How to Join a Blog Hop

by Kristin Dewey, BlogPaws Special Projects Manager

Each week, BlogPaws hosts a Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop on our website. This post will explain how blog hops work and get you ready for Wednesday’s hop. It might sound complicated at first, but once you’ve done it, it’s easy! Check out last week's Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop to see what we're talking about. 

Blog Hops will also be the topic of this month’s Twitter #BlogPawsChat on Tuesday, September 11^th from 8-10pm ET. We’ll begin the Wordless Wednesday blog hop early so we can help all our Twitter pals link up during the chat. 

Wordless Wednesday is the popular Internet practice of posting blog photos that speak for themselves - no explanations required.

A Blog Hop is a blog post that includes a list of links to other bloggers’ posts with a common theme; often the links include thumbnail pics. The list of links (linky list) is shared on multiple blogs. Participants can join the hop from any blog that shares the list.

The idea is for bloggers to click on each others’ links, hopping to all the different blogs. It’s a way for people with a common interest, in our case a love of animals, to find new blogs to follow, to attract new visitors to their own blogs, and to have fun looking at all the great pet pics . We’re all into social media at BlogPaws, so they’re great for checking out all the different blog styles and formats, too.

First, choose a pet photo to post on your blog. Wordless Wednesday photos are usually cute, funny, beautiful, quirky, sometimes sad, but they stand on their own, without need for captions. Words don’t disqualify you, just try to keep them to a minimum if you just can’t resist! (That's my cat Cokie giving you the eye.)

Publish your Wordless Wednesday blog post on your blog.If you’re joining us for Tuesday's #BlogPawsChat, go ahead and publish your post on Tuesday evening before the chat. (A few readers will be confused, but they’ll get over it.) Copy the URL/address specific your Wordless Wednesday post, also called a permalink. That’s the link you’ll need to join the blog hop.

If you don’t know how to find the permalink, open a new browser tab or page. Go to your main blog page, as if you’re an outside visitor. Click on the title of your Wordless Wednesday post. A new page will open with a permalink in the top URL/address bar. Copy that URL/address and head over to BlogPaws.com.

Once the BlogPaws Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop is up, click where it says, "You are next... Click here to enter" at the bottom of the post. Follow the instructions on the form that opens. Your blog should now be linked up to the blog hop. It may not show up right away, so don’t get nervous and add your blog a dozen times or it will show up a dozen times later! Blog Hop faux paw! ; ) 

Next, you want to add the code to make the list of other entries appear on your blog. Click at the VERY bottom of the Blog Hop post where it says "Get the code here..." Copy the code. Open your Wordless Wednesday blog post so you can edit it. Click on the HTML tab. Paste the code you copied at the very bottom of that page full of HTML code. Click update or publish. Refresh your blog so you can see it as the public sees it, and you should see your Wordless Wednesday post followed by a list of thumbnail links of other entries.

You can put our Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop button at the top of your post, to identify it as part of the hop. Cut and paste it and upload it into your blog post like a photo or use the code on the BlogPaws Wordless Wednesday page.

Different blog hops have different requirements. Ours is an easy ‘No Rules’ hop. 

To maximize your results, as with all social media, the more you engage with others, the more people will want to engage with you, increasing your visitors and making for more lively discussions on your own blog.

1. This is a Blog Hop! HOP! Visit as many of the other blogs as you can.
2. Leave comments. The more comments you leave, the more comments you get. It's the Law of Attraction or something.  ; ) 
3. If you like a blog, follow it! Blogs usually have at least one widget that make it easy for fans to follow them – NetworkedBlogs, Linky Followers, Facebook, Twitter... If you really like it, join their email list. 
4. Post a link to your Wordless Wednesday post on your Facebook page, inviting your friends to join in. 
5. Tweet your link with the #WordlessWednesday hashtag, again inviting friends to participate in the Blog Hop. 
6. Pin it, or use whatever other platforms you like to share your post and the Blog Hop.

That's it. Try it. If you're still confused, or it didn't work somehow, email me at Kristin at BlogPaws.com or come to our Twitter #BlogPawsChat on Tuesday evening and we'll try to walk you through it.

Happy hopping! 

Comments

[Carol Bryant]

Great idea for anyone who wants to join in and never was sure how. Plus a great way to reconnect with BlogPaws friends and make some new ones.

[Melody]

Fabulous tutorial!

One would think that connecting Wordless Wednesday to Wednesday would be easy, but I keep forgetting anyway. I will try to remember this week!

[Veronica Munsey]

I'm new and not going to be able to join you tonight for the tutorial. Would love to join this hop but when does the Wordless Wednesday hop generally go up at Blog Paws and where do you find it? I think I understand the rest pretty well from your post.

[Carol Bryant]

It goes up right around midnight and it will be right here on the main BlogPaws site, Veronica.

[Kristin Elliott- Doodie Pack]

I don't have a blog to hop to or from. Boo hoo.
But I do have twitter and pinterest

[Kristin Dewey]

Hi Kristin - You can still "hop!" to all the blogs and leave comments with your website link... And make new pals - and for you, check put the different kinds of blogs in case you want to start one!

[TheScottieMom]

Just added it to my Scottie Mom blog! Excited to see how it works. Great idea, BlogPaws!!

[My furry place]

Wow ! this is much fun and nice! very good idea !

[Deena]

Thank you! It all looked a bit overwhelming when I started looking at blog hops. It will be nice to have one to focus on. Look for my Wordless Wednesday post next week on http://www.ThePetBlog.net

[Collegedog]

Thanks for the info, I wasn't sure exactly how to go about getting on board with this. Trying to get the word out is tricky, indeed.

I really like checking out other pet blogs, and because I'm just starting myself, I can see how this would be a nice idea. I'm excited, hopefully people will come hopping by, ha.

Cheers!

[Pet Stores Denver]

Blog hopping is beneficial is exposure of your own blog content. There is a highly popular WordPress plugin named Comluv, this will allow you to display a link back to your last blog post. But not only can you link back to your last blog post, you are given access to a drop down menu containing your last ten blog posts. This means you can select which blog post is most relevant to the blog post you are commenting on and increase the chance of the author or reader visiting your post.

[Silvieon4 (Silvie Goldstein)]

My link does not show up? Silvieon4.com

[Jerry]

It's too bad the Linky Tools Blog Hop list code does not work on BlogPaws community blogs. We'll be publishing future Wordless Wednesday posts on the Tripawds blogs.