Being an avid blog reader myself for many years now, I sometimes run into the problem of blog shortage. What I mean is that I run out of blogs to read or just get bored of the blogs I’ve been reading for quite some time. If you are just like me, then BendTheRulez has got you covered with our guide on how to discover new blogs.
How to Discover New Blogs – Our 12 Top Ways
To start off, let me propose the 12 best ways I have found on discovering new and interesting blogs. Note that those methods change from time to time, so I’ll do my best to update as soon as anything new catches my attention or a method on the list becomes obsolete ;).
1. Alltop
Alltop is a blog directory with a huge selection of the web’s top blogs and news sites grouped by topic. Moreover, you can create your own account to keep your favorite blogs organized, essentially making it a feed reader as well!
Another blog directory with blogs and news sites. Be sure to check it out alternatively!
Yourversion lets you choose your interests. Then, it automatically provides you with blogs, as well as news, tweets, videos and products related to them. You can bookmark what interests you and share from within the platform. It’s like RSS feeds on steroids!
4.Paper.li
Mostly geared towards bloggers and people who want to engage with their audience, Paper.li collects all kinds of content that your social media followers are sharing and provides it to you, to do as you wish. A really powerful platform, especially for content publishers.
5.Social media
Let’s not forget the obvious. You can certainly find a lot of interesting blogs on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr, Google+, YouTube, Del.icio.us, Digg and so on. Don’t forget to join groups related to blogging and you’ll find plenty of what you’re looking for. As a bonus, searching for twitter hashtags related to your topic can result in some golden nuggets here and there.
6.Popular Bloggers and Brands’ Blogs
First of all, you can find new blogs by checking what the bloggers you’re already following recommend. Many blogs do that. In fact, it’s more probable that you’ll like the new blogs you find, since they are recommended by bloggers you already follow. Secondly, be on the lookout for the blogs of brands you like and websites you already follow. Most of them have wonderful blogs you may end up falling in love with. Also, if you are a blogger, be sure to check out the blogs of people who are commenting on your posts. It’s a great way to network too.
More geared towards lifestyle blogs, here you can follow the blogs you like and discover new ones as well.
8.Blogflux
One more blog directory if you still haven’t found what you’re looking for. U2 reference detected :P.
Be sure to check this page out(it gets updated regularly) to find out many different blogs. If you are a blogger you can also submit your blog to them and get found by others yourself.
10.Feedly
Be sure to use the top online feed reader and take advantage of its suggestions.
11.WordPress Discover and Reader
Did you know that WordPress has a discover feature that points to numerous interesting websites? The WordPress Reader also has a search function. This guide helps a lot with that, be sure to check it out. Don’t forget the Daily Post on WordPress that also suggests blogs and topics for inspiration. You can do something similar through your profile on the Blogger platform, if you do have one. Check this guide to help you with that. You can also use this site for finding Blogspot type of blogs.
Pretty self-explanatory :P!
I promised 12+1 ways so it’s time for the +1. Let me introduce you to the Liebster Award.
The Liebster Award
Liebster is a german word that actually means dearest. It’s a quite popular blogging award that exists solely online.
It works as follows. A blogger gets nominated by another blogger and is given a series of questions to answer. The blogger who got nominated has to answer the questions and in turn nominate 10 other blogs, while asking them some questions him or herself. And the cycle goes on.
The idea is that new blogs that still have a small number of followers get some exposure and the bloggers also get to let the readers in on some parts of themselves, in order to know them better. But why am I telling you this? Two reasons.
First of all, by searching for Liebster Award nominations you can discover new, interesting blogs for yourself. Secondly, BendTheRulez got nominated by a fabulous fashion blogger, Kate! Be sure to check out her beautiful and sexy outfits over at her fashion blog Sparkle and the City! Thanks Kate for liking my blog. On to her questions. Time to know me a little better everyone!
Kate’s Questions
- Out of all the countries, you have visited, which one did you like the most?
I’m a bit embarrassed to say that besides my home country Greece, I have only visited Austria and Slovakia. Austria was beautiful in its own ways(beautiful castles and schnitzels, for example :P), but I think I still prefer Greece :). Hope to visit Holland this year and generally travel more in my life.
- What is the most extreme thing you have ever done?
