Blog Links is a new feature that will appear whenever I find enough interesting links. Not every post will be as long or as detailed as this one.
In Linking Relationships Lorelle VanFosen discusses the importance of blog links.
Whether through intention or accident, the links from your blog to others are mini-letters of recommendation. When you link to an external site, you are inviting your readers, the ones you worked so hard to earn and keep, to click away. That link better be pretty special.
I tend to limit my sidebar links to sites I think are useful and/or promote what I think are good blogging habits.
I’m often asked to do link exchanges with all types of blogs and websites. I refuse all of them. If you really want to get my link attention, then give me something worth linking to, worth writing about, worth recommending to my readers. I’m not interested in your link. I’m interested in your content.
I have been asked to exchange links and have refused so far. Most of the people asking have only been interested in beefing up their pagerank. I'm not into pagerank much. I want links I like and which will help bloggers.
Read the full article.
Have you ever visited a blog that annoyed you? I have. The blogger has probably made one of the Top 13 Blogging Mistakes. The thing I hate most is background music. Every time an internal link is clicked the music starts again... and again...
Another blogging pet peeve of mine is finding so many dead blogs. When I search the 'net or visit directories I want to find blogs that are current.
In Millions of Dead Blogs Won't Stop Blogging the author says:
"200 million people call themselves ex-bloggers." That's a ton of dead blogs but it won't matter to most blog readers. Many readers may never even notice the dead blogs because sites like Digg will guide them to new sources.
These sites will help readers find blogs but they don't help with the searches. Google and other search engines will still index the dead blogs.
Bloggers will still be faced with unavailable URLs that are taken by dead blogs. This problem is made worse by spam blogs. If Blogger and other hosts delete the dead blogs then the URLs will likely be taken over by spam blogs and another problem arises.
Many people try blogging but don't stick with it. Those of us who do find our voices and stake a claim to a small piece of cyberspace. We help spread information and interact with others. As annoying as dead blogs and spam blogs are they can't stop the joy of finding a really good "living" blog to read.
