As a relative newcomer to the blogosphere (since last November), I’ve had to figure out how to promote my blog in what has become a relatively crowded space: marketing-related blogs. Just as in the early days of blogs, when every blog could list every other blog on its blogroll (source: Rebecca Blood’s book), in the not so distant past, a marketing blogger could know all the other marketing bloggers. The numbers were manageable. Not so anymore.
As Jennifer Rice writes in a post about her link policy and building traffic:
"There are a lot of well-written blogs with decent content that I probably won’t add to my blogroll. No offense, but there are too many blogs out there right now and I don’t want a blogroll that’s 10 miles long. At this point, I’m only adding blogs that are really original. They’ve got a viral component. They either have unique content (tough to do) or they’re talking about it in a fresh and different way. They inspire me to look at the world through a new lens."
So, as a newbie, you REALLY have to get it out of your head that getting on some other blog’s blogroll is going to be what gets the word out about your wonderful blog.
For two reasons. First, it is harder than it used to be (and I expect this is true for most subjects, not just marketing). With the proliferation of choices, people just aren’t going to put every site they might read on their blogroll. The other reason the blogroll doesn’t work is that I just don’t think people are as drawn to the blogroll lists as they are to the actual content of the blog. Just being on the list does not give a reader ANY reason to click over to you. Plus, as more and more people read blogs in RSS aggregators, they aren’t even SEEING the blogroll, unless they link over to the site.
So what does work? You’ll read the answer in a lot of places: Read other blogs and Comment, and Write compelling posts and Trackback.
Okay. But what does that really mean? When should you comment? When should you send a trackback, and when SHOULDN’T you send a trackback?
I’ve formulated my own policy, and to help other newbies, I decided to share it. Caveat emptor: YMMV (your mileage may vary) but I don’t think I’ve pissed anyone off, I’ve gotten some good feedback and my traffic is going up, so here it is.
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I read lots of blogs. Not as many as some, but a good cross-section of my areas of interests and a couple of linkblogs.
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When I read something interesting on a blog, and feel I have something to add, but do NOT intend to write about it in my own blog, I leave a comment. If someone links out to me, and their post has something I’d like to comment on, I leave the comment in their blog.
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If I write about the topic, and reference another blogger’s post(s), I send a trackback, but ONLY when I add my own thoughts to the topic, as I am doing now.
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Once in a while, I will leave a comment, and also write a longer post and send the trackback, but I don’t do both too too often. Usually it’s when I’d like to comment and am not sure when I am going to get around to writing about the topic myself.
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If I am simply including the other post in a list of interesting links, which I do quite often, I rarely send a trackback. Why? Because I am including the link for the convenience of my readers, and sometimes myself. If it is something interesting that I may want later, it is easier to have it in my blog than in my Favorites list. Sending a trackback to the original author just seems too promotional. Occasionally I’ll send a private e-mail under these circumstances.
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I try to send a thank you e-mail for every link out that I get. I check Technorati and other search engines daily to see if my posts are being linked to by others without trackbacks. I may miss one now and again, but I think I get most of them.
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I send a thank you e-mail to every reader who leaves a comment or sends me an e-mail.
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Last but most definitely not least, I try to write good posts that people will want to read and link to. I re-read my posts many times before they go up. If I think something has turned out crap, even if I spent a long time on it, I don’t post it.
Here are some of my other recent posts in this vein. They have links to some great resources.
Great policy… thx for outlining. I do exactly the same thing!
Thanks for great advice. I’ll use it when I’ll be promoting my own Norwegian blog.
Susan:
Great tips … as you know, I’m a new blogger too (newer than you… I still haven’t figured out how to do a blogroll!) and these are good guidelines to follow.
This is a very good post on blog linking. As a new blogger, you have taken the right approach to linking and traffic building. Your blog will certainly be a leader in the marketing field very soon!