Do and Don’ts of Round-up Posts

 

Roundup posts are very popular posts for bloggers and can be rather easy posts that will help fill your editorial calendar.

 

Here are some basic "Do's and Don'ts' for putting together Round-up Posts

 

 

There are some negotiables that bloggers will do differently when they make a roundup post.

And then there are some non-negotiables that can get bloggers in trouble or, at the very least, cause conflict between the blogger who incorrectly makes a roundup post and those whose posts were used for the roundup.

 

Do and Don’ts of Roundup Posts

Here are some basic guidelines for making a great roundup post:

 

dos

DO’s:

  • Do get permission before using a picture in your post. You can link to anyone’s post without using an image, but if you want to use a image from the post, you must have permission. You can get permission in several ways:

–by emailing the blogger

–by joining groups on Facebook that are expressly for doing round-ups. Here are a few groups or which I am aware:

*Bloggers Sharing Links for Roundups
*Operation Round-Up — This is a secret group, so I don’t know if you’ll be able to see it. I think I can add a blogger if they are interested.
*Craft & Food Round-Ups
*RoundupPalooza

–by using custom search engines that bloggers have made just for Round-up purposes.

*Kids Blogger Network has one. If you join their Facebook round-up group, the top pinned post has a link to their custom search engine.
*Join Learn to Blog Hangouts’ Facebook group, and in their files, they have a link to their custom search engine.

–by finding posts on certain Pinterest boards where it is disclosed that you can use any post for a round-ups

–by using any post here on  TOTS Business or on TOTS Family. You can use up to one paragraph and one image with a link back.

  • Do use great pictures. If it looks like a good post, but it has a lousy picture, don’t use the bad picture in your roundup. In your roundups, you don’t have to take a picture from every post; so you can still link to the great post without using a picture. A fantastic collage of amazing pictures will draw readers to your round-up, so only use wonderful images.
  • Do make a collage with a text overlay for your main photo that will be pinned and shared. You do not want people pinning other bloggers’ photos with the pin directing to your site. I will share how to make an amazing main collage photo in another post!
  • Do link back to each post. I say the name of the post and link the post and also include the name of the blog. (So I would say, “Business And Blogging Podcasts By Women from Thinking Outside the Sandbox.”
  • Do include 1-2 of your own posts in the round-up, but make sure that most of the posts are from other bloggers, unless you are doing a round-up of your own posts for a landing page or for a specific post.

 

The Don'ts of making a round-up post

Don’ts:

  • Don’t make it easy for them to pin other blogger’s images from your site. I usually don’t even put an image by itself on my site now. I usually only do one big collage; and then if it is a huge round-up, I will do small colleges to break up the post or to put different categories in the round-up. If you are going to put another blogger’s image all by itself on your site, make sure you include a disclaimer/directions in your round-up post telling your readers to click through to the other bloggers site and pin their post from their site. You could also ask them only to pin your collage picture to get to your round-up.
  • This next “don’t” is rather obvious after reading the above “don’t.” If you include other bloggers’ images in your round-up, don’t pin those images to boards unless you are pinning from their site. I have seen bloggers using those images and pinning them so they go to their round-up post, and not the original blog. That is tacky and deceitful. Bloggers have put a lot of work making that perfect image, and they should get the traffic, not the round-up post.
  • Don’t make it hard to understand your round-up. Use bullet points or numbers. Link to the blogs that you got the posts from clearly. If you are doing a big round-up such as Thanksgiving Foods, break it down into Main Dishes, Breads, Side Dishes, Desserts, etc.
  • Don’t make your round-up too huge of a category. Focus on a specific category. For instance, don’t do a round-up of “Tasty Desserts.” Instead do a roundup of “Cupcakes for Kids” or “Best-Ever Brownies.”
  • Don’t only do round-up posts. People will think that you have no original content of your own. Still produce your own recipes, crafts, DIY, or helpful information posts.

Helpful hints:

  • I can’t say this is a MUST, but I like to include a number on my text overlay. For example, I would say, “15 Cupcakes for Kids.”
  • I heard huge round-ups are doing well, but they do take time (Example: “100 Must Read Aloud Books for Preschoolers”).
  • There can be a lot of variety in the way you do your round-up. If you plan on doing many, maybe use the same font for your text overlay or style your round-ups in the same way so that they are distinctive to you.
  • I often do round-ups for my Bloggers Brags Pinterest Party. It is a way to feature many of the bloggers who link up to my parties, and I can then pin those collages from the parties and get some evergreen views out of a party that only lasts one week. If you host a party, make sure that you include a disclaimer saying the hosts can use a picture and link back to the blog if they link up to your party.

How do you like to do roundup posts?
Is there a tip that you would include?

Learn How to Write a Roundup PostHow to Optimize Content for an eCommerce WebsiteTurn your 9 to 5 into an eCommerce Business and How to Integrate Social Media on your Website.

 

2 Comments

  1. Michelle
  2. Brooke

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