The Strongest and Most Powerful Link Revealed

And no, it's not a link from CNN or TIME website (though that's a dream link too). It's not an accumulation of thousands of link either. Do you even know what the strongest and the most powerful link is? Here's the clue: it's something YOU can easily give but will almost take you forever to receive. In simpler terms, you have the power to give it away and yet having one will be the hardest link building scheme ever

SEO gurus will most definitely not agree with me on this one

I'm speaking as a blogger and certainly, my hierarchy of what's 'stronger' and more 'powerful' might be different from their own perspectives. I couldn't care less. Well, to cut this story short, I would now reveal what for me is the best link that any blogger could ever get...

The strongest and most powerful link is the link with your name as the anchor text. I call it, a name link...

Have you ever noticed that the most successful bloggers are easily being linked upon through their very names? Think about the number of times you have linked to Problogger through the anchor text Darren, or to Entreprenuers-Journey through Yaro. Amazing isn't it? That's why I said you can easily get it but in return, it's hard for you to have one yourself.

What's With the Name Link?

Name links doesn't build much seo goodness, BUT it builds authority, reputation, trust and branding and all the things that you can't even imagine in a single link. It's all in there.

Name links builds...

familiarity among bloggers
popularity among readers
and authority among everyone

I frequently see bloggers asking to link to them through capricious anchor texts like "make money online" or "blogging tips" because they want to take part in the keyword competition. Or usually, they even include the keywords in their very names like "John @ affiliate" for example. That's fine by me. Though in a world where keywords are just a matter of a search engine algorithm usage and not a thing for readership building, sometimes you have to choose between which weighs in best for your standards. Guess what, I chose readership building.

No offense meant for those having keyword names. This post certainly have dropped any concerns for seo. I am just reflecting on my mere observations as to how pro bloggers accumulate their links, which in turn, might prove beneficial to others.

As for me, every time someone links to this blog with the anchor text Liane, it seems more special compared to the hundreds who have linked with "blogging tips". Well of course I'm not setting aside the fact that it had greatly helped in the SERPs results.

The Hardest Link of All

The issue with the name link (and I coined that term just now) is that no matter how hard you try and how large your link campaigns go, name links doesn't fall under the category of links that you can easily work or ask for. Either they develop by themselves or they just don't.

Name Links Don't Come Easy, but you might as well try

branding your blog through your name
not mixing up keywords with your name
using your name in email signatures

Maybe this is also the reason why I prefer to link to bloggers using their names (see my link of expert friends below). It's high time you give attention to building your name links don't you think? And by the way, thank you for those who have linked to my blog through the anchor text Liane.

Photo Credit: Paul O' Connel