Internal links (links you make within one post that direct readers to another post) are extremely powerful tools for encouraging readers to dig deeper into your site. They’re the equivalent of introducing your friends at a party:
Post 1: “Hey, nice to meet you, my name is Joe. Have you met Bonnie? She can do handstands while chugging milkshakes.”
Post 2: “Hi, I’m Bonnie! You know Joe, huh? If you like him, you should meet Xavier. He makes a living doing YouTube video reviews… in the nude!”
Three hours later, your reader is arguing with his girlfriend, explaining why he forgot about their date. That’s a good thing—she’s totally not right for him.
But let’s face it—adding internal hyperlinks to posts is a monstrous nuisance, a time-suck that makes blogging harder than it should be. And if you have thousands of posts? Fuhgeddaboudit.
That’s why Arron Woods is my hero of the week. He wrote the RB Internal Links plugin for WordPress. RB Internal Links creates a graphical interface where you can browse your posts by category or tag. Suddenly, you have no excuse for being fabulous.
To install the plugin from your WordPress dashboard, just go to Plugins > Add New and search for “RB Internal Links.” If you’re keen on the old-fashioned way and want to download the plugin to your computer first (or if you’re a developer and want to make your own improvements), click here for the download page.
NOTE to FTC: I didn’t get paid for this endorsement; I just think the plugin rocks. Please go bother white collar criminals instead of bloggers.
Have you been using RB Internal Links since before the television show “Lost” was cool? What’s your favorite WordPress plugin?
Agh! Regretting my blog is not on WordPress again …
Oy, sorry. I’m researching good stuff for Blogger folks, too.
But I do loves me some WordPress!
I had no idea such a thing existed! Thanks for this information.
Of course, I’ll have to add that I had not thought so much about internal links until seeing so many people in the blogathon doing so. So thanks to all of you!
That’s why the Blogathon is such a motivational (and educational) kick in the pants—there’s nothing more motivating than watching lots of other folks do something you want to do!