Including Links in Your Blog

· by · in WordPress Tips. ·

When adding links to other websites in your blog post make sure your audience is opening a Window and not closing the door on your site.

Adding links to other websites is an excellent way to promote other blogs, acknowledge and give credit to authors and designers, or provide your readers with additional information and references.

What you may not realize is that if you do not check off one little box while adding your link, you may be missing out on opportunities to advertise your goods or services. Even worse, you may be robbing your readers of the opportunity to discover the great story about the really cool Amigurumi Doll you crocheted that looks just like your husband’s Jiu Jitsu instructor!

amigurumi crochet doll that looks like you

Sensei Charlie will be helping us out again today to show you what you need to do to keep readers on your blog post and not send them off to someone else’s.

I read a LOT of blogs every week. They are mostly crochet or crafting related, and many of these blogs are to promote items in the author’s Etsy Store. What I usually see is some amazing pictures of the lovingly hand crafted items they have for sale and then a link to the pattern that they used for the project. Most often what happens is that I click on the link and now I’m on another website. Which means:

  • I didn’t read the rest of your blog post
  • I’m not going to explore anything else on your site
  • I won’t click on your Etsy Store icon to buy your super cool Amigurumi Jui Jitsu Instructor Doll

Hints for Keeping Readers on Your Blog Post

  • Set added links to Open New Window
  • Include links closer to the end of your post, that way your reader will need to see your entire post before clicking your helpful link!

 

Follow these steps to add a link in your blog post.

adding links to blogs 1

Highlight the text that you want to make as your link. Then click on the Add Link Icon in your Editor menu.

adding links to blogs 2

Copy and Paste (or type) in the URL of the website or blog post that you want your link to point to. Or for my example I just clicked on the post that was in the drop down list for my website. Check off the box that says Open link in a new window/tab.

Now your link will not take your readers aka potential customers away from your awesome blog post!

I hope you found this post helpful!

A quick update to this post – One of my readers also pointed out the importance of checking your links on a regular basis. Broken links are not only frustrating, they also look very unprofessional. Go back and check your links every now and then to be sure everything is working and up to date!  Thank you Jan for bringing this up! 😀

Thanks for reading!

~ Tami

38 responses to “Including Links in Your Blog”

  7. Great advice, Tami ~
    I am in the habit of right-clicking when I want to go to a link in another blog and select “Open in new tab” so if they don’t have that option checked I won’t lose my place on the page I’m reading.
    If that happens on one of my links, it’s an oversight. I corrected one last week, so let me know if you come across it on my blog.
    It’s also a good idea to check those links every few months. As a reader, it’s frustrating to click on a link and the page no longer exists. I admit I haven’t done this on mine, but if I know the original link is broken, as the writer, I can find it again if it’s moved or find another reference. If I can’t find anything, I’ll remove the link.
    Jan

    Liked by 1 person

    • There’s so many things that I check and double check before I hit that publish button. Honestly sometimes it takes me longer to get through my checklist than it does to write the post!! 😀

      Like

    • Thanks Brenda! Part of my ‘real’ job is to blog and write product descriptions and other content for a janitorial supply company. I didn’t even know what SEO was until a few years ago.

      Liked by 1 person

      • My pleasure.😊I’m just now seeing your comment. I had no idea what SEO meant when I started seeing it pop up on different posts. I decided to find out as much as I could.😊

        Liked by 1 person

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