While I’m not an expert in linky parties (link parties), I’ve hosted and participated in enough linky parties that I want to talk about Linky Party Basics – For Host(s) and Guests.

***Party Host(s) I have a few questions at the bottom of my post for you***

What is a linky party?

A linky party or a link party is hosted by one or more blogs where you can link up your latest blog post. The link or links you share are in turn shared with the readers of the blog you ‘linked’ up on. If there are multiple hosts, your link is shared with the readers of the other host blogs too.

These link parties usually reoccur weekly and start on the same day and time each week. Every link party will be open for you to drop your links for 1-3 days, but may be open for a longer or shorter time.

How do linky parties benefit you and the host?

Well, blog linky parties are a two way street. Linky parties help the host(s) generate added traffic from the guests visiting their blog to leave links on the link party. All this added traffic can help boost the host’s visitor stats, generate more income, and possibly create more followers.

Linky parties can benefit the linking up blogger (guest) by providing blog exposure to the host’s blog readers and other linky party participants. This is especially true if there are multiple link party hosts because you’re blog post link will be seen on several blogs. For example, when I hosted the Merry Monday Link Party (I retired the party), we had 6 to 8 hosts and every blogger that linked up would have their post(s) seen on all the host blogs.

Are There Linky Party Rules?

Yes. Most linky parties will have “rules” to follow if you choose to participate. The rules can range, but the host(s) will usually ask that you follow them in at least one social media platform, post no more than 3 links, link only certain type of posts, visit at least 2-3 other link ups, and in some cases ask that you link back to their blog. Don’t participate and drop links if you aren’t comfortable with the link party rules.

When the host of the link party asks you to link back to their blog, they are asking that you place a link to their blog somewhere on the post that you linked or create a link party page with their link. For example, at the bottom of the post that is shared on the link party, you can write AND link the host post wher you linked up (more info on this in the guest section).

This post is shared on these link parties:

Tips and Basics for Linky Party Guests

o   Follow the host(s) on at least one of their social media platforms.

  • I prefer to follow on Pinterest, Twitter, and/or Instagram.
  • If their social icons don’t function properly, please let the host know so they can fix it.

o   READ what type of posts you can link up.

  • Some link ups only want specific types of posts. For example: recipes, crafts, decorating, etc…
  • Many do not want you to add your own linky parties, contests, giveaways, Etsy shops, etc…
  • Linking up inappropriate posts creates more work for the party host(s) because they have to go through and delete these posts.
  • Don’t link up more posts than you are allowed. Why? Because it takes the spot of another link up guest and we’re all there to try to get equal exposure. Placing more link ups than allowed will push another link further down the link up or onto another page.
  • Although rare, some host(s) will create separate sections for specific types of links. For example: A section for crafts and a separate section to link recipes. Check to make sure you are linking in the correct section.

o   Link to your post.

  • WRONG = http://mypinterventures.com because this leads to my blog in general.
  • CORRECT = http://mypinterventures.com/easy-no-craft-supplies-bunny-silhouette/ because this leads directly to the blog post.

o   Text link back, display a party button on your post, or create a link party page.

  • Why? Because it takes a lot of work to host/co-host a linky party. You are receiving the benefit of added exposure and you should do the same for the party host(s). Not to mention, in order to have a “featured” post, most hosts will ask that you display a party button or text link back to the party.
End of post party buttons
Display party buttons at the bottom or your post or make a list of the linky parties. You can always provide direct links via your party page. Another option is to just list the parties you have linked up to and do a text link back. *double click the images to enlarge*
Party Page
  • For me, instead of adding a link party button to each post that I link to a linky party, I prefer to add the host party button to a link party page on my blog. The reason I prefer a page is that it is easier to update when parties or blogs shutdown. If I listed a party button on every post, I would have to go through every post to delete old parties or blogs that no longer exist. Update: Since I no longer run a link party and have cut back on linking to parties, I no longer have this page running.

o   If you’ve been featured at a linky party, link back or display the “I was featured” button.

  • Many hosts will ‘feature’ posts from the previous link party. This is a way to thank participants for linking up to the party. If the host has a feature button, feel free to display it on your sidebar or on a dedicated link party page. It is totally up to you if you want to share a feature button on your site.
I was featured buttons

o   Visit at least 2-3 other link ups & comment. 

