Blogroll 101: Everything You Need to Know

If you are a new blogger and stumbled upon the word “blogroll”, you might be a little bit confused. What is a blogroll exactly? What is it used for? How do bloggers benefit from it?

If you have these questions, don’t worry! In this article, I’ll cover everything you need to know about blogrolls. From the definition to the etiquette rules surrounding it.

Let’s get to it!

What is Blogroll?

To put it simply, a blogroll is a list of links, placed somewhere on a blog, that directs people to other blogs recommended by the site owner.

While mostly the blogs listed will have a similar niche, some bloggers categorize their lists into different subjects. They might link their personal favorites, or maybe their friends’ blogs. All in all, everything depends on the blogger and their preference.

As a result, blogrolls are very useful when it comes to gaining more traffic. If you are lucky enough to snatch a spot in a popular blogroll, you will surely gain more visitors to your site! Neat, right?

Blogroll Etiquette You Need to Know

Though installing and operating a blogroll is easy, there are codes of behavior that should be followed. After all, you should be polite and follow certain etiquette rules in all aspects of life.

First, ask for permission. If you want to add in someone’s website, it is better to reach out via email or social media, to let them know that their site will be linked in your blogroll.

Second, since you can benefit highly from being on someone’s blogroll, you should always thank them for considering you. It’s simply good manners!

Some people include websites in their blogroll with a hope of them doing the same. While you can expect this to happen, it’s quite impolite and pushy, especially if you insist that the person includes you on their blogroll just because you did the same with their page.

How Do You Create a Blogroll in WordPress?

Now that you know what a blogroll is and how to be polite while using it, I will show you how to add a blogroll to your WordPress website.

First, you have to insert all the links to the Link feature. Secondly, you will have to add the blogroll widget to your web page.

Adding Links to Blogroll

1. For this task, it is better to use the Link View plugin. In your WordPress Admin dashboard, find the Plugins button, and click Add New. In the search bar, write Link View. You will find the following plugin. Click Install Now and then Activate.
2. Hover your cursor above the Links menu. A box of submenus will appear. Click Add New. A new window will appear asking you to input some information about the link you are going to add.
3. Fill the first box from the top with the name of the corresponding site.Say, I want a link to Google Search. I can label it as “Google”. This is the name that will appear on the blogroll box.
4. Insert the link of the site in the second box. Since I’m going to add Google Search, the link will be http://google.com/.As underlined above, adding http:// to your link is required.
5. Write a short description of the site.
6. Add categories for the linked site. You can add a new category by clicking the Add New Category button below and a new window will appear.
7. Choose how should the link be opened in a browser.
8. Define the link relationship.
9. Add an image to your blogroll through the Advanced window. Indicate the address of an image, RSS address, or even leave a note and a rating. You can display this information later on the widget.
10. Lastly, do not forget to save any changes by clicking Add Link at the top right corner of the page.

Adding Blogroll Widget to Web Page

1. Click the Appearance menu on the dashboard. Under its submenu, click Customize. It will open a live preview window.
2. On the left side of the live preview, find Widgets.
3. Click Add a Widget. A new window will appear. Find the Links button. A widget will appear at the bottom of the menu. here’s an example:
4. Choose what kind of information you want to display on your blogroll, whether you wish to show link description, rating, etc.
5. Click Done. In the live preview window, you should see that a new widget has been added.

Happy Networking!

A blogroll occupies a small part of your site that can be very useful to boost your site’s traffic.

However, don’t forget to be respectful when using a blogroll. Not only it will boost your traffic but will maintain good relationships with other bloggers.