The Blogroll ::: So Yesterday!
It's obsolete! It's no longer relevant!
It's... the blogroll!
Does anybody use blogrolls any more? It depends on who you ask. According to AdPulp, the legendary Guy Kawasaki led the movement to discredit blogrolls. PHIL SZOMSZOR feels the end of the blogroll may be near: "I don’t get fully acquainted with blogs in the way that I used to. Based purely on my own experiences, the rise in social media channels has increased blog traffic – whether this means the end of the blogroll remains to be seen."
Several months ago I moved a batch of links to other blogs to their very own page, entitled "Blogroll" (Duh! So anybody looking for the old blogroll would know where to click!) Rose DesRochers believes I have made a very SMART move: "When you move your blogroll to a single page there is only one single link going out to the blog/ or site you are linking to instead of [thousands of] external links."
Here's why: "Each time you link to a blog outside your own, you are from a search engine like Google’s point of view, giving credit to that site. By linking to a site, you’re telling Google that you trust it. Every-time you link to a site you pass on some link juice..."
"Stupedied" -or- just plain STUPID?
One blogger wrote: "It took me 3 straight nights to complete the job! ... I was stupefied to find out however that my blogroll has really been outdated. For three (3) years I never did have an attempt to touch it nor have it updated. My hands were quite full to do that"
Update: same blogger writes "it’s my way of keeping and preserving the blogs I heart whenever I do finally decide to leave the realms of EC or other traffic-driving sites for that matter. My blogroll has nothing to do with traffic whatsoever as you would like to emphasize in your malicious snippet."
Malicious? Hardly! I'm simply presenting a point-of-view echoed by the variety of blogs and bloggers linked to on this article! My sincerest apologies if you feel I have offended you, dear blogger! There is NOTHING WRONG with "preserving the blogs I heart" - but there are certainly are better ways to do it, including the simple time-saving act of using the "bookmark" feature found on most browsers! :)
Susan Gunelius has some better advice for that blogger! Instead of wasting time and space: "...take a look at your blog analytics using a tool like Google Analytics to learn if visitors to your blog are actually clicking on the links in your blogroll. On the flip side, look at where incoming traffic is coming from to your blog in an effort to determine how many people are finding your blog through other blogrolls versus links within blog posts, comments, etc. Blogrolls work both ways in terms of driving traffic — outgoing to other blogs you recommend and incoming from other blogs where you’re blog is included in other blogrolls to your blog. Analyze both effects to determine if your blogroll truly adds direct or indirect value to your blog."
Does anybody use blogrolls any more? It depends on who you ask. According to AdPulp, the legendary Guy Kawasaki led the movement to discredit blogrolls. PHIL SZOMSZOR feels the end of the blogroll may be near: "I don’t get fully acquainted with blogs in the way that I used to. Based purely on my own experiences, the rise in social media channels has increased blog traffic – whether this means the end of the blogroll remains to be seen."
Several months ago I moved a batch of links to other blogs to their very own page, entitled "Blogroll" (Duh! So anybody looking for the old blogroll would know where to click!) Rose DesRochers believes I have made a very SMART move: "When you move your blogroll to a single page there is only one single link going out to the blog/ or site you are linking to instead of [thousands of] external links."
Here's why: "Each time you link to a blog outside your own, you are from a search engine like Google’s point of view, giving credit to that site. By linking to a site, you’re telling Google that you trust it. Every-time you link to a site you pass on some link juice..."
"Stupedied" -or- just plain STUPID?
One blogger wrote: "It took me 3 straight nights to complete the job! ... I was stupefied to find out however that my blogroll has really been outdated. For three (3) years I never did have an attempt to touch it nor have it updated. My hands were quite full to do that"
Update: same blogger writes "it’s my way of keeping and preserving the blogs I heart whenever I do finally decide to leave the realms of EC or other traffic-driving sites for that matter. My blogroll has nothing to do with traffic whatsoever as you would like to emphasize in your malicious snippet."
Malicious? Hardly! I'm simply presenting a point-of-view echoed by the variety of blogs and bloggers linked to on this article! My sincerest apologies if you feel I have offended you, dear blogger! There is NOTHING WRONG with "preserving the blogs I heart" - but there are certainly are better ways to do it, including the simple time-saving act of using the "bookmark" feature found on most browsers! :)
Susan Gunelius has some better advice for that blogger! Instead of wasting time and space: "...take a look at your blog analytics using a tool like Google Analytics to learn if visitors to your blog are actually clicking on the links in your blogroll. On the flip side, look at where incoming traffic is coming from to your blog in an effort to determine how many people are finding your blog through other blogrolls versus links within blog posts, comments, etc. Blogrolls work both ways in terms of driving traffic — outgoing to other blogs you recommend and incoming from other blogs where you’re blog is included in other blogrolls to your blog. Analyze both effects to determine if your blogroll truly adds direct or indirect value to your blog."
Read Susan's thoughts on blogrolls.
Chris Garrett has the last word: "Make it easy on yourself. Don’t have a Blogroll. If you like a blog, link to their posts when they write something interesting. Saves us all a world of pain and hand-wringing." [LiNk]
Tags: blogroll, blogroll
Permission to reprint this blog post in whole or in part is hereby granted, provided that the author (or authors) and Dave Lucas are properly cited. Permission to reprint any comments below is granted only for those comments written by Dave Lucas and staff.
Chris Garrett has the last word: "Make it easy on yourself. Don’t have a Blogroll. If you like a blog, link to their posts when they write something interesting. Saves us all a world of pain and hand-wringing." [LiNk]
Tags: blogroll, blogroll
Permission to reprint this blog post in whole or in part is hereby granted, provided that the author (or authors) and Dave Lucas are properly cited. Permission to reprint any comments below is granted only for those comments written by Dave Lucas and staff.