  • I know it’s hard and takes a lot of time, but it does pay off. I will often visit the bloggers that posted comments on my blog and will periodically go back through my comments to visit them again. Why? Because if they took the time to visit and comment, they may have similar interests to me and I may find something I like on their blog.
  • If you’re at the beginning of the party and don’t find anything of interest, check back later.

Misc. comment tips:

  • If you have captcha, please turn it off. I’m not sure why this is necessary if you can moderate your post or make it so only registered user can comment? It makes it harder for people to post a comment on your blog.
  • Make sure your comment section is easy to find. A fellow blogger told me that my comment section was hard to find and hopefully I corrected it 🙂

o   Follow your fellow bloggers on their social media. 

  • If you click on a link you like and you like that blog, go ahead and follow them on their social media sites too.
  • When you get notified that someone followed you on one of your social media platforms, take the time to check them out and see if you would like to follow back.
  • Don’t link up on social media link ups (ie. twitter, facebook, pinterest, etc…) if you aren’t willing to pay attention to your notifications that you have new followers and follow back, unless the account is a totally different niche than what you are interested in.

o   Share link ups you like.

  • Sharing helps your fellow bloggers get more exposure. Share on Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook, or whatever social site you prefer. Just share… sharing is caring.

o   Visit other blog’s party pages. This is a great way to find other link parties.

o   Use your best post picture.

  • I’m not saying you have to be a professional photographer, but when there are over 100+ link ups, a good picture will provide more clicks/visits. Pictures are important and you can use PicMonkey or Canva to spruce them up.
  • Adding text to your image may be useful for those link ups that have a limited amount of description text available. I’ve been to a few parties where I could not type out the entire title of my blog post because there was only 15 letters allowed in the title.*

o   Make your pictures easily shareable and pinnable.

  • Have you provided share buttons that are easily seen?
  • Check to make sure you have filled in a description for your pictures and changed the title. The easiest way to check this is by trying to pin one of your images and see what is filled in on the Pinterest box. I know I’ve forgotten to do this numerous times.
Pinnable Image
Name your image in the title and alternative text title. Many hosts will pin all the link ups, but will not pin if you do not name your image. This is because it takes a lot of time to rename images. *double click the images to enlarge*

o   Tweet, Pin, Facebook, the linky party.

  • If the host has provided you with a tweet link, go ahead and tweet about the party or share it on one of your social media sites. This will help grow the party. You’ll get more views and the host will get some exposure too.

o   Thank your party host.

  • Thanking your party host every single week may become redundant, but if you find a lot of link ups that you like, you may want to let the party host know.  *Would love to get feedback from party hosts about this one.*

o   Thinking of hosting your own party?

  • Parties are a lot of work, so before hosting your own party, try being a temporary co-host at one of the linky parties  you attend. Most have sign-ups that will allow you to apply. This will help you get your feet wet and a feel at how parties are run.

Tips and Basics for Linky Party Hosts

o   Make sure your social media icons are grouped together at the top of your blog and have working links.

  • I’ve been to several blogs where I’ve had to scroll down to find social media icons for sharing and/or the icons don’t work.

o   Make sure your link party co-host(s) text links are linked to the correct place & visible.

  • If featuring the co-host social media links, make sure the links are working and go to the correct social media platform.

o   Make it clear on what type of posts are allowed.

  • Make it clear what type of posts are allowed on the link party.
  • If you do not allow certain types of posts, state that clearly.
  • Optional – Specify how many posts you allow per blog. Many hosts limit each blogger to 3 links per link party.

Misc. (optional):

  • Random link up settings helps make sure everyone gets equal exposure. This is especially good for link ups that have over 150+ links. This setting should be available if you use Inlinkz for your party link ups.
  • Reverse order link up settings is great to ensure those that linked up later will always have a chance to be on the first link-up page. Another setting available for those the use Inlinkz.

o   Follow back your party participants on social media.

  • Think about hosting a themed party that will attract link ups with a similar niche. This way you’ll find blogs to follow that will interest you too. For example, if you run a cooking blog, host a recipe link-up.
  • If you are hosting a social media link up, you should be willing to follow new followers. Pay attention to your notifications.
Social Media Difference
This shows the difference between who I am following and who is following me back. Most of the people I follow are from linky parties. There was a wider difference in my Twitter account before I started to purge.

o   Provide a party button with a “no follow” link.

