Hello, You! 😁
Here’s one of the greatest mysteries in the blogging world. At least, it was something that I never really figured out until recent years when I found the only right way to do it.
How does everyone blog hop?
Throughout the past years, I’ve seen all kinds of bloggers out there. Some of them simply followed back those who followed them, others followed only those that had something useful to offer, a couple would follow people who strictly had common interests, and some don’t follow anyone at all. But it was those that were able to be everywhere, all the time, that really made me wonder if I was doing something wrong.
Is there a way to blog hop that was simply never taught to anyone? Is blog hopping an art that only some are able to master?
Here’s a look at how I approached it over the years and what I do today.
WORDPRESS READER.
When I first began blogging, I had no clue that “blog hopping” was even a thing. I thought it was an inside joke about people being rabbits. I really couldn’t figure it out. I barely did what it really entailed and thought that the Internet would somehow redirect people towards my innocent posts about Batman: Year One or Batman: The Killing Joke.
It is only a couple of months later that I understood that the WordPress Reader had its own feature allowing us to go discover others based on key words (tags). This is where you had to decide WHY you were blogging. Were you doing it to find like-minded people to interact with? Or maybe you were you doing it to be up to date with new releases?
Your blog hopping habits would simply follow your blogging purpose.
EMAIL.
After a year of blogging, I’d notice that it was way too difficult for me to follow all the people that I did follow through the WordPress Reader. Even to this day, I have a hard time opening the Reader and to scroll through everyone’s daily post. And that’s the thing. The more blogs you follow, the more posts will pop up on it, and the less time you’ll have to go through them all.
At first, you’d think that you would be the kind of person who would drop a comment on every post you open up. It is only through experience that you’ll know how time-consuming this process actually is. That’s when I decided to give the email option a shot.
Always with the WordPress Reader, I decided to prioritize certain blogs, which would still cumulate to over 100 blogs, and activate the “Email me new posts” feature. In my email, dedicated to my blog, I’d then create a rule that would send all these “WordPress” emails straight into a file just so that I don’t get a gazillion notifications throughout the day. Yes, it sort of kills the purpose of being notified as soon as possible, but I was looking for a way to have a place where I could, on a daily basis, visit all the bloggers I actually really wanted to follow, before going on the WordPress Reader to check out the rest of my bloggers.
Rest assured that this method didn’t last long either. I still felt overwhelmed by how much blog hopping I had to do. It made me realize how much time I could spend creating posts and/or reading instead of trying to play catch-up with every blogger I followed.
AGGREGATOR APPLICATIONS.
A couple of years into blogging, I suddenly heard and saw a couple of bloggers utilize aggregator applications (e.g. Feedly or Bloglovin’) to help them in their blog hopping journey. I thought it was a cool concept to have all the blogs (WordPress or not) all in one place and have additional features that allowed you to organize them as you wish, while also being alerted of all the posts you haven’t read yet. How could it not benefit me or any blogger that wishes to blog hop efficiently, right?
You could simply blame procrastination here since setting this up properly and then making sure to get hooked on it (as in, making a daily habit of visiting this app) was much harder than you’d think. I still think there are a couple of bloggers who use this method, some better than others, but I haven’t been able to make it work for me. I’d still recommend people to try it out to see if it might not be exactly what you need for your blog hopping activities.
ACTUAL BLOG HOP FEATURES.
This isn’t the act of blog hopping (to voluntarily take the time to visit posts from other bloggers) but the feature that exists within the blogging world that helps bloggers link their posts to a source where the topic is predetermined by the creator (e.g. Top Ten Tuesday over at That Artsy Reader Girl). These posts are often very popular among bloggers and help many direct traffic over to their own posts just by making it their duty to find out how everyone did their post for that particular week.
I never got into the idea but I can see the appeal for many. It’s a great way to fill in one calendar day with something that could possibly help you discover other bloggers and vice-versa.
WHAT I DO.
My current system is the only one that works for me when it comes to blog hopping. It is far from being a perfect system and it definitely has underlying issues that some would probably find unappealing or doesn’t ring true to their core personality.
It mostly works on a comment-for-comment premise. Inevitably, it is assumed that you already have people dropping by your posts, reading, and interacting with you.
First of all, I’d have a list of V.I.P. bloggers from whom I read absolutely everything they post. It doesn’t matter if they don’t drop by my blog here and then because the solid relationship I have with them will make me want to visit their blog for who they are and then for what they post.
Second of all, I use a Google Chrome extension called OneTab that allows me to save multiple tabs into one page that I ping in my browser. With each post I publish, I open up a tab for each blogger who comments, creating a ranked list that gives me a order in which I’ll have to blog hop in the next couple of days of posting.
Third of all, as the days/weeks/months of blogging go by, I update my V.I.P. list to make sure that the most active bloggers, those with whom I’ve learned to appreciate their thoughts, their personality, their interaction with me, will be visited first. And since these bloggers probably feel the same about me, the comment-for-comment system simply cancels out.
Fourth of all, I visit the WordPress Reader to do additional blog hopping by visiting other bloggers I might have followed but have a harder time getting any interaction out of. This is usually very rare, considering how limited my time is. I’ve attempted to interact with some bloggers without ever feeling like they wanted to interact either and that’s why I have a harder time hunting for new bloggers to follow. The risk-reward ratio simply makes it less appealing for me, especially when we all have limited time for our hobbies.
Remember when I said that I now knew what the right way to blog hop was? It’s simple.
Your way is the best way.
