May the gods direct you to the best! -- Cymbeline 3.4
First off, when you refer someone to a website, you should not simply provide the URL, like this:
Shakespeare Searched is a great resource for locating specific words or phrases within all of Shakespeare's works. Check it out! http://shakespeare.yippy.com/This should be obvious, but you really should make a URL into a clickable link. You can do this by simply making the URL a link. But you can also select any section of text, click on the link button in your blog editor, and insert the URL to link from that. But there are betters ways of doing this. Which of the following do you think is best?
A. Shakespeare Searched is a great resource for locating specific words or phrases within all of Shakespeare's works. Check it out! http://shakespeare.yippy.com/
B. Shakespeare Searched is a great resource for locating specific words or phrases within all of Shakespeare's works. Check it out!
C. Shakespeare Searched is a great resource for locating specific words or phrases within all of Shakespeare's works. Check it out!The answer is "C" -- It is better to link from text that has content related to the link, rather than just text that points to it. (This improves the way that Google finds links and backlinks, and helps people who skim your posts to have a better sense of what you are connecting your thoughts to).
Of course, there are other options for linking, too:
Shakespeare Searched is a great resource for locating specific words or phrases within all of Shakespeare's works. Check it out!
In this case, not only is the text that names the site linked, but so is the image next to it. How did I do this? I inserted an image, clicked on it, then edited the URL for the image (which by default simply goes to where the image is hosted online) so that it now goes to the "Shakespeare Searched" site. Of course you don't always want to link from an image, but it's often useful.
One can also make a widget and insert this on the side of one's blog in order to feature specific links you'd like to keep prominently available, such as a blogroll (favorite blogs) or a list of key resources for your subject. You'll need to know how to create widgets and insert links in them to do that.
Those are some basics. I wouldn't bring them up if I hadn't seen people needing it, so watch how you link!
More advanced advice on linking can be found in my post on "Sharing Links Intelligently," which covers the following:
- Links within Blog Posts
- Links Shared on Facebook
- Links Shared on Twitter
- Social Bookmarking: Serious Link Sharing
- A Tool for Presenting Sets of Links
- Tools for Sharing Sets of Links
Photo: flickr - ernest figueras
