Link Party Basics: The Perks + Plugin to use!

Have you experienced or seen the Michael’s Christmas Dream Team Challenge? This is where 50+ bloggers decorate their own Christmas tree using some items they’ve purchased from Michael’s and host a link party on their respective blogs. What I love about this, besides the creativity and being able to see a quick photo snippet of all the bloggers involved, is the outbound link SEO that is going on!

What are outbound links?
Outbound links are links that point to some other domain from your site. When you link out to related domains, it not only helps the search engine to understand your niche, but also helps to increase the trust and quality of your site which plays a vital role in your blog’s SEO.

Outbound links:
• Get targeted visitors.
• Give search engines a clear idea about your blog because of relevant links.
• Offer the best way to be in touch with bloggers having the same niche.
• Help you create a community with fellow bloggers, provide an opportunity to be exposed to other’s audiences + bring traffic to your site

Okay – enough of this boring stuff! Have you ever wanted to do a group campaign, or in this case a link party with like-minded people?

What is a link party?
A link party is hosted by one or more blogs where you can link up your post, which is then shared with the readers of that blog. If there are multiple blogs, your link is shared with the readers of the other blogs too – as was the case in the Michael’s Christmas Dream Challenge example here!

Maybe you’d like to do a home or holiday tour? Recipe sharing for Super Bowl? DIY Easter crafts? You get the picture. Simply create a theme that works for your site.

Psst: If you have a WordPress website, install the EZ Inlinkz plugin!

The EZ Inlinkz linkup plugin. There’s a free one, but it doesn’t include pictures. For $20 a year, you get the one that includes pictures as seen above (YES, this was the plugin Michael’s Christmas Dream Challenge used).

I hope that learning about link party basics has inspired you to throw your own link party – this REALLY is inexpensive marketing and a fun way to create community and expand your audience! Happy Linking!!!

*Main Image: JustDestiny’s Christmas tree for the Michael’s 2015 Christmas Dream Challenge! If you want to see more of Destiny’s gorgeous tree and the EZ Linkz plugin in action on her blog, go here.