Famous Bloggers

How To Blog and Start a Business

Home » The Famous Blog » What is the Advantages and Disadvantages of HUGE and LONG Link List Blog Posts in the long term

What is the Advantages and Disadvantages of HUGE and LONG Link List Blog Posts in the long term

- by

huge long list

Lots of people like the list kind blog posts that usually start with “Top 10” or “The Best 100”, I can deny it’s a great way to get attention to your post, specially when it has tons of useful links that someone can bookmark to get back to it latter. But before you do your coming log list post make sure to read my opinion about long list posts because I actually don’t like it, and I will not publish a long list again on any of my blogs.

Advantages of list post

Just to let you know, I am not against list posts, I am only tired of long ones, so let me first talk a little about the advantage of list posts. You probably post a long list post thinking people will like it, and actually they do like it, and it gets high number of “Thank you for the awesome links” comments, specially if your list includes links to your fellow bloggers blogs and some really useful posts, this is why list posts gets much more retweets and extra amount of votes on social bookmarking websites, it’s a very good promotional technique.

What could happen latter to LONG list posts?

One of the most mistakes that bloggers do while creating a long list post is to care more for number and forget the quality of links, I will now tell you why I hate long list posts because this happen to me more than once, do you remember my very long list of 100 blogs using CommentLuv? I will take it as an example to make you understand why I hate posting a long list post on my blogs, and why I will not do it again.

I spend more than 3 months to finish this post, I was collecting CommentLuv enabled blogs to list them in one long list post, and I got more than 200 comments between thank you and plz add my blog to your list! I got a high rank for this post because so many people share it and link to it. I have edited this post more than 100 times!

Oh my God.. I have Broken Links!

At the end and after a few months passed, I discovered lots of broken links on my list of 100 blogs using CommentLuv post, and now I have to do extra work to remove those links, and if you are wondering why Broken Links? The answer simply because those blogs I am linking to has their hosting expired, or their owners are no longer blogging on them, or changed the URL of their blogs, so lots of links in my list post are linking to no where in the space of the internet.

This made me rethink again and changed my mind about long list posts and prefer a little short list when I do promotion posts or list posts, so I am always trying to reduce the number of external links on my weekly rounds posts as well.

No long link list posts anymore

I decided not to do long list posts anymore and reduce number of external links in my posts, maybe 10 up to 30 is not harmful and painful as a 100 list post. I believe you know now the disadvantages of long list posting.

Another thought is to post more often, why I will do a very long list post while I can post two or three posts and each one has less number of links, it’s better to handle, don’t you think so?

About

I create websites with WordPress, and I develop Schema Plugins to help SEOs. I am a social network lover. I am also the night creature who works hard to keep this project up. Owner and founder of the Famous Blog.