Everyone has different lives, different responsibilities. The time we can put into blogging is never the same. The speed at which we create content and then blog hop is never the same either. As much as I’d love to visit every single blogger out there, to read every single post they put out, I just can’t. It’s humanly impossible. It is why my system includes a “preferential” prioritizing process. It’s not permanent and it allows me to discover new bloggers. I don’t filter out people because their content doesn’t interest me too, since I’m also here for the person behind the blog.
And with that being said, just remember to blog hop out of a love to do so, not by obligation, and not to burn yourself out of this hobby.
Now, tell me, how do you blog hop? 😁
TILL NEXT TIME,
Roars and Echoes 
I do my best to read and comment on 10 to as many posts a day. I feel like if I want people to invest in my stuff then I should invest in theirs. I’m glad I try to do this on a daily basis because I’ve learned more about the content that I normally write about. I’m still a terrible writer but oh well.
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I doubt you’re a terrible writer. I agree with the logic behind “needing to invest in others if we want them to invest in us” though. It’s a blogging transaction that exists, whether we want it to or not!
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Such a great post and the first time I’ve come across the OneTab being used for blog hopping. I primarily use my Twitter bookmarks to save posts I want to visit when I have time (which is a lot of my VIP bloggers) and then I use a lot of WordPress Reader. I have used Inoreader previously, which I loved but they have a limit on feeds which isn’t ideal.
My biggest saving grace – as far as finding the TIME to blog hop – is I use the WordPress app to blog hop instead of scrolling through Twitter/YouTube etc. This has made a huge difference.
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Thank you so much, Bec! I appreciate it a lot. It is the first time I’m hearing about Twitter bookmarks and Inoreader myself! I’ll have to look into the former especially, it seems like a cool way to keep track of some must-read articles! 😮
It’s definitely a nice way to blog hop on the move, to use the WordPress app. I think I’ve just gotten so used to reading and typing away on a computer to really make a habit out of doing it via the app hahah Thank you so much for sharing this with me! 😀
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Great post, it was nice to hear your thoughts! I can imagine it’s super overwhelming to try to go through a million blog posts when you’re super busy with work or school, so it’s a good idea not to burn yourself out. However it’s always rewarding to find some really inspiring bloggers that show a lot of uniqueness and personality in their blogs! 🙂
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Thank you so much, Rebecca! And I agree. Blog hopping could almost feel like homework to bloggers but you just have to learn to do it out of a love of discovering what bloggers want to share with us. 😀
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That’s very informative, Lashaan! I’m nowhere near your level of organization, but then I probably visit less blogs than you 😉 Thanks for the info and the tips, I’m pretty sure I’ll use them at some point!
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I appreciate it, Ola! Yep. With the amount of stuff I want to read and share, it can be quite chaotic to find an organized way to also blog hop. At least, for now, my way allows me to do what I want to do without struggling too much. 😀
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I think I said this before, but there simply is a limit to how many blogs one can follow at a time. As much as I would love to read and follow everyone’s posts that follow me, it’s simply impossible. It would also take the fun out of blogging as then the only thing you would be doing is putting an unnecessary burden on yourself (that and you would not have to sleep anymore 😂😂😂)
Like you I also have a number of bloggers from which I read and interact with every post. That’s either because I love their content, or because they really interact with me a lot as well (or both). Then again, there are some bloggers that follow me that have a blog about a topic that I just don’t really care about (hairstyle products for instance…😅😅) and I don’t want to follow just because that blogger is a kind person or leaves great comments. All in all I think the most important thing is to find a method that suits you best and what you are happy with. I for one appreciate everyone that follows me in their own way, and blogging is and will always be a very happy, fun and rewarding experience! 😀😀
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Right? It’s sad that we can’t read at super high speeds to do so much more! At least learning to prioritize allows us to enjoy what we do and not burden ourselves with unnecessary stress like you’ve brilliantly said.
Hahahahaha I can’t imagine having to read through countless posts about things that might not interest me too. The person writing the post must be REALLY important to me to do so though. 😛 I’m just glad you, a magician of blog hopping, able to be everyone at once, have me among the bloggers you follow, my good friend. 😉 Thanks for reading! 😀
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Great advice here, Lashaan. I have a selected number of bloggers that I’ve set email notifications for. Otherwise, I check out the Reader on both the website and the android app. I focus on the bloggers whose content interests me the most and who leave comments on my pages. I like reading comment threads on other blogs, too. This is a great way to discover “new-to-me books” or authors I might appreciate. I also enjoy scrolling through the Reader and seeing what else grabs my attention. But like you, I’m limited to how much time I can spend doing this.
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Thanks, man. That’s definitely a good way to function. I should look into including the “email notification” method to optimize even more my blog hopping habits. One thing’s for sure. Visiting other people’s posts is crucial to discovering more than what we know!
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Such a great post Lashaan! I use the WP reader as I get overwhelmed by email notifications and then that put me off looking. I love the idea of V.I.P.s, I guess I have them just never gave the a name! 😀 I like the sound of that tab extension I wonder if Firefox has one? 🤔
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Thanks, Nicki! 😀 I think Firefox also has OneTab. You’ll have to look it up to see if it works properly and whatnot, but I think it’s a wonderful extension that allows you to do so much. 😀
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Fantastic I’ll definitely look it up 😀
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I have a list of VIP’s too. It’s the list of people I follow 😉
when I had more time (ie, I was only working part time due to the economy from ’08-’15), I could handle up to 60 people. Especially when they weren’t posting every day. Now that I’ve moved full time to wordpress and have a wider group of people to choose from and I’m working 40+ a week, well, 40 people is my new limit. I use the wordpress feed exclusively, since I can follow anyone on it.
