You have probably heard or read why it is important to include links in your blog entries. For starters, it is valuable for your readers, and when readers find value in your blog they are more likely to subscribe. And second, it encourages people to link back to you when they see you have linked to them.

There are generally two ways people end up including links in their blog posts. First is knowing the link beforehand, and tailoring the blog post around those links. The second is random link hunting to fit what you are saying in your blog entry. Both methods work easily well, but one issue with adding links to your blog posts is the time it takes. You could spend 20 minutes writing a blog post, then spend 30 minutes finding relevant blog posts and linking them up.

Here are six steps you should be taking to find links for your blog posts.

Don’t link as you write
This sounds like an odd piece of advice, but in reality, this is your best option. When you are writing a blog entry then pause to hunt for a link, whether you know the exact blog post you want to link to or start scouting out one, what you are really doing is interrupting your writing flow. It is best to just continue writing and then go back after the fact and link up so you don’t have to worry about spending five minutes finding your link, then when you go back to writing the article, you have forgotten all the rest that you wanted to say. Trust me, it happens, and sometimes I swear that what I come up with after is never nearly as good as what I had in my head to write before.

Forgetful?
Worried you might forget you intended to link to an article? When you are writing and not wanting to interrupt the flow to go link hunting, simply put “LINK LINK LINK” right after where you want the link, so when you edit it, you will remember you had planned a link. And even pop in there a quick note to remind you which blog entry you wanted to link to, if you already have one in mind, such as “LINK LINK Joe Blogger’s top links post LINK”. This way you don’t have to worry about drawing a blank when you return back to the spot for linking it up, and it will still stand out when you go back to edit. Just remember to go back and edit your post, don’t get to the end and automatically hit publish without going back to check it over

Don’t just link to your own
While you should be linking to your own blog entries whenever possible, especially older ones that have been relegated to the depths of your blog archives, don’t link to just your own posts exclusively. Instead, you should be providing a balance of both your own previous blog entries (if you have any relevant ones) and other blogs whenever you can.

Same old
Don’t just link to the same group of bloggers you always link to. Sometimes it is quick and easy to do this, but it will definitely be noticeable to your readers when all your posts only ever link to the same group of 5 or 6 other bloggers. While they might have perfectly relevant posts, and you can definitely link to them, try and include at least one or two new blogs you have never linked to before, provided their links are relevant to the topic

Relevancy
Don’t link to a blog post unless it is perfectly targeted to what you are talking about. Don’t link for the sake of linking, only link if that link will be useful for your readers. There is nothing worse than reading a post with multiple links in it leaving you wondering how on earth the blogger ever thought those links were relevant and useful to readers. So be sure that all the links you use actually provide something for your readers, whether it is more knowledge on the topic or perhaps a different perspective

To follow or not to follow
There is a definite trend amongst bloggers to nofollow links, but do not do this unless you have a good reason to. Ideally, you should only really use nofollow if you are linking to a site you consider questionable for whatever reason and you don’t want to pass the link juice. If you want people to link to you with straight links, you can hardly expect them to do so if they know all your links out are always nofollowed, regardless if it is an authority or not.

Next time you write a blog entry, remember the above six steps when you go to include links in your posts. And think about how you enjoy it when others link to your blog posts… if you never ever reciprocate in your own blogs by linking to others, people will take notice of it and might not link to you more. And yes, it does quickly become obvious that you never link out yourself. So make a point of not only including more links in your blog posts but also linking to blogs you have never linked to previously.