Steve Pavlina claims to have completed a 4 year degree in just three semesters. I knew a few exchange students who did it in three years and were basket cases by graduation time.

I stopped reading him after that claim.

I’m not saying that he’s a liar but he does tell some stories which make your BS alarm go off.

But then i started thinking. What do i like when i browse? And i realized i hate having windows pop open right and left for every link i click. That’s why God (at least the internet god) invented a “back” button. So on my guitar resource blog i decided to have all my outbound links open in the same window and trus that my content was interesting enough to bring my reader back.

what does everyone else do for outbound links? new windows or same?

Is it still true that users hate to have links open up in a new window?

External links to other blogs makes good sense on a case by case basis. So as strategy you employ what you need given the circumstance and goals for the sites/Blog

So: some articles have an outbound link or two, some have none.. I’d never leave out a link for fear of “losing” a visitor but neither would I add a link without good reason.

I prefer blogs that primarily post original content. In this case pertinent links, both internal and external, are welcome. The difference to me is in how the external link is used. Your post on his subject is a good example – you started your post with an external link, but you added value and kept the conversation here…you added significant original content. If your post would have ended after the first or second paragraph, which would be the case on many blogs, you would have been reporting what was said on another site…and I wouldn’t have cared much, found much value in your post or have left this comment here.

Of course, if your definition of blog is content site with a reverse chronological front page, then you’re bound to disagree :) But there are many journals / diaries with this format, and they’re not blogs, right?

On my blogs that collect and collate information from around the web on one topic it’s appropriate to link a lot and I find my readers appreciate the time and effort I go to to find them the information they want.

However on blogs that are more ‘tips’ or ‘how to’ related I find I link out less and build a community of interaction on the actual blog itself – keeping people on the site.

I guess I’d agree with Kevin’s main point in his post though – ie that bloggers shouldn’t be scared about sending traffic away. There are benefits of it and it is one way to build y our own blog.

Socializing is the key to success and I think that without both these things it is not possible to be a successful blogger like Darren himself posts regularly with his own content, however from time to time he makes those small posts and links to other blogs and everyone will agree that he is a successful blogger :)

Obviously, this is a privilege one doesn’t wish to abuse. :)

But I agree with your central point. There are many different ways to blog, not one “right way”. Steve’s subject matter lends itself very well to strictly inbound linking. You go to the site to read Steve’s views because you value his experimental approach to self-improvement, not because you want a list of links.

When writing that post, I changed ‘The best blogs…’ to ‘Some of the best blogs…’ in the body of my post. Probably should have gone back and changed the title which I had written before.

You’re living proof that a blog with primarily original content, though you liberally link out, can be a hell of a resource and keep folks coming back for more.

And a blog’s goals could alter which side of the spectrum you fall on – sending ‘em away or keeping them on the site. At LexBlog, our clients already have something to sell. Themselves. They are not looking to monetize their blog in and of itself. A lot of your followers are monetizing their blogs.

I still believe that bloggers can offer a tremendous value by linking to other resources and save time in posting by doing so. Do not buy the hard and fast rule that you must keep all readers in the site.

And thanks a ton for blogging about something I posted. Like it or not, you’re a rock star inn blogging.