I'll start by saying that I'm a big fan of blog carnivals. They're not without their disadvantages, of course, but the benefits entirely outweigh the investment of time and effort that you give them.
That's why it amazes me that blog carnivals aren't as popular as they should be. Granted, the first several times that you participate in them, it might take you some extra time to learn the ropes. And new carnival networks can sometimes be more unreliable than one would like. But get connected with a reliable group of bloggers in your niche, and carnivals are great ways to:
* Increase your credibility
* Immediately gain regular, profitable readers of your partner blogs
* Get a quick surge of traffic to blog entries
* Get a long term improvement in search result rankings
What is a Blog Carnival?
A blog carnival is a virtual event consisting of a group of bloggers writing about a specific subject. The posts produced (or linked to) during a carnival frequently end up looking like a magazine. The carnival has a title, theme, editors, writers, and consumers. Most carnivals are held regularly with rotating hosts.
A carnival usually has an owner, who is the organizer of the overall carnival, deciding or collaborating on things like frequency, rules, how to blog in the carnival, editorial guidelines, and such. The owner also acts as the coordinator, determining the hosting schedule for the carnival.
Every carnival has a specific host, and the host's blog is where all the blog articles for that particular carnival are held. In response to the submission call, each blogger participating in the carnival sends their post to the host, where it is reviewed, edited, and published in the wild as one giant linkbait post or a series of smaller posts. Obviously, you should know how to create blog posts that are effective and compelling to get the greatest benefit.
Carnivals usually draw a lot of qualified traffic, so bloggers participating in the carnival receive a valuable backlink from the host and the immediate traffic surge associated with the original readers. The carnival host gets links from each of the member bloggers who have teamed together to advertise the carnival, knowing that the better the carnival is, the better the links will be when it comes time for their turn to host.
Now that you know what a carnival is, we'll review how you can maximize your carnival participation . . . in our next post! - 16003
That's why it amazes me that blog carnivals aren't as popular as they should be. Granted, the first several times that you participate in them, it might take you some extra time to learn the ropes. And new carnival networks can sometimes be more unreliable than one would like. But get connected with a reliable group of bloggers in your niche, and carnivals are great ways to:
* Increase your credibility
* Immediately gain regular, profitable readers of your partner blogs
* Get a quick surge of traffic to blog entries
* Get a long term improvement in search result rankings
What is a Blog Carnival?
A blog carnival is a virtual event consisting of a group of bloggers writing about a specific subject. The posts produced (or linked to) during a carnival frequently end up looking like a magazine. The carnival has a title, theme, editors, writers, and consumers. Most carnivals are held regularly with rotating hosts.
A carnival usually has an owner, who is the organizer of the overall carnival, deciding or collaborating on things like frequency, rules, how to blog in the carnival, editorial guidelines, and such. The owner also acts as the coordinator, determining the hosting schedule for the carnival.
Every carnival has a specific host, and the host's blog is where all the blog articles for that particular carnival are held. In response to the submission call, each blogger participating in the carnival sends their post to the host, where it is reviewed, edited, and published in the wild as one giant linkbait post or a series of smaller posts. Obviously, you should know how to create blog posts that are effective and compelling to get the greatest benefit.
Carnivals usually draw a lot of qualified traffic, so bloggers participating in the carnival receive a valuable backlink from the host and the immediate traffic surge associated with the original readers. The carnival host gets links from each of the member bloggers who have teamed together to advertise the carnival, knowing that the better the carnival is, the better the links will be when it comes time for their turn to host.
Now that you know what a carnival is, we'll review how you can maximize your carnival participation . . . in our next post! - 16003
About the Author:
Jared is the creator of a popular plugin suite for WordPress blogs and a partner in the publishing company that created the highly popular blogging course Blogging in Action. Jared helps people learn how to create blog properties the right way, and teaches them on effective methods to bring traffic to blogs.
