My fellow SEO Chick Anita, otherwise known as PPCQueen, suggested that I list out a few bits of linking etiquette since we’re all being overwhelmed with linking as an SEO strategy. After doing some searching and finding mostly the same thing being said everywhere, here are a few basic tips that might help.
1. Keep internal links opening in the same window. Set external links to open in a new window. Now, this topic was fairly hotly debated on a few forums, with most people preferring the method I have listed. Most people do expect an external link to open in a new window but since this seems to irritate some people, let’s open it up for discussion so we can see what our readers prefer.
2. Use your nofollows wisely. If you are linking to an external site and you don’t want to give your seal of approval to them, but you do want your users to go there for whatever reason, consider a nofollow. Just keep in mind that we all want a little link love.
3. If you have multiple blogs and you want to point your readers on one blog to a post on one of your other blogs, do so. Don’t fall into the habit of cross-linking your sites just to get some link points though. If it’s relevant, do it. Otherwise, think about it carefully and determine what you’re trying to gain.
These are just a few pointers when linking…we’d all love to hear more about this from our readers so please let us know if you have any good etiquette tips. If you’ve met any of the SEO Chicks, I am sure you’ll agree that etiquette is something we feel strongly about, particularly when drinking in public.