I’m not a guy of extremes really. I guess I don’t get the high of adrenaline that drives people to extreme activities. Maybe the most extreme situation I have been in, was me trying to override three cars at once on a highway and barely saving a full frontal crash with a bus from the other lane. I have also been in a similar situation with my cousin, where we ended up crashing with the front car(thankfully no one got hurt), but I consider that my cousin’s most extreme thing :P.
- If you can take someone with you in your travels, who would it be?
Certainly my girlfriend <3. She’s a bit annoying from time to time but I have learned to love that :P.
- When do you find time to blog?
That’s a good question. I’m at the end of my University studies, so things are getting better as my obligations are lessened. However, I had periods where I had stopped blogging altogether to focus on my studies. All in all, my schedules have been quite sporadic and I still try to blog whenever I get some time.
That said, I do strive to make blogging more of a routine in my life and maybe even go full time blogging(currently walking the line between academics and blogging, waiting to see which one wins me over).
- What is that one post made by you that you like the most, and why?
Hmm, that’s a difficult one. I’ll cheat here and choose one from this blog and one from my anime blog. I have been blogging about the anime series One Piece for about two years now. I have written some beautiful guides and theories(I believe :P), but the blog post I’ll choose is this one . It’s neither the prettiest nor the biggest post I ‘ve written. In fact, compared to my newest posts it’s probably one of the ugliest and certainly a small one(about 700 words only). It is just the first post of mine that got hugely popular and got top rankings in the search engines. It was a revelation for me at the time, as I saw with my own eyes that what I was doing was actually working!
As for this blog, I’m really proud of my Wealthy Affiliate review. I’ve poured my heart into it, tried to be as honest as I could and provide you with as much information as possible. Besides, Wealthy Affiliate is the platform that has helped me start out in blogging more than any resource online and I consider it to be the best online business platform available hands down.
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- If you could only take 1 more trip, where would you go?
A bit depressing possibility but I’ll live with it. I would visit the greek island Ios and party hard with my friends, harder than we did the last time we went there. Fyi, Ios is probably the hardest partying island in Greece. If it’s my last trip, I may as well make it count :P. It would also be a nice repeat of our trip there 3 summers ago.
- If you could give someone $1,000,000 who would you give it to?
Myself of course :D.
- For what in your life do you feel most grateful?
I feel grateful for my health, the opportunities that have been given to me, my beautiful country Greece, my family, my girlfriend and my friends. However, some years ago my mother had a big adventure with her health. We were told not once, but twice that she would die. Well, she didn’t. That second chance I have been given to have my mother alive, is the top thing I’m grateful for in my life till now. 🙂
- What is the scariest thing you have experienced?
After my mother’s recovery, I started thinking about the possibility I may have something similar due to heredity. So, I decided to do a quite special medical examination for my head. The moment that I got the results back(thankfully they were clear :)) and until I read them were the scariest and longest of my life. I really saw my whole life in front of me.
- When you have a writer’s block, what do you do to work it out?
I set myself a timer to write. And then I open WordPress or the SiteContent platform over at Wealthy Affiliate and just do that for the time allotted. It’s unbelievable how easily ideas start to flow when you force yourself to write. A bonus idea would be to read blogs you like and get inspiration from their posts that appeal to you the most.
- How did blogging change your life?
Blogging has given me a way to express myself and is an activity I can enjoy when I have nothing else to do. It has also given me hope for the future and the possibility to change my life and create opportunities for myself, regardless of the economy I live in.
My nominations and questions
Well, time for me to return the favor and nominate others, while asking them some questions myself, right? Wrong! I did answer Kate’s questions for two reasons. Firstly, to thank her and secondly for you to learn some more about me. However, my honest opinion about the Liebster Award is that it is kind of bullshit. Let me elaborate.
To start with, it has a chain letter/pyramid scheme vibe to it, which I don’t particularly like or endorse. In theory, the concept is sound. In practice though, the whole procedure unfolds quite idiotically. Random blogs are “nominated” just for the sake of nominating someone.
The people who nominate and endorse those blogs probably don’t even know them(if you are wondering Kate does know me personally and reads my blogs :)). Not to mention that people flock as birds to ask for their blog to get nominated, but most of them never even return the favor or even mention your blog to thank you.
It’s also another facet of the shiny object syndrome, where people don’t focus on the real work they should do to advance their blogs, but rather try to find shiny new ways that will serve as shortcuts to make their blogs famous.
