Blog Posting Mantra #4 – One Link Out

People I work with kinda get drilled on the Blog Posting Mantra, especially the centerpiece at No. 4 [cupping my hand to ear to hear from the back pew]…

Blog Posting Mantra #4: At Least One Link Out

The challenge many business people and busy bloggers have is, well, time.  Who has time to look for links? I hear (and feel) your pain. Still, linking out is important and there’s a quick-n-easy way to go about it.

If you’ve already put your ear to the blogosphere or practice Search Once and Subscribe, you’re ahead of the game. But you probably shouldn’t always link back to the same folks daily. So how do you find a post worthy of your link and in likkety-split fashion?

Find the Link in 5 Minutes or Don’t Link Out

Remember, Blog Posting Mantra #1 (Write the Post) comes ahead of # 4 (Linking out), so find the key phrase in your post.  In the recent Pruning Your RSS Bush, I had two such phrases.

First, I did a blog search for each phrase. Sometimes, you’ll need to use quotes for a phrase and it may take a minute to get the right search string. Here’s what I look for:

• Author Name: A blog with an authors name under the headline.  I’ll have a better link if the author’s name is JohnStephens than if it’s admin2 or JBoy23459.
• Relevant Content: Post-to-post, not so much blog-to-blog.  If I’m writing about jewelry (a rare thing, but ya never know) and I find a political blogger who happens to be talking about buying a necklace for his wife…I may link out if their post has relevance and value to how my post reads.
• Authority: The only reason this gets a bullet point is because folks will wonder where I stand on linking out to some super blogger.  If Stephanie A-Lister has a relevant post that adds value to my reader, I’ll link to it. If Tom brand-new-blogger has one, I’ll link to that. Also remember, we’ve only got five minutes to find a post.

Okay, let’s exercise.  Everyone in blogging position?  (I haven’t written that post yet – but great idea!)…

Here’s a key phrase in our exercise. Do a search (Google, T’rati – whatever) and report your findings in the comments or via email:

Exercise Key Phrase: creating good habits

What post would you link out to? Do you use quotes? Which search engine?

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