Guest Post: Top Five Ways to Thank a Blogger

You’ve been reading a blog and really enjoying it, how do your show your appreciation?

If you’re like me, when you’re out in the real world you tip folks for the service you receive.  If you hear a street performer play a beautiful piece of music or see a busker perform an amusing act, you throw some change in their hat.  Bloggers write and produce content to entertain or educate, which the reader receives without cost.   The majority of bloggers are doing this “for free”.  And while they don’t pass the hat per say, it’s still always nice to receive a virtual tip.

So how do you “tip” a blogger? Well, there’s a couple of ways you can do it.

Share!
If you read a post you enjoy share it with others. Bloggers love the increased exposure. A great way to share a post is by linking to it on Facebook or Twitter.  Or share it on another site such as Digg, Technorati, etc. As you can tell from taking a look at the sharing widget along the bottom of this post their are a plethora of different sites you can choose to help spread the word. Or heck, even just email a friend or two and send them the link.

Show some love to their sponsors!
See the ads along the side bars? If you see something you’re interested in give it a click. Those of you not on the technical side of things might not know this, but websites can see where their traffic is coming from. So when you click on a sponsors button ad and go and visit their site it shows that xxx many people came to see their page today from ThisCoolBlog.com. Sometimes bloggers even get paid when you click on their ads (not much, usually pennies a click). Personally, I think this is my favourite way to show support to a site I enjoy. I make the effort to place a few clicks, and think of it as leaving some change on the table. Of course it’s always nice if you take the time to check out the sponsors website and browse around. Showing the sponsor some attention is probably one of the best ways to thank a blogger, as great traffic coming from their page is likely to open up new opportunities for their blog.

Comment!

Follow ’em!
You probably already thought of this one, but another excellent way to let a blogger know how much you appreciate them is to follow them, usually either on Google Friend Connect, Facebook, or Twitter. Or to subscribe to their blog either via email or RSS feed. Not sure how to follow someone? Check out this post HERE.

Vote!

There you have it folks, five easy ways to “virtually tip” a blogger.

When I originally posted this back in April I received a flood of awesome comments with tons of great suggestions on other ways to thank a blogger.  So I compiled a second list, Five More Ways to Thank a Blogger. You can check it out HERE.