I have read hundreds of articles on linkbuilding, most of them say the same thing. It is common to see things like go out and find forums with do-follow links and spam the crap out of them to get signature links, or comment on 50 blogs a day (I used to do this), use link wheels (not even sure what that one means!), and the most recent one I read about was link stacking. I found the last one to be interesting because it was something that made sense, and I had never heard of it. Whether or not it works, I am not sure, but it would be worth testing on one of my sites.
I have touched on linking out and the benefits for your site and your readers, I even did a crappy video on linking out (turn your volume up, my mic was terrible!). I firmly believe the benefits of linking out to high authority sites, with relevant content, will benefit not only your readers, but will benefit your site. Not only do I believe it, but I am changing the way I build links.
I was a firm believer in commenting on blogs, not just commenting, but adding value by asking questions, challenging the writers theories, and replying to other commentors. I used comments mainly to self promote, as well as linkbuilding. I already posted a video by Matt Cutts that hinted at the fact that comment links aren’t weighed the same as content links.
Starting today, I will not be commenting on blogs for the month of March, I will be commenting much less on other blogs. I commented on one blog today about the 15 Most Influential Bloggers, that was my last comment for this month I will be commenting on posts that encourage me to comment because they have compelling arguments, I want to ask a question, and challenge my own opinions. I am challenging the notion that you have to comment on blogs to build links.
I usually reply to most every comment on this blog, I think it helps build up community within the blog. For the next month, I will be responding to less comments here. An example would be if someone comments debating a theory I am discussing, asks a question that needs an answer, or writes a comment that absolutely needs a response. This isn’t because I don’t appreciate the comments, it is more so I don’t pad the comment numbers by replying to every comment.
I will still be reading all the articles in my reader (I use Google Reader), most comments will come in the form of Tweets now. As I wrote about last week, I unfollowed everyone in my Twitter and am slowly following the ones I actually interact with. When I read a good article, I will write a short comment and tweet the link out to my followers. Since removing all the bots from my Twitter stream, I have a new outlook on Twitter, and I find myself using it more and interacting with people more.
I saved the best for last. Instead of working on linkbuilding in the “normal” way. I will be linking out to 3 or more articles in every article I write. If I see articles you write that are relevant to something I am discussing here, I may link to it in my post.
By doing this I hope to accomplish several things:
What do you think, am I thinking too far outside the box? Would you be willing to make changes like this? Why or why not?
Related posts:
I think that your idea is right on. Also by doing this you’ll probably encourage more bloggers to link back to you. It’s a great concept. I’m definitely going to continue trying to link out more often and more effectively.
.-= Nicholas Z. Cardot´s last blog ..The 15 Most Influential Bloggers in 2010 =-.
I really thought that commenting should also be part of social networking as it connect two people to each other to share their ideas..that you are sharing by your post and we are sharing by comments.
Keith
Definitely an interesting case study that you are performing. Watching consistently what is going on a decent amount of blogs, I have been seeing the linking out and we know that if it was not a viable link building strategy we would not see it as much as we have been lately.
I love commenting on blogs as I see it as a chance to thank the author and let them know I am around and not just lurking. I do not pay much attention to the follow/no-follow so a study like this may put me into withdrawls!
Look forward to your results for sure.
.-= Suzanne Vara´s last blog ..How to Perform A Location Search =-.
I am noticing internal linking within my own site seems to be helping a little (I am sure of it) so I try and point to another post at least in every new post to keep the spiders building that web of my site….
As for linking out it certainly pushes sites to visit yours and sometimes you get a reciprocal link, plus Google will see you are giving links to websites they already value and may well boost you for such activity…. who knows.
I won’t feel offended if my comment does not get a reply
.-= Forest@Frugal Living´s last blog ..Get Over The Fear Of Cooking At Home… =-.
I will be interested to know your findings!
.-= Shannon O | Confessions of a Loving Wife´s last blog ..Quick and Easy Cleaning – Get Your Home Ready for Last Minute Guests =-.
It seems a little strange not to comment on blogs for a month but I guess it’s like a test. As far as not replying to every comment I have noticed a lot of bloggers doing that and it doesn’t seem to effect the number of comments they get. I try to reply to each comment for interaction but to each his own. It does take time and we have to do what works for us in he time we have.
Interesting stuff Keith. I will say this though… Man, you sure do think a lot lol
.-= Brian D. Hawkins´s last blog ..Connect With Me – Leave Your Links =-.
@Brian D. Hawkins, It has only been 2 days, and I don’t know if I can handle it! I have seen some great articles that I really wanted to comment on, so I may have to re-think my vision of going a whole month without commenting. I am a guy that usually comments on 20-50 blogs a day, but I was trying to prove a point that commenting on blogs is not necessarily a good linkbuilding strategy.
