your users to even more wonderful content and letting other bloggers know you appreciate their work, just as you would like yours to be appreciated.
But just like with almost any other type of blog posts, there are some things you could do to make it GREAT instead on a simple or even a good link post.
1. Find new content
If the article or information you’re linking to has already been linked to by the most important/influential bloggers in your niche, there’s a good chance yours will only add noise and not value. The “new” factor will be lost, and with it, your readers’ attention.
2. Find relevant content
It’s always best to keep the links close to your blog’s main topics if you’re blogging in a niche. General blogs or news blogs could make exceptions, but most times your readers will need and look for more information in the same area of interest.
3. Find useful content
The best content is the content that satisfies the reader’s needs. May it be the need to engage in a conversation on a controversial topic or the basic need for help/advice, the posts you link to have to have the quality of being useful to your readers, and who knows them better than you?
4. Offer content previews
Whenever possible, offer a short excerpt from the article you link to, just enough to give users an idea of what to expect from the link they’re about to click. Keep your excerpt short though, to avoid unnecessary conflicts or duplicate content issues.
5. Add your own comments
Your followers respect and read you for your views and opinions. Give them the chance to find out what you think and feel about the link you provide in a small, descriptive paragraph. This way, you’ll gain both a new link for your post, and also make it “readable”, instead of “clickable”. Together with point 4, this easy-to-do thing keeps readers on your page for a little while, which is always good for statistics, user engagement and why not, ad exposure.
2 Bonus tips:
a. The bigger, the better
The more links you provide the better, BUT, always respect the five tips above. It doesn’t matter if you link to 5 or 500 articles, quality of links should be top notch. Collection posts have a good success rate on social media as users look for a place where they can find all the info they need on a certain topic.
b. Use contextual links
Whenever possible, try not to use “Read the article here” or “Read more” link. Use contextual links, like “Check out these (start link)10 amazing free WordPress themes(end link)”. Helps readers identify the information easier and also, the bloggers you link to will appreciate it even more.
Writing a great link post is not that hard as long as you follow these easy tips. It’s finding the right content to link to that’s harder, and that’s what you need to go and look for yourself!