Photo author: tantek

To have or not to have a blogroll? A blogroll is usually used as a link exchange tool and although of little value SEO-wise this can help increase both blogs’ readership. So from this standpoint the answer to the question above varies with your blog’s size. When you just published your blog - pretty much useless, since few people will link back to you (of course, there are exceptions). When you have a somewhat established readership - yes, these are the golden times of a blogroll. And finally, when and if your blog reaches “legend” status within your topic, the answer is still the same, yes, but make sure the ones that remain are truly deserving and worth the space the links take up.

No matter how small or big your blog is, you decide if it’s useful for you to publish a blogroll. And if you do publish one, take note of these tips:

1. Limit the number of links and the length of the anchor text

You should come up with the maximum number of links you want to put up. 10 or 15 or even 20 are good values, but don’t go posting hundreds upon hundreds of links that take up a whole column by themselves. Why? Well, no-one will scroll down 2 screens past your last post to click on a link, which means you are less likely to get a link back.

2. Limit the length of the anchor text

It’s always nice to contact other bloggers and ask what anchor text they would prefer, but it’s a bad idea to agree to something like “Barry’s Laptop, PDA, MP3-player, GPS, Smartphone and D-SLR Camera Reviews”. Instead just use something like “Barry’s Gadget Reviews”. Generally it’s ideal to fit each link on its own row; that’s a lot neater and saves space.

3. Try to list blogs that would interest your users

If you’re writing about car alarm systems (for example), you might not want to fill your blogroll with links to blogs about knitting, or golfing or some other totally unrelated theme. Instead try to aim for blogs with topics tangent to yours (in this case some good examples would be car audio systems, home protection or boat protection).

4. Read the blogs on your blogroll

No-one asks you to read every word, but a quick peek in from time to time can’t hurt. Plus, you can keep tabs on whether a blog is still active or has gone under.

5. Don’t mix paid links in your blogroll

Paid links, whether to another blog or to some offer shouldn’t be mixed in with the blogroll. You won’t make that quick buck or two, but your credibility won’t suffer a back blow either.

Closing advice

Your link in other people’s blogroll is only one of the many sources of traffic (and the blogroll on your site can be a huge visitor sink). Don’t rely solely on the backlinks your blogroll can fetch. There are many others ways to get links and traffic out there. Look into guest posting a few times a month, for example.