Legacies, Links, Bad Ads And Puker Powder
August 12, 2008
I really wished I hadn’t read this post on Itty Biz before I went on vacation: Sell More Stuff – A Recipe For Madness.
Naomi discusses Puker Powder and how some businesses would do far better offering fewer choices. And I drove myself mad whilst I was swimming thinking about the businesses that offer an abundance of choices and wondering whether they’d fare better if they kept things simple.
And I couldn’t read many blog posts while I was away but, this one on Blogging Without A Blog made me think a lot. In Barbara’s interview series with Lorelle, they discussed how people who did personal journal type blogging were really important as they were creating a legacy for folk to read thousands of years down the line.
The idea interested me, so I immediately began writing a journal of sorts. Don’t know how I’m going to find the time to fit it in, but I couldn’t resist the idea. Do you write an online journal? Do you hope folk will benefit from reading it hundreds of years down the line?
Some of Vered’s recent posts on bad advertising, like this one: Powerful Men, Half Naked Women made me take a good look at some of the ads around me. A few bars I passed had signs like: Come in this evening and get drunk. I couldn’t really fathom why a bar would want to attract customers who’d get absolutely hammered, throw up, throw punches and throw furniture. The signs certainly put me off returning in the evening.
But the hotel’s video ad for their nightclub would have had Vered writing a stern letter to the management. It featured scantily clad girls dancing about and downing drinks and the caption went something like: Great Music, Great Drinks, Great Women.
Given that the majority of folk staying at the resort were families with children, or couples, I’m guessing that the video offended lots of people and the disco didn’t get much trade. And it left me wondering whether their marketing department really understood their target market at all.
A comment I read by Monika Mundell on this post: Authority and The Importance Of Linking, also made me think. Monika writes some brilliant and thought provoking articles, including this one: 8 Attributes Of An Olympic Mindset. And in this comment, she said: “Why link to a persons name if we can link with the correct keywords instead? It gets my blog boiling when I see people link to me with Monika. Sorry, but that does jack s*it for link love.”
This really made me think, because I’m sure that I have committed the linking sin that Monika described. Are you guilty too? Maybe we need to think more carefully when linking out to others and make sure they’re receiving the full benefits.
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That’s quite a potpourri of ideas you have on this post, Cath
I just started journaling again after stopping for some time and it really helps me to de-stress. Although it takes up time, it actually creates time in the long run since you’re so much more productive when you don’t have all of those extraneous thoughts running around in your head.
Marelisa’s last blog post..Six Scientific Ways to Create True Happiness
Hi Mare – That is a brilliant point. Freeing your mind of all those thoughts actually does free up time too. I guess that’s another great reason for journaling.
Hi Cath – sounds like you did lots of thinking on your holiday! It’s interesting how a change of scenery can help in the ideas department. I’ll have to check out the link thing!
Robin’s last blog post..Letting Creativity Just Slip In
Hi Robin – the change of scenery really helped. I’m not used to going to places to do very little other than relax and it really gave me heaps of time to think.
I didn’t realize that link love could make someone mad instead of happy.
This is rather disturbing.
Cath, you know that I’m usually mild-mannered and try to avoid conflicts. But I have to disagree with Monika. Sometimes it’s natural to link to a person’s post title. But sometimes, it’s natural to link to their name. It depends on the post.
I am grateful for any link love and plan to continue linking in a way that works with my posts.
If I ever link to anyone and they find my link-love offensive, they should let me know right away, so that I can remove the offensive link.
And a question – to you or to Monika: if I do feel that I need to link to a name (and here, for example, it was an integral part of the post:
http://momgrind.com/2008/08/04/oops-outed/
would it be better if I add the blog’s name to the link???
Vered’s last blog post..I Am Watching You
Hi Vered – I’m always grateful for any links. And I hadn’t really thought about using suitable keywords when I link out, until Monika mentioned it, so I’m not completely certain on what’s best to do.
Would the post title be better, or the blog name, or related keywords be better? Hopefully Monika or someone else will explain what is best.
A little while ago, I also read that we should also be linking post internally within our blog. I do that at the end of posts using titles of related posts. But I’m not sure whether that is the right way to do it.