  • Party button are easier for participants to grab and display. You can create a button on a html button creator online. Make it “no-follow’ so Google doesn’t think it’s a link building scam (see post linked below).
  • Make sure the html button codes work and links to the host(s) blogs.
  • If you want people to grab your button to display on the bottom of their post, make your button a reasonable size –  resize the images to 90×90, 100×100, or 150×150.
  • Design a party button that doesn’t have too many small details and can easily be identified as your party logo.
  • Read this article by Moms Make Money – Linky Party Buttons Under Attack by Google?

o   Visit your party guests and comment on their blogs too.

  • I know that this can be overwhelming if you have a large amount of participants, but the task can become manageable if split it between several hosts. Visit each blog that participated in the linky party and have at least one host comment. There are many parties that I’ve been to and never hear from any of the host(s). Come and visit me at least once 🙂

o   Don’t set your social media to “private”.

  • I’ve clicked on link party hosts’ social media icons that are private! Setting your blog social media to private will drastically limit the amount of followers you gain through link parties. No one wants to feel like their request might be rejected.

  Pay for InLinkz or Linky Tools so that the thumbnails show on your page.

  • Okay, this isn’t a must or deal breaker, but it’s so much nicer and easier if all the link ups are visible on your page. Maybe it’s because I’m a visual person and why I have a Pinterest addiction. If each host doesn’t pay for the link service, the link party participant images won’t show on that host’s blog. Instead, it will just be a clickable text link that will need to be clicked on in order to view images of the the links.

Hope you enjoyed the post. I’m by no means perfect, but I hope that these tips on Linky Party Basics can help others too.

 

More Link Party Tips…

Similar Posts

Leave a Reply to Erlene at My Pinterventures Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

92 Comments

  1. This is such a great resource! Thanks for all the tips.

    I just wanted to let you know I co-host a blog hop on Wednesdays called the Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop. I’d love to be added to your Blog Hop List!

  2. Thank you so much for this post. Today is our 4 month anniversary and it has be crazy and overwhelming to say the least. Link party’s have definitely made an impact on our page views and exposure. I try my best to do everything you listed above. Great post now onto reading your Behind the Scenes post. Pinned as well!

    1. I know how tough it can be to continue to blog on a consistent basis, so congratulations on your 4 month anniversary. I agree, link parties are a great way to help get your blog out there, but also consider joining blogging FB groups, G+ groups, Pinterest group boards, and other avenues that can help boost your traffic.

  3. Erlene,
    Thank you for this post. Knowing you as a co-host, you have been one of the most reliable and excellent hostesses I have worked with, Thank You!
    As far as linking back, I do require it if individuals want to be featured, but I don’t care where the linkback is located, if I can find it (and sometimes I have to search) I will feature them. I’m sorry to say that there have been more times than I would care to admit when I have wanted to feature a post and have not done so due to the fact that I could not find a linkback anywhere.
    As for myself, I have a party page AND I include a text linkback on each individual post. Since I spend time visiting others when I link up with a party, I don’t have time each week to link to multiple parties. On a good party week I might link to five or six parties and that is not too many to mention individually in each post. I think it is courteous to do so, not to just paste a party list at the bottom of the page where I MIGHT be linked up that week or just to have a party page.
    I too am a host who gets exasperated when people don’t seem to be visiting others. I have always done this myself, and know that it is one of the best ways to build your own following. But there is really no way to enforce this rule as I can’t know which guests have visited and which have not, so even though I have listed it as a rule, I just hope guests will do so.
    The only thing that I might add to your list for hosts is something that I have learned in the couple of months that I have been hosting. I have found that eye-catching information, instead of a lot of text, is more likely to be noticed. I have used PicMonkey to create rules and host information and have replaced text links with buttons for social media follow buttons. Making sure that all of the buttons work has been the bane of my existance, sometimes they just don’t seem to work no matter what I do!
    Thanks again for this post and thanks for co-hosting The Yuck Stops Here when we were first starting off! I hope you’ll swing by to check it out sometime soon and see the progress we’ve made!
    HUGS,
    Cheryl

  4. This is a great post!!
    I I think that for those who want to host – the most important thing they need to do – and most DON’T – is commenting on their guests posts. If they don’t have time then they should not host a party, otherwise they’re just using the party the increase traffic, and it’s rude.
    When people host a real party the make sure to say hello and speak to each guest

  5. Great article!!! I love reading things that make us better bloggers. I really appreciate you stopping by our party. We pinned your post! I hope you stop by next Tuesday and share again. Your blog is amazing!
    Lou Lou Girls

  6. These are great tips of linky party guests and hosts. As a guest, I have a linky party page that I refer to because the buttons were causing formatting nightmares on my blog theme. Being the perfectionist that I sometimes am, it was driving me batty. I couldn’t do that with ever post. Menu Plan Mondays is the only one where inlinkz will look for a permalink to the host’s site, so in that case I have added her blog in.

