Let me start by saying I'm a huge believer of blog carnivals. Of course, they're not without their drawbacks, but the advantages entirely outweigh the amount of time and effort that you put into them.
That's why it confounds me that blog carnivals aren't as popular as they should be. Yes, the first couple times that you participate in them, it might take you a little extra time to learn the ropes. And new carnival networks can sometimes be more unreliable than one would like. But get hooked up with a solid group of bloggers in your market, and carnivals are excellent ways to:
* Improve your authority
* Immediately gain profitable, regular readers of your partner blogs
* Get an immediate surge of traffic to blog posts
* Get a long term gain 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, collaborating or deciding on converns like frequency, rules, editorial guidelines, how to blog in the carnival, 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 loads of relevant traffic, so bloggers participating in the carnival receive a powerful one-way link from the host and the immediate traffic surge associated with the initial readers. The carnival host receives links from each of the member bloggers who have teamed together to publicize the event, knowing that the better the carnival is, the better the links will be when it comes time for them to host.
Now that you know what a carnival is, we'll review how you can maximize your carnival participation . . . in our next post!
That's why it confounds me that blog carnivals aren't as popular as they should be. Yes, the first couple times that you participate in them, it might take you a little extra time to learn the ropes. And new carnival networks can sometimes be more unreliable than one would like. But get hooked up with a solid group of bloggers in your market, and carnivals are excellent ways to:
* Improve your authority
* Immediately gain profitable, regular readers of your partner blogs
* Get an immediate surge of traffic to blog posts
* Get a long term gain 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, collaborating or deciding on converns like frequency, rules, editorial guidelines, how to blog in the carnival, 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 loads of relevant traffic, so bloggers participating in the carnival receive a powerful one-way link from the host and the immediate traffic surge associated with the initial readers. The carnival host receives links from each of the member bloggers who have teamed together to publicize the event, knowing that the better the carnival is, the better the links will be when it comes time for them to host.
Now that you know what a carnival is, we'll review how you can maximize your carnival participation . . . in our next post!
About the Author:
Jared is the programmer 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.
