Everything you always wanted to know about Linky Parties
When I first started to blog and wonder how to bring new visitors to discover my site, I read a few very brief articles about linky parties but I didn’t really get it. Now that I have had chance to take part and been to the ‘party’ I wanted to share with any new bloggers all of the info about why Linky Parties are so important for new bloggers.
Just what is a linky party anyway?
A linky party is a post on another website featuring a tool that allows you to post your own projects onto the hosting website, with a photo and a link back to your site. It’s a great way to highlight and share your best content and possibly get featured on bigger blogs. These usually run weekly, although some are every 2 weeks or once a month. It’s referred to as a party because a lot of bloggers ‘get together’ to share their work for the week and its a great place to network and ‘meet’ new bloggers.
How does a linky party help to grow my blog?
Because lots of bloggers, and blog readers all get together in one place. You can share or ‘show off’ your best posts, projects and content for the week. It’s an opportunity to attract new visitors to your site and they may like what they see and choose to become regular visitors, or subscribe to your posts or newsletter.
If you have a new site, then this is one of the best ways to get yourself out there in front of readers who are interested in your content. You can even find out about other bloggers in your niche and perhaps network with them to work on ideas together in the future, ask about guest posting and more.
How do I get an invite to the party?
Don’t worry – everyone is invited to take part! But there are usually some rules and these will vary by host. Some will ask you to link back to their site by way of a button somewhere on your site, some will require that you do so. But some will be more specific and insist that you link back within the actual post you are promoting.
Linky party rules courtesy of Diana Rambles
I know that not everyone agrees on this point, but I recommend that you set up a separate page on your site where you can list the linky parties you take part in – either as a list of text links perhaps sorted by day, or a display of buttons. This is better than including them all in every post that you plan to link up. After all, when a visitor comes to read your blog, you want them to stay and see what you have to say, not be tempted away by all those lovely buttons which will only take up valuable space on your front page, and take readers quickly away somewhere else.
It really depends on how many parties you are linking up to. If its only 2 or 3, then its OK to link within the post. But a dozen parties – best on a separate page. What do you think?
When you write your post, remember to tell readers that you are linking up and refer them to your party page.
How do I link up?
It might look daunting if it’s your first time, but you’ll soon get the hang of it. Although there are several linky tools you might come across, they all operate in the same way.
At the bottom of the party post will come all of the links so far, then a button that will look like this.
Click on the blue button to bring up the boxes for your info – like these.
Some notes –
The URL. This should be the URL address for the actual post itself, not for the main or front page of your site. So not http://moms-make-money.com, but the full post address such as http://moms-make-money.com/tiny-tips-2-traffic-be-the-first-at-the-linky-party/
The Name – not your name or the name of your blog. This should be a few words about your subject. It doesn’t have to be the same as the title of your post, but should entice readers to click though, rather like a newspaper headline entices you to read the article.
Once your details are entered, the Linky Tool will pull all of the images from the linked to page so that you can pick a thumbnail to display at the party. You have the option to Select, which will take a square thumbnail from the center of your image, or you can chose to crop and you decide which part of the image to use as your thumbnail.
Drag the thumbnail box over your image until you have selected the best display for your link. It can help if you have thought about this when you wrote your post, and included an appropriate shaped image to link to.
And your thumbnail and the description of your post will appear in the Linky Party. It might take a few minutes for the link to be displayed.
Which parties should I link up to?
Generally speaking, the larger parties have the most visitors and in theory should deliver your link the most views and therefore the most visitors to your post. However this doesn’t always work out. Sometimes your link can get lost in the sea of hundreds of links and views might actually be diluted by the sheer number of links to visit. If you are posting a Christmas Cake recipe, and so are 20 others, then you have to ‘fight’ the other bloggers to get those views.
If you have a particular niche, then you can get great traffic from linking up to niche specific parties even if these are much smaller with fewer links and on the smaller blogs. Give lots of parties a try and see which ones work out best for you. Check your analytics and statistics to see where your referrals are coming from.
Linky party etiquette
You should behave yourself at the party and follow the correct etiquette – it’s the polite thing to do!
- Do comment on the party and thank your host
- Do follow the rules – if you are asked to link back, then do so. If asked to follow the host, then you should do so.
