Be a Good Link
I want you to be a good link.
You have a site that:
- provides useful information in whatever topic you’re writing about. What’s useful can change, depending on the site or its goal, but aim for accuracy.
- brings a perspective to your readers. Tell me a story with a point of view. Demonstrate how you’re changing as you learn something new or go through your life.
- lives at its own domain. Sites die or go dormant all the time, but if you’ve laid out money for your URL, there’s a better chance you’re invested in creating something that lasts.
- respects a person’s attention and privacy. Skip the ads in every corner and nix heavy analytics that track people across the web. Make money from your work, but be mindful of how that happens.
- lacks grift. You bring your perspective, and do it in a way that doesn’t push someone down a path they’ll regret later.
- resembles you. It could be a weird URL, a color scheme or the tone in your writing. Make it unmistakably you.
I’d like to think I know what a good link looks like. I’ve run a newsletter for a decade and thought about this before. Like Dave Rupert, I’ve noticed folks continue to rely on platforms like Medium, Substack and the like to get their creative work out there. Platforms give you shortcuts, and compromises. Your site says something about you. It’s a link back to you as much as an avenue for linking to elsewhere. Make sure it sends the right message.