In my blogging life, there is something fellow bloggers often tell me. They use different sentences, but usually, it goes like this. “You are everywhere, Marie.”
I will let you on a little secret, today. I don’t know if I am everywhere: physically, it is impossible to be everywhere ; virtually, I try but I can’t do it, either. One thing I am doing, though, is my best to share the love within the book blogging community, and one of the biggest tricks to do this is, for me, blog hopping.
What is blog hopping, exactly?
I don’t know the right definition of blog hopping and I bet everyone has their own interpretation anyway, so instead of checking a blogging dictionnary, I will just tell you what blog hopping means, for me.
Blog-hopping is all about going on blogs, on other blogs, on other blogs, on other blogs, endlessly. It’s all about spending time to visit other bloggers, but it’s not just that: it’s discovering new blogs, commenting on blog posts from them you enjoyed reading, starting a conversation with someone new or someone you already knew before and just, overall, sharing the love.
I spend about an hour a day reading other bloggers’ posts, on average. This obviously depends on the time I have, the bloggers’ frenzy to post new things and my mood / what’s happening in my life at the moment.
Point is: I do make a point of blog hopping very often. Some people do more, others do less. I’m not here to shame people who aren’t into blog hopping, just here to share my point of view on this and why I think it’s both great and important.
Why I blog hop and think that it is overall AMAZING
There are so many reasons why I blog hop and why I think it is pretty amazing. Let me make a list.
You can meet new bloggers!
Potential new friends! People you’ll end up chatting with really late about books and everything! If I’m being honest, if I hadn’t started blog hopping, I probably wouldn’t have had regular conversations with people, turning into genuine bookish and just plain friendship.
You can be inspired!
By discovering new blogs and reading new blog posts, you can be inspired, to read new books, do new things on your own blog and so on. I do not mean that you can copy everything another blogger you admire does – that is NOT good. Just. INSPIRE Yourself.
You can celebrate and recognize someone’s hard work!
Let’s face it: blogging IS work. Even if we love it, even if it’s a hobby, it takes a lot of time to think of blog posts, to type them up and everything else. In that light, I’m not going to lie: getting followers, getting likes on a post, shares on twitter and everything matters. It makes me feel like what I’m saying makes sense and that people are appreciating it. That feeling is 10 000 000 times bigger when I get comments on a blog post. Small or big, they all matter and make me feel like people are looking for a discussion and WANT to interact on what I said. So yeah, that’s why I blog-hop, too. To boost people’s work on blog posts and show my appreciation at their awesomeness, basically.
You can grow your blog!
I wouldn’t be where I am without blog hopping, I will admit it. I started blog-hopping early on as I started blogging and it helped me grow traffic on my own blog. It helped me get comments back. It helped me grow my blog overall.
You can spread the love!
Best reason of all: blog-hopping is just spreading the love over the bookish community. I think that’s pretty amazing and the best reason to do it.
How to organize your blog hopping sessions (without losing your mind)
Blog-hopping doesn’t happen on its own: you have to do it. You are the one needing to find new blogs, to visit them, to read blog posts, to comment on them, to share a post on twitter, and so on. It’s a blogging activity that takes a whole lot of time and energy.
How can you blog hop? WHERE THE HELL DO YOU START with all of these blogs? Let me make a list again. I am very fond of lists, can you tell?
Check out the WordPress Reader (if you are on WordPress)
As I am on WordPress, I have this little something called Reader, where all of my blogs meet and where I get all of the latest blog posts from them. It’s a great place to start, see what’s new, click on the blog post and so on. (Important reminder: if you click to be redirected TO the blog, you will give the blog a visit. If you read on the Reader, you won’t pay the blog an actual visit and won’t even see the right formatting of the blog post. Thanks for the tip, MAY-THE-AMAZING)
Check out your Bloglovin’ list
I have bloglovin’ but rarely use it. That being said, it seems to be a great way to check out all the bloggers you’re following here – might have forgotten you followed here.
Go through your blogs’ bookmarks
Here’s something I do more than often. Whenever I find a blog I like and can’t follow it on WordPress or Bloglovin’, I bookmark it. I have a list of about…. I don’t know, maybe 30 blogs in my browser’s bookmarks ; which makes blog-hopping quite easy and fun.
