I’ve talked about the power of the link before, mostly in line with Google Page Rank and search engine optimization, but once in a while I like to remember the real power in putting a link on your blog.
Trolling the web for WordPress Wednesday news for the Blog Herald, I stumbled across an interesting series on WordPress for Churches. It’s an interesting niche so I put a link in the WordPress News article for this week.
This small linking act resulted in:
I think … blogging MUST be like farming. You work and work and work that old brown soil … then months later stuff starts popping up.
Today … well, I had a watershed moment.
Yeah, Lorelle of Lorelle of WordPress fame, who writes for the renown Blog Herald linked to Church Communications Pro.
I have no idea who might actually want to click on a “church” blog like mine from her post. But all I know is … a bunch of those nights where I had “idea insomnia” paid off in part today.
To be linked from someone like Lorelle, who is a WordPress guru, is like being validated in some way … it’s like being told, “You actually exist on the blogosphere … and you have interesting, useful content.”
These downpours after the drought are confirmations that somehow, in some way, you’re doing something worthy of being read.
From The Droughts and Downpours of Blogging from Church Communications Pro
Honestly, linkbaiting and link juice mean little to me. You can push and shove all the linking energy you want around on your blog, but there is something to be said about the old fashioned, humbling appreciation you get from making a tiny difference in someone’s life just by linking to them.
Your link validates them. It recognizes their hard work and effort. It supports them. It reminds them they are read. It motivates them to do even better because someone is paying attention.
Next time you link, think of your link as a gift. A present. A tiny “thank you note” on the web for good work. A recommendation or review. Or maybe it’s a type of award. An honor you pay to recognize someone’s effort to share their knowledge and skill.
Like smiling at a stranger, it’s just a little link, but it can change a life.
Has your life been changed just because of a single link?
Lorelle VanFossen blogs about blogging and WordPress on Lorelle on WordPress.