Reader Interactions

Related Posts

{ 40 Responses }

  1. Janice says:
    It appears to be a foreseeable crisis in the world of search engine optimization. Yet it's a great challenge for everyone thus promoting their links and improving their skills. You greatly made an impressive discussion.
  2. Harryjohnson says:
    This seems to be a nice idea. I prefer to do short links my post with links placed within the post as they add more value.
  3. Jarret says:
    Hesham, I agree with your concerns about the problems with long link posts--particularly with issues such as broken links. I think the other problem with them, based on my understanding of Google's algorithm, is that the relative value of the links is actually pretty low for the sites that are linked to. From what I understand, the PageRank is distributed across all outbound links on the page, so if your blog already has a large number of outbound links in the form of internal links, then the value of outbound links to 100 additional sites won't be very much in terms of PageRank.
    • Hesham says:
      Hi Jarret , Yes, I think you are right about the value of links in long lists, and relevancy is not something that you can really handle when you list 100 links of stuff, each link could be from another world! Thanks for your explanation!
  4. SBA says:
    I like a well organized long list. After doing so much research, it would make sense to invest time in sectioning the list. I did one that brought a lot of traffic and provides useful info for new bloggers: Top 100 Articles to Help You With Blogging. There are 10 items in 10 categories; each category has an image, a relevant quote, and a short intro. I've often refer new bloggers to different sections for inspiration. Since you mention broken links I just ran a check of the list thru an online checker --- linkchecker.submitexpress.com/ There was a bad link due to the blog's permalink structure changed. .-= SBA´s last blog ..Use Inline Editors to Manage Published Content =-.
    • Hesham says:
      This seems to be a nice idea, it will help a lot to read and scan a long list, thank you for sharing and taking the time!
  5. Louise says:
    Hi Hesham, Just popped in from Sire's. I totally agree. I usually include many link resources on my blog and revisiting posts to update broken links can really be tiresome. I've resigned myself to the fact that the resource section must stay as it is and only check links which are in the post itself. Gee, I wish there were a better way. Thank you so much for sharing this info. I needed a reminder:) .-= Louise´s last blog ..Shrove-tide Tidbits & Delicacies =-.
    • Hesham says:
      Hi Louise, first of all many thanks to Sire's blog :) and sorry for the very late reply! There is nothing wrong with including many links in your blog posts, actually it's recommended to link to as many resource as you can to help Google and search engines to decided where to place your blog or posts! The thing is to take care of what you are linking to, I prefer trusted blogs and those sites that I feel they will last for longer if not for ever!
  6. Wayne John says:
    heh, I hear what you're saying, but there are tools that can help keep things clean too. I would think the notoriety gained from such lists would outweigh the negatives of creating one. But then, some of us just like to write than create lists and maintain them. Personally, I'm torn as to how I feel about lists vs maintenance. I always appreciate being able to "set it and forget it", but that isn't always possible. .-= Wayne John´s last blog ..An overview Chitika search advertising for publishers =-.
    • Hesham says:
      You are so right Wayne, broken links checkers could save time, it's just then a matter of finding the time to use them! I can not remember when was the last time I checked the broken links on this blog, it has been a few months! So I would like to follow your way.. Set it and forget it!
  7. Ching Ya says:
    Broken links can be a huge headache. Yes, apart from the glory there can be a lot of corrections to be done, later on. I think most people love resourceful link list because it's easier to digest, comment (although there's more options than merely 'great list' alone) and easier to share after a few glance. I wonder how many will actually go through at least 20 links out of 100; maybe for some who are really looking for answers. No doubt, I love list posts; long or short. It is still one of many presentation methods. Just write when you wanted to. :-) @wchingya Social/Blogging Tracker .-= Ching Ya´s last blog ..6 Status Updates Scheduler for Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn =-.
    • Hesham says:
      If we think about millions of people using the internet, for sure there will be some one with the mind of checking the whole 100 links in a long list post :)
  8. element321 says:
    I never thought about the long link posts having issues. I be honest, the last one was in your range as being okay to do. But it took a while to write verses a regular post. I also never thought about maintaining them. This is something I will need to think about for future link posts. .-= element321 @ evolutionary designs´s last blog ..Weekly Link Love =-.
    • Hesham says:
      Actually writing list posts sometimes is not a hard work if you create the list while you are browsing the internet, for example you can set new folder in your browser favorite and call it "List post", and sub-folders for design, blogging, social networks... etc, then when ever you find a good website add it to the list, and after one week you will have good and useful links for your coming list posts ;) I do this way some times, and it's cool! I think also that maybe a small tinny list for example 3 or 5 related websites or links, and talking about these websites in a kind of short review will create an awesome post.
  9. Sire says:
    I'm not a fan of long lists post. I prefer to do my post with links placed within the post as they add more value, in my opinion, to the post itself. I never look at more than one or two of any link so all the rest just miss out. .-= Sire@WassupBlog´s last blog ..How Twitter Can Actually Earn You Some Cash =-.
    • Hesham says:
      This is by default is my attitude as well, but if the list post is organized by subtitles then I go to one or two categories to check a few links, I hate the ones that is not organized!
      • Sire says:
        Yeah, I think that's why Kristi's are so popular, especially since she limited them to 5/category. She's so organized. .-= Sire@WassupBlog´s last blog ..Quick Update On People Search Money Opportunity =-.
        • Hesham says:
          Yes! and I remember when she asked her readers opinion about how many links to include in the list on each sub-title, I think people preferred the links to be 5 only on each!
          • Sire says:
            Yep, and I was one of those that suggested fewer links. I like to think that my comment caused her to make her decision. ;)
        • Hesham says:
          Sure "your" comment cause this decision when I added "mine" :) More weight!
  10. Shabnam Sultan says:
    Long link posts requires a lot of hard work but it is worth it :) . .-= Shabnam Sultan´s last blog ..Power for Martian homes =-.
    • Hesham says:
      Hey Shabnam, long list posts worth the work if you have time for it, just imagine managing 100 links with some broken links specially if you give a style for this post and you don't want to lose it, then maybe you will spend one or two days working on it.
  11. mk akan says:
    well, you have a point,i personally do list posts but i try to make it short.if i have along one,i don't usually have many links. .-= mk akan´s last blog ..Will the IPad Rock Or Suck In Sales.A Review =-.
    • Hesham says:
      Yes! not too many links is a better idea, easy to manage latter if you have any broken links! A good thing to do it to link to trusted blogs, those you expect they will not go down soon!
  12. sudharsan says:
    Long list surely need a hardwork... But i like to do long list.... Bcoz it provide a lot of informations...
    • Hesham says:
      Yes it dose need hard work! I maybe don't have enough time to manage and maintain long lists these days!
  13. Referral Secrets says:
    Hello I see thorougly what you are saying and I have succumed to doing it in the past on my blogs. One thing I found is for when making links hyperlinked to always use the nofollow tag on them especially when you have so many on one page. But it's not good for SEO and ideally you should use an offsite file to host them such as a document site like scribd and just link to the list that way instead. .-= Referral Secrets´s last blog ..Get Fresh Unique Dofollow Blog Lists in Your Niche! =-.
    • Hesham says:
      I read some posts talking about "The best way to create a list post", those guys add a HTML page with the links and iFrame them into their post, so they will not hurt the original post! but this is not very good thing to do as your HTML page will not get the same PageRank as your post because probably it will have only one linkback which is from your own post! I think most of people you are awarding will not like the idea!
  14. iWoodpecker says:
    Well, who said that blogging is easy? But the fact is the fact.. if you work hard, you will get your reward no matter what. Just show it to people. I think you're simply tired a little. Those lists should be done regularly. Of course, if you're not against some extra attention to your blog :)) For example, my own list of 144 dofollow and nofollow blogs with commentluv still recieve comments and it's still the most viewed post so far. I was compiling it for 2 days. Then after Google PageRank update, I had to update it again. And I cannot say, that it is easy to keep such posts up-to-day, but it's definitely worth it! .-= iWoodpecker@website traffic, website promotion´s last blog ..Essential Aim of Online Web Site Promotion: What is More Important than External Links? =-.
    • Hesham says:
      Of course! I understand that list posts are very important to get attention, and I will not stop doing them, but just more shorter and more often, means I will be able publish more of list posts! So, basically I could have the same benefit by splitting long posts into short ones! or you think people likes the big numbers like the top 100 ?
  15. Tom says:
    I know that it may seem selfish, but I really limit my linking out for this same reason. I can only look after my own links and pages, and by linking out to others pages I am setting myself up for angry readers in the future when the content I am linking to no longer exists. That being said, I still do link out, I am just more wary of it - and don't do massive list posts. .-= Tom@Free Squeeze Pages´s last blog ..Do I Need My Own Product Before I Start List Building? =-.
    • Hesham says:
      Using the broken link checker plugin was a big save to my time and effort, I discovered lots of broken links and started to work on them whenever I have time.
  16. Keith says:
    I don't like the long list because they aren't actually readable, you usually will just scan them looking for something that grabs your attention. I like to write my lists in paragraphs with subtitles now to make them more natural. I may only get 6-8 links in these articles, but I notices that they are more beneficial tonot only the reader but also the person you are linking to. .-= Keith´s last blog ..Add Feeds To Your Facebook Fan Page =-.
    • Hesham says:
      When I meet a well organized list I go directly to the section I like and check the links!
  17. Dana says:
    Yeah -- a long list is surely needed hard work after time goes fly. Many link will become broken link after certain of time. I can not imagine after one years. But if the hard work is worthy, you can go on. :D .-= Dana @ Blogging Update´s last blog ..Why Should Free Blog be avoided? =-.
    • Hesham says:
      Yes! and this what annoy me and I am trying to avoid in future.