You may have noticed several ‘meme’s or recurring features on a lot of blogs such as ‘Wordless Wednesday’, ‘Thursday Thirteen’ or ‘Photo Scavenger Hunt’. If not, here’s an example of a Wordless Wednesday on my Thermal Blog. As you can see, it’s a simple post based on some basic topic parameters, with a link box at the bottom. This is the Mr Linky autolink and it’s extremely useful for a number of reasons.

Wordless Wednesday is always a photo of your choice - write about it, submit your link to the WW homepage & then go visit other blogs & comment on theirs. This is an excellent way to network, find some cool new blogs & get some readers for your blog. The key to the autolink box is that people can insert their name & URL in seconds, without having to copy the full link into your comments. People like to get their name in the box, so that other people cans see & click on it, and then visit their blogs - in short it is an excellent way to drive traffic to your blog.

The first step is to visit the Mr Linky homepage & signup for a free account; paid options are available with the benefits clearly explained. Once that’s done, write a post on your chosen meme, go to Mr Linky & use the Widget Wizard. Choose your blog platform & the meme, and the wizard will present you with the code to insert into the bottom of your post - you’re done! If you only have a free account, you can have only one autolink box visible at a time, which will mean the others will disappear from your old posts. A paid account will make them ‘everlinkies’ which won’t.

WordPress Users: Again you get an even easier deal: Simply download & install the Plugin, edit the php file to insert your username as per the instructions and activate it.  Also, copy the following code into the header of your blog template (once only) and place it directly after the ‘head’ tag:

Now all you have to do to use the autolink, is write the post and then place one of these syntax at the bottom of the post. This one line insert is the only thing you have to do from now on to use the autolinkies. The real bonus is that these link boxes are permanent.

Why should you use these memes & autolinks?

• You read new blogs & get in touch with some good people.
• It can give you a good topic to post about.
• You get to drop your link on blogs you may never have found.
• The autolinkies are Technorati friendly, meaning they count towards your blog ranking.

Can any blogger use them? Why not? Don’t spam, but be creative - a Thursday Thirteen could be a thirteen things you’ve featured on your blog, thirteen ways to make money etc. Be creative & take part in good heart and you will receive more traffic, more links & more blogs to read!