Hi Catherine,
It sounds like your vacation gave you lots of time to think and come up with good ideas. Being away from it all, often sparks our creativity.
Thanks for the link love. I truly appreciate it.
Barbara Swafford’s last blog post..Blog Visitors – Like Kids In A Candy Store
Hi Barbara – it was great. I can’t remember when I last had the luxury of so much time to think. You’re welcome for the link love. I absolutely loved your interview series with Lorelle.
@ Vered: I appreciate your opinion. I actually did write that we can’t look a horse in the mouth (meaning it is a gift so why complain) in the comment I made on Cath’s other post.
However, I’m not getting mad when I do get linked to with my name. After all, it is a gift. But, I also think that in order to give the gift proper, why not do it proper and help that person even more by linking to their post or their blog name which often contains a keyword.
We are all in this with an end in mind right? Most of us blog with a purpose. We want to rank well in Google. Otherwise, why bother if nobody can find your ramblings.
You might say; “no, I don’t have a purpose but to write” and that is fine too.
My comment was intended to make people think when they link out instead of using whatever comes to their mind to link. I understand that we might not see this in the same perspectives. I suppose I am also a niche marketer so I see linking as a means to pass on some real Google juice and when I see people using names or click here as a hyperlink I just shake my head in disbelieve.
Also, doing it proper (in my eyes) doesn’t take more time either. It’s just as easy but carries more weight altogether. (At least for search engines).
Hope this explains what I meant.
@ Cath: Thank you for your link. As you probably know, I’m always grateful for any link (who wouldn’t be) and I hope I didn’t stress you with my comment I made on your holidays.
I merely tried to educate people on what is right and wrong given from the view I explained to Vered.
In the end, bloggers can link however they want. They are in control of their own blogs.
Hope this explains
Monika Mundell’s last blog post..8 Attributes Of An Olympic Mind Set
Ooh, another “cock up” – I’ve just started tagging and I do so with names. Good thing I read this! I’ll start using blog names and other keywords instead now…
Thanks for the tip!
Cheers,
Alex
Alex Fayle’s last blog post..Commitment to Growth: Tina Su Interview
Hi Monika – Of course you didn’t stress me. But as soon as you mentioned it – I thought – shit, I do that sometimes. And I’d never given it much thought so I was glad you pointed out that it’s not the best way to link.
Hi Alex – that’s the great thing about these discussions. We can all learn something new from each other.
@ Alex @ Cath: thanks guys for not taking this the wrong way. My earlier comment was meant to educate and nothing else. What each of you does with it is up to you.
Discussions are great aren’t they? They help us to see other views and really make us think on whether we do is right or wrong. Often there is no clear answer to this anyway, just a guideline I guess.
I’m glad your blog is back up. Not sure what happened.
Monika Mundell’s last blog post..How To Beat Lack Of Motivation
Hi Monika – I appreciate your contributions. I don’t have all the answers – if I did this blog would be boring. And the discussions help us to share ideas.
Was it my blog that was down again? That is happening a lot. I think I’m going to have to change hosts, or even get my own server.
@ Cath: Neither do I (have all the answers).
Yes, your blog came up with a CPU warning amongst others. I have no idea what that means actually as I have never seen this before.
I see you are with Bluehost. A friend of mine had huge issues with them too. I recommend Hostgator. Top live support, great prices and never an issue for me.
Monika Mundell’s last blog post..How To Beat Lack Of Motivation
I’m aware of the anchor text issue in links. When linking to a post I’ll generally use the post title as the anchor text. When linking to a home page I might use the person’s name and the blog name, or sometimes I’ll just use a keyword instead if it’s obvious what to use.
But sometimes it’s natural to use the person’s name as the anchor text, and so writing for people conflicts with writing for search engines. Sometimes it just looks awkward when people force keywords into the link. I’m mostly OK with it since I understand what they’re trying to do, but some people might think they’re on drugs.
And how do people know what keywords to use when linking to you? Like what keywords should I be targeting? I have no idea!
