Start a Blogroll

Actually, before you start one let's define what a blogroll is. Basically, it's a list of blogs you link to from your own blog. Usually your blogroll would go in the sidebar of your blog, and would include links to blogs you read frequently, or wish you read frequently. It could also include blogs you've exchanged links with - they add your blog to their blogroll, and in return you link to them from yours. Exchanging links between blogrolls can be an easy way to begin generating traffic to your blog and building visibility in a community of like-minded bloggers.

If you like, you can also organize your blogroll in various ways. Alphabetically is the simplest and most obvious, but you can also create categories for the different types of blogs based on their subject matter, personal or professional focus, writing style and quality, frequency of updates, or any other criteria that will make your blogroll more useful, comprehensive, and comprehensible.

You can make updating, maintaining and enhancing your blogroll an easier process with a blogroll manager like Blogrolling.com. Their tool allows you to add new blogs to your blogroll by simply clicking a link in your web browser, a much quicker process than going into your blog template and manually adding new links. The Blogrolling tool also lets you categorize your blog list and keeps track of when each blog was last updated. If a blog's gone stale and hasn't been updated for years, you might want to replace it with a more current one.

If you add a new blog to your blogroll, it's always a good idea to let them know by emailing them or posting a comment on the blog. They'll appreciate hearing about the new link, and may even reciprocate by adding your blog to their blogroll. With each new connection you make, you're expanding your network of readers a little further. And it all starts with that first little link in your sidebar...

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