How to build traffic by crosslinking

Cross linking is a technique where you will add links to other articles written on the same or similar topics. A good cross link will have a description of what the link will be accessing and not just a "click here for more information on cross linking". Try to write a short explanation, overview, or summary on the specifics of the article the link leads to. This helps the reader know what you are about to show them, as well as, search engines will use this information and file it away in a huge database and help build the articles ranking. Never forget search engines can be lazy and the more clear something is written; the easier the search engine can catalog it. So essentially, cross linking is a method of keeping traffic and building traffic to other articles on the same or similar topics.

Cross linking is a way of building traffic to each of your other articles within the specified topic. You can cross link to each and every one of your articles, but it makes very little sense and may even cause people to bounce from your articles - i.e. possibly increasing bounce rate instead of decreasing bounce rate. The whole reason for cross linking it to prevent readers from bouncing and to direct them to read more about this topic written by you. Building traffic to your other articles accomplishes several things; it brings more readers to a wider selection of your articles, it assists in driving your ranking up on more than one article, and the more exposure you give your articles the more likely it is that someone is going to click on one of the advertisements on your page and you get money for this. The more traffic you have to more articles the more likely you will make more money.

Building traffic is a necessity to everyone who writes on the internet and wants to make money, make a statement, and/or do anything on the internet. The internet was created for communicating. Building traffic to your articles with cross links allows you to focus on writing more instead of constantly promoting each and every article as a stand alone piece. Every webmaster, blogger, content writer - basically anyone who is an author online no matter what they publish wants visibility and cross linking pages, articles, lenses, hubs, whatever you want to call your material is an essential way of building traffic to be more visible. There are several easy examples for people to look at:

• Buy a book that is in a series - the publisher has listed every other book that is in the series as well as the upcoming book. Publishers are building traffic to other books.
• Most websites have links to all their services on each and every page. Building traffic and possibly a customer base to other services they offer.
• Most every retail website has "Others who looked at X also looked at:". A great way to keep customers shopping and spending money (building traffic to more goods).

So, who should look at cross linking to build more traffic to their sites, articles, or whatever the medium is? Each and every person who publishes, sells, or is associated with anything over the internet should cross link and market themselves and their other products.

Cross linking is at the most basic level simply linking sites, pages, or different urls together so they draw traffic to more areas and decrease bounce rating. So, adding a basic <a href> works but let's look at some more elegant ways of cross linking to send traffic to other pages. Here are a couple of examples:

• If you enjoyed reading "Humid August", I would highly recommend the fictional piece which takes place in New York City, "Sundress in July". If you would be kind enough to leave a comment if you enjoy it; I would appreciate it.

• If you think your family is going to enjoy this great chicken recipe, you may want to make this amazing side-dish along with it: Green Beans served with sautéed radishes.

These are two examples of cross linking. The disadvantage to cross linking like this is that the links are all hard-wired into the article. They are not dynamic, they will still build traffic to other articles, sites, or what not. But if you ever need to change them you will need to edit and change them manually.

Cross linking should be done where it makes sense. If you have a paragraph that touches on a topic of a different article, link it in such a way that it makes sense. A lot of people will simply add bullets at the end of an article or a side capsule with cross links in them. I attempt to add them in such a way to make the article streamlined without adding distracts. However you decide to add cross links remember that they need to make sense and be easily understood. If you ever have any questions, contact me and I will try to answer them to the best of my ability.

Backlinking is another technique that is quite important to building traffic to your articles. This can be a tedious endeavor for many. I consider the "paperwork" of online writing. Luckily, I have found a Firefox extension that automates backlinking for me. If you are interesting in a free automated way to create backlinks read "Free Backlinking". If you enjoyed this article please follow me, I will be adding more information on building traffic to articles and sites.