Linky parties help bloggers grow traffic and network.
Throw a linky party if you want jaw-dropping traffic.
As explained in How to See Your Traffic Explode: Have a Linky Party Part I, dramatically increased traffic is one of the many advantages to throwing a linky party.
Hosting a linky brings traffic to your site, skyrockets your page views, offers you and other bloggers a chance to network, and many bloggers find it downright fun.
However, Ms. Gramlich, in her Tweet, challenges the idea of hosting a linky party as “more to do”. Will I counter her concerns? Will this post be a point-counterpoint? Will I publicly take her on and debate her?
Good idea or more to do? – How to See Your Traffic Explode: Have a Linky Party http://t.co/b7I2WjGGON via @MrsPaznanski
— Jane Gramlich (@50sFieldGuide) April 9, 2015
No. I will not. The truth is that I agree with her. Linky parties do take time to organize, and my attempts at thoughtful comments as I welcome my share of guests to the party take me significant time each week as well.
There has been such an overwhelming response to …Have a Linky Party Part I, due to reader interest, I bring you
Watch Your Traffic Explode: How to Host a Linky Party Part II
Readers’ Questions
Q: I’ve seen and been intrigued by these parties. How do you recruit bloggers?
A: Bloggers to help or guests to come to the party? If you are interested in recruiting bloggers to help, I learned of my cohostess’s need for assistance on social media. There are plenty of places to advertise on the Internet if you’re looking for cohosts.
If you are looking to recruit bloggers to come to the party, you initially promote it the way you would any of your blog posts. For example, many bloggers use social media for promotional purposes as well. In fact, I advertise my linky party in many Facebook groups, and there is a specific Google + Community just for people looking for linky parties to attend.
Eventually, it takes on a momentum of its own, and your need to promote it diminishes. Bloggers get in a routine. They know what day your linky party is, so they remember to go to your site even without any promotion from you. Bloggers also tell other bloggers about it, so people learn about it through word of mouth.
Q: As a newbie, how many minimum followers do you think one needs to reach before throwing a linky party?
A: If you are throwing the linky party alone, without the benefit of assistance, I say the fewer the better. My friend Lisa originally threw her linky party, Twinkly Tuesday, alone. Then, her linky got so big, she brought on help. This week she reached a high of 94 attendees.
I have seven helpers, and we often get around 300 guests.
Q: Do you have a post, or are you planning one, on how to make the most of linking up to a linky party?
Like the importance of being early to the party or how you should follow the directions and not just link any old post unless any old post is the theme. Just wondering if you have any other advice on the topic.
A: Yes, I do. Welcome to the post! This is it!
Linky Party Themes
The difference between a linky party and a blog hop is minimal, and the principle is the same. The posts appear in a thumbnail. Guests get to see a collection of the images, along with their titles, to see which post interests them. Clicking on the images will take them to the author’s blog.
A linky is when you go to a blog and link up your post. A blog hop is when you go to a blog and link up your blog. I have seen blog hops that will ask you instead to link up your Facebook page or other social media profile.
This screenshot shows where you paste your post’s link.
My friend Lysa Wilds, at Welcome to My Circus, holds many different blog hops each week. She holds social media blog hops where guests are asked to link up their Facebook page or their Pinterest handle.
Other hosts have linky parties with themes. For example, my friends Lorelei and Kristen hold a linky party where you must link a post only related to the home. Many DIY (Do It Yourself) bloggers attend. Accordingly, they call it the Home Matters Linky Party.
My friend Kathy hosts a weekly linky party as well. She calls it “a blog hop” since she feels anyone can come read the posts; her guests don’t have to be a blogger with a post to link. Since the ideas shared there are so clever, her theme is called the Clever Chicks Blog Hop.
My friend Lisa (@MummaScribbles) hosts a Twinkly Tuesday linky party. Her cohost’s handle is @TwinkleDiaries, so perhaps that is the reason.
Linky Party Strategy
As I indicated in my post How to Increase Traffic By Writing Better Comments, if you want to grow your blog, you should follow a specific strategy. I can sum up that strategy in two words: Be first.
Linky parties and blog hops help grow your blog.
This screenshot shows this week’s SITSGirls linky party. Numbers 1, 2, 5, and 8 are circled since they are my posts. I did it! I was Number 1 at the SITSGirls linky party this week!
The SITSGirls linky has been called the biggest linky party on the planet. I read in a magazine that people come from all over the world to post their links at the SITSGirls site. I read bloggers compete to be Number 1, and that traffic is greatest if your post number is between 1 and 20.
Being first has its advantages. First, other bloggers will see my thumbnail before any others. Hopefully, if the graphic and title are interesting, they will click on my post. In the past weeks, sometimes a third of my Saturday traffic alone comes from the SITSGirls.
Traffic coming from the SITSGirls actually continues, although dwindles, the rest of the week.
There is actually a second strategy to attending a linky party, a blog hop, or any blogging event. You need to network. Hosts frown on “link dropping”.
The last question I received that I quoted above asked about “rules”. One common rule is you can’t “link and run”. You need to go into the other posts and network. You should even tell the blogger how you found them. Sometimes there are mandates like how many you need to visit and whether you need to visit posts above you.
Conclusion
In conclusion, linky parties can be great experiences for the host and the guests. I’ve read informative articles, made friends, grew my blog readership, and even scored a guest posting opportunity all from either hosting or attending a linky party. The most dramatic effect, however, is the increased traffic I receive. It’s not just hype when people say throwing a linky party increases traffic. It really does work.
Readers, if you think others can benefit from these ideas about linky parties, please share.
What are your experiences with attending or throwing a linky party or a blog hop? I look forward to your views.
