Sometimes I wonder about Link ups ~ are they worth it?
Here are the pros & cons for link-ups.
PROS:
- Exposure for your blog
- Grow relationships with other bloggers
- Readers will be curious when they see it on someone else’s page
- Links back to your page
CONS:
- time consuming
- time consuming
- time consuming
- time consuming
I have two link-ups on my own page. We have one where it is just for bloggers on Thursday evenings- we just “share” our social media info and have others do the same. We then follow each other. If someone leaves their social media info in the #linky, we follow it.
My Saturday Pin-It party is just that- bloggers come by & link up their favorite pins.
I like hosting my own link party because it lets me get to know people even better. I enjoy seeing their blogs and reading what they write about.
As far as linking up to other blogger’s parties, here are my guidelines (these are just my own guidelines, but you should make some, too):
- Family first – even if I know that a link party started at 8:00 am, if my family needs me, they come first
- Try to make a calendar of the best ‘parties’ of the week. I pick one every day that I know will bring me traffic. If I have time, I will link up to at least that one
- Add the SAME post to every link party. The reason for this is that when other bloggers or readers are looking at those pages, they see your same image on every page. Curiosity killed the cat, remember? They will want to see what this picture is that they keep seeing.
- It builds relationships. I have met some great people by posting my links on their linky party pages. They will stop by to say that I have been featured or to say thanks for linking up and soon enough, we are friends.
Linking up is a GREAT way to spread your name and get new readers, but you have to have a great balance. I started out linking up to ten a day! It was overwhelming and I was exhausted. One a day is all that you really need – you can always post more than one link on that page if you want to, too. Just remember to not become overwhelmed and give yourself a break if you are late to a party or miss it all together! (a linky party, that is!) 😉
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Well said! Linky parties can get overwhelming. I pretty much do the same thing as you. If it’s convenient, I link up. I have made some friends that way. Time is definitely a factor in how many I link up with.
I’ve joined several in the past and never got much traffic or reciprocation. It finally got so depressing and discouraging that I just quit doing them. These link ups say they’ll give you good exposure and comments (not a guarantee though, I do know this) but on every one that I’ve participated in in recent months I’ve never gotten more than five visits.
By my math (lousy as it is), when I see say 100 people linking up I know that’s probably at least 200 page views for the host. Using that logic I should, in theory, be getting at least 20-30 visits. Unfortunately it just never happens so I’m very hesitant now when it comes to considering participating in another one. Hate to feel or be bitter about it but it does sting a wee bit.
Great guidelines–how do you find the “best” parties to go to?