- Don’t be a link and run party-goer. You are there for comments and views and so are the other participants. So visit some of the other links that catch your eye and leave a meaningful comment.
- When visiting others, be genuine, and don’t just use your comment as a way of asking other people to visit your site. It’s Ok to leave your site address, but comments on other sites is not the right place to promote yourself so blatantly.
- Link back to your host – even if its not essential, its only polite. This also increases your chance of being featured as many won’t feature links without a link back.
What are the top tips for linky success?
* A picture is worth a thousand words – and can mean 100 views! Your thumbnail is crucial for visitors scanning through all those links in the party to decide which ones to visit. Make it clear, bright, and colorful. Catch the readers attention. Make sure visitors can see right away what your post is all about.
* A catchy title for your post can also entice readers to visit – on my sewing blog the link about My Porn Style Blouse got HEAPS of traffic! What sort of title would catch your curiosity?
* Getting featured is the greatest honor! If you have a photo that is top-notch then the hosting blogger may chose to ‘feature’ your link in their round up. It may be pinned, tweeted etc and have pride of place on their blog with a back link to your site. Some bloggers chose their favorites, some will feature the links with the most clicks. Either way will get you even more traffic. So make your photos pin-worthy.
* Arrive at the party early. The sooner your link is posted, the more visitors coming later will have a chance to see it and visit. Read more in my Tiny Tips post – Be the First to the Linky Party. Do be aware that a party might be called ‘Monday Madness’ but it might open for links on Sunday night – aim to be there Sunday for the best results.
* If you want comments on your own posts, make it easy for visitors to comment by ensuring you deactivate comment word verification. You can continue to approve all comments prior to publishing. Read more about this in my recent post – Make it Easy for Readers to Comment.
Should I host my own Linky Party?
Well, to be honest with you, I don’t think the internet needs another linky party. And its a lot of work to visit all those links, leave comments, do features and schedule the posts every week. And it would be a bit disheartening to do all that work and perhaps only get a few links.
If you have a blog in a particular niche where there is no or few relevant linkies, then you could give it a try, perhaps in conjunction with another blogger in your niche so you could share the workload and have the same linky on both sites. Or if you have a large blog with lots of traffic, but not much interaction with your readers, then it could be a way to get a dialogue going.
Otherwise, just try to use your valuable time in visiting other linkies and drawing readers to your site through publicising your great content. This will get you more ‘real’ traffic and more regular readers and subscribers.
Authored by: Deby at Moms Make Money
April 19, 2013 @ 7:13 am
Great tips! I am a newer blogger (a few months in) and recently began “partying” – tons of fun and these tips would have been great!!! I made a few mistakes on my first parties though!
April 19, 2013 @ 8:56 am
Thanks for all of the great tips! Sometimes things are simple, but it’s nice when someone goes into every detail for you! Have a great day!
April 19, 2013 @ 9:57 am
Hmmm… you just said it all in one page!!! Great article!
April 19, 2013 @ 11:23 am
Excellent post for all new to parties! Happy to pin this 🙂 {from the Pin Me party}
April 19, 2013 @ 3:08 pm
You always have the BEST tips & advice! Thanks for sharing at the Pin Me party! =)
April 19, 2013 @ 7:50 pm
I love link parties! Thank you so much for all this valuable information!
Selene @ Restoration Beauty
April 19, 2013 @ 7:56 pm
Great tips! I have not participated in a linky party yet, but your tips will come in handy when I do.
April 19, 2013 @ 8:01 pm
These are great tips….as are many of the other articles on your blog! Thank you for the valuable information. I’m in the midst of trying to grow my blog – my goal is to be able to have it large enough to go to SNAP!Conference by 2015. Wish me luck!
April 19, 2013 @ 10:43 pm
Great advice for us beginning bloggers. Your site is definitely worth visiting again – thanks for sharing!
Michelle @ On A Wing And A Prayer
April 20, 2013 @ 4:57 pm
Aha! Everything you always wanted to know about linky parties but were always afraid to ask! Thanks for doing such a great job! :>)
April 20, 2013 @ 5:37 pm
I just started with the link parties, thank you for all the great information. I need all the help I can get.
April 21, 2013 @ 9:27 pm
Thanks for all the great tips.
