Being one of the top website platforms, WordPress has amplified the power of human connections. This platform is used by content creators, small businesses, bloggers, and huge companies — and allows users to make most of the possibilities. This platform is widely accepted by users all around the world. And even complete beginners are aware of the power WordPress has. This CMS platform lets you run any website you can imagine. Thus, you can set up anything from online stores to personalized websites to share your thoughts with the world.
WordPress comes with an easy-to-use platform with a range of functionality. The credibility of this platform has made it a beloved alternative for millions of people. Since this platform can be organized according to the user’s needs. Thus, you can personalize every aspect of your website to make it a reflection of your morals and beliefs. The endless set of options is designed to boost the content. By giving you complete freedom to organize your website, the platform allows you to customize every segment of the website and maximize your profits.
A perfect example of personalization has to be the links. With a few clicks, you can create permalinks or slugs in your WordPress website. Since these links can be customized according to your post it allows the visitors to distinguish between different web pages. Adding no-follow links to the WordPress website is extremely simple. Hyperlinks and other backlinks are a beneficial step for SEO, and it makes the navigation a lot simpler. With a click, the visitors can be redirected to other online pages, and this is a significant reason why the use of such links is welcomed on WordPress.
What is Link Relationship (XFN)?
Users have probably heard about several types of links on WordPress. But do you know about the XFN link relationship? In simple words, this stands for the XHTML Friends Network. Meaning the hyperlinks are used to represent real-world relationships. In other words, XFN is considered a type of distributed social networking except for one element. The element is that there is no central server to store the information. Thus, the website owner or creator puts XFN relationship information into hyperlinks.
This concept is used to simplify the relationships you share with the authors and the owners of other websites. Consequently, link relationships (XFN) allow people to review how you are related to the pages you are linking to. Thus, making it transparent and easier for visitors to assess. So, if you are linking to a website that is owned by a family member, you have the option to predefine it using the XFN framework. Meaning, you will only have to add a simple attribute to the link, and you are done. Make sure you link to an optimized website, so they don’t hurt your ranking.
How Can You Get Started With The Link Relationship (XFN)
WordPress link relationship (XFN) represents the XHTML friends network. And the XFN Standards can be maintained via the Global Multimedia Protocols Group. This link will be used for the purpose of hyperlinks, and these hyperlinks are used to describe real-world interfaces. Since XFN can also be used to build interlink connections over social media, there will be no central server involved to store the information. Thus, these XFN links are most valuable for SEO. Getting started with the link relationship (XFN) is not that difficult. And you can even use it yourself.
Link Relationship (XFN) Decoded With An Example
For instance, if you are the user and you have a friend with a blog where he shares information about automobiles, and you also own a website or blog that you want to connect with your friend’s blog or website. You can connect these two websites together using a single line of code within your website.
Suppose your friend Peter runs a technology blog, and you want to support him by linking it to your website. Simply, use this code line
<a href=”http://peter-blogs.com/”>Peter’s blog</a></a></a></a>.
Next, you will have to add a relationship to this hyperlink. By adding a relationship, you will strengthen the credibility of the source you are using, and it will be an insightful step as well. By linking the two websites, your visitors will also have access to Peter’s blog, and his website will be visible to all your audience. To add the relationship, you will have to add the hyperlink code. In this instance, the code will be rel=” friend”. In case you are promoting your mother’s blog, just replace the friend with the mother. After you have described the relationship, the code will look like this:
<a href=”http://Peter-blogs.com/” rel=”friend”>Peter’s blog</a>
You can use more than one relationship link value. So, if you are using more than one value then the user will be required to provide a space between two values and make sure the values are separated from each other. This will allow the people to know that the user is a friend, and the website belongs to him.
What Are The Most Frequent Link Relationship (XFN) Values
There are several XFN link relationship values that can be used for certain relationships. Since you will be using them to link to someone else’s website or blogs, you should be aware of all of them. These statements are used in building XFN hyperlinks and ensure the visitors know the source of the website and your relationship with them. Below we have discussed some of the most frequently used relationship values. Let’s look at them.
Friendship
Not all friendships are equal, some friends might be closer to you while some just meet on special occasions and festivals. With XFN, the best part is you can specify this in your link. The user can choose from three values being, acquaintance, contact, and friend to determine the level of friendship. Also, check out our other guides for WordPress fixes.
- Acquaintance is a person you have met a few times but you do not consider them as a real friend.
- A contact is a person you meet and someone you can get in contact with, but the relationship is not that close, and you don’t consider them as your real friend.
- A friend is someone you meet up with occasionally and regularly and consider someone close to you outside of your family.
Family
Family defines us, they are the reason behind our existence and shape us in several ways. And you can choose a specific relationship from the list to describe your family member and show them the respect they deserve. Some of the options available to you are:
- Parent- You can list any one of your parents, regardless if they are biological parents or adoptive ones.
- Spouse- You can list the XFN link relationship by adding your spouse’s website.
- Child- You can link to your biological or adoptive child using this option.
- Sibling- If you share a parent with someone, you can add them to your website using this option.
- Kin- If you consider someone as a part of your family, add them to your website using the kin option.
Professional Relationship
If you run a small business of any kind or own any website establishing a business relationship is essential. Thus, including your professional relationship will be valuable to all your links. Some options that are available include
- Colleague- If you know someone who works in a similar field as you, you can link to their website using this option.
- Co-Worker – You can link to any of your co-worker’s websites using this option.
Romantic
When you are linking to someone’s website whether it is WordPress or Wix, who is yet to become a family member, or you are romantically involved with them. Thus, you can use the romantic section to describe the relationship. You can choose the option that fits your relationship the best. Some of the available alternatives are:
- Crush – This option can be used to describe someone you are attracted to. And even if you don’t have any relationship with them, you can list them out as a crush to let your visitors know.
- Date- This option describes the person you are currently dating.
- Muse – This option is useful to link to people who inspire you. Thus, if you are inspired by someone’s works you can link them and add the relationship to your muse. You have the option to link to anyone from poets, artists, painters, etc.
- Sweetheart – This option is used to describe a person who holds a special place in your heart. So, if you have someone you share close feelings with, and you are committed to, you can use this option to describe your relationship.
Physical Geographical
This is another link relationship value that can be valuable. If you want to describe the geographical specifics about someone, you should choose this option. You have two available options with this value, and they are:
- Neighbor- This option is used to describe the relationship of someone who lives close to you. The option can be used to describe anyone from next door to a few streets away.
- Co-resident- This option is used to describe someone you share a street address with.
Identity
In the end, you can link to any of your other websites or Woocommerce stores as well use the value “me” and take out any other values. Since this option will make it clear to the visitors that it is your other website, it can also be used to link your two platforms together.
Final Words
So, now that we have established how important link relationship (XFN) is, it is now time for you to implement it. This small step can be a game-changer for your SEO, and it will allow you to promote your family’s loved ones and your own content as well. Furthermore, you can also check out these free SEO plugins to strengthen your Search Engine Optimization. By defining the link relationship values, the readers will be exposed to the source. Thus, linking out to credible sites will improve your credibility, and make the readers trust your content.
With correct links, your content will become much more meaningful and trustworthy. So, you should not ignore this tool and use this function to become a credible website. This feature is also a viable tool to promote your loved one and family’s content. In this article, we have shared the guide on how you can use this feature for maximum benefits. And we have also listed out all the values that are available to you as a user. For more WordPress fixes, you can check out our other article including How to Completely Disable Comments in WordPress. Happy Reading!