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What’s the anatomy behind a blog hop? If you’re a blogger and want to grow your blog, you might be surprised to learn how effective blog hops can be at growing your blog.
If you’re new to the concept, a blog hop is a way for bloggers to connect and share their content with each other and a larger audience.
By participating in a blog hop, bloggers have the opportunity to discover new blogs, engage with their community, and get more exposure for their work. Keep reading while we uncover:
- How blog hops work
- Who blog hops are for
- How blog hops can benefit bloggers
- And, more!
Let’s go!
What are blog hops?
A blog hop is a way for bloggers to connect with each other and share their content with a larger audience. It typically involves a group of bloggers who agree to publish new blog posts on a particular topic on the same day and then link to each other’s posts in their own posts.
This creates a “hop” effect as readers can “hop” from one blog to the next, reading the linked posts and potentially discovering new blogs that they hadn’t come across before.
Blog hops are a way for bloggers to get more exposure for their work, engage with other bloggers in their community, and potentially drive more traffic to their own blogs.
How do blog hops work on Instagram?
I have run and participated in dozens of blog hops on Instagram. They helped me grow my IG account for around 4K followers to nearly 100K followers in about a year.
You have to take them seriously and as fun as they are, it’s a lot of work to participate in and even more work to plan.
In all, I consider than to be totally worth it and there are ways to make money from them if you’re the host/planner. More on this below.
Here are the steps for blog hops on Instagram:
1. A group of bloggers (say 20, for example) will sign up for the blog hop on a date/time
2. At the designated date/time, each blogger will post the same Instagram post, linking to the next blogger in the hop
3. This goes around as a loop and all bloggers are linked
The blog hop gives away a prize and people that enter the blog hop giveaway have a chance to win the prize if they follow the entry rules, which are usually:
- Following everyone in the blog hop
- Liking and/or sharing the blog post on social media
After a period of time, the blog hop will close to new entrants and then a winner is chosen and notified.
There have been some amazing, fabulous prizes in these blog hops I’ve seen and participated in like $1,000 gift cards to Best Buy, Sephora, Apple, etc. along with iPads, big screen TV’s, cash money, etc.
Who are blog hops for?
Blog hops are typically for bloggers, although they can also be of interest to readers who are looking to discover new blogs and content.
Blog hops are a way for bloggers to connect with each other, share their work, and potentially drive more traffic to their blogs.
By participating in a blog hop, bloggers can get more exposure for their work, engage with their community, and potentially make new connections and collaborations.
Blog hops can be organized around a specific theme or topic, and they are often open to any blogger who is interested in participating. Some blog hops may have specific requirements for participation, such as a minimum number of followers or a requirement to link to a certain number of other blogs. However, many blog hops are open to any blogger who wants to join in and share their work.
In addition to being a way for bloggers to connect and share their content, blog hops can also be a great resource for readers who are looking to discover new blogs and content on a particular topic.
By following the links from one blog to the next in a blog hop, readers can potentially discover a whole new world of blogs and content that they might not have come across otherwise.
How can blog hops help bloggers?
Blog hops can help bloggers in a number of ways. One of the main benefits of participating in a blog hop is the opportunity to get more exposure for their work.
When a blogger participates in a blog hop and links to other bloggers’ posts, they are helping to drive traffic to those blogs.
In turn, those bloggers may also link back to the original blogger’s post, which can help to bring more traffic to their own blog. This can be especially helpful for newer bloggers who may not have as large of a following or as much visibility on the internet.
Another way that blog hops can help bloggers is by providing an opportunity to engage with their community and make new connections.
By participating in a blog hop, bloggers have the chance to interact with other bloggers in their niche or industry and share ideas, insights, and experiences. This can be a great way to build relationships with other bloggers and potentially collaborate on future projects or partnerships.
Finally, blog hops can help to keep bloggers motivated and inspired. Participating in a blog hop often requires bloggers to create new content on a specific topic, which can be a great way to stay creative and inspired.
It can also be a fun and rewarding experience to see how other bloggers approach the same topic and to learn from their perspectives and insights.
Where can you find blog hops?
Facebook groups, Instagram, and other social networks would be a great place to start. I’d loo at social communities too, like Reddit and other communities and forums to find blog hops.
You can try searching Google as well. There may be signup opportunities you can find just by doing a simple search.
How to make money from blog hops?
Hosts can make money from blog hops. For participants, they usually pay an entry fee to join in on the blog hop and that money goes toward the prize. For example, a blog hop with 20 people who each pitch in $50 can toward a $1,000 prize.
But, what if each participant pitches in $1 or $2 extra? That money could go toward to the host for taking their time and energy to plan the event.
So, 20 people who each contributed an extra $2 means that $40 could go to compensate the host.
It may not seem like a lot of money but, it can add up over time, especially if you’re hosting many blog hops. I’ve seen hosts plan up to a dozen or more per month! So, $40 each time would be around $500 for the month to plan these blog hop events.
It’s not the kind of money you might make as a video content creator, for example, but it’s something. When I used to host these events, I didn’t collect any extra money from participants despite the hard work and time involved in planning.
Are blog hops worth it or are they a scam?
Blog hops are worth it, in my opinion. As I shared above, they’re great for growing your audience and collaborate and connect with other bloggers. They helped me grow more than 10X in a year when I used to participate in them.
But, you do have to watch out for scams. It wouldn’t be impossible for a host to collect $1,000 from a group of bloggers, take the money and run. I’ve heard horror stories of blog hop scams happening so, it’s important to do your due diligence, do your research and work with reputable blog hop hosts that have a history and reputation around running these events.