April 21, 2013 @ 9:40 pm
Great post! Thanks so much for linking up to ITS PARTY TIME! Have a fabulous week. xoxo
April 22, 2013 @ 7:50 am
Great tips! You covered everything so thoroughly–so helpful! I just started blogging a few months ago, and it is sometimes overwhelming to think about all I have to learn, so this was awesome. I popped over from Rain on a Tin Roof–thanks for sharing!
~Abby =)
April 22, 2013 @ 7:55 am
Thank you for the tips- found you on Rain on a Tin Roof!
Visiting from: http://www.thebunchblog.blogspot.com
-Tracie from the bunch
April 22, 2013 @ 9:22 am
Thanks so much for the tips. I love liking up to parties. You’ve got some great advice here to help me out. Thanks for sharing! Have a great day!
April 22, 2013 @ 11:02 am
Thanks for this info. I am so new to all of this and am so greatful for these kinds of posts! I poked around the rest of your blog and will be following along!
Corey from http://www.TinySidekick.com
April 22, 2013 @ 3:47 pm
Thanks so much for the great post! I’m looking forward to going through your archives for other fabulous tidbits!!!
April 22, 2013 @ 4:27 pm
Great post! I love linky parties and your explanations about how to join in and why bloggers should even join in in the first place is perfect.
I’m breaking one of your rules here though by asking you to visit me! I’d love it if you could share this at my Say G’day linky party. No need to link back-I just want as many people as possible to see this!
Best wishes,
Natasha in Oz
April 22, 2013 @ 4:48 pm
Hi Natasha – that’s cool. I’ll drop over to your site now. Thanks for the invite. And I promise not to leave a comment which just says ‘great post’, now you had better come visit me over at facebook, twitter, blog, youtube etc etc, Ha ha –
April 22, 2013 @ 4:38 pm
Thanks for the tips, I am fairly new, and welcome all the tips I can get. I always leave comments. To be honest I was not sure if I was doing the darn thing right or not. I just link and comment. I do take buttons and tweet the link.
Living F.A.B.ulously on Purpose
April 22, 2013 @ 10:51 pm
Thank you for your tips every week. This one answered a question I had.
Consider yourself hugged,
http://simpleesue.com/try-one-new-recipe-a-week-butterscotch-apple-fluff/
April 23, 2013 @ 5:35 am
hehe I noticed my Easter Egg Wrappers are in your first picture 🙂 Great post!
April 23, 2013 @ 7:52 pm
Great post! Thank you so much for sharing! 🙂
April 23, 2013 @ 10:59 pm
Thanks for the tips! I have contemplated hosting my own linky party, but I’ve decided against it though I’ve co-hosted some fun unique ones in the past like a Christmas cookie linky party in December. Those are fun but don’t require the weekly time commitment.
April 23, 2013 @ 11:08 pm
Awesome information! I love link parties, and you’re right about the parties listed on the page. It is horrible to have to scroll thru hundreds of links to get to the recipe!!!
April 24, 2013 @ 4:27 am
Found this a most instructive post. Many thanks for the guidance given. Have been linking up for a while, now, and can see the advantages of being organised! Now that my computer problems have been sorted, hopefully, I can follow your tips. All the best. Isobel.
April 24, 2013 @ 6:14 am
great tips! it took me awhile to figure out linky parties!!
April 24, 2013 @ 7:56 am
Hi, stopping by from Handy Man, Crafty Woman. Some good thoughts here, thanks for sharing!
Gloria
April 24, 2013 @ 8:38 am
Great tips! I ‘stalked’ linky parties for a long time, longing to join in the fun- but unsure of all the jargon. (I finally jumped in.) This post is wonderful for new bloggers who are unsure of the steps to take. Thank you for sharing, pinned- hopefully it reaches other newbie bloggers.
April 24, 2013 @ 12:48 pm
This is really a great post for me! I’m Rosie and i’m from the Netherlands. I think that i can say that i’m the only blogger in the netherlands at this moment who has a linkparty on her blog every week! Nobody knows it in the Netherlands! So this is a great post to inform my readers about what a linkparty is! Thank you so much for sharing, you will get some Dutch visitors soon i guess ;-)!
