Link Parties: A Blogging Tip

Do you link up your posts to link parties? When I’m feeling ambitious, I link up to several each day.

A while ago I figured out something that makes the process so much faster. I’m sure I’m not the first person to think of this, but I hope it will make someone’s life a little easier!

When you add your post to a link party you are prompted to select an image that will serve as the thumbnail for your submission.

Thumbnail images are square.

Photos are typically rectangular.

When you link up a rectangular photo you have to either crop your image or leave it up to the link party tool used by the party host.

As an example, here’s a photo of my spring porch planters.

If I don’t choose to crop my photo myself, my picture could potentially end up cropped like this:

Where did the boots and bucket go?

Here’s how I want my thumbnail to look when I link up to a party.

Or, I can take it a step further and include text to identify my project as well.

When faced with multiple thumbnail project images, which one would you be most inclined to click on?

Definitely not the first thumbnail!

So, what’s the trick?

When you’re editing your photos, take a photo that you want to use to showcase your project and crop it so that it works as a square image.

Remember to include a watermark that identifies your blog in this photo as well.

You can include it in your blog post or you can simply save it somewhere on your computer. I have a file folder that includes a square image for each project/post that I have done since I figured out this trick.

Here’s another example of some creative cropping – my Neon Dollar Store Necklace.

If you want to really take advantage of this trick, use the square image at the start of your blog post so that it is the first image that comes up when you add your post to a link party! As a bonus, this will also be one of the first images that comes up if someone wants to pin your project.

Now, when you link up one of your great ideas, you’ll have more control over what the thumbnail image looks like in a link party. As long as the dimensions of your image are square, you will lose very little of your image in the event that you do still need to crop it further.

Easy, right?

Happy linking!

P.S. Want to know how to quickly watermark your photos? Check out another blogging tip here!

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I link up at: Serenity Now, I {Heart} Naptime, Under The Table And Dreaming, Nifty Thrifty Things, Simply Klassic Home, Home Stories A to Z, Craftomaniac, Skip To My Lou, Not JUST A Housewife, A Bowl Full Of Lemons, Alderberry Hill, I Should Be Mopping The Floor, A Diamond In The Stuff, Creatively Living, The Winthrop Chronicles, Clean & Scentsible, Oopsey Daisy, Lil’ Luna, Someday Crafts, Live.Laugh.Rowe, The 36th Avenue, aka design, House of Hepworths, 52 Mantels, Thrifty Decorating, Crafty Scrappy Happy, How To Nest For Less, Tatertots & Jello, The Grant Life, It’s Overflowing, Lolly Jane, Too Much Time, Six Sisters’ Stuff, Positively Splendid, My {Re}purposed Life, Unrefined By Design, Dragonfly Designs, Just Us Four, Liz Marie Blog and The Crafted Sparrow

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