I was doing some reputation management research for a client the other day when I came across the blog directory on the site of a national legal organization. On blogs, we refer to a list of other blogs as a “Blog Roll”. The reason why I was studying this list was due to the writing of a particular blogger. The blogger claimed to be a law student and their blog was dedicated to “going off” on attorneys, judges, and law enforcement. The actual blog had no name or address associated with the it or the blogger. Furthermore, the domain of the blog was purposely registered behind a proxy to keep its owner’s name anonymous. After reading the summary on the blog directory of the national legal organization, it dawned on me that they might have just listed the blog without verifying if blogger was really a law student. So I sent them an email and actually confirmed it. This inspired me to write a quick post on blog rolls to help you better understand them. I will also provide a short list of common mistakes and misunderstandings bloggers make with them.
What is a blogroll?
The word was actually invented as a part of the orignation of the blogosphere. As you might expect, there is not a lot of history behind the origination of this word. So, I’ll have to lean on Wikipedia’s glossary of blogging terms in order to define it. A blogroll is:
A list of other blogs that a blogger might recommend by providing links to them (usually in a sidebar list).
The beauty is that most blogging software comes with a blogroll widget built in making the implementation of a blogroll a snap. Still, there are a few things you should know about blog rolls and a few things you should avoid.
Blogroll Guidance
Don’t Try to Be Cool Via Your Blog Roll
A common mistake many bloggers make is trying to compile a “Who’s Who” list on the side of their blog. I would challenge a blogger to think through why they are listing someone else’s blog on the side of their blog. Do you have a relationship with the blogger? Are you a regular participant on their blog? Are they a regular participant on your blog? Though it might be helpful to your readers to post a list of other blogs on the Internet that compliment your content, I’d challenge you to use that potential blog roll as a list of bloggers you should goal yourself at getting to know. That exercise alone will make you a better blogger.
Do You Really Recommend The Blog?
This question really gets back to my first point. If you don’t know the blogger or you aren’t a regular participant on their blog, how can you know whether you really recommend the content. There is a blogger whom I know and respect that has a pretty crazy blog. So crazy, you never really know where the content is going to go in a given day. Though I like the blogger, I can’t really recommend them to my readers as their random content could create a credibility issue for me.
If you treat your blog roll like you would making a recommendation on an auto mechanic to a friend, you will serve your reader better.
Non-Contextual Site Wide Links and SEO
There are many myths about Search Engine Optimization (SEO). One of the biggest myths is the belief that linking to another good site is good for the SEO of your site. Though links within the content of your blog posts are well received by search engines, the real power of a link is when another powerful blog or website links to your blog. Second, non-contextual links, or links that are not within the content of your post, are perceived differently by search engines. When you place a link in your sidebar and the sidebar appears on every page of your blog, this is called a site wide link and Google understands this. If you have created your blog roll for SEO purposes, you might want to rethink this strategy.
If You Respect Another Blogger, Treat Them Right
If you link out to another blogger in one of your post, you are building credibility for them with your readers. That all depends on how I set them up in my copy. An example of setting someone up the right way would be something like:
One of the best explanations I have found on the topic of engine overheating can be found at Mike’s Auto Repair blog . . .
The second think you can do for a blogger is give them a good, context based link.
Since I have established that non-contextual links aren’t the best thing for another blogger’s blog, I’ll provide some guidance on how to help another blogger out with a contextual link. Basically, by linking to content on another person’s blog from within one of your blog posts, you are doing several things for them. The first is you are sending a signal to a search engine that is very positive. The second is that the search engine will use the anchor text of the link or the text around the link to assign some sort of context or meaning to the connection. The anchor text is the words on which you place a link. The right way is to use anchor text that has contextual meaning. The wrong way is to place the link on the anchor text “click here” as it provides no context to the search engine. Obviously, providing context is hard to do in a sidebar since sidebars are just a list of links. Here are two examples:
The Right Way
Jerod Morris runs a really good sports blog that focuses on Midwestern sports.
The Wrong Way
Jerod Morris runs a really good blog. To read it click here .
Summary
Putting a blog roll on your blog is a good way to share with your readers a list of blogs that you like. Before you just start adding links on the side of your blog, think about what you are trying to achieve with the list. More importantly, use that list as a starting point for engaging with other bloggers both on their blog and in social media.