But I will admit, it is time consuming. It is worth it though but at the same time I tend to keep on an eye on those I follow. If they start straying into “Day of hte Week” posts every other day, etc, I’m much more likely to drop them and search out someone who has original content. I also require those I follow to be active. If someone hasn’t posted for a month and they didn’t say they were going on a hiatus, that’s it, I’m done with them. I realize that life happens but those who don’t post regularly just tend to eventually fall away anyway, so why should I spent my very limited time on them when I could be finding great new blogs to spend that same time on?
I have found that if someone starts following me I can tell if they’re actually interested in what I am writing or if they are trying to get me to follow/comment on their blog. If I don’t follow them back or comment on their site and they stop commenting/liking my posts, well, they weren’t interested in me as a blogger, but as a number. It is sad.
Dude, you have been on a roll for writing some very interesting blog/follower posts! I am wicked glad to see someone thinking about the same subjects, even if from a slightly different perspective. Great post! 😀
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Hahahah I wish it was my case too but I’ve grown attached to the idea of being bombarded by posts from all kinds of bloggers (through the Reader) so that I know if there’s anything new or old that might interest me out there. It also gives me an idea of what’s trending by looking at what everyone’s posting nowadays. It doesn’t mean I’d be reading their posts though! 😀
I’ve always been impressed by how strict your follower count is. It’s nice to know what’s the exact number of people you can follow without being super behind on everyone’s post, factoring in how frequently each of them posts too! 😮
I’m 100% with you when it comes to evaluating the pertinence of our own list of blogs we follow. Although I don’t literally click on the unfollow button on them, I am less likely to hunt down their posts or whatever they’re doing going forward, especially when there’s an incredible lack of communication between them and the bloggers that follow them.
Ahh… the good ol’ strict follow-for-follow/comment-for-comment rule… It’s sad when that happens. 😦
I appreciate it, man! I don’t do “bookish” posts that often (almost just a monthly feature) but I often want to tackle ideas that are fundamental to the blogging game just so we can all better understand how it works.
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1) I wish I could do that. Simply knowing about stuff is great. Sadly, if I’m following someone, I’m going to read their post and usually comment. I can’t even do my hobbies as casually as I’d like to 😀
2) I learned a lot about myself and numbers during my time at Booklikes and while I was working night security due to the economy sucking. I also suspect that those numbers will change given life circumstances, etc. So while they are consistent, they’re also not set in stone. But I do like the people I follow to be active. If I’m going to do a hobby, everyone else needs to be just as gung-ho! (said in drill sergeant voice). Of course, the downside is that it is more than possible to drive people away with that kind of attitude.
3) I actually use the comment/like for X a lot. For those people who follow me but don’t actually communicate much, if they leave a like or comment, I’ll go check out their site and try to find a post I can stomach liking. Kind of a Pavlovian positive reinforcement. I know it doesn’t work, but I guess in the long run that is their problem, not mine.
4) My wellspring of blog ideas is definitely nearing the end of its shelf life. More incentive to read even more I guess 😀
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I think it’s definitely a good filter to expect those you follow you enjoy the game as much as you do. To be surrounded by people who would put as much time and energy in their blog as you just make it all much more enjoyable for you too, almost justifying everything you do in the end!
I think I conceive it pretty Pavlovian too. I really don’t care if it doesn’t have any long term benefits, but if that person ends up sticking around, I feel like all the “work” put in was worth it hahah
Ahh, I’m sure those ideas come when you least expect it! 😀
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Email thingy not working on app. Since the pandemic I have become weird. Planning to restart blog hop from…. Today? I keep going to the app and see the posts in them.
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Oh no, that’s unfortunate. 😦 I hope it works better for you from now on. Maybe someone at customer service can help you figure out the issue so you can enjoy reading other bloggers’ posts soon!
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Amazing post! I used to think a lot when i started blogging how people keep up with so many posts and how they organize everything. I tried different things. I tried emails but never worked for me. I even turned off email notifications for all bloggers I was following as sometimes I missed or couldn’t find important emails among more than 100 notifications. through social media or keeping save tabs like you but nope nothing worked.
At the end I blog hop that is comfortable for me. After blogging for 3 years I know who are important bloggers for me, whose post I like to read no matter if they follow back, like and comment back or not, and I know regular reader by name and at what time they post. Usually most of my regular readers post by noon so I try to publish my post before noon and read their posts while I am present here on WP through WP reader feed and then I log in again after dinner for an hour in which I scroll through and like comment other bloggers I know and like. Your post shows me in India after 12 a.m. so I read yours next day when I am online again.
Next I check posts through likes and comments.
When I don’t have time or mood, taking a weened brake or some other reason I don’t open WP I only check posts of regular readers and also open their previous posts I missed.
I usually read posts through laptop and only open WP app in phone when I am not at home or super lazy to open laptop.
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Thank you so much for sharing your experience, Yesha! It’s insane how overwhelming it can be to not be able to stay up to date with other bloggers we follow, huh? It sometimes makes me sad to not be able to read articles posted within the hour sometimes but I’ve grown used to playing catch-up instead.
