This post is an excerpt from the 31 Days to Build a Better Blog Workbook
Today I’m presenting you with a task that is perhaps a little less involved than some of the days so far. I wanted to give you something that would both help improve your blog but that wouldn’t take too long to either learn or implement (although it is something that you could dedicate a lot of time to if you have time on your hands).
Your task today is to spend 10 minutes interlinking previously written posts in your archives.
Why is Interlinking Posts Powerful?
There are three main reasons why I regularly dedicate time to go back over old posts on my blog and find ways to update those posts with links to other posts on my blog.
1. Usefulness to Readers – my primary motivation for interlinking posts is to provide a better experience for those people who are reading those posts and to make my blog more useful. If a reader comes to my blog and finds a post that not only answers a question that they have but that also provides further reading and suggestions on where they can explore related topics – they’re more likely to go away from my site satisfied. A satisfied reader is what I’m aiming for – they are more likely to return (it makes your blog ‘sticky‘) and tell their network about their experience.
2. SEO – another great reason to interlink the posts on your blog is that search engines look at the links within a blog to both find content to index but also to work out how to index and rank content. Links from other blogs to your blog are the ultimate way to start ranking highly in Google – but internal links also count.
3. Increase Page Views – inserting links into old posts increases the chances of a visitor to your blog viewing more than just the one page. This has a couple of benefits – the first being that it can help you earn more from that visitor if you’re running some kind of CPM (cost per impression) advertising. The second reason is that you’re creating a bigger impression upon the person visiting your blog. I find that when someone views more than a single page on your blog that they’re more likely to remember it, subscribe to it, comment upon it and become a regular and loyal reader.
While these three benefits all seem fairly small when you think about the benefits that a single link might bring – if you start building the interlinking of posts into your daily blogging experience the accumulative impact that it can have on your blog will be significant.
How to Add Links to Old Posts
There are a variety of methods of interlinking posts from your archives. Here are three main ones that I use:
1. In post links – I find that this is the most natural way to add links to an old post. All it involves is making a keyword (or words) in your post into a link that points to another post on the topic of that keyword.
2. Updates – sometimes post in your archives become ‘dated’ and are in need of an update. There are a variety of ways to update an old post but one simple one is to write a new post on the same topic and then leave a link in your old one to the new post.
For example: One popular post here at ProBlogger is How to Market Your Blog in 2007. While the post still contains useful information on marketing a blog it was obviously written over two years ago. As a result I’ve added a link at this top of this post to a page on How to Find Readers for Your Blog that points people to a variety of resources on that topic.
3. Further Reading – many blogs have a ‘further reading’ section that appears at the bottom of each post. In most cases this is a list of ‘related’ posts that are automatically generated using a plugin. While this can sometimes provide readers with relevant results I find that adding manually chosen links for further reading can produce a more relevant experience. You can add these suggested links both at the end of the post and throughout the post itself.
Quick Tip: When linking between posts always try to make the words that you use in the link relevant keywords to the article you’re linking to. This will maximize the SEO benefits of the link and help you rank higher for those words in Google.
Make Interlinking Posts a Regular Task
While I’m suggesting that you set aside some time today to interlink some of your old posts – I’d also highly recommend that you build this practice into your blogging on a regular basis. I personally spend 10-15 minutes a week hunting for opportunities to do this but also find myself doing it in my daily blogging rhythm as I’m writing new posts.
As you write a new post train yourself to be thinking about what you’re written previously that relates to your new post. As you identify related content start to interlink your posts (you can add links in your new post to old content and/or add links in your old ones to your new content). If you force yourself to do this you’ll start to find that it becomes a more natural part of your daily posting.
Go Do It!
Take 10 minutes now to start identifying old posts that relate to one another and get going on adding a few links between them.
Update – Share your thoughts and progress with others over at the forum: Day 8 – Interlink Posts
Want More?This task is a sample of one of the tasks in the 31 Days to Build a Better Blog Workbook – a downloadable resource designed to reinvigorate and revitalize blogs. Join over 14,000 other bloggers and Get your Copy Today. |
I’ve been meaning to get around to interlinking my posts for a while but I haven’t really had enough to work with, or the ambition to get to it.
I guess I don’t have and reason to keep putting it off though, thanks for the tip.
I interlink my posts in my monthly series and when my current post is on a similar topic to what i have posted
This is a great task, and a good chance to organize and understand the content you have on your blog. Six months after my blog started, I put together a post summarizing the main categories of content on my blog, and putting links to the best articles in those categories.
http://www.3stylelife.com/?p=717
It really helped me understand what I was putting out there (35% fashion, 30% marketing, etc.) and allowed me to put that in one place (easily accessible from the main blog page).
