Blogging 101 – Linking Up

Today’s Blogging 101 question is:

Right now I’m trying to figure out how to link up a submission for a blog challenge.  How do I do this?

With linking up for challenges or events on other sites the first thing to understand is what a Direct Link is. 

Let’s look at my blog post for today for an example. My blog address is http://craftychicsblog.blogspot.com/, and if you go there today the post that I scheduled to go live today is at the top. 

 But what if you want to see THAT post tomorrow? 

Well, every post has a Direct Link. You can find the direct link by clicking on the title of the post. If you click on the title for the top post for today you can see that the URL address will change from

http://craftychicsblog.blogspot.com/

to

https://shawnmosch.com/2011/08/blogging-101-linking-up.html

THIS second link is the Direct Link for this post. It is also called the Permalink. 

Why are direct links helpful? If you want to show someone a specific project you created you can send them to the direct link that has that project information in it. Then they don’t have to search through your entire blog to find what they wanted. Also, if you are entering a project into any Blog Challenges or Link Up Parties, the direct link takes them right to the post for the project you want to submit.

One way to think about this that the address to your blog is like your Home address. If you want people to find you in general, you send them to your home address. The direct link to a post is like telling someone a specific room or spot in your house . . . like when you call your spouse and say “I left the list on the kitchen counter next to the toaster” . . . you just gave them a direct link to where to find the info so they don’t have to search the entire house for what they are looking for.

So now you know what a Direct Link is. If you want to enter a project for a Blog Challenges or Link Up Parties you should first create your project and post it on your blog. Once you post it you can get the direct link to that project’s post. Then go to the site where you are entering it for a Blog Challenges or Link Up Party and at the bottom of the post about the challenge you should see a button that says “Add You Link”. 

Click on that. 

You should now see something that asks for your URL, Name and email address. 

For the URL, enter the direct link to the post about the project that you want to enter into the contest.  Do not use the general “to your blog” link.  

Be sure that you have followed all of the “rules” for the contest or challenge . . . sometimes they ask you to provide a link back to their site within your post, and if you don’t do this your project might be removed from the list. Then enter your name and email address. This is so they can contact you if you win. It does not post for the general public to see.

If you have done everything right, depending on the type of link up code they used, you will either see a preview image of your project or you will see your name appear on the list of names entered in to the challenge.

Let me know if anything is still not clear about how to do this and I can do a follow up blog post about the topic.