I’m amazed that you’re able to determine the hours at which most bloggers publish for you! I’ve always been curious about that but I’ve just also grown used to publishing at a certain hour too hahah
I really think it’s important that we just blog hop when WE can instead of forcing ourselves to continuously stay up to date with everyone. It’s toooo time-consuming to torture ourselves doing it in the end! 😮
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I agree and yes. you, I and most of bloggers stick to their certain time of post so it’s easy to figure out when the post will be up or at least when I should log in to read posts.
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I actually do a combination of pretty much all of the above xD
I use the Reader, tags and comment sections to hop to interesting blog. Keep a list of mustread favorites. Plow through ny entire reader every week at least once (and clean as I go). And that’s just because I wanna read all of the fun stuff out there. Instead of just getting as much attention as possible. I read and comment on things I find interesting, not the ones that will get me noticed.
I can safely say it’s not just blogging that’s a hobby of mine. So is bloghopping!
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I’m thinking of combining everything once again in the future, probably when I can figure out a way to get more spare time to do so hahah I think reading and commenting on as much as possible is the best way to discover new bloggers and get their attention on us too though, so I think you’re doing something helllla right there. 😉
Thank you so much for reading! 😀
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Interesting seeing how many different styles of blog hopping there are. I used Feedly years before starting my reading blog and I hadn’t thought of using it now with this community so I might give it a chance.
I personally just use the WordPress Reader and scroll through posts but I understand that my blog is rather small and I don’t follow that many people, so it makes sense that I’m able to read the majority of the posts from the blogs I follow. However, on busy days I don’t get to do this and sometimes the unread posts accumulate and I can’t get to them all, but like you said, it’s humanly impossible to read everything.
Your process makes a lot of sense and I’m glad you’ve found something that works for you.
Great post, very interesting!
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Ohhh! I think, if you’re already used to Feedly, there’s a good chance that you’ll know how to make it work for blogging too! 😀
If anything, blog hopping will help you grow as a blogger and steer traffic your way in the long run. You just have to enjoy doing it and trust in the process. However, at the end of the day, it’s still insanely time-consuming!
Thank you so much for reading! 😀
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I laughed when you admitted orginally not knowing what blog hopping was because that was exactly my position when I started reading this post. 🙂 For myself, with my favorite blogs I usually subscribe to their email if they have that so I hear about new posts in email. The group of blogs I’m able to keep up with is small enough that mostly works. But some don’t have email subscriptions so I also use old school browser bookmarks, sorted by priority, which gives me that VIP list. Those on the top of the list I visit, and often comment on, every post. With the rest I try to check in every so often as I have time or realize I haven’t checked them in a while. If I find myself wanting to check a specific blog more often I may eventually subscribe to that one, or push them up the list and check more often. A lot of the features you mentioned in this post I wasn’t aware of. Not sure if I’ll try using them, but it’s good to know they’re out there, so thanks for that.
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I almost went with the old school browser bookmarks before I quickly looked up the existence of the extension/plugins that have helped me even more hahah It’s nice to know how you work things out yourself though. I think it’s important that we learn through experience what blogs we want to add to our VIP list. It’s the best way to grow as a blogger and learn things through others too! Thanks for reading and sharing your own blog hopping routine, Todd! 😀
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I follow way too many blogs, but only get email notifications from ones that I read regularly. Most are book blogs, but some are other areas of interest. I do not automatically follow everyone who follows me unless their blog has topics I would read. I do not have time to read everyone’s post each day, but pick and choose so that I read them at least every few days. I tried using the reader, but not regularly. So as you can see, it is hit and miss for me, but I enjoy reading what others have to say and spend a couple of hours each day doing that. Being retired and living alone, gives me the time to do that.
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That’s definitely a good way to blog hop without overthinking the process, Carla. I think it’s nice to stay open to the idea of visiting bloggers that you’d never thought of looking up just to see what they share or even how they do things. I envy your retirement though! I look forward to the day that I can enjoy life like that. 😀 Thanks for reading, Carla! 😀
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Look forward to it, but don’t rush to it. 😃
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Oh I’ve never heard of the OneTab extension method before! It sounds good. I generally blog hop in multiple ways depending on my mood. First is through Reader and I click on links within the post if they’ve linked to other blogs. I also read comments and if anything intrigued me, I check their blog. Another is through people who comment on my posts, I try to give some love back. Third is through twitter promotional threads which is useful for when I want to find new blogs and read something out of the categories of blogs that I follow.
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I’ve grown so used to OneTab and how I can group together bloggers, add/remove them too. It’s a pretty cool method that fits my “method” too. And I’m 100% with you. Giving love back is usually always so appreciated! I’ve seen those Twitter promos but I never made time to work through them. I’ll have to try it out someday! Thank you for sharing, Sumedha! 😀
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Awesome post, Lashaan. I’ve been thinking about doing something similar on my blog but you beat me to it, lol! I’ve always been an email notification blog follower. For some reason it works for me so I don’t miss posts. I’ve developed a morning routine over the past several years and I get up early every morning and blog hop for about an hour and a half. Of course other posts pop up during the day and I go to as many as I can, but that routine seems to work for me. I do have a handful of bloggers where we comment on each other’s blogs every time, but of course there are other “tiers” – those blogs like yours that I always visit but don’t always comment, and then those bloggers who never or rarely leave comments on my blog and so I just “like” their posts. I do feel that if I don’t get any return interaction in return I usually stop visiting a blog. It’s hard to keep up because there are so many great blogs out there!