    As a host, I don’t mind if people have my Small Victories Sunday linky in a separate linky page. Honestly, I do look for my button when I visit and am disappointed if I don’t see it somewhere on their blog. But in reality, I understand it’s easy to get excited to find a new linkup and then forget to add the link back. I really didn’t think about to make the link “nofollow”. Not sure I understand when to do that besides when there’s an affiliate link in the post.

    Thanks for linking up with #smallvictoriessunday!

  7. This was a great post-thanks so much for sharing your advice and many thanks also for sharing at the Say G’day Saturday party. I’m going to have to investigate this whole no follow thing a bit more after reading this!

    Also, I have a party page for the places I link up to and am very happy for people to have the same kind of thing if people link up to my linky party.

    Best wishes,
    Natasha in Oz

  8. I found this post from a link party and I’m glad that I clicked on this link. You have some awesome tips and I’m so happy that you shared this or I never would have found this. I recently started my blog and have no current followers and have been trying to link up every day. I have been learning a lot about blogging and this is a very informative post. Please keep these types of posts coming! Thank you so much! I will be following you now!

  9. Good to know all these little tidbits of information on linky parties. I have yet to host one on my blog but they definitely come in handy. Plus, just participating in them makes the information useful….

  10. Serious. Fabulous. Information. For new and not-so-new bloggers! Thank you for creating this list of do’s and don’ts.

    Thanks so much for sharing your creativity on Show-Licious Craft & Recipe Party! Please join us again this Saturday morning at 8:00 am EST! 😉

    ~ Ashley

  11. Erlene, absolutely LOVE all of these tips. I will be passing this around. I sure wish I had this when I was first in the bloggy world… I had no idea and was so overwhelmed. Thank you for sharing all of these wonderful tips with us at the Show Stopper party this week!
    PS… (About thanking your party host…) I love hearing from the bloggers that come over to link up. Thanking me for the party and love how they like the features and so forth. It really is a lot of work and we have 3 of us in our party! We pin, promote the link ups, and comment. I love sharing and always look forward to other parties through out the week just as much. I especially make it a point to always say thank you when I’m at a party. The hosts do a lot! Thank you, again for sharing!

  12. These are great tips for both participants and hosts! I have been hosting Hump Day Happenings for a few months would agree with a lot of your tips! I think it is so important to make it worth people’s time to join my link party, so I visit, comment on and pin each link, and also share my favorites on social media.

  13. This is a great set of reminders. We’re pretty loose on Hump Day Happenings…I don’t check to see if participants link back to our party. I ask them to, but I don’t expect them to. Maybe this is foolish, but I want to make it as easy as possible to participate. My goal for HDH is to see new content and meet new bloggers. If I’m meeting that goal, then I’m happy with however it turns out.

    I would echo the importance of commenting on each link and thanking the participant. If nothing else, at least they get one new viewer! I also use started using MailChimp to send a thank-you email to our participants. They have the option of unsubscribing if they wish.

  14. Hi, Erlene.
    You’ve shared some really great info!
    I’d like to comment about party pages.

    As a linker, I prefer to use party buttons at the bottom of each post. Since I don’t always link with the same parties each week, it helps me know which party I want to link to or have already linked to. And, I think it is a courtesy to the host to display their button or text link on each post linked with them. Further, I’ve actually come across several parties that state in the rules that a link must be provided within each post rather than a lumped together party page.

    As a host, I’m fairly loose with the rules. I’d like for people to follow me, but it isn’t a requirement. With that said, I do prefer that people use my button or text link…I’m not convinced that many people actually visit other people’s party pages (honestly, I don’t!). I don’t think much exposure for the host is generated through them.

  15. I have been blogging a long time and haven’t really participated in link parties until last fall when I started YUMeating. I used to do quite a bit and there were always a ton of rules and each party was different. I would spend a lot of time linking, visiting, commenting, following others, pinning, and many other things that would help them out along with following all the hosts and visiting them. In return I would get a few comments here and there.

