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BlogRolls Are Good For Casual New Reader Activity

Blog owners use many techniques for getting new readers - and for keeping existing readers happy.

Some blog owners use techniques which work inconsistently, because they are not designed to work the way they are being used. Some blog owners becomes concerned when their blogs, listed in blogrolls on other peoples blogs, don't seem to be updated as regularly as they would expect.

Blogrolls are good tools for getting new readers, in a casual manner. They may not be as good, for predictable, scheduled visitor activity.

Not all blog owners understand that their content, when displayed on other blogs, is subject to activity on those blogs.

A blogroll displays content, based on activity on the host blog (which someone else controls), added to the combined activity on the blogs that are listed in the blogroll (which various other people control). Recent activity by any one of the other blog owners could over shadow your efforts - and cause a recent change.

BlogRolls showcase a blog owners current interests.

BlogRolls - provided in Blogger blogs using the BlogList gadget - are accessories which show a portion of each blog displayed. They provide each blog owner a way to show to the world, a summary of her / his current interests - and to provide alternate resources for the blogs readers.

BlogRolls are not designed as publicity devices, for the various blogs displayed. Every blog owner has their own personal set of favourite blogs - and every bloglist, on every different Blogger blog, will display a different set of blogs.

The content of any bloglist, at any time, will vary - based on a number of details.

  • The total number of blogs listed, in the bloglist.
  • The number of blogs displayed, in the bloglist.
  • When the blog owner adds or removes blogs on the bloglist.
  • When the blog owner updates the host blog.
  • When the owners of the other blogs, in the bloglist, update their blogs.
  • When you update your blog.
  • Expiration of cached content.


This is the "Peer Resources" blogroll, on this blog. Look in the sidebar, near the bottom.

It represents my own personal interests, relevant to this blog.


"Peer Resources" is similar to my Google+ stream - as focused on Blogger issues.

It is not designed as a publicity tool for any of the individual blogs listed - although being listed in a blogroll may be beneficial, for some blogs.

The owners of other blogs, which use blogrolls, may have differing policies. I don't control their blogs content - or publishing policies.

The number of blogs displayed vs the number of blogs in the bloglist may differ.

If the owner sets a bloglist to display a fixed number of blogs, and adds more blogs to the bloglist to exceed the display setting, only the most recently updated blogs will display. The oldest blogs may not be displayed.

If you look in the sidebar of this blog, you will see the "Peer Resources" bloglist gadget. The gadget will display 5 blogs - but the list of blogs, in the gadget, actually contains 8 entries. The 3 least updated blogs, at any time, will not be displayed - unless you click on "Show All".

When the blog owner adds or removes blogs on the bloglist.

The owner of the other blog may, whenever convenient, add a blog to - or remove a blog from - the bloglist on the other blog. Any other blog added to or removed from a bloglist is going to affect the chances for your blog to be displayed.

When the blog owner updates the host blog.

If your blog has been recently updated, and the host blog was last updated before your blog was updated, your update may not be displayed in the bloglist, on the host blog. Your updates made before the host blog was updated are more likely to be displayed in the bloglist, on the host blog.

When the owners of the other blogs, in the blog roll, update their blogs.

The other blogs in the bloglist, if updated after the host blog was last updated, may not display their latest updates. Their updates, made before the host blog was last updated, are more likely to be displayed.

When you update your blog.

If you updated your blog before the host blog was updated, and before the other blogs were updated, your blog may be displayed, at the bottom of the list.

If you updated your blog after the host blog was updated, and after the other blogs were updated, your blog may be displayed at the top - but the last update made, before the host blog was updated, is more likely to be displayed.

Expiration of cached content.

Cached content is locally stored copies of web pages - such as posts from your blog, stored on your computer.

If a web page (such as a post, from your blog) is in cache - and if the cached entry is not old - the browser gets that page from cache, instead of asking the web server (such as Blogger). This reduces network traffic, and lets you view your post, faster.

Cached content expires by timing - and by activity. When cache is full, the oldest item in cache is flushed - and must be retrieved from the source (such as Blogger) the next time it is needed.

If your blog post content is the oldest item in cache, and it is flushed, its latest update may be displayed - even if the update was made after the host blog was updated. If your blog post content is not the oldest in cache, it may not be flushed - and it may not be displayed as updated, if it's published after the host blog is updated.

Please note that cache is individual, by computer. What you see, when using your computer, may not be the same as what your potential reader sees, at the same time - even when simultaneously viewing the same identical bloglist (on somebody else's blog).

Blogrolls are not controllable - or even predictable.

You may not be able to control how promptly your updates, to your personal blog, are displayed on every blogroll, on every other blog. You may have to settle for having your blog displayed sometimes, sometime after it is updated.

Like the need to have your blog displayed in SERP Page 1 Position 1 in your chosen search terms, you may not get what you want. Everybody cannot be at the top of the list, all of the time.

You can provide various subscription options, for your regular readers. And you can provide high quality, original posts, for your casual and new readers to read. That is how to make existing readers happy, and to get new readers.

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