Get lost on twitter (and probably never come back)
I sort of have a love/hate relationship with twitter. On the one hand, it’s pretty amazing. The community here is fierce, just speaks out, there are so many great books being spotlighted and so on. On the other hand… it is pretty overwhelming and panic-attack-inducing, I’m not going to lie. THAT BEING SAID, it’s also an incredible way to blog hop. Go from twitter to twitter and find blog links there, find new friends and so on. Forget yourself in the way, too. Happens too often.
Use the weekly memes
I am not participating in weekly memes anymore, but they are amazing sources to start your blog-hopping sessions. Top Ten Tuesday, Waiting on Wednesday…. lists of book blogs just WAITING for you to stop by and shower you with love.
Blog-hop within the blog-hopping moments
INCEPTION MOMENT, guys. My title here means nothing, so let me make it a bit clearer. Whenever I am reading a fabulous blog post with thousand comments on it already, or even if there are just five or one comment… I sometimes blog-hop from there, the comments section of other bloggers.
When it comes to blog-hopping, here is what I do.
- Every day, I dedicate a bit of time to go through my WordPress Reader. I don’t and can’t comment on everything. I do my best depending on my mood, the blog posts I find and so on.
- Almost once a week – or once every two weeks, depending as well -, I go through my bookmarks and check out some of the blogs there.
- The rest of my advice before? I do it when I think about it – whenever I want.
Important things to remember about blog hopping
I’m not going to lie: blog-hopping is exhausting, at times. There are so many blogs to follow, so many love we could spread and so on. I follow almost 200 blogs in my wordpress reader. I have about 30 book blogs in my bookmarks and I realize that’s A WHOLE DAMN LOT. At times, blog-hopping can feel like a chore, but IT SHOULD NOT BE. It should be something you do willingly and with love, otherwise… well, it sucks if you’re just forcing yourself to do it.
- It’s all about finding the right rhythm for you.
- How many blogs it’s okay for you to follow.
- How many times a week, a month, a year you can and want to blog hop. Emphasis on WANT.
Also, remember that blog hopping is not a necessity. I said it before, there are incredible advantages to blog hopping and I forever will be spreading the love and importance of blog hopping. FOR ME. It may not be the right thing for you, or maybe you haven’t found the right formula for it just yet. Don’t give up anyway and just have fun while blogging.
Do you blog hop? Why, or why not?
What is your blog-hopping rhythm? How many blogs do you follow? Do you manage to keep up, or does it feel like a chore, at times?
Do you have tips for blog hopping? Let me know!
I loved this post! This year I’m really dedicated to showing my appreciation for fellow bloggers. I used to read and leave a like, but I’m having so much fun meeting new people, just like you wrote about! I think that it truly brings out the best about blogging — the community! I’m really happy I randomly found your blog 😊
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Oh thank you so much, so happy you enjoyed this post! ❤ It is so much fun, being able to chat with fellow bloggers in comments and build relationships and fangirl like that, it's one of the greatest things ever, I think 😀
Aww thank you for your sweet comment!! ❤ ❤
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Those are all the reasons why I always try and make time to blog hop every day. Some days that means flying through a lot of blogs, but some days it’s just making so I only read one. It can get overwhelming so it is true that it’s really important to go at your own pace. Brilliant tips!
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I agree, sometimes it REALLY gets overwhelming, it’s important to know what we can do and try not to stress out too much about it. It’s about giving out some love after all 🙂
Thank you so, so much for your comment! ❤
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I normally blog hop about 1-2 times a week, and use bloglovin’ (I never got into the WordPress reader, and this has all types of blogs, wordpress or not, plus keeps the formatting). I’m really bad at discovering new people though! I have to have a lot of energy to find them, haha. Anyway, I really like this advice.
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I go into the WordPress reader, but always click on the blog to actually go on it to read the blog post + comment. That way, I don’t miss anything of the formatting and give the blog an actual visit. Makes me open 100 tabs at once, but… whatever hahaha. 🙂
It’s so hard to find new people – it takes a whole lot of time and energy, I agree… every once in a while, it’s fun though 🙂
Thank you so much, Shar! ❤
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Allo, Marie!
First of all, thank you so much for dropping my blog whenever you can! I do see the wonders of blog hopping and I wish I had the time in the day to actually blog hop! You’ve made really wonderful points about blog hopping, actually and the part where we share the love of books and support each other is SO true!
