Hi! This isn't my usual blog post, but I have posted tips and a few tutorials on my blog that people seem to like.
So when I got an email asking for tips on how I grew mine, I gave it serious thought and decided to share some tips on
How to grow a link party
I have been doing my link party since May 2014. I was looking for ways to grow my readership and also network with other bloggers. And it worked! I have met some wonderful bloggers and found some truly loyal friends as well. But it is a lot of work.
That's Tip #1, You're going to have to work for it.
If it were as easy as inputting the link code and hitting publish, everyone's link party would take off. And it isn't that easy to get your first hundred linkups. Unless of course you waited until you had 10K followers and then did your first one.
Tip #2 Share share share!
Just hitting publish and sharing it once on twitter, google WP, blogger isn't going to get you anywhere fast. Are your followers online at the exact time you hit publish? Or tweet it out? Doubt it. You're going to need to share it multiple times over Social Media.
Tip #3 Engagement is key.
Know your followers. You're going to need to interact with them and say thanks when they linkup or even better when they share your link party. Aso find out what time is best for you and them that's a compromise. If I published my link party at Midnight, most of my followers are in bed. It would be the next morning when people started linking up.
Tip #4 Social Media Share Buttons
You're going to need to put some social media buttons on your blog so people can tweet or share your link party. It won't happen overnight, but get those social media buttons on your blog.
Tip #5 Recruit more link ups
This was the main question I was asked and for me it was the hardest one. How do you recruit new linkups? It's the hardest one because it's the most work. You have to find new blogs.
You have to find new blogs and ask them to join. You have to engage with them. Leave them a genuine comment letting them know you read their blog and want them to share their creativity on your link party. Now not every single blogger is going to join. For every 20 blogs I visit, I usually get 5 to 8 bloggers who do link up. That's less than half on my return. But totally worth it!
My co-hosts and I get a few people who link up their link parties to ours. You know what my first thought is when they do that? Lazy. My second thought is "nice try, but you're getting deleted". So don't use someone else's hard work to promote your own. It won't pan out I promise.
Tip #6 Share Linkups on your SM Pages
Pick between 5 and 10 linkups you got and share them on FB, Twitter, and make sure to pin them too. You're doing two things by sharing their posts. One you're saying you know their time is valuable and two you are growing your SM following.
Tip #7 Comments
Comments mean a lot to bloggers. It shows appreciation for their article or their work. My co-hosts and I try and leave a comment on each and every link up to say we read your blog post and thank you. If the same blog has linked up multiple posts, then we leave a comment on one article and try and share on SM the other. It says thank you. Plus I think it helps us stand out a bit from the other link parties.
Believe me I have linked up to the same ones for years and never even got one comment or feature on some. So I stopped going to those frat parties.
Tip #8 Cross post on different blog platforms.
I figured out a way to cross post my articles on Wordpress. So now the link party gets linkups not just from Blogger, but from Wordpress too. I also made sure I recruited a co-host who is on WP. If people don't see our link party, the linkups don't get views. That's the whole reason people join link parties. To network with other bloggers and get comments and shares.
Tip #9 Don't play favorites
When you pick your favorites or highlights have some categories you go by. If you're going to do most popular, that's great, but you are going to find each week (after a year) the same blogs keep getting featured. Make sure you pick a brand new blog too or pick from categories. Home decor, gardening, recipes and keep track who gets featured. After 2 years of doing this we try and keep track, so the same blog doesn't keep getting picked and a new blog get left out.
Tip #10 Get Help!
Last year I recruited some pretty savvy women and gave them a quick summary of what I do each week to keep my linkups coming back and I asked if they'd be able to do the same thing. Take on co-hosts and make a game plan. Work as a team. My co-hosts and I have a private facebook group where we share and talk privately. Always looking for ways to improve our party.
Tip #11 Keep your blog up to date
I keep my blog up to date in terms of my template, layout and writing. If your blog looks like it has got cobwebs on it, people are going to think you don't get any traffic. So what's the point of them linking up? People want to get traffic to their posts. You need to look like you can do that.
Tip #12 Rules
Every linkup party has rules. Make your own, list them each week and tweak them after 4 months to see what people like. We stopped requiring people to link back to us and you'd be amazed at how that one is liked by a lot of bloggers. And with the new SEO rules out there, it isn't going to help your "Search Engine Traffic" making it a requirement.
I hope you find these tips helpful and useful.
Have a great day!
XO,