    Now, I only do a handful of parties and it is because the people there actually visit me.

    I have seen a few parties where hosts tell you to follow all these rules and not a single host will go and post or follow in return.

    Link parties are supposed to be a fun way for all of us to get to know each other. No one is better than another and believe it or not, the Internet is big enough of all of us. Even those who monetize.

    But like others mentioned, you will always have those who will follow the rules, and those who wont. You’ll have those who do things for the sake of doing them, but will do nothing beyond that.

    At the end of the day, if its fun, keep doing it. If you like it, keep on going. If not, then you know its time to stop.

  16. This is a fabulous post! You present information for the host and the guest in a very straightforward manner. I have guest co-hosted a couple parties but I haven’t taken the leap into hosting yet. I’m pinning this article for future reference if I decide to consider hosting. Thank you for sharing!

  17. Hi Erlene,

    Hosting a linky party has a lot of things to do especially during the first few months when you want to reach out to other bloggers to join in. Host has few things to do eg commenting, pinning (like us we pin all the participant’s entries), following, co-ordinating with your co-hosts and etc. These are time consuming.

    When I started I had rules but later on I stopped. Now, It’s more of an option given to all participants to follow me. We encourage everyone to visit others too. I’m starting not to like posting the links below my post and definitely not put the buttons at my sidebar as this will slow down the loading time of my site.

    I think a second page for the link parties is good.

  18. Great list of tips for link parties. I have one that I have been hosting for a long time and one that I just started hosting. I’ve gotten to the point where I am not really worried about the rules because there are always people who are going to follow them and others who will not. And it’s not worth getting frustrated over those who will not, and I don’t have time to weed them out. I do think it would be nice if hosts and co-hosts followed back those that followed them, especially if you’re talking about Twitter, Facebook or Google +. I do. I may miss someone on occasion, but I try to reciprocate.

  19. So much wonderful info here!

    “Follow back your party participants on social media.”

    I really wish more hosts actually did this. I can tell you that I very, very rarely have costs or co-hosts follow me back. I feel like… if I HAVE to follow you to link-up, and I HAVE to display YOUR button on MY blog, so that I’m getting and giving constant exposure to YOUR blog, why should you get off the hook by not following back at all?

    I will follow, but if it’s been a month or more and I’ve linked up every week to someone’s link up without so much as a Twitter follow, then I’m probably going to just unfollow them. I recently purged my Twitter list of over 150 people I’d had to follow from link ups that never followed me back.

    I hope I’m not coming across as whiny; that’s not my intention. It just feels like a lot of blogs have link ups with lots of rules, but the hosts and co-hosts are immune to them. That doesn’t feel like community to me, that feels like they expect free advertisement from me because I was “allowed” to link up. I know link ups are hard work; I’ve done them in that past. But after one is set up, all the HTML is saved so it’s not starting from scratch each week. And if there’s a group of bloggers doing it, each person could take a week to format the link up for everyone else.

    As for where to place a party button, I have a page just for that. I don’t like to read posts where there’s link after link or pic after pic of blogs that have been linked up to after the post. That’s more to scroll past to comment, it’s distracting, and it looks unprofessional. That’s also the page I use to know when and where to link up to. I’d never remember it all otherwise!

  20. This is a great post, Erlene! I feel like the nofollow link is really misused because it is confusing. I have heard some people say they make every link nofollow which isn’t what was intended. Which plugin do you use?

    I, personally, like the idea of a party page accessible via header menu as well as the page being noticeably linked in post. I feel like there are almost as many parties as participants nowadays and it can overrun your post. I have heard that some hosts dislike it because they view it as lazy but there are so many great parties nowadays. The link and run participant is my pet peeve. The people who time everything so they make sure to get the top spots but then just leave and never come back to support others.

    1. Hi Rachel. I use the NoFollowr plugin and it works really well for me.
      I like the idea of the party page because of the massive amount of parties and it can overrun the bottom of a post (prime example is mine :-)). I hope to get more feedback from party hosts on what they really think about party pages. My only concern is that I don’t always participate in every single linky weekly.