Now, I can take that information, and easily interlink related posts, either to the main summary page or to other articles on the same topic.
A great concept that will not only help your readers, but help you understand your blog better.
-Barry
I’m doing this on all my posts and I’m glad to see that you encourage this practice!
There are some good wordpress plugins for doing this like the “Related Posts” -type plugins. Also if you write a post in two parts you’ll want to link from part one to part 2, etc.
I’ve been interlinking old posts for quite some time now and can attest to the fact that it does give a noticeable boost to page views.
Furthermore, I have also noticed improvements in rankings on some, but not all, of the old posts that I’ve linked to from newer ones.
Interlinking helps in increasing page views within your site.. It works for me.. I try it regularly!
-Mahesh.
Thanks Darren. i did not know that this would help in search engine optimization.
I will really pay attention to this, because i many times publish articles in a hurry. so don’t really interlink the articles.
Thank you so much Darren. I have been doing all these without realizing the exact impact of inter-linking the posts. Most of the times it was to ensure more useful/related information to the user, but it has lots of positive side-effects as well.
Guys, If interested, have a look at this post where I have done exactly what Darren has recommended
http://techpp.com/2009/03/26/know-understand-secure-fix-pc-latest-conficker-worm-april-1/
This is one of those tasks that iv been meaning to get around to doing but never do so now I better get on it! I will definitely take your advice and set aside time once a week to look for opportunities to link up my posts.
Thanks for another great challenge :)
Also, I would like to add that having a plugin like “in Series” for WordPress, you will be able to logically link all related posts as part of the series. I am doing the same here –
http://techpp.com/series/tv-shows-watch-online/
This is something that I have already been doing for some time. It has been useful for linking posts in my current Goat Challenge series as well as building on some older posts.
I have been interlinking in some of my new posts. I hadn’t considered going back and doing it with old posts, but this make so much sense. I often will write a follow up post, and taking a few minutes to go back and link to it will work nicely.
I am going to go do this on my book review blog, Books Unwound, as well. There, I always have a coming next blurb. Now I know that I should be adding a hyperlink to that blurb when I publish the next post.
This practice also seems like it will be a good way to revisit old posts and get new ideas and reignite some old themes.
In response to your post today I’ll be adding a couple of plug ins (one of them is related posts) and a whole new page to my website – http://www.reallifepurpose.com. I ‘m also going to add some more in-post links to my articles.
I really take seriously the advice that you give and appreciate this series.
Thanks,
Greg
I have really been meaning to go back and do this, now is as good a time as any so I guess I just need to dig in and do it.
Excellent! We did this last week so I am going to take today off from the challenge and go sit in the sun for 10 minutes instead :-)
I really like this plugin too for doing this at the bottom of every post, it seems to work really well: Yet Another Related Posts Plugin
Here’s an example: http://www.polr.co.uk/online-marketing/index.php/online-media-branding/
Oh, and the other thing I did recently was fix up our author pages to get more links in which seems to be working:
http://www.polr.co.uk/online-marketing/index.php/author/lynne/
I’ve been doing this buy splitting a long post into several and having them all interlink and by putting “If you liked this you might also like:” recommendations for further reading at the end of my posts.
For some reason I’ve completely missed putting links to other articles within the body of posts, which is so obvious I feel a bit dumb now!
I’ve kept my link housekeeping up to date till now, but will definitely add in-post links into my future posts.
I am writing a Weekly Updates Section on blog from 5 weeks. I usually put the links to older posts in the recent post so that visitors can browse all the resources on my blog. This is helpful to make loyal readership.
You can see my recent post of this section here-
http://tinyurl.com/cppnxg
Also i frequently work with interlinking with sentences or words from the post.
Interlinking (with help of 2 plugins) was last update in my blog. One is for related posts with images and second for auto-discovery words and link them to post or category.
Example: about my sisters page StudyStart.lv http://www.rolandinsh.lv/blog/2008/12/02/studystart-bezmaksas-studiju-iespejas-danija/
Another great tip. I applied this technique yesterday on an ongoing topic, consisting of three posts. The topic concerned the use of mobile phones in planes and the three posts are interlinked.
http://tinyurl.com/c2qn5l
Darren, What do say about using plugins like alinks which creates links automatically. I personally use windows live writer and it has the feature of auto linking for key words. This can save time and get your post connected to related posts for the keywords used
I will do this once I get more stuff up there. As it stands, I only started a day before we started this.