Not replying to every comment is probably something I can handle, but I think I will have to reply to most of them.
Anyway, mostly I was trying to go to a certain extreme to make my point about linking out to other sources, instead of trying trick people into staying on your site.
Anyway thanks for comment, and of course for your support.
.-= Keith Bloemendaal´s last blog ..Social Media Etiquette =-.
This is indeed linkbuilding outside the box! I have been considering the idea of linking out as advocated by you but have not done much of it. Reading your post right now has indicated to me that this must be a good idea of encouraging other blogs to link to your blog.
Thanks for sharing.
Hi Keith,
I’m no expert on such tactics but what you write makes a lot of sense to me and I think your change in approach will yield very good results. ( and I’m looking forward to seeing if that is the case)
By the way, if you’d like to break your March rule by leaving a short comment at whatawebsite, I’d really like to add this site to the blogging section ( or alternatively just send me an email/tweet/smoke signal if you’d like to be included!)
Cheers
Will
P.S. Almost all my comments are now ( for the same reasoning) also in the form of tweets ( in a “favourites” tweet widget in the right hand side bar).
.-= Will´s last blog ..wchingya.com =-.
@Will, I really would like to see hotblogtips on whatawebsite!
I remember that Will did a great thing by inviting me to his community and blog.
.-= Hesham @ FamousBloggers´s last blog ..Guest Blogging Contest =-.
I see now a bright future of your blog Keith!
I watched the video, it’s very nice, and I hope to see more of that here.
I can not imagine my blog with out (me) commenting on other blogs and I agree with you on what you have said about out linking!
To optimize your posts for search engines I discovered that it’s recommend to add a link on each paragraph of your post no matter it’s internal or external link, it’s your choice! but I prefer to do both.
.-= Hesham @ FamousBloggersTips´s last blog ..Guest Blogging Contest =-.
@Hesham @ FamousBloggersTips, Haven’t heard that theory about having a link in every paragraph.
I plan on doing more videos after I get my new webcam, hopefully in the next week or so….
I only made it a couple of days without commenting, so that didn’t work well, but I am limiting it to posts that are really compelling.
.-= Keith Bloemendaal´s last blog ..Bloggers That Influence Me =-.
This is an interesting experiment. My experience with Twitter is that commenting is like pissing down a well. It feels good but nothing else happens. Have been trying to understand why everyone thinks it is so wonderful. Maybe your results will get me over the hump.
@Ralph, I have had a good response to it, especially since I unfollowed 3k people on my account and have only added a little over 100 back. I can actually interact much better and am enjoying using Twitter again.
All I can say about your experience is that Twitter works well if you use it, interacting with people who you have things in common with and not just following everyone that follows you should help. (following you now).
.-= Keith Bloemendaal´s last blog ..Bloggers That Influence Me =-.
Very interesting experiment. I’m looking forward to see the results when you post them. I guess you will get a little less traffic due to lack of commenting on other blogs. Let us know.
.-= Marko´s last blog ..How Do You Start Your Day? =-.
@Marko, Not because of traffic (because it is still steadily increasing) but because I am addicted to commenting, I broke that promise yesterday. I will be more selective in why/where I comment now to try to limit it, but I was literally going through comment withdrawals!
.-= Keith Bloemendaal´s last blog ..Bloggers That Influence Me =-.
Ok, this is the second post that you’ve written that has me hooked. I cannot wait to see your results.
Personally, I find it overwhelming to comment on blogs, research posts, go to forums to comment (though this has given me great ideas), reply to comments on my blog, twitter, stumble, create sites for others, write articles, research affiliates, and repeat.
I find that somewhere in the middle to end of the week, I’m just behind. I’m still struggling for a balance that I enjoy, but pays the bills. There’s so much contradictory information that I can’t believe people ever figure it out.
I’m still scratching my head over 20-50 comments a day. I’m doing well if I like and find time to comment on 5 a day.
Well, off to my other 4 blogs of interest. Standing by for the tweeted update.
.-= CJ @ Online Technical Writing´s last blog ..Technical Writers as Linchpins: Are You Indispensable? =-.
You’re back tracking and I don’t understand why.
You stated in the no follow post that commenting was not really helpful for link-building, and should be used for relationship purposes anyway, OK, now you’ve stopped commenting for a month because it is not really helpful for link-building.
Huh?
.-= Dennis Edell´s last blog ..DEDC Updates – What the (Near) Future Holds for You and I! =-.
@Dennis Edell, Ya, I was trying to prove a point, but I am addicted to commenting, so I am still out there…. just being more selective and not commenting on 20-50 blogs a day like I used to. The article has to push my buttons….
.-= Keith Bloemendaal´s last blog ..Bloggers That Influence Me =-.
Thanks for the tip Keith. If nothing else, linking to other blogs in your posts is good linkbait to encourage them to link back to you and check out your site.
