Business is all about networking, right? Plus, you likely know that you need to get some links to your website to build traffic. Since you’re a pro blogger, of course the first place you look for those much needed links is the blogosphere.
However, some manners are in order when it comes to posting comments and linking to your blog from other blogs.
It comes down to common courtesy. We’ve all heard the ‘golden rule’, right? Do unto others and all that jazz? The goal is for us to get a much needed backlink to our website, that’s true. But that’s not all we want. Spammy backlinks can be obtained pretty easily. There’s even software out there that will blast your links to a million different blog posts comment areas. But it’s not really what we want or need.
I’ll tell you one reason why.
Before even thinking about the other guy’s blog, and common courtesy, let’s consider your overall professional appearance. Think of your backlink campaign as one big press release for a minute. If you were blasting a press release to the major news networks today, you would want to present a super professional appearance right? You would want the world to see you as the undisputed expert in your field, professional, classy, the very best. Right?
Then why would you use a different approach and spam your link across the blogosphere? Making you and your website (translate: your company) look cheesy and unprofessional? If you knew that was the way the world perceived you and your business, you probably would have thought twice about it before you used a link blaster and posted your link to a million spam blogs. The problem is that many businesses and many bloggers don’t think the internet is part of ‘the real world’. They don’t stop and think about the fact that their actions on the web can have the same negative impact that they would have in the real world when it comes to cheesy and sleezy promotion tactics.
Nope, the internet is different in their eyes. They only know they need a bunch of links. It’s not important to them to build an overall web persona. PR is not a concern. But it should be. Because the web is no different than any other advertising medium. People are people, and if they read crappy comments that make you and your company look bad, they are not going to do business with you.
Now, let’s also consider the other blogs out there and some basic manners. In the real world, that is the one that doesn’t have a keyboard attached to it, you need to have some etiquette when it comes to business networking, right?
For example, if you are a member of the local rotary club, you don’t walk into the meeting each week shouting, “Make $5,000 every day using my secret methods”!
Do you?
No. You network. You shake everyone’s hand and say hello. You get into conversations and have intelligent discussions. You add something to the group as a whole. When asked, you give your expert advice and opinions and you build new relationships that turn into new client relationships.
So why would you do it any differently online?
When working on links from other blogs and other business communities, have the same manners you would if you were in that rotary club meeting. Be a contributing part of the conversation. Get involved and work on your professional appearance at the same time. Post relevant comments to the current discussion. Don’t interrupt like a thirty second commercial break, changing the topic so that you can promote your new product or service. Stay on topic and contribute something useful.
It’s o.k. if you don’t agree with someone. Good debate can be good for business. Some people will agree with you and visit your site based on your professional opinions. But only if your argument is written professionally and with some class. Stay out of name calling sessions and stay away from labels. Don’t call anyone an idiot or a moron. In the end, you end up looking like one.
Your comments are mini press releases. They are little road signs showing how professional you are. Or how unprofessional you are. Your public appearance is up to you. So have some courtesy when posting your comments. It will make the difference when it comes to how successful your linking campaigns are.
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Ken Ivey asked:
One of the successful strategies that webmasters and web owners use to optimize search engine results is to set up links in order to gain link popularity. It really works because when you actually look at how search engines weigh and rank a website, you will be surprised that the presence of external site links pointing to your website really do count. Considering this, try this strategy:
1. Contribute and submit articles to pertinent sites. This is one very good approach of promoting your website to other sites that would want to create external links with you. By contributing valuable and insightful articles on their sites, you are helping its customers by making a stronger bond with the site owner. When you have successfully formed the affinity, crafting links with his site will be simple.
2. Select the site where you are exchanging links. Not all websites are deemed appropriate by a search engine. You must make sure that you are making a link with a site that has relevance, because the links from there are more valuable. It would be nonproductive for a accounting consortium to get a link from a coffee merchant.
3. If you have an adequate amount of money, you may want to submit your site to highly regarded and trusted paid directories like Yahoo. This can be high-priced, but these links are priceless.
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Audi Kowalski asked:
The brave, new online world offers many ways to reconnect with friends and make new ones with social networking sites. Sites like MySpace and Facebook continue to skyrocket in popularity, and many newer sites are just under the radar.
In the past, dating has long been limited to who you could meet at school, work, or through friends. Online profiles offer pictures, personal information, and user-posted blogs, so site browsers can seek out ideal candidates for dating based on both their looks and their personality. Messaging, comments and other site-based interactions give people a chance to get to know each other online before meeting in the real world.
Photos give users a chance to share their new styles as well as pictures of their friends and big life events with everyone in their online social circle. The user’s friends can then make picture comments, feeding an ever-increasing appetite for attention among young users. Some sites allow users to make their profiles or pictures private, so only other members on their friend list can view them. This is often automatically enforced for members under 18 years old for their protection.
Video sharing is also available. Members can post funny or entertaining videos they have taken themselves, or even videos they find elsewhere on the web, to amuse their friends.
Blogging is the new megaphone for those with something to say. Personal experiences, gripes, commentary, or creative writing can be showcased on a member’s profile. Other users comment on the entries and subscribe to their friends’ blogs, allowing them to be notified when the friend posts a new blog.
Bored at school or work? Many sites offer quizzes and surveys to pass the time. Take the surveys and pass them onto friends to share personal trivia. Some sites post popular quizzes every day.
When members list their interests on their profile, it is inevitable music will show up 9 times out of ten. Music labels work with bands and artists on social networking sites to expand marketing. Bands can post new music, videos, and let their fans know when they will be touring.
Most social networking sites on the internet have all these same basic offerings. So what makes one more popular than another? Different sites have caught fire around the world at different times, and it seems that the main influence is social mobilization. Are your friends doing it?
Some new sites like SocialSplash are now offering incentives and free gifts to get new recruits. This is one way to pull members from the major sites where the bigger social networking atmospheres are too crowded. With smaller sites, members feel that the network is more personalized and less overpopulated.
More specialty sites are being created than ever before, aiming at both younger and older audiences. As more social networking sites continue to appear, it will be interesting to see how the change the nature of everyday communication. Will Myspace replace the phone? Probably not. But with technology serving a much bigger role in society than ever before, social networking sites are sure to be a big part of twenty-first century life.
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