Monday, August 20, 2012

Link Back Signatures: Spammy or Not Spammy, that is the Question...


You came back! Glad you're not sick of me, yet ;-)

First of all, I'm not here to “sell” you on the idea of having a link-back signature. I'm not here to convince you that you need to change. The real beauty of Blogland for me is that we all get to be who we are. Or who we want to invent ourselves to be – we're all in one big boat, there's infinite room, and we get to hang out in any class we want, behave anyway we want (provided it's legal - my lawyer made me say that.)

In addition, the opinions expressed here are MY opinions. The opinions of Tina Downey do not necessarily represent the opinions of the ENTIRE A-Z TEAM. I do know that they are shared by some of the A-Z Team members. You can identify them by their, um, link back signatures at the end of their comments :-)

I think we'd better start with the definition, since 25% of our responders didn't know what the question meant. A link back signature is a hyperlink, just like any clickable piece of text on any website you visit, and by clicking it, you land on that person's blog. Sometimes it's their front page, sometimes it's on a particular post they'd like you to read. It's a wormhole, for you sci-fi fans, instantly transporting you past what I'm about to reveal, and lands you safely on the commenter’s blog.

Many of you pointed out that it's not necessary to have one, people can find you anyway. Yes. Patient, technically savvy, experienced bloggers can. They know that they can click on your name or your picture, pull up your profile, see the list of six blogs you own, guess which one is most active, click on that blog, find out you haven't written anything there for two years, stay patient, click on another blog, find that one more active, but still not the A-Z blog...and that's where I give up. Maybe it's different when you're a host and have to visit 300 blogs in the first three days. You're not quite as patient.

Another example. My friend Jeremy Hawkins (I could make his name clickable and you'd be right there, but he's in the sidebar, so you can easily click there) has MY blog listed in his list. That's because he's my admin. He built my beautiful sunflower and flamingo blog from scratch. I have him listed as a blog owner. I don't have to – but why wouldn't I want to advertise for someone who did such a nice thing for me, just out of friendship? He's freelance, word of mouth. I've got a button for him too. BUT, if you were trying to find HIS blog, you'd see Life is Good listed, might click there, and wouldn't be at his house at all. You'd be at Rydell IV, not the international space station. Am I making sense?

As a team, before the challenge started, we had a guest poster who wrote a FANTASTIC tutorial about how to make a hyperlink signature. You'll find it here. Check it out! Then you can choose how you'd like to operate, fully (fuller?) informed about this option of easily getting people to your blog. You are blogging to get people to read your work, right?

Thanks for listening.



12 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

I do have two blogs listed under my profile, but it's an easy guess which one is mine since the other is the A to Z blog. Just never felt the need for a link in my blog comments.

D.G. Hudson said...

I don't mind people linking back in their comments, and I know how to find the bloggers if they don't.

BUT, some bloggers do NOT like you leaving links in comments, and I've felt the chill on some blogs (as in how dare you try to lure my readers away...) Insecurity is a fragile thing, I guess.

If I feel comfortable with that blogger, sometimes I might leave a link back, as my intention is only to relate a similar post. In my Writers Links and BlogRoll, I highlight those blogs that I don't like to miss, or good blogger buddies who reciprocate.

Good post topic.

LA Nickers said...

Thanks for stopping by.

Where is the blog-hop you mentioned?

This one: "Your writing is so good, I think ..."

Blessings,
Linda Ann

Rob Z Tobor said...

I noticed that there has not been much response yet on the A to Z to what you say..... What you need is a good signature maybe something that says 'get your free gift here' I'm sure that might work.

It is the sort of thing the anonymous commenter's put on my blog.... Sadly they don't ever notice that all anonymous comments are auto zapped to the spam box... I do tell them, but no they don't listen.....

Anonymous comments are also another interesting topic of conversation, some of my greatest compliments... if only they meant it.

Brian Miller said...

nice...thanks for the intel...i know how...and i have done it for some of the link ins....i was thinking you meant the link back feature to a post...it def makes it easy for people to follow you back to your place...

JoJo said...

I followed those instructions back in April and I could not make the link signature work to save my life. :/

klahanie said...

Hey Tina,
How ya doin'? Yes, your shy, humble fan Gary is here.
I've never had the need for what you suggest. Folks find me very easily and it's not all about having people read my blog. If they do, that's a positive bonus. My blog is a therapeutic and cathartic resource.
You take very good care and happy blogging, my friend.
In kindness, Gary :)

Cheryl said...

I only hyperlink as part of my email signature. Even that seems unnecessary now that I use Disqus for comments.

Oddly enough, I had to set permissions in Disqus to allow comments with embedded links to post without my having to approve them individually.

There are lots of folks who blog who have BIG WARNINGS that anyone posting any type of link will have their comment automatically deleted. Tough love, babe.

The only time I found it useful to have others leave links was when I engaged in some photo blog hops. I've never done it but then again, I don't do a lot of things that are recommended. ;-)

J.L. Campbell said...

Hi, Tina,
I think it's useful to have, but I'm too lazy. Don't you have to insert it each time you comment?

Ciara said...

I'm so easy going. I've never really been offended by any blogger. Leave a link in my comments, just don't call me a nasty name or personally attack me. Beyond that, I'm fine. If I mess up, I'd appreciate a private email letting me know. If you don't let me know, I won't be able to change what I've done wrong.

Ghadeer said...

Hmm....you have a point, but I don't know...it still seems alittle bit self-promotive.

Alexandra said...

Hi,How are you!! What a great, wonderful, HUGE surprise to find you today.

We are well, busy, time flying, but so blessed...beyond what my gratitude can ever show.

It's good to hear from you.

As far as leaving a link, sometimes I want to say, "me too, see?" but then I get chicken and don't.

I don't want someone to take it as self promotion.

But, I do want to say, I had the same thing happen, commiserate, relate.

xo