As usual, Steve Tibbets hits the nail directly on the head with his post about link rot and Wikipedia.  I would have to say that the domain that I link to the most would have to be Wikipedia.  Most of the time I dot it because it’s convenient, but link rot (there!  I just did it) happens a lot. 

Microsoft is pretty bad at this.  There have been too many times where I tried to follow a link into the MSDN, only to find that the MSDN has been reorganized and all of the links have changed.

If I link to another blog, I look for the permalink.  That usually indicates that the link will be around for a while.  I also try to find links on multiple domains.  That way, the odds are less likely that you will get the dreaded 404 page when you follow a link that has rotted away.

Steve posting his rules for linking and they just make sense:

  • If what I’m linking to has a top-level domain, then I will link to it.
  • If I’m linking to someone’s words (say, a blog post or magazine article), then I will link to that.
  • Otherwise, I’m linking to Wikipedia.