Love, Rosie
April 24, 2013 @ 1:07 pm
Love this post! I wish everyone would read rules..recently, I counted 12 posts from the same blog at a linky party…ugh..frustrating! Thanks for sharing!
April 24, 2013 @ 2:18 pm
Thanks so much for the valuable info. Most parties that I link up with request a link back in the actual post. I would love to be able to refer readers to a separate page. Visiting from Wicked Awesome Wed. Blessings!~Wanda
April 24, 2013 @ 3:21 pm
Thanks so much for sharing! I am very new at these linky parties and in need of as much guidance as I can get. Very helpful!!!
April 24, 2013 @ 5:53 pm
I learned most of this by trial and error over several months. Thank you for making it easier for new bloggers!
April 24, 2013 @ 10:20 pm
Great tips! I’m slowly figuring it all out and any tips make me happy!
April 25, 2013 @ 11:43 pm
Great post! I came to you through Chic on a Shoestring Party! I do have a question though…I think I really want to do the Page for parties only since I actually go to quite a few and like you say space is getting limited. My question is…do I have to change the link (button) to the particular party I’m attending every week or just the main button of the party I go will do? How about those party hostess who specifically would not want the link to their party to go on a “Party Page”, should they be put in the post then? wouldn’t it be kind of unfair for the rest of the parties? lol I know I said 1 question, but it kinda grew on me…Thank You so much! and have a great weekend!
April 26, 2013 @ 8:09 am
The coding for the party button refers the click to the main blog page, so there is no need to refresh it once it is added to your party page – its good for every week. If there are some parties you link up to that will only consider features if the button is in the linked post itself, then that is what you would have to do if you want to try to be featured on their site. Maybe you could rotate the buttons you add to your posts. If there are 10 parties you link to, then add 2 buttons to one post, a different two buttons to the next post etc. What do you think?
April 26, 2013 @ 3:46 pm
Great info! So glad you linked up to Give Me The Goods Monday! Can’t wait to see what goods you bring next week! Hope you have a great weekend! Jenna @ Rain on a Tin Roof
May 1, 2013 @ 9:20 am
Very nice and detailed article about link parties.. (Y)
May 5, 2013 @ 5:53 pm
Thanks, Great info!!
May 13, 2013 @ 7:35 am
Featuring a bunch of your tips today on Made in a Day! Thanks for linking them up! Love your site!
Kim
June 21, 2013 @ 9:24 pm
This was SO INCREDIBLY helpful! Thank you for posting this. I have been looking for a while to find a helpful tutorial on linky parties and this was by far the best.
June 22, 2013 @ 7:53 am
Thank you for the kind comments – it means a lot to me that readers take the time to tell me when they have found my content useful.
August 15, 2013 @ 4:45 pm
Thanks so much for the tut.. I wasn’t aware of all the ins and outs!
January 21, 2014 @ 10:12 am
Thanks for the info! I love linky parties and I am considering hosting my own… Thank you for posting!
October 16, 2014 @ 10:04 am
Hi,
Your website has a lot of useful info. Thanks. I’m putting all your tips to work!
October 30, 2014 @ 9:50 pm
Thanks for helping me figure this whole thing out!
January 16, 2015 @ 2:04 am
this is a completely new concept to me and Im just trying to absorb as much as I can. I haven’t even started a blog yet, but was curious about all the ins-and-outs. What is the best way to go about finding blogs that host linky parties? Is it obvious when you visit as site? How does a blogger advertise that they are hosting a linky party? sorry for all the questions. TIA.
January 1, 2016 @ 11:39 am
Thank you! I have been totally confused as to how this all works since I first heard of it. Got it now.
April 2, 2016 @ 1:23 pm
Very good tips!:-)
November 23, 2016 @ 2:16 pm
Are Dad’s allowed on here too? I’ve been stay at home for 8yrs so hopefully I qualify. I am just getting my head around linkys so hopefully I won’t make too may blunders…. what is the best way to find linkys?
December 27, 2016 @ 10:15 am
Thanks for the info! I’ve been blogging for 2 + years but am just discovering linky parties and would like to get involved. I’m a travel blogger about traveling with the kids and making it educational. I’m not sure how to find my niche for a linky party. Can you suggest ideas?