Been digging through notebooks looking for decent poems to put up more than anything else all weekend. Lots of them will be added this week.
Thanx for all the help so far Everybody…
Darren,
First of all, thanks so much for this 31 day class. As we go along, I find I am already doing many of the things you teach, but they are still great reminders.
I interlink posts periodically, but I have been meaning to go through my archives and see where I can improve old posts. This challenge will give me an excuse to finally do it.
This is a great idea. It’s obvious now you suggest it … but needed you to suggest it to make it obvious.
I tend to link to older posts when I write new content, but I’ve not thought of going back and linking older posts to newer ones.
I’ve also been meaning to go back and add some photos to my early posts. Now might be a good time to do that too.
You say this one is easy,– but it seems daunting. With four years worth of posts, I am not sure where to begin.
That being said, I will go do it,…. as I am finding your tips useful and am committed to trying all you suggest for 31 days.
http://www.thomsinger.blogspot.com
Thanks for the article darren!!
As a result of your previous I started Interlinking Posts from yesterday I think it will take some time to improve my rankings!!
I am also trying to interlink my blog to few of my friends blogs as well!!
Big THANKS for all your work!!!
This is a fantastic idea. I always have luck referring back to old posts I have made. It’s usually very easy to do. Anytime, I talk about a topic that I’ve already wrote about I simply include a brief link.
OK. I have my links to two other bloggers up today and will link to myself tomorrow. As always, thank you!
What have to do with posts that are unrelated to each other. Doesn’t it will look like a blunder to visitors?
-Mohit
This is something I always do anyway. As my archive isn’t massive yet, it’s quite easy to remember what posts I have written on what topic.
I am always slightly distressed when one of my best posts gets shoved off the front page and into the archives so I make a conscious effort to link back to it as much as possible in relevant, future posts.
Another suggestion is to create a handmade ‘best of’ page that is categorised for links to your favourite posts (the usefulness of this will depend on how many categories your blog has… Mine only has three) :)
Ta,
Sam
This is terrific as I’ve used it a few times to connect information I posted in WordPress with a related/follow-up post in Blogger and vise versa.
What I love about today’s exercise is that you have given me more insight into the added value/benefits of interlinking… like someone mentioned above, I had no idea about the SEO impact!
Below is, yes, yesterday’s link as one of my examples of how I have used this task. (urgh… hint to self; need to write some new blogs).;-)
I wrote a follow-up to my twitter experience in WordPress in March, and linked it to my original January blog about twitter in Blogger. I used the keywords “read post 1” to link both posts.
http://eof737.wordpress.com/2009/03/03/follow-up-i-twitter-therefore-i-am-not-a-twit-but-a-savvy-chick/
By the way, I just went to my TweetDeck and created a shortened url for the above http://bit.ly/Exc7
Obviously, you can tell I’m enjoying learning a ton from these assignments!
Thank you for another great 31 Day Challenge task. I will continue to use this approach when relevant!
I’ve been meaning to do this since seeing it effectively used on other blogs, just haven’t gotten around to it. Well, I started with today’s post:
“Today I am 3-5” – http://newlifeasnewwife.blogspot.com/2009/04/today-i-am-3-5.html
Now I’m on the hunt for a plugin to do an auto pull for me and implement it on both my blogs.
Thanks!
Alison
http://www.newlifeasnewwife.blogspot.com
http://www.ahotpinkpetticoat.blogspot.com
What a co-incidence , I just write an article about RED Hat Linux and dogged old post and put it there . and on the same day you write about the same technique.
http://dotgiri.com/2009/04/13/red-hat-certified-engineer-exam-preparation-rhce-dumps-exam-questions-guide-rhce-free-resource-verify-rhce-certificate/
Another great challenge Darren – just where does all your inspiration come from ?!
I learned the hard way (from a site where people would hit on it from google searches and then not browse the site) that I needed to make it easier and more helpful for people by interlinking within the site.
On our home page (http://littlegreenblog.com), my intention is that the block near the top which says “Easy ideas and advice – for beginners” contains a short ‘tip of the day’ style post with a link to a longer article within the site. It doesn’t always work out that way, but I think that 90% of them do at the moment.
I’m hoping this will build some interest in the rest of the site and the tip changes on a daily basis. I also have a breadcrumb trail and a ‘readers of this page also viewed’ as well as ‘related posts’ on each article. I took my inspiration from Amazon!
I’m definitely going to search through old archives though and spend some time on this this evening.
Thanks again Darren – this course is amazing and I’m learning so much.
