BBC Link Policy: We Want To Send A Lot Of Traffic To Other Sites
from the how-refreshing dept
We're so used to websites whose "link policies" are about what they want you to do to link to them, combined with the tendency for traditional media players to hate the external link, as if it were some sign of failure, that when someone anonymously submitted a link to the BBC News' "link policies," you'll have to forgive me for expecting the worst. Instead, the link policies were a bit of a revelation. They're all about how to link more to other sources. It all starts with a goal of sending more traffic elsewhere:The BBC Strategy Review [1.40MB PDF] recently unveiled by director general Mark Thompson set as one of its goals a major increase in outbound links from the BBC website - a doubling of the number of "click-throughs" to external sites from 10 million to 20 million a month by 2013.It then goes into a list of specific policies, which pretty much all focus on adding lots of external links to stories. Of course, given how UK newspapers are suddenly working hard to block links from others, you have to wonder if those same papers are going to start blocking the BBC as well...
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Filed Under: links, outbound links
Companies: bbc
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If you want on-line news just go the the BBC site. It will have all the links you need.
Talk about how to make your site the one to go to first.
Sort of like iGoogle
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Well, yes, that's because of an unwritten law that dictates that only 60%, or three of every five links can be internal before you're considered in politeness breach.
It's called the three-fifths compromise....
What? Whaddya mean that's already been taken??!!!
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If I remember correctly, you're Canadian, right? Which is why my reference to the 3/5 compromise might have been lost on you....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-fifths_compromise
One of our over-glorified American founding fathers came up with the wonderful idea of counting slaves and indentured servants as only 3/5 of a person for the purposes of dispensing tax obligations.
I love my country. I do. But sometimes I read parts of our history and wonder if anyone else here actually knows how dirty our history is....
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Yes, Canadian and yes, that one whooshed by me. I am fairly familiar with American historical dirt (and also with being historically dirty, what with being of mostly British descent) but that particular appalling detail had escaped my notice.
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Nearly every single post we do links to outside sources.
Not sure what your complaint is.
Yes, we also link back to older stories for context, but to accuse us of not living up to linking to others is silly.
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Re: Re: Onanistic links
You're certainly not as bad as those that have just discovered linking, and then pepper every article with links to their own tag pages. There's a point where it ceases to be context and merely becomes click baiting. Where that point would be is, of course, subjective.
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I don't read massively anymore. They've annoyed me too much.
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Other sites (like massively) don't do nearly so well. They automagically generate 3-6 links to their tag cloud and call it good.
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I'm a regular BBC user...
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BBC.UK
But have you USA person tried to watch any BBC shows?
They have most at BBC.UK, but we cant run them, LEGALLY.
The BBC.US site sucks.
Its the total reverse of SYFY(sifi) network..where you can watch most shows online in the USA, but the UK site sucks.
Is there any reason to do region restrictions?? SO WHAT I go to a site in another country, to see what they watch..But it wont let you watch/play anything because YOU ARNT from that country.
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The BBC website has ALWAYS has an obligation to act as a portal/directory to the best of the web, and has been falling down on its obligation by providing too much of its own good and original content.
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dispite
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The BBC website has ALWAYS has an obligation to act as a portal/directory to the best of the web, and has been falling down on its obligation by providing too much of its own good and original content.
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