Page 11 - Payout Magazine Online Volume 10.02
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of what the heck they’re doing), but to ensure explanation of who they are or what they do,
your visitors keep their interest up, and are keep the clutter down and your article’s focus
drilling down, hopefully finding exactly what up by linking to another piece or profile about
they were looking for. them. This could be content that is off-site and
not your own (if you’re lazy about it), but that’s
Search engine result pages do it right, so a link out and an invitation to offer surfers a
take after their example. Provide a headline way off your site.
(and subsequent sub-headers) and a sample
of what the reader can expect if they read the Sending visitors off-site to relevant content
whole thing. If you’re doing a blog, this is easily can be good for SEO, too, and not wholly
achieved by chosing to have several entries detrimental, if you open that in another browser
from each category page listed (ideally with (or tab, nowadays). BUT... you’d rather keep the
its photo or illustration) and first to several experience hermetic for your audience.
paragraphs from the piece itself, with a link to
keep reading. Therefore, it’s preferable to link to yourself,
and keep that surfer click noise, especially if
If it looks like what they were searching for you have that content already.
they will click onward. But if it doesn’t, they will
have the other items listed to select from. And if you don’t have it already, then, create
it!
However, you can also offer them another,
more sharply focussed option in the form of For example if you refer to well-
a link to another aspect of the topic you’re known industry figure, photographer and
introducing in your first few paragraphs (if representative MikeB, but you don’t have
it’s appropriate; don’t make it seem forced, an explanation of who, what or why he is
because the full article will provide plenty of pertinent to a piece about lateral pathing in
opportunities to link up some terms for this the cloud architecture of CDN hosting, write it,
purpose). separately, as a description vignette, profile or
even a feature.
So, longer articles are best broken up into
more than one page, with links leading to the In fact, it isn’t a bad idea to start a separate
remainder of the item (though presenting the sub-category (do we hear the word “tag”
first section or three with a text link to “Read here?) for all such types of pieces, profiles or
more about [insert your keyword/title/subject explanations of who is who, well-known or not
here]” is recommended). It’s better to avoid (especially not), within your blog’s main topic,
using the “click here” phrase to link, because or even a sub-category that isn’t otherwise
though the SE knows and sees where each available in a main navigation menu.
of these leads, it’s understood that having a
highlighted keyword isn’t only superficially Clickety click click.
better for optimization, it also helps guide
human readers to what they want sooner. Finally, despite the usual advice that things
written for the web shouldn’t be too long (and
Beyond goadings to “read more”, however, look at The New York Times, and even they’re
is also linking up words, names and topics learning), you can keep adding those links to
throughout the pieces referring readers (and the next 500 to 1000 words, although too many
search engines) to other articles in your site or click-alongs can make the reader wonder what
blog. The Google knows that you’re funnelling this is all leading to. Sometimes it’s good to
readers to a deeper understanding with such offer a link to view the entire piece in one page
links, or that this is your intention, even if (or scroll or what have you).
your readers are really all very well-read and
informed people who don’t actually need to get Either way, the idea is to get those paths
further information, so The Google gives points deeper into your site like roots, trickling your
for those anyhow. traffic down, creating by clicks a firmer grip
on the search engine turf by making as much
So if you refer to a particular person as relevant noise as possible.
being an authority or in a quote attribution, but
you don’t want to expand the article with an
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