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Thanks, Tammy! Hahaha I’m sure your followers would have some interesting input to give on the matter too though! I love the idea of a morning routine, which is something I do, but at night instead hahahah Not a huge morning person! 😉 I completely understand the “tier” system and I believe I have one too. I can’t blame you for not commenting though! I know you and superheroes/comics don’t always go hand-in-hand for example! 😉 And yes to the no “return interaction”. I’ve never understood it. I always thought that the person probably disliked me for no reason… 😮 😮 Thanks for sharing, Tammy! 😀
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Interesting 😀 I tend to blog hop by skimming through the posts on the WP Reader every day or two but I simply don’t have the time to visit all the posts. I realise I will get fewer visits to my own blog but that can’t be helped.
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I totally understand. It’s hard to keep up with everyone and it’s a cost we pay if we want to be “included” in the blogging world too. It’s definitely sad, but, in some twisted way, time is a currency in the blogging world that not many can afford hahah (Wow, I should keep that statement for a future post! :D)
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That sounds kind of deep 🙂 you should use that. I don’t have as much time as I did at the beginning for keeping up with everything, I try to check my Reader every couple of days though for up to 15 mins.
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This is a great post! I mostly use e-mail and pick about 25-30 posts to read daily. There are certain bloggers I read daily and I try to bookmark those when I can. It’s just impossible for me to visit every blog I follow, so I look at the titles and go from there. I try to mix it up a bit when I can, too. It’s definitely not perfect and I wish I had time to read and comment on more blogs.
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I feel you on a spiritual level there. I know that many don’t necessarily pick my comic book reviews as soon as they’re published since there aren’t many who read those in the first place but I tell myself that maybe people will grow an interest for them over time too. I wish we had more time to blog hop/write posts/read books. What a life that could be! 😀
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I love that you do comic reviews because I don’t see too many of them. 🙂
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I appreciate that a lot! 😀
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You’re welcome!
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Thank you again for posting so many. I know I look for my TBR.
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Great advice and tips for blog hopping. It can be tough to keep track of everything sometimes and this will hep a lot. I tend to follow and comment on blogs that Ive known since I started most, but there’s always great new blogs out there to find. I also check out other peoples social media as well, especially Twitter and YoutTube, as I also use those media as well.
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Thanks, Paul! It’s true that we easily make more time for blogs that we’ve been following longer and with those bloggers that we’ve interacted with much more. I have a daily morning routine to check out new videos on YouTube as well. Easiest way to discover new trailers for games and movies there, after all! 😀
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I still find that blogging is the most interactive medium by far, along with Twitter and YouTube to a degree as well. Each have their own merits and seem to work well together to keep track of everything and interact across a wide variety of platforms.
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A great post. (As if you didn’t know ;>)
From the beginning:
– I never got into the Reader search by tags feature. I simply don’t want to restrict myself, so I don’t really search for anything. Neither do I want to surround myself with only like-minded people. But then again, with the diversity of my blog (NROP vs CW vs rest), what would be a “like-minded” person? If I went that route, I never would have run into you.
– Emal – I simply know that I would get too overwhelmed/ would forget about it most times, so I don’t use it.
– Aggregate apps – I’m a minimalist when it comes to apps. Nope.
– If I read someone’s post who links to another person’s posts, I do follow that because I see it only as fair to see the source of the content. Aside from award posts, those don’t happen too often.
– You already know that my favorite is comment-for-comment. I don’t take it literally. If someone leaves one comment, I might go onto their site and read anywhere from 1 post to all that have been posted since I last commented. I think it has the chance of creating a tighter bond (getting to know one another better).
– I am notorious for having a million browser tabs open. I use OneTab for different reasons but I can see how I could use it for blog hopping. I will consider this. Thanks for the suggestion.
I remember when I first started blogging, I DID read AND comment on every post in my Reader. Yes, I followed fewer bloggers, but I believe the biggest thing was that I had more free time than I do today.
Last month, I felt like I neglected WP (posting and interacting) and it made me feel crappy. It wasn’t guilt or anything. It just felt like a loss to me. So, I made a schedule for October and scheduled in an hour for responding to comments and blog hopping M-F (weekends are wild cards; I might not open WP once or I might be on there for a few hours). I know 1h doesn’t seem as much but that is what I can afford right now.
Because of my limited time, I am thinking about my Reader… There are people there who have drifted apart (they don’t visit my blog and I’m not interested in theirs (especially if they post daily all of a sudden))… I’m not one to unfollow people but I am considering a purge. I have to be honest with myself. So, I reach out to them this month to see what happens, in November, I will make a decision.
I feel a little duped when I followed someone because they posted x a couple of times a month and now they post y every day.
Since you don’t have much free time and I don’t either, I decided to share this lengthy comment with you and take up your precious time.
Stay golden!
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Extra lengthy comments like these do make me happy and I could spend hours reading these, considering how much I appreciate the time a person puts into writing them too. 😉
Tell me about it. I’m always happy to discover all kinds of bloggers, even if they think or write about things I’d never think or write myself. I’ve once tried to find people through the search feature but the people I land on are either outside the “blogging” game, and have no interest in interacting or anything. I gave up on that and tell myself that, at the point where I’m at, I’ll just let others find me and decide for themselves if they want to stick around or not! 😀
I too believe that the comment-for-comment method allows us to learn about each other before committing too. Some people would find it inauthentic though, since they’d prefer if people came to visit BECAUSE they’re interested in the post, but, what can I say, it’s how I’ll find out if I want to stick around or not! 😀
I like the idea of a purge. I think it’s necessary. Some people suddenly have a change of heart and forget about the person behind the blog too. It’s definitely important that we make sure that we do those “hey, let’s have coffee” attempts before abandoning for good. 😉
That’s interesting though. I’ve been meaning to increase my number of posts because of how many things I want to share, knowing that not every post will draw the same people too. I’ve never really thought about how my more “loyal” followers would feel about reading more stuff I pump out though. Just so you know, you don’t have to read everything I post if it overwhelms you. Knowing that you’re out there and that you’re still interested in some my posts makes me wholly happy. 😉
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Somehow I do feel guilty for not checking out every single post of someone I follow. But, sometimes, there is not much I can do about that.
