Earlier this week, we discussed how adding related articles at the end of your post, or in the sidebar is not only valuable to readers but could actually be a way to increase and to retain more of your readership. But, you can just add a couple of posts at the end or in the sidebar. You have to think about the kind of information that would be most valuable to a reader of that particular blog post, you have to think about the logical next steps. Here's how to add the related links feature at the end of your business blog writing, and how to ensure that it's worthwhile to your readers.
How to Determine What to Add as a Related Link
If you don't have a lot of posts to choose from, then this isn't as hard as it seems. Less choice means a less difficult decision. However, if you have 100, or 1000 blog posts, then creating a related links sections is much tougher. Here's a few factors to consider when determining
- Topic - Taking this post as an example, the obvious thing to do would be to include related links about, well, the related links feature. However, we only have one other blog post to share. So, sometimes with the topic you have to expand. Since the point of the feature is to improve your business blog writing and the value you offer to readers and potential customers, any posts about those topics would work as well. With topic, it's not just the specific topic but the broader goal of the information you're presenting.
- Publishing Date - If possible, you don't want to add anything too old to the list, unless the article is evergreen, or relevant all year round. What's considered too old? Our definition is 90 days or more.
- Popularity - Related links may be a great way to get less popular, but related, articles in front of more people and to drive more traffic to them. However, the opposite is also good. Put some of your most popular, but relevant, links there as a way to show what others have considered valuable and worth reading.
- Set a Limit - Sometimes, you might have 10 or 15 related articles that could go in the related links section. But that's too much, and you just end up overwhelming the reader with choice and making the next step much more difficult then it needed to be. Keep the related links list between three and five articles.
Additional Things that Can Go in the Related Links Section
Although the most obvious thing to add is other blog posts, no one said that your list of related links only has to be blog posts. Here are other types of content that would be worth adding to the related links section:
- Videos
- Infographics
- Landing Pages to Lead Generation Offers
- Guest Posts on Other Sites (You don't necessarily want to include partners and competitors into your related links section. The point is to position your company as the thought leader and the one who has all the great information)
- Webinar or Event Links
- Slideshows
- Service/Product Pages (if you do choose to do this, only include one service page. The point of the related links to help the reader, not necessarily yourself, so don't make it about you by overwhelming the list with service/product pages)
Related Links:
Increase Your Business Blogging Readership with Related Articles
How to Blog: Focusing on the Blog Sidebar
How to Add Lengths (and Value) to Your Blog Posts