“How do you give credit to other bloggers” is a question many ask.

After all, even though we may say our blog is “all about us”, in actuality, without other bloggers visiting, commenting and giving us moral support, we could end up feeling pretty lonely in blogosphere.

All the more reason to show them some link love.

Today’s Lesson

Some bloggers feel if they link to other sites, especially in their niche, their readers will abandon them and not come back. From experience, I’ve found this is not the case. In fact, I’ve read comments on the sites I’ve referred others to which state, “Thanks to Barbara, at Blogging Without A Blog, I’ve found you.”

I see that as a win-win.

Giving credit to other bloggers can be done in numerous ways.

• If we are inspired by an article written by another blogger, we can link to that blogger in our post, stating how what they published was the basis for our post.
• We can provide a short quote from a fellow blogger and include a link to their site.*
• Writing a short thank you at the bottom of our post with a link to a fellow blogger is a great way to give credit where credit is due.
• We could create a list at the bottom of our post giving credit (including links) to all resources from which we have benefited.
• We can use our blogrolls as a way to link to fellow bloggers and title the list as: “Blogs I follow”, “What I’m Reading”, Or….
• The CommentLuv plugin is a great way to show our appreciation for a comment plus gives the blog author a chance to include a link to one of their posts.
• A “Top Commenters” plugin or widget can be used to reward those who frequently comment. Show the results in the sidebar.
• I use the Get Recent Comments with avatars plugin for my “Who’s Talking” section. (see sidebar)
• We could create a special award, link to the blogger and share with our readers why the blogger deserves the award.**
• Twitter is a great way to show link love. Send out a tweet and link to the blogger’s home page or to a post of theirs.
• We can share some love on Facebook by posting on their wall or sharing a link to them on ours.
• Other. ________[Fill in the blank]__________.

Keep in mind, linking to other bloggers doesn’t mean they’ll necessarily come by and say “thank you”.

If for some reason their pingbacks or trackbacks aren’t working properly, they may not know you linked to them.

And finally, when linking to big name sites or A-List bloggers, it’s rare they’ll show up even if they see the inbound link.

Today’s Assignment

Do you feel comfortable linking to fellow bloggers?

Or do you feel a link out will send your readers packing?

If you give credit to other bloggers, what method(s) do you use?

Care to share?

*Keep quotes from other sites short. Long quotes could be construed as plagiarism.
**Although you have put time into creating the award, don’t be discouraged if the blogger does not post it on their site. It may not “fit” the blogger’s online persona.