- What a linky and specifically what the Spectrum & SEND Sunday linky is and why to take part
- What the steps are to take part in a linky?
- How to add your blog post link to the host page
- What is the 'linky badge', why there is one and how to add it to your post
- What to do after you have added your post link to promote your post
What is a linky?
A 'linky' is a collection of links to blog posts from different bloggers. They are collected together by a blogger who is hosting the linky on their page. The aim is to share your blog posts with the other people taking part in the linky and to read some of their posts in return. Your link will be shared by the person hosting the linky and read and shared by other people joining the linky too.
The list is usually created using an online tool such as inlinkz. The tool allows other bloggers to add a link and sometimes an image to the bottom of the hosts page.
The list is usually created using an online tool such as inlinkz. The tool allows other bloggers to add a link and sometimes an image to the bottom of the hosts page.
Each linky is created with a start and end date and time making a window of time for other bloggers to include links to their blog posts. Spectrum and SEND Sunday runs for two weeks or a month from Sunday morning until the Saturday before the new one opens again.
Often linky's have a theme . For example I often take part in a linky called 'TriumphantTales' run by Mrs Mummy Harris and JakiJellz and it asks for parenting/family posts. The linky shown above was from a #ablogginggoodtime by Diary of an Imperfect Mum and Mummy in a Tutu and was open to any niche or type of post. Spectrum and SEND Sunday is a linky for ASD, Special Educational Needs & Disabilities (SEND), mental health and associated posts.
What are the steps to take part in the linky?
Most linkies have a set of 'rules' that guide how people can take part in it. Usually this covers three ideas including:
- Adding your post link
- Adding a linky 'badge' or link
- Commenting on or sharing some of the other linked up posts
- Promoting your post / linky on twitter or other platforms
Adding your post link to the linky
This is where you add the URL of your post to the host page.
- Copy the URL from the address bar of the post you have chosen to include in the linky
- Go to the host page and click on the box at the bottom of the other linked up posts - often it has 'Add your link' written in it.
- This will take you to a inlinkz screen where you can add your url, the title of the post as you would like it to appear under the image, and which image from your post you want displayed. you can always just use the linky badge if you don't have another image
- Click done at the bottom right when finished - you will be taken to a 'completed' screen which will ask you if you'd like to go back to the host blog or add another post. You can add two posts to #SpectrumSunday so feel free to repeat the process if you want to.
- When you are finished choose to go back to the host blog. You can check you are happy with how your post has been added. If not you can hover over your blog image and hit the dustbin image to delete it and repeat the process to add your links again.
Adding a linky 'badge'
Most linkies have a 'badge' which the host asks you to add to your blog post. This is an image which usually displays the name of the linky and sometimes it's hosts. The badge acts as a door between posts and the linky. As people who visit the linky click on posts, when they reach the bottom of the post or page this badge allows them a route back to the linky to read another post. The badge also promotes the linky to the bloggers readers. This means someone reading one of my posts for example can visit the linky and then your post via it.
If you aren't sure, then get in touch. The main thing to do on most linkies is to add your post and comment or share others.
The Spectrum and SEND Sunday linky badge looks like this:
The first thing to do, is decide which post you are going to add to the link up. Then:
- Copy the code from the text box under the badge, by selecting it all, right clicking and selecting 'copy'
- Go back to your chosen post in your blogging platform and you need to access the HTML or 'text' part of your post. Here's what it looks like on blogger.
- After you've selected text/HTML you'll see something that looks a bit like this. Scroll down to the bottom of the page, right click and 'paste' the code in. You can switch back to 'compose' or 'page' or look at your post online to check that it looks right. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me rainbowsaretoobeautiful@outlook.com
- If all this looks too complicated, just add a hyperlink to my current linky page at the bottom of your post that says something like 'This post is on the #SpectrumSunday linky'. That way people can still find their way back to the linky list to read or share other posts.
Commenting on / sharing other blog posts
Now you can have a look around at other posts on the linky. Leave a comment on their blog and quote #SpectrumSunday and they may come and find your post to read to. We ask that you comment on posts as reading and sharing is part of what it's all about. To visit another post simply double click on their image.
Promoting your posts/linky on twitter
Once you've added your posts don't forget to help us promote them. Let people know you've linked up to #SpectrumSunday so they can find your post there too. Promote the linky to get more people involved and so more people reading your post. And most importantly of all, tweet your URL along with the #SpectrumSunday, @MumSomeone and @rainbowsaretoo for us to tweet them to our followers. We also promote our favourite post linked up each linky to our other social media outlets.
That's it. If you've any questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch. Cuddle Fairy has also written a linky guide which you could visit for another explanation of linkies.
No comments:
Post a Comment
I read all your comments and appreciate you sharing your thoughts with me and our readers. I welcome any feedback on my posts and you can always contact me directly. Thank you.