This is such a great post, friend! ❤
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Hi Kevin! Oh it’s my pleasure, I always love dropping by and reading your reviews, they’re always amazing to read ❤
I get it, I wish we had more time in the day to do everything, as well! 🙂
Thank you so, so much! 🙂
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‘Marie, you’re everywhere’ is a very good description for what’s going on. I think everyone in the blogging community thinks you’re some kind of The Flash (but for commenting). But this post is so helpful because it really helps bloggers meet other bookworms, it helps your blog a lot because people start to know you more and it’s just such a nice way to spread positivity. You’re so good at doing this! I try to comment as much as I can, sometimes it’s very tiring and draining, but it’s also very rewarding and I love supporting other bloggers. I still feel like you should learn me your ways, because guuuurl, you’re everywhere! HAHAHA. I love you! The book blogging community would never be the same without you! ❤
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I am NOT the Flash hahaha, I do try my best ❤ You're right, sometimes it is tiring and draining, yet the positivity and warm answers we get and everything, THAT is so very worth it ❤ ❤
Awwww you are so sweet, I don't know about that haha, thank you!! ❤ ❤
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Hi Marie!
I have been reading your blog for the last hour and may I just say that I ADMIRE YOU SO MUCH? I adore your style and how you blog. And when I read this article, I had to leave a comment because I am not very active in the blog community (if it’s a thing) and I want to but I never knew how (thank you for teaching me how to blog hop). Anyway, I am so glad I found your blog. I can’t wait to spend many more hours getting lost in your brilliant work! (Also it feels good to meet other French book bloggers who speak in English on social media.)
Love always,
Clara x
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Hi Clara,
I have been staring at your comment for the past ten minutes, at a loss for words, because wow. THANK YOU so much for this sweet comment, you just made my day so much brighter ❤ ❤
I feel like being active in the blogging community is tricky and really, comes from and in different ways. I know I am way more active on blogs, while blog hopping and commenting, because it is where I feel the most at ease. Other people will be very active on social media or incredible on bookstagram (like you are. seriously. I am in love with your account). To each their own preferences 🙂 I find so many incredible bloggers every day and I am so grateful for that ❤
Thank you again for your comment, this means the world to me ❤ And it's so great to meet another French blogger as well… I don't feel so weird wanting to speak English on social media and on my blog, ahah 🙂
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Marie, you really are an angel!! Okay so first of all, thank you for talking about my Instagram. I didn’t know you knew about it and your simple mention made me smile like crazy! Second of all, it is hard to be active there, especially when you know nothing about it but I’m definitely going to try and if it means meeting adorable people like you, then it’s even better!! Thank YOU once again and I’m so glad my comment made you smile. I’m also very happy we can talk in English together regardless of our mother tongue haha! All the love!! x
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Oh that makes me so happy! Of course, I love your Instagram so, so much, I had to mention it, you are doing such an amazing job with it ❤
There are so many adorable people in the community, I hope you will meet many of them and that you will have a great time! And if you don't know where to start, always happy to help! 🙂
You're so welcome, I love that too ahah, I wonder why English comes so naturally for us… guess we were born in the wrong country :p
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Great post, and I totally agree. Blog hopping is great for meeting new like minded people and making new blogger friends. I don’t do it every day, but I tend to have a Saturday and Sunday morning spurt at it. The same as you, I use wordpress reader and twitter mainly.
Happy hopping!
Amanda.
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Oh thank you so much for your sweet comment, Amanda 🙂 it is a lot of fun to blog hop, we can read so many great posts and meet amazing people 🙂 x
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I love this so much! I’m a (relatively) new blogger, and I’ve been spending every Sunday blog hopping as much as possible. I love discovering new blogs!
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Oh thank you so much – so happy you enjoyed this post 🙂 I hope you’re having fun blogging! 🙂
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The WordPress Reader is such a lifesaver when it comes to blog hopping! I also use Bloglovin, though that gets overwhelming at times. I definitely want to make an effort to blog hop more! ❤
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Oh yes I agree, it makes things much easier that’s for sure. I never quite got the hang of bloglovin’, but I really need to! 🙂 x
Thank you so much, Holly !:) x
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