1/28/11

Using Hyperlinks in Your Blog Posts

Hyperlinks (see my earlier post to learn what these are) connect you with other places on the web.  Which is good.  Google likes this, so does Yahoo and Bing.

More than that - readers like this, and so do the folk who are responsible for the places you are sending your readers to via these hyperlinks.

It's not as direct an introduction as Twitter, but trust me: I know who links to my blogs because I have stats that give me this information. You probably check your stats, too, right? Ever go see who has been sending traffic your way? (For details on Trackbacks and Pingbacks, go here.)

I've built blog rolls based upon the sites that have had the courtesy of linking to my blogs.  I've emailed these bloggers, or placed their blogs in my readers, etc.  I've returned the favor and linked to posts or articles they've written within my blog posts.

Of course, it's important to do this in a professional and responsible manner. Some don't and you know who they are.

One easy and smart use of hyperlinks for lawyers: link the case name to the actual opinion at the court's website. I do this as a standard practice at Terry Lenamon's Death Penalty Blog -- saves time, and lots of those readers want to read the full opinion (and the dissents).