Why Are Links So Important?
Mar 13th, 2007 by msdanielle
One of the most important things to know when you’re just starting out your blog is that you have to build links to your site, and that linking is a slow and time-consuming process, when done correctly. But why are they important? Links can help you get a high ranking in Google when someone searches for something relevant to your site, they boost your Technorati ranking and Google Page Rank, which is important, and eventually that gets you lots of clicks (”traffic”), which helps you make money!
There are probably 1001 ways to get links, but the point is that you have to have them if you want a successful blog. You can draw a line between paid links and free links, but regardless, they both take a lot of research. Placing your links on “junk” sites - sites with low traffic, low or no relevant content, or essentially no chance of getting a decent Google Page Ranking - can cause more damage than good to your site’s ranking in Google, even if they’re free (sometimes those can be worse). The bottom line is, if your goal is to monetize your new blog, getting good links, and lots of them, is the name of the game.
Take John Chow for instance. He’s got over 9,000 links going to his site, which boosts his Technorati ranking and adds more value to his site. This is why he can charge $250 for a single site review!
Site Reviews
Which leads me to my next topic. One way to get free, quality links is through exchanging site reviews with other active bloggers - write about my blog and I’ll write about yours. Every other motivated blogger out there that’s just starting up is doing the same thing - trying to get traffic to their site. Exchanging site reviews gives you links to your site (”backlinks”), as well as traffic to your site from people who might not have ever found you. And you do the same for the other blogger. Interesting, yes? Did I mention this is FREE??
Here’s an example of two site reviews that I’m doing today: jakeldaily.com and www.jakeldaily.com. (I know, the sites look the same but they’re actually two different sites run by one couple.) And here’s the kicker - if you have an active blog and you’re looking for sites to exchange reviews with, contact Jason. He’s a pretty cool guy and his site has a lot of good content. Bonus!
Jakeldaily.com (Ja Kel refers to married couple Jason and Kelly) is much like many blog sites appearing these days (mine included). Jason authors the site and gives an accounting of his experiences of trying to monetize his blog. It looks like it’s modeled after John Chow’s site (same Wordpress theme, similar race car banner), but that’s not necessarily a bad thing, seeing as how John’s one of the most profitable bloggers in the blogosphere. JKD is only two months old, but it’s a good site for tips and lessons learned for beginning bloggers. Let’s hope he makes big money!
www.Jakeldaily.com is his wife Kelly’s site. While Jason’s site is all cash, Kelly’s site is all flash. Celebrity news and gossip, world news, fashion, and style tips. The site looks starkly bare, but I guess it’s not that important if she’s already making some dough from it. According to Jason, she’s already earned over $1200 so far this month. Good Job Kelly!
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I definitely think links are one of the most important aspects to monetizing and promoting your blog. There’s no better statement than the support of your peers.
I am pretty poor in doing review on others’ blog. Thank for the post, it’s make me realize the important of links.
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Very good posting !. Thanks
I have read some of your posting Dan, and it’s very useful for blogger and getting traffic.
Links is very important for search engine crawling. content and the support of your peers are also important.
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