Since I started blogging, I have joined severals blog hop and last year I followed two of them, the friday postcard frienship and the six words saturday. And it’s only when I told about hosting my own that I figured out with your questions, that most of you guys, simply didn’t knew much about the definition and the purposes of a Blog Hop. Keep calm dear readers, when I first started blogging, I too had the same questions and thanks to my fabulous webdesigner of that time, I really quickly understood the concept. So, now, it’s my turn to give you the exact concept, and share about the purpose and the way most of blog actually works.

# 1 # What is exactly a blog hop ?

A Blog Hop is a linky list that is shared between a group of blogs around a particular theme. The link list allows other bloggers to join in and “link-up”. Depending on the theme, the link-up can be of a specific blog post, a blog’s page or social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter … Blog Hops are usually arranged by a host and several co-hosts and are held on a weekly basis. The theme can vary significantly and is decided on by the hosts.

# 2 # What is the purpose of a blog hop ?

The purpose of not only hosting but also joining a Blog Hop is to connect with like minds, create relationships with other bloggers, to meet and interact. Ultimately it’s a opportunity to get more exposure and grow your blog through these new relationships.

# 3 # How does it works exactly ?

Basically, you join a blog hop by entering your information into the Link-up list like the one below. This list will be found on the host (or co-hosts posts) of the Hop.  And there are standard rules to follow:

– If you’re hosting

Define the ‘Follow’ place here each of the participants will link. For instance, I once I join a blog hop that had a different follow per week, once it’s was on blogs, then on facebook and then on twitter, never all at the same time./

Place a Blog Hop button that includes details on the hop and a link directing others to the Hop page. Sharing and putting the button on your page makes others aware of the hop allowing them to join in.

– Host, co-host and joiners

Visit other blogs and return their follows. Depending of numbers entries, it’s not expected of each participant to follow each and every person who links up, however, it is common practice, other than the hosts, to visit a few other blogs, leave comments that you are following them from the specified Blog Hop. It is also common practice to return the follow of everyone who follows you.

What I’ve learned about blog hop, it that, it’s allow bloggers to connect in a more personal level around a particular theme. In my opinion it’s the best way, as long as you choose the right hop, to really build new relationship while driving traffic to your blog. Now you know as much as I do about blog hop versus social hop.

Any more questions or suggestions of theme ? Let me know on the comments down bellow