What Is A Blog Carnival?
What is a blog carnival and how can you use blog carnivals as a fast, easy, free way to build traffic to your blog? A blog carnival is a collection of links to selected blog posts submitted by different bloggers on a given topic or theme. The links are then posted by the host blogger on their blog as a “carnival”. A blog carnival is a great way for bloggers to highlight fellow bloggers, organize theme posts, and increase cross-traffic between related blogs. For blog readers, a carnival presents an opportunity to discover a variety of posts from multiple bloggers centered on topics they enjoy. To understand more about what a blog carnival is and what it can do for you, check out this example of a blog carnival at NatureMoms. As you can see, a blog carnival is published as a post containing a collection of related links from various bloggers, organized and presented on a host blog, often accompanied by comments from the host. Contributing to a blog carnival exposes you and your blog to readers your blog might not be exposed to otherwise. And it’s free! You don’t even have to write a new blog post–all you have to do is submit one of your best previously-published blog posts in your recent archives.
How can you get started promoting your blog and increasing traffic using blog carnivals?
1. Host a blog carnival. You can sign up to organize and host your own blog carnival. Any blogger can host and organize a blog carnival. Register at the blog carnival network, choose your carnival’s topic/theme, deadline, and other criteria, submit the carnival to the blog carnival listing, collect submissions from bloggers, and present the carnival on your blog. Hosting a carnival takes effort and commitment in collecting and presenting the selected posts. If you don’t have time to host a carnival, you can–
2. Contribute to a blog carnival. Any blogger can contribute to an upcoming blog carnival. Select a category and cruise the listings at the blog carnival network, find hosts for upcoming carnivals in your content area, and submit your best blog posts relating to the topic/theme. You don’t even have to register at the blog carnival network to submit to a carnival–all you have to do is submit your links to the carnivals you’re interested in and you’re done! Remember that you must choose specific posts from your blog and use the specific link to those posts. Cull for your best quality posts to increase your chances of being chosen for the carnival.
*Tip: Don’t limit yourself only to blog carnivals in your particular field. If you’re a writer, maybe you wrote a great post about overcoming rejection that you can submit to a writers’ carnival, but don’t forget that you are more than a writer. You are also a parent or a knitter or a foodie or a pet-lover or a traveler, etc. Think about all the types of posts you write on your blog. Did you write a funny post about your dog a few weeks ago? Submit a post to a dog carnival. Did you take a really cool trip recently and blog about it? Submit a post to a travel carnival. Dive into the listings at the blog carnival network and submit posts to as many carnivals as you can find quality related posts in your recent archives to submit. Increase your traffic and exposure outside the box!
After your first round of blog carnival submissions, go back to the blog carnival network periodically and scan the listings for new carnivals. Participating in a blog carnival is an easy way to increase traffic, and submitting is a quick process. Every carnival that selects and posts your link is free promotion–and you can’t beat that!
Contribute to your first blog carnival right now! Submit to the Carnival of Romance Writers, to be hosted right here on DandelionBlog! Submission categories include the writing life, finding inspiration, beating writer’s block, first-sale stories, overcoming rejection, promotion and marketing, self-motivation, craft of writing, and when writing is funny. Be a part of our carnival’s first edition–and tell your friends! Our first Carnival of Romance Writers will be published here on January 20th. Deadline for carnival submissions is January 15th. Carnival to be held monthly. Look back in your recent archives and submit your best previously-published posts in the categories listed above and we’ll promote them. Let’s start building traffic–together!
If you would like to learn more about creating, maintaining, and promoting your author website along with the creative spirit it represents, please subscribe to our
full RSS feed.
I hosted a blog carnival a couple of years ago. It was a lot of fun. I still get traffic from it. It was about writing. Most posts were from blog friends but I did get a few from the blog carnival site.
I have tried several times to submit a blog to you through the carnival site. It doesn’t give me an error message, but it never completes the process.
[…] carnival will be posted February 18th. Don’t know what we’re talking about? Read our What is a Blog Carnival article to learn more about how we can help you boost traffic to your blog! It’s free, […]