I always find it a little interesting that some people are stingy. It seems to be a natural web inclination to be a tightwad with linking, or promoting others, or sending people to other sites (even *gasp* competing sites). Here is the thing that I’ve practiced, and it has not only allowed me to be generous and feel good about myself. Good blog kharma has rewarded me time and time again. So I have to ask you, if you have a web site or a blog. How is YOUR blog kharma?
You may be wondering what blog kharma even is. Blog kharma is doing the right thing just because you are part of a community, and you want to help others. Be a generous blogger. Here is how you get good blog kharma:
On the other hand, I frequently see sites and blogs that have serious bad blog kharma. You have bad blog kharma if you have committed any of the following:
Before you even get all commenting and ranting below, I will address this right here and now: Yes, I know there are reasons for doing the stuff on my bad kharma list. If there weren’t reasons, people wouldn’t do those things. I’m talking about something else, being generous, and being a giver not a taker in the Blog Community.
In the old days, a web site was a self-contained entity, an island unto itself. This is the world of Web 2.0. This is a community people, no different than the one in which you physically live. Be a good citizen. And here is a hint. Good blog kharma does pay off. So you are even being selfish by giving.
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Tags: blog community, blog kharma, blogging, link love, nofollow, pagerank, SEO, web 2.0
I am a writer/blogger, SEO diva, foodie, social network maven/creator, travel junkie and former investigative newspaper reporter turned new media mom. I was named one of the 50 Most Influential and Powerful Women in Social Media. Find out more about me, about what people say about my work, or hire me for SEO, content, blog or social campaign services.
I agree with you completely. It’s all about community, if you don’t participate fully, you aren’t being a good contributor.
followthatdgos last blog post..Moving on up
This is a great post. A lot of beginner bloggers do the bad karma stuff out of ignorance — like nofollow — but I hope we all get better as we learn!
Willows last blog post..The 29-Day Giving Challenge
O, goodie me! I have good blog karma. But I’m willing to make it better: please explain nofollow. I’ve seen the plugin on WP before, but I don’t get why I need it?
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I don’t quite get the nofollow thing either, so I’d love a better explanation by someone who is not google. As for the good & bad karma - I agree 100% - I like like mad, but don’t have the time to do a link-love post. Thanks for this post
Dawn @ Coming to a Nursery Near Yous last blog post..Cancer sucks.
Hi Kelby! I was DYING to add this to my comment yesterday because I had already picked you as a blogger to whom I’m passing this award along but the timing was all wrong.
Anyway, I’m a little fish and you’re a big one but I wanted to let you know that I’ve tapped you for an award. Thanks for being a part of what gets me smiling and going and informed and thinking first thing in the morning!
Kelby is the most reputable, generous, kind and wonderful human I’ve yet to encounter. And no, this is not her mother. Just someone who respects and admires the drive, enthusiasm for everything and sincere desire to help others.
Kelby will probably even help me follow her instructions on how to do this because I am, uh, a little computer-challenged. (Isn’t the Internet a series of tubes? I thought Ted Stevens knew what he was talking about…..silly me)..
Thanks for all you do, Kelby–you are a super-duper human.
I think I have pretty good blog kharma - I link tons, I comment lots, just to participate in conversations and I have lots of luv (comment-luv that is!!!) I think I need to add a weekly links post though. Thanks for the tips!
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Hey, thanks alot for posting this! I kind of get into ruts where I think I’m too busy and only take time to update my own blog and then read down thro’ the ones on my Google Reader w\out taking time to comment or link or promote them. And I see lots of good interesting stuff out there. You’ve inspired me to be friendlier and let people know when I like what I read!
Great post and very helpful to a new blogger such as I. I definitely want good blog kharma, but I have no idea what nofollow means. I actually just learned what DM stands for the other day. I’m simple and simply behind in the web world!
I’m trying…I think I have good kharma? This is a great reminder:)
Nap Wardens last blog post..Award, Meme, Award, Award
I just recently found out about no-follow. I think it’s definitely worth a post. Thanks for the list!
I do this often on twitter and for my autism site at BellaOnline. I like to pass on sites and products I find in my google travels.
I am confused by the retweet though, when I do that should I include the person who did it first?
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My blog karma is well. I almost always link to another site in everyone of my posts, I don’t actually check to see if the site has a good rank or not before making a link. If the content is worth linking to, I generally do.
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