  21. Hello! This post is REALLY helpful! This is my first time co-hosting a Linky Party at #SmallVictoriesSunday- I really am enjoying! I will be using your advice for future parties. Thanks so much! Sounds like I should also move my “follow me on Bloglovin” button higher on my sidebar! Thanks! 🙂

  22. You have some really good tips here, I’m just about to host my first party so I’ve read them with interest and taken notes!
    I have struggled to read the article though because I’m on an ipad and your floating share buttons have hovered over the left side of the text the whole way down the page. Also I can’t see what I’m writing inthe comment box as there is a black bar hovering across the page – something to do with punch tab?
    I thought you should know so you can fix them. I’d hate for you to lose visitors because of this.
    Clare

    1. Thanks for letting me know. I was trying a new social button plugin and you’re the second person that has told me there was an issue. I’ve deleted it now :-). I’ll look into the PunchTab thing too as I don’t use it either.

  23. This is a lot of great information all in one post. I have pinning it & will be referring back to it. Thanks for linking up at the Bloggers Brags Weekly Pinterest Party

  24. I don’t care how my party guests link to me. If they want my button or text link, that is fine. If they put me on the post, sidebar or a party page, that is fine too. I hate to go edit my post every time I linkup and I don’t want my sidebar filled with buttons, so I put them all on my party page. If that’s the way I feel, I think others must feel that way too, so I allow them to put it wherever they want. I don’t want to stop people from linking up because I have too many rules. Very thorough post! I usually also don’t include bloglovin as a way to follow the hosts, but people are free to to go find my button and follow me there (it’s under my social media icons on my sidebar, so it’s easy to find.

    1. Thanks for giving feedback as a host. I don’t mind not including bloglovin as a way to follow the host(s) in the party post. However, there are a lot of blogs that have this as a way to follow and they don’t group it with their other social media buttons and I have to scroll half way down their blog to find it. It would be nice if all the social media sites were grouped all together.

  25. I’ve been wanting to start a linky party but I’m waiting a bit more for my blog to grow. These are great tips and I’m pinning for future use. Great post.

  26. Awesome posts! As a host of a link party myself I can definitely use more tips on how to have a better party.

    Tenns @ New Mama Diaries

    Thanks for linking up at Gingham & Roses
    Hope to see you back next week!

  27. Thanks for linking out to one of my articles. I would just add a note about the no-follow links on party buttons. I’ve heard from so many bloggers recently who have had page rank stripped or had a manual spam action applied to their site for unnatural link building activities. If you are going to list in your posts the link parties you link up to, do be careful to follow Google’s no-follow guidelines on this to protect your own site.
    This is a great article and covers so much in one place.

    1. Thanks so much Deby. This whole “no follow” thing is a bit confusing, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. I downloaded an plugin that will tell me if the links are a no follow on my site and will actually change them for me.

  28. Great information here. A linky page is a great idea. I sometimes don’t like adding buttons to my posts either. I think it doesn’t look professional. I’m also a lurker. Love the idea of pinning the posts I like when I have nothing to say. I also revisit and follow those that leave thoughtful comments on my blog. Met some great bloggers that way.

    1. There’s actually a debate about linky party pages. Some hosts don’t like linky party pages because they don’t think they’ll get the added traffic if your readers have to click on another page. Plus, your readers won’t know what party to visit if your site just points to a linky page and not to the party directly. I’ll have to ask more party hosts about this one. Glad you stopped by and liked the article.

  29. Great post. Really informative. Linking up from the Small Victories Sun hop. Nice to meet you!
    One side note–I’m not sure you’re aware, but I first attempted to read your post on Google Chrome browser and the share buttons on the side kept covering up your post. So i switched to Firefox and it was fine. But you may want to check into that. 🙂
    Have a wonderful week,
    Cheers!
    Shana from Technotini

  30. Wow- this was a very comprehensive post! Thanks so much. I’m still trying to decide on the benefits of linky parties. Your post is very helpful.

    1. Glad you liked the post. I see the benefits from linky parties and that’s why I participate in them. Although you have me thinking if I should do an experiment and not post to linky parties and see how it affects my traffic.

  31. Awesome, awesome tips! I use the “linking to” feature and list all the parties that I link my posts to. Really helps me to remember where I linked it and give credit to the hosts. Thanks for sharing this on Traffic Jam Weekend!

  32. I host a party and I ask that you include a button on your blog IF you want to be featured.

    I think it’s fine to add the button to a separate page (that’s how I do it for the parties that I visit), or to your side bar, or to the post you’ve linked up. I just want to be able to find it in one or two (but no more) clicks.

