Lets face it, you love it when people link to your blog. Not only are incoming links good for your site, they’re good for your ego too. Inbound links make you feel authoritative and worthwhile. Inbound links are the lifeblood of your website, and you love them. Everyone does. In fact, there are countless articles about getting inbound links.

With everyone in such a rush to get links, it can be easy to forget about linking to others. As much as you want other blogs to link to you, you need to show some link love to others. Below are a handful of the best reasons that linking to other blogs is in your best interest.

1. You reap what you sow

You’re not always going to get a link back from every site you link to, and you shouldn’t expect to. All the same, when you link to other blogs it signals that you’re what Rand Fishkin calls “a willing participant in the web’s natural linking environment.” This makes people feel more comfortable linking to you, since you’re comfortable linking out.

2. Linking can grant greater authority

A blog article isn’t usually a terribly formal piece. When you’re writing one, you’re unlikely to need too many citations. All the same, adding links that make similar or supporting points boosts the confidence readers have in your arguments. Calling in an outside expert, so to speak, can reinforce a point readers may otherwise be skeptical about.

3. Linking back can snowball

When you see incoming link love from a good blog, you should find a reason to link back in one of your upcoming articles. Not only will this increase the odds of that person linking to you again in the future, but others may well see this and link to you in the hope of a return link. Of course, you should never link to someone just for the sake of linking. Always make sure the link adds value to what you’ve written. When you return links though, you may soon find yourself inundated with inbound links.

4. Search Engines May Reward You

There is considerable evidence that search engines look not only at who links to you, but also at who you’re linking to. This means that linking to a lot of junk sites may lower the value of your site. It also means that linking to quality sites adds to the value of your site.

5. It can add value to your articles

Even big name blogs sometimes post link based posts. For example, take a look at The Ultimate Guide to Getting Lots of Link Love on Problogger. This post is an introduction and a long list of links to useful information on the topic.  He didn’t produce this list because he doesn’t want to write. He made it because from the readers perspective it holds the value of a massive article. While not every post can just be a list of links, your readers may appreciate a few extra links of information.

 

Conclusion

Outbound links have their part to play in any blog. When you’re writing posts for your blog, you should try throwing in links to some posts on similar or related topics. The authors, readers, and search engines are sure to appreciate the effort. You may even want to start now, by finding a reason to link to an article here on the Writer Tank Journal!