Related links not being used properly

webmaster · 11:48 PM

Because I thought it was an otherwise pretty good article, I am going to pick on Ryan

As all of you REW bloggers are aware, we have an option when writing a blog article to post related links similar to the references featured at wikipedia

I have been reading many REW bloggers articles lately and I don't think they understand the concept or are perhaps abusing the REW blogs and in doing so are inadvertantly hurting the quality of thier articles and blogs reputation.

Here is a sample article which I thought was pretty good on "winter curb appeal" http://www.realestatewebmasters.com/...ward/203/show/

So I am reading this thing (And I read the whole thing) and then there is our handy little related links section - now what I WANT or HOPE to see there is links related to this topic so that if I am thirsting for even more knowlege, or want to examine the sources of an article etc I can click those links and find related information.

But what do I find instead? 2 links, one that says "Alpharetta Real Estate" and the other that says "Sandy Springs Real Estate" - ummmm I thought this article was about increasing curb appeal in winter, what the heck do these links have to do with that? But I figure don't judge a book, so I click on the first link hoping (Because I have faith in my REW bloggers) that I will land on a page with relevant content. But alas - I get

Quote:

You have found the home for all of your Alpharetta Real Estate information. Search Alpharetta homes for sale using the Alpharetta MLS: existing homes, luxury homes, townhomes, and new construction for sale by price, school or location to find your new home in Alpharetta, Georgia.

I am sorry guys, but these blogs are here to help you get your knowlege and expertise in front of the world and hopefully if you write well and convince potential customers that you are knowlegable and trustworthy they will click on your bio, or on your signature for your website or on the contact button, but they are not clever ways to send yourself a bunch of keyword loaded backlinks to internal pages. This is spammy and (At least I think it is) against the rules of REW blogs.

Now don't get me wrong guys, I know why you are doing it, and I am actually very happy that you are learning SEO and the value of a backlink from a relevant source with appropriate anchor text, but the example I gave is completely out of context and is not going to make your blog the quality blog I know you guys can make it.

Ok (And Ryan totally sorry, it just happened to be the blog I was reading at the time) - now that I have said this, I am not trying to be harsh about the blog rules or anything, I am just trying to help you guys and gals become the best bloggers out there, and teach you about letting quality considerations come before SEO considerations, because this is truly the best way to do SEO

- remember to always ask youself, "Am I ONLY doing this for better search engine rankings" - if the answer is yes, then you are doing something wrong.

Your blogging buddy
Morgan

Ryan Ward · 12-21-2006, 03:57 AM

I am actually glad that you brought this up. I meant to ask about this some time ago and just did not get around to it. Also, I am not offended at all as I would prefer to use the opportunity to improve and do this correctly. I wasn't sure if the related links section would be appropriate to link to outside articles or to just leave them blank in this particular case. Honestly, I think I knew that I should have done something different here and I wasn't sure what to do so I linked to my website. I think I understand now how to improve this and I will change those links to something more appropriate. Thanks for the criticism as it will just help me improve.

webmaster · 12-21-2006, 09:35 AM

Outbound links to other sites that support your article are totally fine, like lets say I wrote an article on HUD grants, and I used a story I read on inman as part of my research, I would link to that story from related links (It's a nice way to credit your sources as well) so here is the link http://www.inman.com/inmannews.aspx?ID=60405 and I would likely make my link descriptive like "HUD Grant Article at Inman"

Now it would still be appropriate to link to my own site IF I had a lot of valuable HUD information on my site pertaining to HUD - I would link directly to my HUD section with something like "My HUD Resource Center" or something

Make sense? Your outbound links should support your content

Ryan Ward · 12-21-2006, 09:45 AM

I got it, I think. I changed the links to be "useful info" for someone interested.

kid disco · 12-21-2006, 09:48 AM

Going along with what Morgan says, I think the best and easiest way to think about it is from a user perspective. If you include irrelevant links and send your reader to an unrelated page, it's going to diminish the user-experience and you will lose trust. The search engines "think" the same way.

webmaster · 12-21-2006, 10:54 AM

Thanks CK, u da man

Ryan Ward · 12-21-2006, 11:33 AM

This makes the most sense anyway. I really was not sure about the appropriateness of outbound links. I am still a newbie

Calgary Agent · 12-24-2006, 11:01 AM

Houston we have a problem -

I read Morgan's post a few moments ago and have been checking my blog entries, trying to edit / add / delete any "spammy" Related Links I might have errantly included in my early blogging days.

Unfortunately, I'm not able to edit anything in earlier blog posts (have tried repeatedly to add photos, even ones compressed to less than 10K, as well as deleting / adding new relevant related links, but I keep getting the dreaded RED error message "An error occurred while attempting to update the selected blog entry."