So, I am deciding to break my part of the Liebster Award chain right here. What a cold-hearted person I am :P.
Wrapping up
I hope I gave you plenty of ideas on how to discover new blogs. I also hope that you learned some more about me through Kate’s questions. I want to thank her again for the Liebster Award nomination. Before leaving, be sure to share any possible way to discover blogs that I didn’t cover here and I’ll be sure to add it ;). Also, if you are new here, be sure to check our welcome page out! Thanks a lot!
Antonis
BendTheRulez.com
Yes, you gave me plenty ideas on how to discover new blog and l learned something good from it. My question is, with the rate of upcoming and sophisticated blogs over the internet, what chance does a Newbie have to succeed in such an environment. Do you have materials that can be of a help? thank you for the effort you put into this post, it is very helpful and informative.
Hello and thanks for your input. Really glad the guide was of help. You are absolutely right that the number of quality blogs online are growing each and every day. Blogging and having a website online is no longer a mystery of a select few. However, I do believe there are some traits that can help you rise above.
Those traits are quality and intergrity. Be sure to deliver the best quality material you can to your audience and always be true to who you are and what you believe in. Never promote something just for the sake of promoting. Only promote and suggest what YOU have seen REALLY working. With so many websites promoting shitty content and suggesting products just for the sake of making a cut, I believe you can really stand out if you stay true to those two traits.
Lastly, there is the problem of information overload and lack of honest and quality training on the subject. For that, I can only recommend the platform I personally use and that has helped me FINALLY start taking real action online.
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Hey Antonis:
Thanks for your blog-finding post. I’ve bookmarked it and will be referring back to it as I keep on researching and exploring what’s already out there and how I can improve my own attempts at developing mine.
I am supposing that these sites may also be potential ways for other people to find me.
Yes Netta! You can definitely use some of the ways to help others find your blog!
Thank you for sharing this list! This is really helpful. I have bookmarked it and will definetly use it when I search for new ideas to be able to add fresh content for my blog.
Marika
Using other blogs as inspiration for mine is something I like to do as well. Have fun stealing! 😛
Thanks a lot for the info!
I will definitely steal some cool ideas 🙂
Happy the guide was helpful 🙂
Awesome article. An informative page I would say. This will definitely help me when I am researching for new ideas for my website. I will definitely save this page and also share it with my other friends who love blogging. Hope to see more of your updates soon, thanks and keep it up!
Happy you liked the article Kenny! Thanks for sharing!
Hello Antonis, I just read this post on How to Discover Blogs. I am relatively new to online business and blogging. I didn’t realize there are so many ways to get involved in blogging, both reading and writing. Thanks very much for the information. I have bookmarked your website for future reference. I have a lot of exploring to do. Also, congrats on your Liebster Award nomination. The questions and answers were very entertaining. Take care.
Mike
Hey Mike! Glad you learned something more for me from the Liebster Award questions. Regarding blogging, I personally read a lot of blogs for many years now, just because I enjoy it. However, this practice actually can give you an edge on your own blog and inspiration on ways to become better. Be sure to check my guide on how to make your blog stand out as well. Take care!
Thanks for this great research. I wasnt aware that there were blog directories so now I can spend some time visiting the ones you list to see what they offer. When I first started in the rave party scene I used to search and read blogs all the time on what events were going on around the world. I certainly could have used a blog directory then!
Glad the article was helpful. Blog directories can be a great resource, both when you are searching for new blogs to read/follow and when you want to list your own blog for more exposure and to expand your reach!
Hello Antonis,
Thanks for the list. I’m actually looking for directories to registers my site for, and this will help me out. Although, a lot of them are not taking submissions, I’m sure a few of them will.
By the way, your website is a lot like mine, as you are the first one I’ve stumbled upon that also has a “book review” category. And also a “mindset” category lol. That’s pretty awesome man.Great minds think alike! I think those details, like mindset and reading good books, go hand in hand for creating a successful business.
Talk to you soon, Antonis!
Oh, are there directories that don’t accept submissions and if so why? You really have a mindset and book reviews category? Love it! I too think they are super important for internet marketing and that’s why I do have those categories here. I also enjoy writing posts on them since I’ve been into personal development for many years and have read a lot of material.
Talks soon, Wilson!