Post Linking — Responding to Ideas

Two kinds of links connect the Internet, making it a web — Blogrolls and Post links. Each are a way that one website or blog makes a statement to readers that another is worth going to see.

Post Linking

Post linking is actually more relevant and timely than blogrolling. Though that seems counter-intuitive, a closer look reveals that in the world of the web it makes sense. Though a blogroll link is a “vote” for the content on an entire site, blogroll links are infrequently updated. The content they lead to could have changed or actually been deleted since the original link was made.

A post link is made to an individual post in response to a specific argument or idea a writer has made on a specific date. The value of post links are higher because

• post links are more direct and directly relevant.
• they reciprocate in enhancing content by extending the conversation two ways.
• post links spread good information to readers, even when they are used to gain the attention of more powerful bloggers.
• post links introduce readers to new blogs more often, because they are dynamic in a way that blogrolls can never be.
• post links allow new bloggers to establish a brand by showing what they consider relevevant and quality content.

Many search engines prefer post links, because they like new content. Post links also establish the relevancy of a blogs content within the web, showing how and where that blog fits compared to other blogs in it’s content niche.

Natural linking around content topics mirrors what happens in human conversation.

The connectedness of the Internet is its core value and its core culture.

Liz Strauss