Blog Carnivals to Boost Traffic

Blog carnivals provide a nice way to network with other bloggers, boost your awareness of other blogs on similar topics and, best of all, get some link love from blogs on similar topics. This can also be a nice way for a new blogger to get some SEO-boosting incoming links.

A blog carnival is a periodic roundup of links on a particular subject. It typically has multiple blogs serving as the hosts. Other bloggers submit their posts for consideration in an upcoming blog carnival. You can find blog carnivals on almost every subject.

Blog carnivals are pretty diverse, ranging from the once-yearly Carnival of Christmas to very targeted weekly carnivals on subjects like employer branding, fantasy basketball and homeschooling.

Submit to a Blog Carnival

The best way to get involved in blog carnivals is to simply submit to a blog carnival. You can browse an extensive list at Blog Carnival.com. You must register to submit, but it’s free.

• Find the blog carnivals that best suit your topic. Also be sure you look for blog carnivals that are active, as many have faded out. A good way to check this is to look at the next (and last) carnival date, and to look at the actual carnival page.
• Don’t submit the same blog post to several carnivals. Instead, submit different ones that seem to be the best fit for the specific carnival. Take a few minutes to read a couple of carnival editions before submitting.
• Be sure to link to the carnival once it runs, which is simply good carnival etiquette and helps further develop a relationship with that week’s carnival host blogger.

Host a Blog Carnival

Another way to get involved in blog carnivals is to find one that is a close match to your blog topic, and contact the carnival operator to offer to share in the hosting rotation. This is also a nice way to network with other bloggers in your topic, as well as drive traffic to your site.

It usually isn’t terribly demanding to host a carnival. Since there is a rotation, you would only need to post when your turn comes up. This could be once a month or even less frequently, depending on the number of hosts and the publishing schedule.

Start a Blog Carnival

Another option, especially if you don’t see a carnival that is a really nice fit for your blog, is to simply start your own blog carnival. To do that, you should:

• research blog carnivals by browsing the Blog Carnival.com site and even seeing Wikipedia’s blog carnival entry
• contact other bloggers who write on the topic and ask if they would consider joining in the hosting rotation
• register your new carnival at Blog Carnival.com.