Stay golden!
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This is a great post! I use WordPress reader and try to blog hop twice a week. I think everyone has their own VIP list because it’s pretty impossible to check out all the blog posts in the feed but I do love to check out others wrap up posts.
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Thanks, Raven! 😀 That’s definitely true. Sometimes you do wish that everyone could make that VIP list but it’s definitely impossible. I think I’ve got a 2-3 day/week blog hop schedule too. It’s hard to do it daily! 😮
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Huh! How come you have all the good questions? I’ve seen a lot of discussion posts out there, but don’t remember anything about blog hopping, even if that topic is relevant for all of us (and I bet we all do it differently). I admire your relatively systematic approach. Personally, I follow blogs via the WordPress reader and my blog hopping consists of scrolling down the reader and open posts which catch my attention. I know!!! I spent ages coming up with this ultra sophisticated approach 🙄😁 Like you I have a group of VIP bloggers, but even for those, I don’t manage to read all of their posts. It is rare for me to read / comment on more than 1-2 posts per week for a given blogger and many of those I follow post on a daily basis. I don’t exactly do comment for comment, but I do some proxy and generally try to visit people who visit my blog. If I have lots of time (doesn’t happen very often) I may also check out some of the people commenting on my VIP blogs and even try a tag search in the WordPress reader.
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Hahaha I appreciate the kind words! It’s definitely a lot of fun to see how everyone plays the blogging game though. I have to toss these questions out hoping to get some insightful answers, some toooooo sophisticated likes yours!!! 😉 It’s definitely hard to blog hop all the time, even more, to stay up to date with those VIP bloggers too. I’m always struggling to visit everyone’s post before they’ve published 2-3 times already too hahaha I think it’s just important that we take the time to do it but not to overdo it too. Blogging is a hobby after all! 😀
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This is a helpful discussion Lashaan! Thanks for the tips! I have tried many different strategies for blog hopping and I think I describe my current strategy as a mash up! Commenting and engagement is certainly where a great deal of the joy of blogging is found! But……T I M E 🤨 I rely heavily on the WP reader. I set aside a certain amount of time each day for blog hopping. I have a mental list of bloggers who read and engage with my content, so those blogs are my first priority. Then I also notice certain topics (I fall hard for “shop talk”!) and discussion posts. I enjoy commenting on blog posts that have reviewed the same book I have reviewed or am about to review. So…I guess my strategy comes down to my daily time allotment and relationships (who is engaging with me) and enticing topics.
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Right?! Time really makes things so complicated for us. Especially when it’s supposed to be a hobby; some end up doing as much or more than they’d do for a paid job! I agree that often, what grabs our attention and has us blog hopping, in the end, is often time and the bond you’d have with the blogger! Thanks for sharing, Carol. I appreciate it a lot! 😀
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I love the middle click ( the wheel ) on my mouse for opening a link in a new tab and most importantly not navigating to the page until after I get done clicking links. Next step is to add all of them to my Feedly. If I find that I like your blog you will then get a WordPress follow. What do I click on? Everything. 😁
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I should look into Feedly a bit more seriously. I pretty much do the same by opening tabs and then gobbling them up into a OneTab page. Thanks for sharing! 😀
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I love commenting on other blogs. It’s not expected to return the favor, but it’s always nice when you see someone you have been following for a while follow your blog back.
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I agree. I enjoy being able to interact with someone who is interested in what I post and then to become interested in their own posts too afterward. 😀 Thanks for reading! I appreciate it a lot.
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You developed an interesting system, I might try it one day, when I get overwhelmed by the emails… because I’m at the email stage, I occasionally use the WordPress app, but for the important blogs I get emails, to make sure nothing is ommited. Then, whenever I have some time, I go through the unread emails.
I’ve checked, there’s an OneTab version for Firefox, might be useful not only for blogs, thanks 🙂
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I’m thinking of revisiting the email notifications option just to see if I couldn’t be faster to check out new posts from those who I follow religiously! 😉
Glad to introduce OneTab to you. It has been sooooo helpful over the years. Even outside of blogging. I find it better than the traditional bookmarking feature. 😀
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OneTab for Firefox seems to only be able to save all the open tabs…not exactly what I had in mind. But I don’t fully utilize pocket, that my be better than keeping unread emails when I have a backlog of interesting posts. I hate having unread emails 😉
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Oh wow! I learned so much from this post! I had no idea what blog hopping was and how it’s done or if there’s a ‘correct’ way to do it! I mean I’ve heard of the term but never knew what it was lol Thanks for enlightening me! For me, I ‘hop’ using comments like one of the ideas you suggested in your post. It’s easier and less time-consuming that way. Searching via WordPress would take a lot of my time and I find doing via comment most effective for me! And those who had commented are mostly those I know via my blog or theirs. Although our interest in books might be different but I don’t mind because I love finding other new books, authors or genre which I haven’t discovered! Great post, Lashaan! And thanks for always reading and leaving my blog with kind, encouraging comments! I appreciate your friendship!💕
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Thank YOU, Jee, for being awesome, supportive, and so kind all the time too! 😀 I’m glad to share this whole blog hopping thing with you then. I honestly think the comment-for-comment system is quite awesome and allows you to discover people who are interested in you and your posts too in the end. Keep up the awesome and honest reviews as always, Jee! 😀
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Brilliant post, Lashaan! Although I have been blogging for two years I had no idea that some of these ways existed! It’s always interesting to hear about other bloggers’ experiences with blog hopping. I personally only use WordPress reader to blog hop when I have a spare hour or two during the day otherwise I mostly use the comment-for-comment premise and try to check the “VIP bloggers” from my list.
