Linkys explained

Arrrrrgggghhh!!!! Linkys! WTF are Linkys and how do I do one, do I do one? Do I join one? How do I link it, oh god the code and those dreaded four capital letters! Someone help!

That was the thought process I had every time I heard the word Linky. I heard the word a lot so I knew they were popular I just couldn't figure how I should join one. Even though they are really simple. I will try and explain it in as many simple steps as I can, just promise me you won't freak out, throw your laptop and hide in a corner like I did, when you read the word HTML. It's really very simple. Read on...

Linkys are brilliant especially for new bloggers as you can share your content easily and so can others. It also increases engagement on your posts as others will comment on them. They're not something to freak out about, I have no idea why I did in the first place.

To make this simple we will assume that I am the host of a linky ( I am not, so please don't look for it, this is just a very fun game we're going to play to try and get everyone to understand it).

• I would create a post which I want to become a linky ("linky post"), I will give it a specific name so I can use it every week to make it easy for people to remember. 
• Anyone can then add their own post to the bottom of my "linky post" by following a few simple steps

In some linkys, there are specific themes, if you don't blog about these themes you won't be able to join. A lot of them are not specific, though. The steps you generally need to follow are...

• You add the hosts Linky badge to the post you want to add. 
• To do this you "copy" the code (don't freak out, just highlight it, right click and select copy) which is underneath their linky image. 
• Go to your post and click into the HTML section of your blog post (in Blogger this is next to "compose", I have no idea where it is in Wordpress, sorry).
• Scroll down and paste the code at the bottom of your HTML screen. If you switch back to your normal view, you will now see the hosts linky "badge" (see, not scary)

This badge if clicked when someone is viewing your post will open another tab to the hosts blog, the host has to get something out of it right?

• Go back to the hosts linky page, scroll down and click "add link". This is usually after a lot of thumbnail posts from all the other bloggers who have added their posts already.
• Once you've clicked "add link" you will need to add the website address of your post, your email address and name of the post. You can also click an image for the thumbnail 
• Click "add to linky"
• You can then go back to the linky post or share it straight away

Now, each linky host will probably have a few other rules that may vary but in general, all the above rules are the same for everyone. Following the above rules once you have chosen the linky you want to join will take about 2 minutes, tops.

Other rules to join a linky can be...

• Commenting on the hosts blog post, you do this by viewing all the thumbnails in the linky post. The hosts "linked" post will say "(host)" in the title. 
• Commenting on the post before yours
• Comment on X number of other posts
• When sharing to social media, tag the hosts in so they can RT/share
• Share other people's posts/follow them etc.

All these rules will be specified in the "linky post".

That is it, I told you it was simple. Have you been stumped by Linkys? Has this post made it a bit easier to understand? Let me know!

Thanks for reading

#BlogLife

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