.-= Nathan Miller@H. Pylori Treatment´s last blog ..H. Pylori Treatment and Cure =-.
I know, and my question was basically, what was the point? lol
They’re not good link builders, but since they are good traffic sources, why not 50 per day?
.-= Dennis Edell´s last blog ..$100 – 10 Winners – Comment Contest! ‘Till Months End… =-.
@Dennis Edell, Since cutting back on my commenting, my traffic has continued to raise at the same rate, it has been less than a week so I will continue to watch. But, because I freed up bout an hour (sometimes 2) a day by commenting less, I am able to do other things to promote my site, I can write more guest posts, I can build more relationships on social media, etc…
.-= Keith Bloemendaal´s last blog ..8 Main Factors that Affect Search Engine Rankings =-.
@Keith Bloemendaal,
OK then, we need to discuss promotional tactics. I stop commenting and my traffic suffers…gimmie your secrets boy!
Edited to add – Oh man, my latest post is like a kick in the jewels ain’t it…sorry bud. LOL
.-= Dennis Edell´s last blog ..$100 – 10 Winners – Comment Contest! ‘Till Months End… =-.
@Dennis Edell, I would tell you all my promotion secrets, but then I would have to kill you
Maybe that would be a good e-book idea…..
.-= Keith Bloemendaal´s last blog ..8 Main Factors that Affect Search Engine Rankings =-.
@Keith Bloemendaal,
A most excellent free ebook idea!
.-= Dennis Edell´s last blog ..How Do You Cover SEO *Per Post*? =-.
@Dennis Edell, FREE?!?!?!?! LOL Yes of course it would be free!
Wow 50 comments a day? You have good stamina..I get burnt out responding to just a couple I must be getting old, good luck on not commenting seems like you may already be going through withdrawals. I think John Sullivan may have a cure for that. What you going to do with all that free time??
.-= Dan @ Blogs about everything´s last blog ..Increase your blog traffic with dofollow community =-.
@Dan @ Blogs about everything, I am trying to spend more time in social media, guest posting, and researching a few new projects I am starting this year.
.-= Keith Bloemendaal´s last blog ..8 Main Factors that Affect Search Engine Rankings =-.
Hey Keith, I have heard that Greg’s Threaded Comments [can be found through WP plug-ins] is a good add-on for those wanting to reply to comments without padding their own comment numbers. Comments are numbered normally, but replies are numbered as 1.1, 2.1 [if the reply is for the first comment, second comment, etc.]. Hope I made sense. I haven’t been able to get it to work for me, but it requires a little tweaking and I haven’t put forth the effort [that and my comment numbers can use all the help they can get]. Anyhow, just thought I would mention it.
.-= Anne Bender´s last blog ..Break Up Your Routine #OTBchallenge =-.
I read many informations inside your post, thanks for sharing your tips, i have never thinking about related to others blogs while promoting my blog by submitting articles! It’s a good way to looks less like a “spammer”, i will always do that now. ^^
PS: okay, it has nothing to do with your article but your post has giving me another idea on how to advertise on blog, i talk about your image on this post and adding a Google Adsense near it, good way to display ads. ^^ Thanks again!
.-= Sushie@ how to lose weight´s last blog ..Low carb diet =-.
[...] Linking Out – Linkbuilding Outside The Box submitted by Keith [...]
Looks like you might need to increase the reply limit in the threaded comments. lol
I was kidding on the free, but good to know!
.-= Dennis Edell´s last blog ..How Contextual Links will Open On DEDC – My Setup FINALIZED! =-.
This article interested me because in some ways it runs counter to what I’ve read before, yet in others it speaks to the “common sense” aspects of interacting on the internet.
I’ve read so many articles on link building strategies as I try to build my own business. Everyone has their own take, but it’s a lot of same-old same-old: comment on other people’s blogs as much as you can, blah blah, etc etc.
This is the first post I’ve seen on link building specifically to suggest what we hear from people like Google and others. Use your platform to communicate naturally–don’t force it. If a comment is worthy of a response, respond. If a blog post is worthy of a comment, comment.
I have to say it makes sense to me logically, especially since everyone is so out for themselves trying to find yet another way to deliberately promote themselves…but will it get the results you want?
I would be very interested in a follow up post from you Keith, to let us know how you fared!!
Thanks so much for this interesting article!
Geoff.
.-= Geoff Crane´s last blog ..Deconstructing Lady Gaga’s / Beyonce’s “Telephone” =-.
@Geoff Crane, I am all for self promotion, and I think commenting on blogs in your community is a great way to do that, but trying to trap people on your site because you are scared they might click over to a link where more information is provided just won’t cut it anymore.
I am planning to continue this as a series in the future further explaining my progress…
.-= Keith Bloemendaal´s last blog ..Dell 23inch Monitor Review =-.