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Thank you so much, Darina! It’s mostly the fact that some people do it so well and seem to be everywhere at the same time that made me wonder if there might be a way for me to do just as well hahah While not perfect, I think it really comes down to how much time you want to put into checking out other posts, honestly hahah 😛
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I recently thought about this too as I felt overwhelmed with the number of unread posts (of others). I rely solely on WordPress reader so I have turned a little bit brutal and stop following those blogs I am not reacting to. I do like other bloggers who compile ‘must read posts’ every week/ month that does save time. 🙂 Now your post has given me more ideas!
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Ohhh, I’ve always wondered if those wrap-up posts of your own posts even get people to read them! It is indeed quite overwhelming but, at the end of the day, it’s definitely important to remember why we do all this blogging-related stuff and to always do it out of the pleasure of doing it rather than duty! 😀 Thanks for sharing, Anjana! 😀
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A good question you posed there about blog hopping because I always wonder how other folks do it. I tried creating Excel lists (wasn’t helpful) so I rely on WordPress Reader now. Initially I tried to read everything everyone I follow posts, but that quickly drove me bonkers because it was hard to keep up. It felt so overwhelming. So now I’m just real with myself that I won’t be able to read everything all the time.
I still rely on WordPress Reader. My process now is to just scroll all the way down and try to pick up after the last post I read. I don’t read everything. Like you, I have my favored bloggers. I keep up with their posts and most likely read everything they post; so if I stop blogging for a couple weeks and want to read something or feel the need to catch up, I head straight to these bloggers. For everyone else, I read the post if it’s something that interests me. Actually, that last bit is how I go about this whole thing: I read what interests me. It just happens that my favored bloggers almost always drop stuff that interests me 🙂
Sometimes I check out the recommended posts/blogs the Reader suggests but not always. Blog hopping does take time, which is tricky while working a full-time job and trying to get this adulting thing right.
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Right? We have to be real with ourselves and not expect ourselves to do the impossible. Someone would have to pay me cash if they want me to blog hop intensely on top of posting regularly! I do completely understand your own blog hopping process though. I’ve always been curious about the recommended posts in the Reader but I’ve never dared go that far. It usually turns out that those bloggers focus on a niche of books that I wouldn’t read and, deep down, something always tells me that they’re also not likely to be into what I read hahaha Thanks for sharing, Zezee. 😉
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How I blog hop? I’ve started participating in blog hops that are hosted by other bloggers which include link parties, and I also now have my own monthly link party called #ThrowbackThursday. By the way, I am VERY sorry I ever signed up with Bloglovin’. They steal your blog posts, strip them of any affiliate links or links to other blogs or sites, and then post the whole thing on their site so you get no traffic to your site. You can’t delete your account there, and you can’t stop the automatic posting from your site to theirs, so ever time I post, I go there and delete the new post. GRRRR!
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I do find those link parties really interesting and should really take the time to understand how it works someday soon.
Oh snap, that sounds terrifyingly horrible! I definitely won’t revisit Bloglovin’ then. When I tried it a couple of years ago, I couldn’t figure out how to connect my blog to their website. Sounds like it’s a good thing that it didn’t work in the end! 😀
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In this case, being technically inept is working in your favor. I wish I could disconnect my blog.
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Excellent post, Lashaan💜 I still haven’t quite figured this out but am currently using a hybrid of WordPress Reader and email delivery. It’s still a bit overwhelming but not as bad as it used to be. Recently I made the decision that I didn’t have to follow everyone that followed me. It’s still subjective as tow whether or not I do and it continues to be a work in progress.
Thanks for sharing some interesting approaches. They are helpful.
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Thank you so much, Jonetta! I appreciate it. 😀 I think the most important thing is to not overdo it, to always blog hop out of a pleasure to discover new posts, new people. Otherwise, we’re bound to lose interest in what we do for a hobby in the first place! 😀
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That Google Chrome extension sounds brilliant! I blog hop… Gosh when I can? I start by replying to my comments, and click on their link so I can also leave one. I have a list of favs too, and the rest is chance via WordPress!
