What’s a Link Roundup?
A link roundup is a collated list of links to online content. The content will center on a particular topic. Someone takes the time to search out the best information, compiles it into a neat package, and publishes it. But why?
A good link roundup has great value to readers, contributors, and the publishing website. It can boost traffic, improve user experience, and positively affect authority and reputation.
Don’t confuse a link roundup with an index of internal website content. A link roundup highlights quality content from other contributors and provides an easy way to find this. You’ve likely already come across a link roundup on a popular website.
Who Creates a Link Roundup?
Anyone with an online presence can create and post a list of links. Many will tell you that only websites with a high domain authority (DA) and PageRank (PR) produce good link roundups, but this is not always the case. Someone could spend 30-60 minutes on a web search and group together a bunch of content URLs, titles, and descriptions, without ever reading the content to assess its value. The quality of the list depends on the research and judgment of the creator.
A good roundup takes a commitment to detail and a wish to provide the very best information to readers. While these qualities are not reliant on DA or PR, many of the better roundups appear on websites with stellar reputations. The reason being, a website puts its character on the line when recommending the content in a roundup. If it links to low-quality content, it could damage its authority. Any website that has taken the time and effort to build its brand won’t risk any defamation by publishing a sub-par roundup.
Why Provide Link Roundups?
A roundup can increase website traffic. Here’s why:
• A person performing a search query is more likely to go to a website with a roundup. Someone has already performed the research and posted the results in one digestible post.
• Lots of information in one place. A chance to capture outliers who may not have chosen the website had it not posted a roundup.
• Publishing regular roundups can lead to regular visitors.
• If people consider a roundup useful, they may bookmark the website.
A quality link roundup provides backlinks to the site hosting the list through:
• People sharing the list
• Mentions on social media
• The content originators posting about their inclusion in a link roundup
Benefits of Inclusion in Link Roundups
There are four main bonuses for a website whose content gets linked to in a roundup, these are:
1. Backlinks
As mentioned above, a link roundup is an effective backlinking strategy. Each link in a list receives a backlink, usually from a trusted source, possibly with a high DA and PR (which lends more weight to the backlink, from an SEO viewpoint).
2. Free targeted promotion
Content gets placed in a relevant index. For example, a marketing company might publish a roundup about the best articles they’ve discovered about social media promotion. Or an SEO firm may run a list of the best videos about backlink building. Content reaches the right audience and produces new leads.
3. Increased traffic
Link roundups on popular websites will drive more visitors to content listed in the review. This additional traffic is pre-sold on viewing the content. This could reduce bounce rates.
3. Forging relationships
When a website’s content gets included in a roundup, the person who created the list publicly announces their admiration of the work. Maybe the content author will get asked to create content for the website publishing the list? Or some other collaboration may arise? An inclusion in a link roundup can have far-reaching opportunities.
Finding a Link Roundup
Start with a simple web search. Some roundups have names like Friday’s Roundup or This Week’s List, so it may be best to use the topic as a keyword rather than a title. Try using a few different search queries and see what produces the best results for you. You can also find link roundups posted on Twitter.
If you’re looking for specific information, say about SEO or social media marketing, why not try looking for a roundup? Let someone do the work for you. You’re likely to find better resources than if you spent hours performing search queries.
A good link roundup only includes the best selections. If a website wants inclusion, its content must be better than the competition. This encourages website owners to create quality content, resulting in a better online experience for all.