Hunter Nuttall’s last blog post..Mister Rogers Addresses The U.S. Senate
Thanks Monika. None of us know everything but blog discussions give us access to several brains – it’s brilliant,
Hi Hunter – If the post is well written, it’s difficult to know what keyphrases the poster is optimizing for isn’t it? I guess that sometimes it’s safer to go for post titles, or names when it’s more appropriate. I guess we’re lucky, as our names are our blog titles.
@ Hunter: You raised some interesting questions. I think if you are forced to use an appropriate keyword you can always use the blog name. When people chose a blog name they do so with a reason. It might be a name they like or a keyword they target. It could also be their own name which then is fine to link to because you are giving that person a link carrying weight.
To find out what keywords people usually target is hard, unless you know the blog owner and are a regular reader, or the blog URL is obvious, like (coffeebeans.com).
If I’m not sure, I usually link to the post title, which often contains keywords anyway. It really depends too. Bloggers who blog diary style usually don’t care about keywords and such and I do understand why they wouldn’t want to use links as a means of giving keyword juice.
Hope this helps.
Monika Mundell’s last blog post..How To Beat Lack Of Motivation
Monika, when you say “Sorry, but that does jack s*it for link love”, that’s a strong statement. I am generally an easygoing person, but this was quite shocking. Just the idea that I would link to someone and they would be annoyed with my link because I didn’t do it “right” kind of takes the fun out of linking.
Anyway. Hunter said “writing for people conflicts with writing for search engines” and I think this captures it really well.
I do NOT write for search engines. I write for people. It’s not that I don’t want a high pagerank. Of course I do. But it’s not my first priority. My first priority is to write engaging content that would be fun for me to write and interesting for people to read.
When I link, I do it more as a way to reach out to my community and to communicate with them, and not so much as a way to help them build their pagerank.
However, as you said Monika, our blogs are very different and our goals are probably very different.
Having said that, what I’m taking from this discussion, is that it’s a good idea to link to person’s blog name instead of, or in addition to, just their first name. I have no problem doing that, and will keep that in mind.
When it’s natural to link to a post title, I could certainly do that too. But it can’t be forced. If I start forcing these things, blogging will stop being fun.
Vered’s last blog post..No More Bikini Mishaps (Wordless Wednesday)
@ Vered: It seems to me you took my statement personally if nothing else. Like I originally said, some people might not agree with me and that is fine. I posted this to educate people and they can take it or leave it.
You choose whatever it is you want. I have no problem with that. If you insinuate that I wrote for search engines, then I welcome you to read my blog. I think my readers know too well that I write for them.
If I wouldn’t, I’d have already 100 banners, advertising revenue,. etc cashing in. As it happens I don’t. My blog has never been about making money because if it was I would go bankrupt today.
It’s about helping people. And to do this correctly it helps to have search engine traffic for sure. By linking to others we can help them do that. I’m no different there.
As I see it, there is also no conflict between linking correctly and still writing for people. At least I never had this conflict myself. I guess i try to think how I can give the most value to others when I do link and that is why I do what I do.
My statement might have shocked you, but in all honesty and technically speaking, it is correct.
Monika Mundell’s last blog post..How To Beat Lack Of Motivation
“Anyway. Hunter said ‘writing for people conflicts with writing for search engines’ and I think this captures it really well.”
Just to clarify, I meant that _sometimes_ writing for people conflicts with writing for search engines. It depends on the scenario.
It’s a lot more natural to say “[Bob] came to visit me” than “[make money online] came to visit me” ([] indicates links).
But using “Bob” as the anchor text doesn’t really help him rank for “make money online,” though it does boost his PageRank just the same, as far as I know.
So then you see people saying “Bob, who writes about how to [make money online], came to visit me.” It gives the right link juice, but it’s a little awkward because it’s wordy and the link is separated from the text that describes it.
In many situations, such as when linking to a post by using the title, this isn’t an issue.
Hunter Nuttall’s last blog post..Mister Rogers Addresses The U.S. Senate
[...] But there’s times when “You” and “We” are not the most effective words to use. And I learned this the hard way recently, after these posts: “Are You Blogging Like A Barbie Doll?” and “Legacies, Links, Bad Ads and Puker Powder”. [...]
[...] post was inspired by a recent discussion on Cath Lawson’s blog. Monika Mundell of The Writer’s Manifesto Blog observed that linking needs to be done [...]