Jul 11 2009
For Duc: Linking With WordPress :-)
Fellow blogger ducati998 indicated to me at one point that the reason he doesn’t link to other blogs and sites is that he doesn’t know how. Well, I’m going to help him out because as you may or may not know, when you link to other sites it actually helps your Page Rank (PR), especially if those links are to quality contextually related sites. Better PR increases the likelihood that your page is seen by searchers.
At the same time, if you link to another site you don’t have to copy and paste large chunks of content, which can get you in some hot water legally due to copyright considerations. On top of that, search engines don’t like to see duplicate content. They can actually reduce the PR of a page which is seen to be largely a duplicate of another site. This is an important consideration in terms of Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
So without further discussion, here’s how to link to another webpage in WordPress.
First, highlight the text you want to link.
Then click on the link button (looks like a change link).
That will bring up a dialog box.
Enter the URL for the webpage or site you want to linked in the first box. The Target is optional, and most users probably won’t worry about Class. You’ll want to fill out the Title box, though. That’s the text which shows up when someone mouses over the link. It’s also something search engines look at, so it contributes to the SEO equation.
Alternately, you can create the link by putting it in through the HTML code. To do that flip to the HTML editor by clicking on the tab. You can see the link code below as it was created using the link button process above.
Pretty easy and simple, right?
Now duc has no more excuses for bulk copy and pasting without link citation in his posts anymore. 
Here are some other posts which might interest you:
- A Short Rant on Repost Bloggers
- Wow! What a Storm Around a 20 Year Old Video
- Don’t use content without attribution
- New blog traffic highs
- Website Stats and Readings for June 2009
John,
Ok, I’ll give it a try.
There is a second reason though [the reason you gave was valid] and that is when a blog disappears, as happens, that article[s] that you had linked too, also disappears. That is annoying if it was a valuable article.
jog on
duc
Duc – True, that happens, but if you’re linking to good content from established, solid bloggers or sites it’s not that likely a prospect. My personal philosophy is to copy or paraphrase the key element and provide a link. Even including a large chunk is fine. Most bloggers aren’t bothered too much by that if you include a link back. What is really annoying (I can tell you from experience) is when someone takes all or most of your post, doesn’t link back, and ends up higher in the search positioning than your original does.
John,
I have to say I could care less.
Obviously we use our individual blogs for very different purposes. Yours is a business proposition to promote various services and products you offer. Mine is only really a form of electronic diary. Thus although it’s nice to get some interaction, 1 visitor or 10,000 makes no difference to me.
jog on
duc
Duc – Fair enough, but I know you do like the exchange between bloggers. When you link to someone like myself, as you did in your test post, I see that incoming link in my WP dashboard, which can then encourage a dialog. (If you don’t see the Incoming Links box in your dashboard, click on the Screen Options drop-down tab in the upper right area of the screen and check it).
John,
Ok, fair comment. At the end of the day, now I know how, it’s easy enough to do. As I don’t have strong feelings on this, I’m happy to give it a crack.
jog on
duc