Link Parties- From The Hosts Perspective

We bloggers all love a good link party. They are a great way to check out what is going on in blog land, meet new people, and draw a crowd to your site. But have you ever wondered what the hosts are thinking? I did, so what did I do? 

I asked a Meg from A little Knick Knack, Bonnie from House of Grace, Cassie from Primitive and Proper, and a secret uber party hostess. Trust me if you have gone to a link party, chances are you have been to one of theirs.  I asked all of them if they would share with us their thoughts on link parties!  And here is what they had to say.

Lets start with Meg from A Little Knick Knack. She hosts Everything but the kitchen sink on Fridays.

Hey everyone! So glad to be here on Sarah’s lovely blog. Doesn’t she have some amazing ideas and inspiration? I am so glad we became “bloggy friends!”



When Sarah asked me to contribute my 2 cents regarding link parties, at first I thought, “I have nothing to say! Bummer!” But, then I got to thinking and came up with a few things…

Here are some of my thoughts…First off, link parties are GREAT. They are a wonderful way to generate interest for your blog and to help fellow bloggers get to know each other.

 If a party as a theme or certain rules, it’s polite to stick to those rules. Don’t just go jumping in and linking away without reading the rules. It’s blog-etiquette to take a minute and make sure what you’re linking applies to the party. I admit, even though my blog party has no rules, sometimes I have to delete people’s entries because they were not clean. I thought that was just common sense, but I guess not…maybe my “no rules” will have one rule…keep it clean!

Now, why do most people link to link parties? Comments! Comments are a bloggers BFF. If you’re going to join a party, be sure to check out at least a couple of links and comment! There was a time a long while back that I tried to comment on everyone’s link on a link party I joined. Wow, that got old fast! Then, I went through a phase (I’m kind of like a teenager) where I didn’t leave any comments. Imagine frogs croaking around my computer….not one comment for me, people! It’s like bloggers knew I was breaking a cardinal rule….so, now I try and comment on those few projects that I find truly interesting. In the world where we can basically carry our computers with us in our pockets, it shouldn’t be too hard to leave one or two comments on a link party….right?

Finally, make sure you have a good, solid following before jumping in and hosting a link party. I didn’t start my party until I had reached over 500 followers and I thought that provided a good base for a link party. If you’re just starting, make sure to get your follower-base pretty large, and filled with dedicated readers. You know who they are—the people who comment! All in all, link parties are fun and a great way to communicate in blogland. Have fun with them!

And now, Cassie from Primitive and Proper, You know POWW every Wednesday.

Here is what she had to say.

As with any good party, you want to make sure you are there to enjoy

most of it!  So get yourself linked up soon after the party opens.

If you do that, you will get more visits as more people pop over to

join the party.  If you wait til the last minute to link up, you

probably won't have as many people visit.

Make sure the photo you use for the thumbnail is clear and eye

catching.  When I link up furniture, I often use a picture that shows

just one corner of the piece of furniture... if it shows the whole

thing, sometimes it can be hard to make out in a tiny thumbnail.

Oh, and when leaving comments for other partygoers, BE ORIGINAL!!!!

There was one blogger in particular who would leave me really nice

comments when I started out.  I discovered that each week she came up

with a new line and copy and pasted it into everyone's comments.  I

stopped following because I thought that was a cheap way to seem

sincere.  Mean what you say, and come up with something clever.  You

are a creative blogger, so you can do better than , "I love it!"

Not always necessary, but certainly always appreciate by the host...

leave a comment on the party post!  Thank the host for having the

party, and if the host shared a project, try to comment on that as

well.

Bonnie, From House Of Grace. The hostess for Twice Owned Tuesday!

She and I actually spoke on the phone, so this is me paraphrasing.

Bonnie recommends, great pictures, follow the rules of the party, and have a great time commenting. The more you comment the more visitors you will get to YOUR site, and who doesn't love that?



And last but not least our mystery hostess.

via

Here is what she had to say:

One thing I have noticed is a lot of bloggers think the only reason the hosts wants a link back is to increase their readership.  Yes, it is true that hosts do hope to increase their readership, but that isn't the main reason they are asking for a link back.  The real reason is so the participants who have worked so hard to create a post and link up will get a lot more visits if all the blogs do link back to the party.

That was news to me!

Now, I am looking for your opinion. What are your thoughts on having a text link on your post to a page of link parties? Is this a party DO or a party DON'T? The jury is still out on this and enquiring minds want to know your thoughts!!

Also, what are your feelings about linking up the same post week after week? Party DO or party DON'T?

Now lets give a gracious THANK YOU! To all of the wonderful hostesses who helped me write this post. I know I learned a lot. And consider yourself personally invited to their great link parties!

Tatertots & Jello