In our series PRO Feature, we look at features that are unique to Metro Publisher’s PRO and Enterprise clients.
Related Links help your website visitors discover content they didn’t explicitly come to see, but after reading a piece of content, they are guided to other articles, blogs, slideshows, audio, or video content of relative interest published on your site.
More importantly, it drives reader engagement. Visitors get immersed, leading not just to audience growth, but a returning and loyal audience.
Related links are automatically displayed based on a sophisticated algorithm designed to reveal stories of higher relevance. To use this feature you don’t have to download or install a plugin or software. All you have to do is sensibly tag your stories.
Related Links Admin View 2
How related links link to tagging
Tags should be specific enough to relate to the story you are currently adding with other relevant entries.
A reader clicks on an article about a favorite rock musician’s track record of how he made it to the top. The article is tagged with “Rock Music,” so related links brings up general rock music genre entries but none specific to the favorite rock musician subject of the article at hand. The reader leaves the site after reading the article.
Adding a specific tag, like the musician’s name, let’s say it’s “John Doe,” would be sensible. With this tag, related links will first display entries sharing that tag such as a story about John Doe’s new love interest, another announcing a new album release, and a video entry of him performing years back as part of an unknown rock band before breaking out as a solo artist.
The reader has the opportunity to peruse entries older and newer than the current article, and decides to stick around a little longer. Maybe even click on “Rock Music” related stories that are not centered around John Doe. Before long, the reader signs up for the site's newsletter.
Related Links NOW Example
Here’s another example of topical tags that are specific enough to relate to the current entry, and thus likely to persuade a user to click. If you post recipes to your site, you could use the tag “Recipe” or – if it happens to be a dessert recipe – use a tag such as “Dessert Recipe.” In the case of “Dessert Recipe” it may be more likely that a user will click on related stories because they are already thinking about desserts.
Related Links Thumbnail View
This can keep users on your site longer, giving them contextual content suggestions based on sensibly tagged stories and a little built-in intelligence from a algorithm unique to Metro Publisher.
Relate Links Thumbnail View 2
Automatic when you need it, manual when you want full control
In the rare case that you have very specific stories in mind that relate to the article, you have the option to manually select specific stories to appear with the content you are about to publish.
Using manual related link selection works best for evergreen content such as how-to guides, lists, case studies, round-ups and the like.
But beware, the automatic algorithm has the advantage that it stays fresh and will also display content published later than the current entry. Big archives benefit from this, and makes sense for events and news entries that date.
Whether you choose manual, automatic or both, the result is a useful reader service that can help them see more of the great content that is published on your site and keeps then coming back for more.
For more details on related links settings, go to the Pro Features article on the Metro Publisher support site.