  33. Lots of great tips here! I wish I had found this last year when I first started linking up to blogs. I know i made a ton of errors!!

    We recently started our own party too – as far as the our party and the majority of the ones I link to – having a 2nd page listing the parties you link to is fine. There are some out there though that want a link in the post (potentially could be a link on the side bar) these blogs do not seem to pick up the 2nd page. Most of the parties specify though how they want it and if they don’t then 2nd page is cool.

    As a host, I am sad so many people link and run – I try to leave a thanks to the host and visit at least 5 other blogs. Now I am a lurker, I won’t always comment on the other blogs but I do always pin and often follow the new blog. I am trying to get better at commenting but lurking is a hard habit to break!!

    1. I love your parties and you two are doing a great job. I’m co-hosting a party right now and I see that it’s a lot of work to promote, visit, comment, pin, etc…

      I totally get the “lurker” thing. Sometimes I rather just pin too. Thanks for stopping by.

  34. Thank you for these tips. I’ve pinned your list so I can study it. I am new to blogging and have just discovered Linky parties. It has been fun to participate. I want to be a good participant.
    Kathi

  35. Thank you for this post! I’m only a beginner in this “deal”, so your post was very informative for me. You gave useful notes, everything is much more clear for me now. Thank you once more.

  36. I’m so happy to see this post. I’m a new blogger and have been attending a few link parties. I’m especially interested in the last question you posed to hosts. I’ve been posting the host buttons at the end of my posts that I link, but it is beginning to look messy. I decided to create a link party page, but am wondering if that is considerate to the host. I’m trying to strike a balance between consideration and a clean page. I look forward to hearing what hosts have to say about this. Thanks for a great post!

  37. I really appreciate this post. I’m a new blogger and have been attending some great parties. I’m especially interested in the your final question to hosts. I’ve been posting host buttons at the end of my posts that I link, but it is beginning to look messy and I created a link page instead. I am wondering if this is considerate to the host. I’m trying to strike a balance between consideration and a clean look. I’m looking forward to hearing what some hosts might have to say about this. Thanks so much for posting!

  38. I’m really thankful for this post. I’m a new blogger and have been attending a few parties. I’m particularly interested in the closing question to hosts. I’ve been putting buttons at the end of my posts, but it’s looking messy and I’ve created a link party page that I plan to link to instead. But, I’m wondering if this is considerate to the host. I hope you get feedback on this one. Thanks for posting.

  39. Thank you for all of this great information………what a huge blessing it would have been to me when I started blogging……..for the first few times I “linked up”, I could not even figure out HOW to “link back”….I tried and tried……it was all such a new thing for me. Little by little I am learning….and I appreciate all of this great information in one place. Thank you. 🙂

  40. These are some great tips to follow… thank you for sharing… I use a spreadsheet to keep track of my parties so I remember when to link up to them.. it has helped me immensely…

  41. Great list! I’m kind of new to linky parties, so it was great to read your do’s and don’t’s. I would hate to commit a faux pas!

  42. Thank you so much for sharing this in this weeks “Stumble Upon” Link Up. With this only my second week hosting a party I am definitely going to take your advice on board for next week and make a couple of changes

    Mandy

  43. Hi Erlene! I’m stopping over from Let’s Get Real today. I sure wish I had this post when I was first starting blog parties. I made a lot of mistakes, but I’ve always had fun meeting so many wonderful people. As a host, I would say that I like when folks leave a message. When I look at my computer and see 150 blogs to choose from, I need to start somewhere. I like to make sure to get to the folks who leave a comment. They put out extra effort and it helps them to stand out in the crowd.

  44. Thanks for this. I am a newbie blogger & partier (well linky partier) and I’m considering starting to host so this comes in very handy! Again, thanks.

    Oh, I am visiting from #ThankGoodnessit’sThursday

  45. Great post, Erlene! I really liked the tip about creating a separate party page to keep track of your parties–I often miss some because I don’t always remember, especially if I’m new to the party! 🙂

  46. Thank you so much for posting this! It is very helpful. The only thing that I would add is for hosts, featuring top clicked partiers or host favorites, the following week to list the name of the site (or person) and then the craft, hyperlinked of course, so that the links do not look misleading to others; I have had this happen several times when a host would list my craft as being the “top clicked party feature,” but either left my site and name off completely, or had the link feature their site, and not mine! Thank you again!