How To Reblog – Hugh's Views & News

Many bloggers agree that having their blog posts shared is one of the best things that can happen in the blogging world. After all, whoever is sharing the post is putting your work in front of a new audience.

I remember when, for the first time, another blogger reblogged one of my posts. As a new blogger, it was one of the most exciting moments of my blogging journey. Even today, I still get a lift whenever one of my blog posts gets reblogged.

But is there anything you should do when one of your blog posts is reblogged?

Yes!

#blogging #bloggingtips #WordPress — Do You Know What To Do When One Of Your Blog Posts Gets Reblogged?

Unless you’ve switched off your WordPress notifications, you will get an email notification from WordPress when one of your posts gets reblogged. It gives the following information –

which post got reblogged

who has reblogged it

the number of followers it’s been reblogged to

Here’s an example of a recent reblog notification I received after Sally at Smorgasbord Blog Magazine, reblogged one of my posts.

#WordPress #bloggingtips #blogging #reblog #reblogging — WordPress Reblog Notification

WordPress also notifies users of reblogs in the notifications area (the bell symbol in the top right-hand corner of a WordPress blog).

What should I do when one of my blog posts gets reblogged?

The first thing to do is to thank the blogger who has reblogged your post.

The easiest way to do this is to reply with a ‘thank you’ to the reblog notification in your post’s comments section.

If the person who has reblogged your post has not closed off comments on the reblog they have done, you can also leave a ‘thank you’ in the comments section of their post. Not only is this polite and seen as friendly to do, but you will also get notifications from WordPress of any further comments left on the reblog.

You can then respond to those comments. However, don’t forget to tick the ‘Notify me of new comments via email’ box to ensure you get the notifications.

#blogging #bloggingtips #WordPress #reblog #reblogging — Don’t forget to tick the ‘Notify me of new comments via email’ box

However, some bloggers, Including myself, choose to disable comments on posts they have reblogged.

Why do some bloggers disable comments on the posts they’ve reblogged?

Because they prefer comments to be left on the original post where they can get seen by everyone reading or leaving comments.

Should I follow the blog of somebody who reblogs one of my blog posts?

If the blogger who reblogged your post is new to you, you may like to look at their blog and consider whether to follow them. However, you should never feel under any obligation to do this.

For example, a beauty blogger once reblogged one of my posts. As I don’t have any interest in beauty products, I chose not to follow her blog, but I did thank her for the reblog.

Should you return the favour and reblog a post of the blogger who has reblogged one of your posts?

Many do, and it can lead to the blogger reblogging more of your posts. However, never feel under any obligation to reblog a post because somebody has shared one of your posts. By all means, please share one of their posts on one or more of your social media accounts but, providing you have thanked them, there is nothing else you need to do.

If they publish content you’re interested in reading, then by all means read some of their posts and leave them some comments. However, don’t fall into the trap of following a blog that does not publish content you’re interested in reading.

Why Do Some Bloggers Reblog Their Own Posts?

Mainly to update and promote older posts that some new followers may not have read.

I use blogging features such as Throwback Thursday and Flashback Friday to promote my older posts.

Let’s wrap it up.

If you have email notifications switched on, WordPress will email you whenever one of your blog posts gets reblogged.
Reblog notifications also appear in the notifications centre of your blog.
Always thank bloggers who reblog any of your blog posts.
Thank them by responding to the reblog notification in the comments section of the post they have reblogged .
If they have left comments open on the post they have reblogged, you can also thank them there.
Don’t feel under any obligation to return the favour and reblog one of their posts, especially if they blog about a subject you’re not interested in.
Don’t feel under any obligation to follow the blog of somebody who reblogs one of your blog posts. Only follow the blogs you’re interested in reading.

Any questions?

Leave them in the comments section.

Is there anything I’ve not mentioned that you do when one of your posts gets reblogged? Do you reblog the posts of other bloggers and, if so, do you expect anything in return?

Not sure how to reblog a blog post? My post How To Reblog A Blog Post Correctly On WordPress gives full details.

Today, not only will I take you through a step by step guide on how to reblog a post on WordPress, but I’ll also cover some of the pitfalls of reblogging.