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That’s definitely a decent way to approach blog hopping, especially when our time is limited in general. We can’t be everywhere, all the time, right? 😀
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Very interesting post! It’s always useful to… look under the hood, so to speak, of our blogging habits, and maybe learn something new, as was the case here. Email is the method that works best for me, and even though it does create a certain volume of “traffic”, I find it useful to keep track of new posts from the bloggers I follow and/or to be alerted when someone comments on my posts or replies to my own comments. What I tend to do is to reply moving upwards on the list of received emails so that I can look at new comments or posts following the time sequence they arrived in – it sounds only fair… 🙂
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Thanks, Maddalena! That’s definitely a fair way to approach it, always exploring everything in chronological order (based on their publication) too. What I also like about being “late to the party” is to be able to read the comments of other bloggers who leave their thoughts much, much faster. You can learn a lot through that comment section of an excellent review. 😉
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Great post, Lashaan! I had no idea there were so many different ways to blog hop 😂 your tabs arrangement sounds so organized ahaha, I wish I could do that too 😂 Since I don’t follow a lot of blogs I still use the reader on a regular basis as emails just feel too overwhelming, but recently I’ve been so busy that I’ve had to stick to a comment-for-comment rule + extra “special” blogs… Hopefully when I settle a bit more I’ll come back to a more structured routing of blog hopping (and blogging)! 😊
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Thanks, Juliette! Yep. It’s always about time when you think about it. Everyone will be forced to do like you and prioritize certain people, or resort to a comment-for-comment system because they can’t put MORE time to just read other people’s posts for the sake of reading them. Especially when time put into reading a blogging article is time that could’ve been put into, I don’t know, reading a scientific article, well-researched, on a topic that matters and whatnot… We just have to blog hop out of a love of discovering bloggers and new posts. 😀
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Hi, introducing the world’s worst blog hopper. *hides* I use to be on the ball with my blog hopping, which usually operated on a comment to comment base, but these days I just don’t have the time (or sometimes energy) to sift through all the posts I want to read and engage with. Typically, I go buy the reader feed but have some that are set to email notification and I’ve even taken to writing down the names of self-hosted/non-wordpress blogs I regularly visit/enjoy. Admittedly, I try to dedicate a day to catch up on comments, but I’m also likely to get distracted by Netflix on those days. Basically, my philosophy is to drop in when I can and apologise profoundly for my lack of activity haha.
P.S. I still have no idea how to effectively use Bloglovin’. 😛
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Hahahaaha I know much, much worse, Lois! Don’t fret! 😛 I do agree that it’s not only time-consuming, but also energy-draining to blog hop. It’s why I can’t do it every day and dedicate 2-3 days a week where I play catch-up.
Did you know you can add non-WordPress blogs to your Reader manually? You go in the Reader, press on “manage” and type the link of that blog to then follow them. 😮 I haven’t done it since everyone I follow is on WordPress, but I think it works! 😮
Hahahaha don’t apologize! It’s always a pleasure to hear your thoughts whenever you get the chance to drop by my posts. 😉
Same here. No clue to make Bloglovin’ work for me too. I couldn’t even link my blog to it too hahaha
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Super helpful- I find myself hopping depending on my flavour of the day.
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I like that. Follow your flow! 😉 Thanks for reading! 😀
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And that is why I don’t “blog-hop”, I “blog-race” 🙂
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Tell me about it. 😂
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Interesting article. I’d never heard of blog hopping and I’ve been blogging for well over 11 years 😝 Learn something new every day.
I tend to lean towards following people who have common interests, but I also follow random bloggers because its good to get different perspectives.
I don’t have a set rule beyond reading in bed in the morning while drinking my tea. I then like or comment accordingly, or respond to comments left on my posts.
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Hahahaha I’m glad to introduce you to the concept today! 😀 It’s not exactly something that is consciously practiced by many but definitely something that exists, especially in certain niches, like the book blogging community! 😉 That’s definitely an excellent way to function, especially when you’re not looking to overburden yourself with too many blogs that you NEED to visit everyday too! 😀 Thank you for dropping by and sharing this with me!
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I think I sort of blog hop without realizing that I was. I have a few favourite blogs I ready regularly mostly because their posts interest me and its usually about travel. But I like to follow links and sometimes I follow other bloggers from the comments. I certainly can’t commit to any particular routine and just enjoy scrolling till I find something of interest…which us how I found your post….thanks for reply
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I used to be really good at blog hopping when I was on Blogger because it was easy to find other bloggers in my niche. Sometimes I would hit the random button and go to random blogs and read and comment on those. These days, I’m really obsessed with relying on the WordPress reader to find and comment on blogs but I also am a part of some FB blog groups and Twitter as well. I also use bloggers post round up to find new blogs to read. However, I wish there was an easier way to find blogs on other platforms as well.
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What Blogger offers to blog hop sounds really simple and nice! I do think that there are niches developed in the WordPress community too and that people need to learn to infiltrate them with time and patience but it could definitely be better. I like the idea of having FB/Twitter groups to help this blog hopping activity though! Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with me! 😀
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You’re welcome! 😀
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Hi Lashaan! A very entertaining overview e we it’s lots of good stuff and confessions. Cheers and the very best wishes to you and all of your festivities. 🎼☕️☕️💕🍃
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Thank you so much! I hope you have a fantastic weekend and stay safe in these trying times! How do you like being called, by the way, considering that I can’t tell what your name is hahah! 😀
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Simply AOC or AmericaOnCoffee is our , a divide may create favoritism or a who said what. ☕️☕️🎼
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super helpful! thank you
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It is my pleasure! 😀
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I never know.
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That’s all right! As long as you do and interact with those who want to talk to you! 😀
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We have lists and they help lots. So nice to hear from you Lashaan durin this fast-moving month… Wow! Sumner will be here before we know it! Cheers to your good week! 🍂🍁🍮🍮🍂🍁
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I love a bit of blog hopping especially when I find sooo many pictures of Johnny depp ❤️
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Hahah! It was a fun post to put together too. Thanks for reading, Annabel! 😀
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