I know that isn’t as fun of a topic as a yummy recipe or making some fabulous craft or a room makeover but it is important if you want your site to grow.
FIRST–let me just say-I am not an expert. I have researched and researched trying to get as much accurate information as I can. There is some false info out there and there is some good info out there. Do your own research don’t rely on others but with that said I will share with you a few things that I have learned.
If you want to research this yourself and I would highly recommend that you do–read articles FROM GOOGLE (webmaster tools). They are the ones who have created SEO. If you gather your information from someone other than Google you may not get accurate information or they may have interpreted the information incorrectly. Check it and see if it lines up with what Google says.
That is not to say that I didn’t read other articles besides Google–I did BUT I tried to research it and see if it was in line with Google.
Crafterminds wrote a great article on attending LINKY parties- I recommend that you read it.
Serenity Now also wrote an article that you should read about linking.
If I provided you with a link to all of the articles I read I would scare you to death. There were a lot. Once again some people claim to be the NEW BIG expert on this and when you check it against Google it is not correct, other people have written great articles on the subject.
1. links–hyperlinks –what you NEED to know.
A link is the general link to a blog. Mine is itssoverycheri.com. A hyperlink is the exact link to any particular post. The hyperlink to this post is itssoverycheri.com/2012/07/20/linky-party-etiquette-seo-and-how-to-get-featured-more/ (When you come to my blog and click on a post title the link changes from the link to my site to the hyperlink of that post.)
The Search Engines LOOK to see who you are linking to. Did you read that? They are LOOKING. When they see a lot of links not coming back to me at all (some people enter without linking to me at all) or they just see a link rather than hyperlinks that is not great for both you and me.
A Hyperlink is much better than a BLOG BUTTON–yes that is what I said–WHY–because a blog button is a general link and not a hyperlink. SO why have a blog button?–Because people see the button and recognize the blog. Just remember a blog button doesn’t greatly help either one of us, as far as SEO is concerned. A link is OK but a hyperlink is SUPERB.
When you add your HYPERLINK to a party –you do it so people can find you–you need to add, to you POST, the HYPERLINK (the exact party event) that you are attending. You wouldn’t want the hostess to feature you and only provide a general link back to your blog. Backlinks (hyperlinks going back and forth between you and the hostess) are a PLUS for both participants involved. YES hyperlinks positively affect your SEO. If that sounds like Greek to you–just follow the instructions and you will thank me one day.
If you have your HYPERLINK entered into a party but only provide a general link back to the hostess–it can affect the hostess’ SEO.
The hostess really shouldn’t feature people unless they have added a hyperlink. WHY– because it is another negative against her because there is no hyperlink in your post. The hostess then gets a double whammy hit against her–WHY? Because that would be 2 outgoing hyperlinks to you and NONE coming in to her.
2. tiny links–why making them as small as possible is bad
I understand that people are trying to make the links as small as possible so it looks neat and clean but do you want the hostess to feature you and make your link and photo so tiny that people can’t read it or see the picture? That is what you are doing to the hostess who is spending a lot of time going through all the party participants and featuring you.
3. Link party page–why are they bad and what should you do
A linky page is not a hyperlink to the exact post, so it is bad for your SEO and for the hostess’ SEO.
Don’t get rid of your linky party page–you need to leave it in place,since you used it in the past so there is some trail to the parties you entered, but it is in everyone’s best interest to stop using it immediately.
Use your party page as a way of remembering what parties you want to attend on which dates not as a place to grab all the links to add into a party.
4. Only showing a few buttons or hyperlinks and then a message Click Here for all the other parties I attend.
That is one sure fire way to make a hostess not want to feature you. It is basically saying these are the only blogs worthy of mention.
Just because you put a huge blogger’s button or their hyperlink and then redirect people to everyone else doesn’t add to your credibility–many times they either don’t do features at all or they limit their features to a few, where some medium sized blogs may feature you over and over and get traffic coming your way.
Hyperlinks to every blog party you enter, should be on the actual post. If it will take you too long to do each hyperlink–you are entering too many parties. Give the same respect to the hostess that you are wanting.
5. 50-100 links on a page is bad bad bad for your SEO
It is a negative against you to have tons of links in one post.
Copying and pasting a list of general links to every party that you might attend is not good.
Even entering 100 good quality hyperlinks looks fishy to Google
You need to add, only the hyperlinks, of the actual parties, that you ARE absolutely, positively attending.
A long list of links looks wrong to Google and you will get a hit for it.
WHAT is the BEST way to handle links?
Add in the HYPERLINK to the exact event as you enter that party.
Grab your hyperlink–save it in a word doc or an e-mail so it is easy to grab as you go to each party.
Then open up your post and add each party’s HYPERLINK that you are entering into your HTML at the bottom of your page.
Will you enter as many parties? Possibly not but it is better to have good quality hyperlinks going back and forth to each other than to have a BAD SEO cloud hanging over both you and the hostess.
HYPERLINKS to the actual event, along with great quality projects, and good photos will make a hostess want to feature you. Comments help too.
More on backlinks
More on ranking
links again
I am still learning new things all of the time–how about you? If you are wondering why I all of a sudden stopped featuring you. I hate passing by great projects but I don’t want to hurt my SEO or yours.
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