Building connections in the blogosphere - blog rolls

This is my fourth week of this blog and I'm still setting up my stall... today I have started to create a  'blog roll' - in other words, a list of related blogs that I enjoy and that you may find useful.

A blog roll sits usually in the side bar and can be called whatever you like, and organised how you wish. At the moment, I have started listing all the lovely bloggers who contributed to my book, under the heading 'Get inspired by these blogs!' They're not in any order, nor have I categorised them in any way. That will be my next step, and then after that I would like to say a few words about each - why I like them, or what they offer in terms of ideas and inspiration for the newbie blogger. That way you will have more of an inkling what you will find if you click on each link.

The standard format for a blog roll is a list of links, but it could also be a feed of latest posts from other blogs. There are widgets that will do this for you - do a search to find one compatible with the blog platform you are using and that you like the look of.

An extract from the blog roll
at A Perfect Gray, which is actually
a widget displaying the latest posts
from each in a feed. Neat!

Look at how other bloggers organise their blog rolls to get ideas what would work for you. Some list hundreds of sites, other stick to a handful of favourites and keep it more focused. Some show screenshots of the blogs, some have specially designed buttons to introduce the list. The choice is yours.

But the main point of the blog roll, other than to tell your visitors about other web content they may love, is to connect with others. Let bloggers know when you put them on your blog roll - don't be offended if they don't reciprocate, some large, successful blogs are inundated by requests for links! When you're starting out, it's a good idea to find other bloggers who are at a similar stage, and link to each other to get the ball rolling.

Part of Dianne Jacob's blogroll at Will Write for Food,
where she lists Blogs and Resources

Over time, aim to deepen the connections by commenting on those blogs, subscribing to their feeds, sharing their content on your own blog or via social media or inviting them to contribute a guest blog post. The blogosphere wants you - join me in starting to get connected!