When I first started blogging over 5 years ago, I didn’t have a clue what a linky party was. Prior to starting a blog, I had followed a few blogs, just to read and get inspired by. I had my favourites but they didn’t host linky parties. It wasn’t until I had a few posts under my belt, a year’s worth in fact, that I started to delve into the world of blogging and I noticed a lot of bloggers, mainly those from the US were hosting these linky parties. I started to link my posts up to these parties and sometimes my posts would be featured. And that meant traffic to my blog.  

After a while I thought could I, in fact, host one myself? How would I do that? I did a bit of research and found out that there are two main players in the world of linky parties so I investigated who they were and how much they charged and I went for it. The Thriving on Thursdays linky party was created back on 4 January 2012. When I started, I didn’t think anyone would link up but they did. I didn’t worry too much about how many people would link up. I never have. What I did find, by hosting my own party, is that I have created a like-minded community of friends from all over the world.  I still have contact with most of the people who linked up originally. I get to hear about their lives, their families, the weather, their holidays, birthdays, and more importantly see the amazing projects they submit to the linky party every week. I always find so much inspiration from these people and have created many of their recipes and projects over the years.

Here’s a bit of a run down on the world of linky parties.

HOW DO I GET STARTED?

If you want to host your own linky party, the two main players that I know of are Inlinkz, who I use, and Linky Tools. I found Linky Tools a little bit ‘clunky’ so stayed with Inlinkz who have been fantastic all these years. They charge about US$20 per year to host a party where pictures will be displayed when bloggers post their links. It is free to host a linky party without pictures being displayed.  It is pretty straight forward to get started. You create an account and set the parameters, like what day and time you’d like the party to start, when you’d it like to end, how many linked up posts will appear on your blog, ie the smaller photo of the blog post and many more features. The help centre is very self explanatory at Inlinkz and they will help you along the way if you need it.

HOW OFTEN SHOULD I HOST A PARTY?

I find that weekly linky parties work best. There have been a few times, over the years, when I just couldn’t get around to getting that blog post up. Whether it was illness, me or the children, a bad slump in my life or just being too busy but as far as my blogging schedule goes, hosting that weekly Thriving on Thursday linky party is a highlight of my week. It gives me a chance to interact with my friends. If they leave a comment, I always make sure I reply and get to know them a little better. Some friends have come and gone and that’s okay. Things happen. You can create one off, special event type linky parties for a special feature like Christmas Cookies or sharing your birthing story. I’ve linked up to a few of those over the years. No matter what the reason, whether you want a regular linky party gig or a one off, it’s entirely up to you.

WHAT SHOULD I CALL IT?

I’ve found that of the many linky parties that are hosted around the world each week, they seem to take place on the same day every week and they are usually named similar to the day of the week. Because I’m all about being thrifty I couldn’t think of a better name than Thriving on Thursdays for my linky party. Bloggers who host on a Friday could call it something like Frugal Fridays or Motivational Mondays. You get the drift.

One of the more popular linky parties which has been doing the rounds for absolute ages and it’s called “Wordless Wednesdays” where you get to post just a photo. There are linky parties specifically for crafting, food and probably many other things. You can create one for anything and call it what you like.

WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE LINKY PARTY IS FINISHED?

This is the best part for me because I get to go through every link and see what everyone has posted. I get to see the regular visitors and check out any new ones. A lot of bloggers go to every individual who linked up and thank them for their post, which I personally think is great, and a really nice thing to do but no matter how many times I’ve tried over the years, I’ve just been too busy to do that. It’s also an opportunity to feature your favourite posts. Because my party gets a lot of both recipes and anything else, I like to feature 3 food posts and 3 non food posts. Things like crafts, sewing patterns, drink recipes, kid’s activities, marital advice, beauty tips and just about anything goes. These features then appear at the start of the following week’s linky party post. How do I choose just 3? I know, it’s hard but I usually start by choosing posts that are going to save me a couple of dollars or save me time. I then try to choose posts by a blogger who hasn’t been featured before or for a while. I don’t just select posts with really nice photos but rather posts that are informative.

It also gives the featured blogger a chance to place a ‘featured’ button on their blog which in turn drives more linkers to your next party, or that’s what you’re hoping for. That’s not the reason I do it but it has brought new people to my party which I’m so appreciative of.

WHAT ABOUT LINKED UP POSTS FOR SPECIAL EVENTS?

What I love about the bloggers who link up, they’re so clever, they’re always one step ahead of the next big event, ie Easter, Mother’s Day, St Patrick’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Christmas etc and my linky party is always inundated with posts that are relative to these special events. I like to do a special round up of all those posts about a week before the event, just so all the posts are seen. I also like to keep these round up posts handy for myself when I’m stuck for inspiration.

WHAT OTHER LINKY PARTIES ARE OUT THERE?

I’ve never really delved into the world of linky parties outside of food and craft blogs but I’m sure they are out there. I like linky parties similar to mine that aren’t really specific to just food, for example, or craft. Sometimes I might write a post about something frugal and it doesn’t really fit into those two categories but you can find blogs similar to mine who host parties that will accept these one-off kind of blog posts. Some bloggers also create a lot of rules when it comes to hosting linky parties and that’s their perogative. Things like no giveaways, they must feature their ‘button’ to get featured, only two posts can be linked up etc etc but I don’t care about those things. I’m just happy to see familiar and new faces each week. I don’t mind if people want to share sponsored posts, giveaways or anything else. I’ve seen a few marital advice type posts and they’re okay too but as long as it’s family friendly, I’m easy.

Because I seem to be so busy these days, I sometimes find I don’t have anything to link up to my favourite parties or I just get too busy but here is a really good list of parties for any day of the week from My Joy Filled Life that will get you started.

Linky parties, to me, have been one of the best things about blogging. I’ve made so many friendships and discovered so many fantastic blogs, recipes, crafts and ideas. They’re friendships I’ll treasure forever. My days of really partying are over. Instead, I’d much rather put the kettle on and have a good old catch up with friends. That’s how I want you to feel when you come to my linky party, Thriving on Thursdays.