A blog post

Blogging Etiquette: How to Handle a Link Hound Who Wants Link Love

Posted on the 27 June, 2008 at 11:34 am Written by in Social Media

About a month ago, I met with someone over coffee who was gung ho about blogging, podcasting and all walks of social media. I loved his enthusiasm, gave him some advice and within a week, he got his blog up and running.

I was quite pleased that he grasped things so quickly and equally pleased that he got a few posts up. He even ran a contest to get his clients, prospects and those in his network to read his blog. A very clever to build traffic.

Then, it took a turn for the worst.

He wrote up an article about podcasting, mentioned me and then started to email me at least twice a week for a return link to his blog.

This has now been going on for about 3 weeks.

I shared with him that I could mention his blog, but I had to figure out how mentioning his blog on mine would be of benefit to my readers. He gave me some ideas on how I could position his blog on my own, but I didn’t like any of his ideas. They were just too self-serving for my taste.

I asked the Twitterverse how I should handle this and here’s a list of replies:

Thank you ladies! Much appreciated.

My advice to new bloggers? Don’t become a link hound. Just because you mention someone on your blog doesn’t mean you can bug the person to death to return a link to you. It just doesn’t work that way.

If I enjoyed what I read and it fits into the theme and content of my own blog, I’ll link back. That’s why it’s called love. Linking is supposed to be an enjoyable experience.

I wonder if The Blog Squad could weigh in with some resources on blogging etiquette, specifically surrounding the issue of reciprocal links?

Be Sociable, Share!
  • Oak

    I think he should have talked to you about it before he mentioned you on his blog. I always like being up front. It keeps things simple.

  • http://www.creativejourneycafe.com Mark

    Hi Leesa,

    If I were him I might feel a little bit bad and embarassed after reading this post. Why would you feel the need to make the issue public, even if you didn’t mention his name? If he obviously visits your blog, why make him an example? I think it could have been handled with a simple direct email to him, saying “No thanks. I have a strict policy.”

  • http://www.leesabarnes.com Leesa Barnes

    Oak and Mark, you both assumed that I posted to my blog BEFORE speaking to this person. Don’t make assumptions.

  • http://www.bigwinmarketing.com Andrea

    Leesa,
    Are you sure the guy knew what he was doing?
    Especially for a newbie sometime you just mimic what you think you ought to do, without a deep understanding of the next step/outcome.
    You are free to decline and tell him buzz off if you think the association might be risky for you… and pestering was certainly not a good start.