While I frequently do link internally,I didn’t know that it boosted page stats. Thanks!
My post for today had internal links, so I think I will consider today’s assignment complete!
(http://tippytoediet.com/2009/04/makeover-monday-happy-feet-sequel.html)
Thanks Darren,
I’ve only written a few posts so far, but this is the best time to learn so I can begin implementing right from the start!
You are such an inspiration and huge wealth of knowledge. Thanks for sharing all your insight with us!
Coree
I’ve done this step for all my posts in the past, it’s really useful to bring your readers to previous relevant post. It could increases your page views, and better SEO too. :)
Regards,
Lee
I think you are hitting on two important things with this challenge:
1. It’s good to cross link your old and new posts.
2. It’s okay to go back and improve your old posts with more/ better/clearer information/pictures/links.
Blogs are not newspapers. They are not set in stone after you hit “publish”. They are websites. They are dynamic. If you have errors you find later, correct them. If you have popular posts that can be made better. Improve them. If you can give the user a better experience on old or new posts. Do it.
I like to use “related posts” plugins. They are a good start, but they are not enough. You have to link within the post as well.
@Thom Singer – With four years of material it may be a daunting task. Start with your most popular posts and link to the posts you love that may not be as popular as you expect.
Cheers!
One of my most well read blogs was this one:
http://www.roundpeg.biz/2008/11/my-top-50-blogs/
It is a listing of my favorite 50 Blogs at the time. I worked on the project with a friend who created his own list. While many were the same, quite a few were different, and the result was people went back and forth to see if they were on each list.
In a follow up post a few weeks later, i described the results with a few more links. While the second one didn’t generate as much traffic, I made a few new friends.
http://www.roundpeg.biz/2008/12/the-best-blogs-are-connected/
Thanks for the reminder. It is probably time to generate another list!
Found more related post than I was aware of. I see immediately the added value.
There was just one thing I didn’t like: there were automatically pingbacks created in the comments of each post. As I don’t know how to prevent this I had to delete them all manually.
Until tomorrow!
This is something I’ve been making an increased effort to do at Midwest Guest for the past few months.
One place where I really try to make an effort to do it is with a lot of my Friday posts, where I participate in a blog carnival. These posts are among the posts drawing the most traffic and comments each week–consisting of primarily a photo with a little text. Often, I’ll write a longer post on a subject and save one or two photos back from that post to use for my “Photo Friday” post…where I’ll include a link back to the longer post on the same subject in the short text with my Photo Friday post.
I did that nearly .. put links at my blog header to old posts under headline ” special posts ” thanks
Hi darren,
Here is my interlinked post
Does Your Dream Job Still Eludes You – Article 2 of 6
http://www.mysticmadness.com/does-your-dream-job-still-eludes-you-article-2-of-6.html
You know, one of the best things about this challenge is that it both teaches new people basic techniques for improving their blog, and it forces advanced bloggers to actually sit down and do them for once.
This is such a great reminder! I’ve been blogging for years but — sometimes forget to do this. Like today. I forgot today. (Until I came over here. ;-) )
All the best!
deb
I actually used this in the post I did for the first day of the challenge, linking to ten previous posts and it’s something I do from time to time, after reading the tip the last time you ran this exercise. For today, I have written a post on promotion, linking to some of my best content on this topic.http://getpaidtowriteonline.com/top-tips-on-promotion/
I have been doing daily write ups on my thoughts about the 31DBBB. It has been an experience. You can find they thoughts on this post @ http://mouseclone.com/2009/31dbbb/31dbbb-no8-innerlinks
please let me know what you think.
This is something I do in every post. I always see a large jump in page views when I link to older posts. Also linking to related posts at the bottom of the page is the best way to engage readers and bring them to other pages on your blog.
When I am doing a series of posts, I link the older posts in the beginning of the latest post. I recently did this during my “Photo Studio Review” series and looking at my stats, I notice that readers almost always click and read the other posts in the series.
Here is the post:
http://www.modernparent.org/2009/02/review-picture-people/
Darren, this is a very powerful lesson you’re shred with us today. And you demonstrate this so well on your own blog. Since I first found your blog, I started doing this on my own site for the reasons that you stated. It does make your blog sticky. I did in fact subscribe because I wanted to soak up everything and there was so much to get. Since I’ve started doing this, I’ve noticed that people are reading those older posts that I’ve placed links to and leaving comments. Today I’m going to go back through my old posts and find ways to link some keywords to other posts. Thanks for today’s tip, because while I started this practice recently, I didn’t think to go back and update the older posts with newer links. Genius!
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