What role the blogroll?

What is the role of the blogroll? In the early days of blogs, they helped establish the community, kind of an “oh wow, there are other people out there publishing just like me.”  Everyone could share in the accomplishment as the group grew… and grew … and grew.

As a result, putting together a blogroll is something of a rite of passage for the new blogger – you know, or think, you need one, and you want it to be JUST right. Who should be on MY blogroll, what will my choices say about me…

I know this from my own recent, personal experience when I started my blog last November. I made the decision to consciously manage my blogroll, rather than just publish my Bloglines subscriptions. In other words, I read many more blogs than are on my blogroll.  The ones on my public blogroll are there for a reason, which I will get to in a moment.

So what is the role of the blogroll, NOW?  For some, being on MANY MANY blogrolls is a measure of popularity; measurements like the Technorati 100 tell us who are the most “linked to.” Now, that is one measure of worth, but in the days of the Long Tail, it is not necessarily the most important one.

Part of the long tail thesis (and apologies if I paraphrase incorrectly) is that the Internet has energized micro-markets, or niches, making it possible to target to specific interests in ways that the mass markets just could not. So, we need to think not in terms of mass popularity, a la the Technorati 100, but rather in terms of OUR AUDIENCE.

So, your blogroll should be for your audience. If you have an audience of one (or two if you count your Mum), then it can be whatever YOU want. Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead.

But if you are writing your blog for a broader audience, you need to think about how they will use (or not) your blogroll.

I say OR NOT, because all this is complicated by the fact that RSS aggregators don’t show the blogroll. They just feed the actual content of your posts, unless you go to the complicated step of creating multiple feeds from your blog, with one of them being the blogroll. And who has time for that… I’m not sure I even know how to do this, although I am sure it can be done.

Now, it may be that only a small population is using RSS at this point, but it will grow. Put the blogroll in its proper place. It is FAR less important than the content of your blog.

So here is my advice:

1. Focus on the content of your blog. Make it compelling, worth linking to and generally interesting to the people in your audience – the ones you want to read your blog. Don’t worry about the masses.
2. Link to others. A lot. It will make a difference.
3. Your blogroll should fit the nature of your blog. If it is a personal blog, put whatever you please on your blogroll. Don’t have one at all if you don’t want. It is YOUR blog. The window into your soul. Or not. Your choice, and you know what they can do if they can’t take a joke.
4. If you have a business-oriented blog, you need to think about your blog as a resource for your customers. Your blog, and your blogroll, should help them as well as be a place for your personal expression.

My blog fits this last description, so I will share my “policies” should they be helpful to you.

First, for the most part, I stick to marketing and business topics. I rarely blog about my personal life. The one exception, as my readers know, has been to share with you the achievements of a Scottish Terrier that I co-bred and co-own.

Second, my blogroll is focused on my intended audience, not on me. The bulk of the resources listed are marketing and Internet business websites and blogs that would be helpful to my marketing colleagues and current/prospective clients.

Third, because people do want to know a bit about the person behind a blog, I have included a few hints as to my views in the blogroll (hint: check the politics and N.E.C. category). And my life isn’t hidden – if you only look a little hard, you can find a link from my business website (www.getgood.com) to all kinds of family stuff. I just don’t blog it, not my style.

Item four: I read a blog for at least a week before I add it to the blogroll. I have to say “YES” about something the writer has said more than once to add it to my blogroll. Likewise, if I have a blog listed and find that I am just not reading it much any more, I will take it off.

That is item five. Your blogroll should be actively managed. Don’t just put it up once and forget about it. If you are going to have a public blogroll, you need to make sure it reflects the views and opinions that you intended. If you don’t want to manage your blogroll, or make your news aggregator list public, then it is almost better that you don’t have one.

Finally: much of this is related to a business blog, versus a personal blog. I do believe that the rules are different if you are promoting a business, or presenting yourself as an expert in a field, versus emoting a personal view. When it is your business, and your livelihood is at stake, the stakes are higher, manage accordingly.

Peace out.