Use Carnivals to Drive Blog Traffic

I was recently asked some questions by a few readers about participating in blog carnivals – specifically how to find them and the advantages of using them. I will be the first to admit that I am no expert on the matter and have been participating in them for less than one year. However, when I first started out, I had these same questions and spent a lot of hours searching and researching how to participate in a carnival and where to find them. Hopefully I can pass along my knowledge to some of my readers. I would also like to offer others to comment on any tips and tricks for participating in carnivals that they would like to share.

Where to find Blog Carnivals
When I first started out, I was able to locate and research blog carnivals using the 3 points below.

• Blog Carnival –
  
  
  

  The first place that I looked when starting out was at Blog Carnival which has a directory of many different blogging carnivals – not just personal finance ones. If you are looking for a particular type of carnival to participate in, you can simply filter on a category or search on a keyword.

• Personal Finance Blogs – Look at the carnivals that other personal finance bloggers are participating in. Most carnivals require that you link back to them once your post is included, so you should be able to navigate to the carnival homepage. I first came across a personal finance blog carnival just from subscribing and reading posts over on Moolanomy.
• Google Search – When in doubt, I use Google to search for things I am looking for. I found a couple of carnivals just from doing this search.

Personal Finance Blog Carnivals
The following list are some of the personal finance carnivals that I have participated in the past. Each has it’s own respective homepage with instructions and schedule. If you are interested in participating in any of these, simply click the links and follow the carnival instructions for submitting your post.

• Carnival of Personal Finance
• Money Hacks Carnival
• Carnival of Money Stories
• Festival of Frugality
• Carnival of Financial Resources
• Carnival of Financial Goals
• Carnival of Debt Reduction

Advantages of Using Carnivals
To be honest, I can’t think of any disadvantage of using carnivals except for the amount of time you spend each week linking back to a carnival you have participated in. I am sure there may be others, but that is the only one I can think of. I believe there are several advantages from participating in blog carnivals that I have listed below.

• Drive Traffic – I use carnivals to drive traffic to my blog. Without my past participation, I would not have as many readers as I currently have. Not that this is the only way to drive traffic but one that can be used in conjunction with other methods.
• Best Articles – You only want to submit your best articles for the week. I try and only submit articles that I think are worthwhile for a carnival. Once submitted, it is up to the carnival host to determine if your article is worthy of being included. Participating in these carnivals allows your best articles to grow and be exposed to potential readers of your blog.
• Build Links –
  

  Carnivals are an easy way to build links to your site. I have seen my Technorati rating increase over time by building these links.

• Exposure – Most carnivals contain editor’s picks where the host picks out a couple of their favorite articles. Typically these articles get a lot more attention and are at the beginning of the carnival post. I have been fortunate enough to have had several editor’s picks which really helps to exposure your site and work. If you are lucky enough, one of the larger blogs will link up to you which can really help expose what you have to offer. My single largest day for traffic was a result of another personal finance site linking to one of my articles that was an editor’s pick.

Passive Income Carnivals
I am actually in search of a blog carnival that focuses on passive income. If anyone knows of one, please let me know. I have seen a couple that appear to have been started in the past but are no longer active. I would also be interested in working with some other bloggers about possibly setting one up if there is enough interest.

What experience have you had participating in blog carnivals? Do you have any others to add to the list?

Tagged as: blog carnival