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Next week we are going to discuss linking practices on our monthly Google Plus Hangout: That will be your perfect chance to ask us your questions!

Today, in preparation for that talk, we sum up the previously discussed linking topics to create a all-in-one resource to make your life easier!

1. Number of Links

2. Placement of your links

  • If you link to your page from the byline, make sure to sound neutral: Don’t promote your site, Don’t make it sound as an ad. Read on: Guest Post Bylines: Examples and Resources to Get Inspired
  • If you link to your page from the body, feel free to link to your personal social profiles from the byline. Please don’t start your guest post with your link: It’s bad manners at the very least (and a good chance to ruin your relationships with bloggers). Please, use your link in the second half of the article. Make sure to surround it with other good links. Read on: See examples of links appearing naturally in the guest article

3. Ten Commandments

1. Your own link should flow naturally (and NOT stand out) in a guest post

2. Your own link should be relevant to the surrounding context (kind of obvious after #1)

3. Your own link should be surrounded by other good trusted relevant links (think good signals and co-citation)

4. Your own link should NOT sound as an ad (even when placed in the byline): You are not promoting yourself; you are informing the reader of who you are!

5. Forget about anchor text: It always looks forced and unnatural (and will raise red flags at Google)

6. Linking out to others’ blog posts and articles is relationship building (and again good signal to Google)

7. {For publishers} Don’t be afraid to link OUT generously: This makes your article more useful (Google will love you for that as well!)

8. If your link is in the first paragraph of the guest post, the blogger will be turned off. DON’T DO THIS

9. If someone says they know what Google thinks about links, RUN!

10. To see if you are following the above rules, reread your article and answer the question: “Is it useful?”

To better memorize the above commandments, please download this graphic and take it with you; give each of your employees a copy!

linking practices guest posts

Have I missed anything?

Next week we’ll be listing some examples of articles that adhere to the above commandments during our monthly PUSH Thursday! Don’t miss it!

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Joseph

Founder at MyBlogGuest
Ann Smarty is the founder of MyBlogGuest. Feel free to contact her if you have any questions about the platform.

One Response to “Summing Up: #MyBlogGuest Linking Practices”

  1. Jon Barry @ Jon Barry's Let's Talk...

    Hi Anne

    This is an interesting post, and I am glad that some of the “rules” I allow on my posts have been adopted here too (not meaning you saw mine and copied, just we both saw value in the same things) Like a link to the author in the byline, and not just to the client – if they are allowed to.

    I have always said I do not mind if you add 3 or even 4 links in the copy, IF it adds to the story, and helps to educate the reader…. but not too keyword heavy – and think more of Long Chain Links etc….

    I know links are not bad, indeed, links out are good…. for Google, and for increasing knowledge available – and keeping your posts that bit shorter…..

    (Odd a post of 1000 or more is too big, but a post of about 600 – 700 is fine, even linking to two or three other posts of 600 – 700 – when they read them all, as some do, the word count is well over your (could have been) 1000 word post…. odd….)

    Good to see that MBG is a fluid evolving thing, than just being a static, unchanging, and in danger of becoming out dated thing….

    Thanks for all you and your team do for us!

    Posted by Jon Barry of JonBarry.co.uk – one of many blogs in the MBG available sites.

    Reply

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