For the purpose of this post, and because I use WordPress, some of this information will only be relevant to WordPress.Com users.

There’s a way to correctly reblog on WordPress

The first thing you need to do is find a blog post that you want to reblog.

Usually, this will be a post that you have thoroughly enjoyed reading and/or will have left a comment on. However, some bloggers use reblogging as a way to promote other bloggers, authors, writers, books, etc.

Let’s get started

At the bottom of a post are the sharing buttons.
In some cases (depending on the WordPress theme) the sharing buttons can be found elsewhere such as towards the top and just to the left of a post.
The screenshot below shows the sharing buttons I have chosen to appear under my blog posts.

Beneath the sharing buttons is where you will find the ‘Reblog‘ button.

Click on the reblog button, and a mini-window will open.

A new mini-window opens when clicking on the reblog button

The next step is optional, but I recommend you tell your readers why you are reblogging the post. After all, you wouldn’t recommend a book, movie, product or hotel to your readers without saying why.
Tell them what it was that you liked about the post and why you’re reblogging it.

Inform your readers why you’re reblogging the post

Just below the text box you’ve filled in, is a list of your blogs. If you have more than one blog or are an author of more than one blog, this will show a list of blogs you can access. Select the blog you want to reblog the post too.

Select which of your blogs you’re reblogging the post on

Click on the ‘Reblog Post’ button.

The post will now be reblogged to all your followers.

For some bloggers, this is all they do after reblogging a post. However, there is still more important work to do if you want the reblog to be found by more visitors to your blog.

Go to your blog’s dashboard navigation bar and click on ‘Posts’.

Find the post you’ve just reblogged, and click on the edit button.

Add categories and tags to the reblog.

Don’t forget to add categories and tags to reblogs

Why do you need to add categories and tags to posts you’ve reblogged?

It helps more readers and visitors find it.

You can have a category called ‘Reblogs’ if you like. However, try and categorise the reblog to whatever it is relevant to – e.g. recipes, books, blogging tips, social media, book reviews, etc.

What happens if you don’t categorise a post that you’ve reblogged?

It will show under ‘Uncategorised’, which is of no help to anyone. Did you read my blog post, Are You Making Any Of These 7 Simple Blogging Mistakes? Then you may recall that I compared not categorising blog posts to walking into a library and finding none of the books has been sorted into categories.

Many visitors won’t stay long if they can’t find what they are looking for or your posts are not categorised.

What about adding tags?

You can use some or all of the same tags as the blogger who wrote the post, or you can use your own.

Like categorising, tagging your posts correctly will help visitors quickly find what they are looking for.

If you do not use tags, then it makes finding your post and/or reblog harder to find, and the reblog is less likely to get seen by new visitors.

Press the ‘Update’ button.

Should I disable comments on posts I’ve reblogged?

Yes. Why? Because readers then have to leave comments over on the original post. It’s far better to have comments all in one place rather than being scattered across varies reblogs.

Untick the ‘Allow Comments‘ box (which you’ll find under Discussion). You can do this after pressing ‘Update’, but remember to press the ‘Update’ button again.

Finally, check your reblogged post to ensure that it looks good, is easy to read, and that any pingbacks you’ve included also work. If you’re happy with everything, then you’re done.

Are there any pitfalls to reblogging?

Yes.

There are a few I am going to list below, but don’t allow these to put you off using the reblogging feature. If you reblog sensibly, then you’ve nothing to worry about.

Media Space

When you reblog a post, any images on that post are added to the media library of your WordPress blog.

This takes up valuable free media space. The more images in a blog post, the more space they will take up. You can buy more media space from WordPress, but not everyone has the funds to do this.

Copyright

We all know that we should never use images and photos that are not ours or free to use.

Before you reblog a post, check any images included in the post and ask yourself if they are free to use.

My blogging friend, Debby Kaye, was fined for having a copyrighted image on her blog from a reblog that she did.

It didn’t matter that Debby never wrote the original blog post because, by reblogging and downloading the image to her blog, she was fined for copyright infringement.

You can read Debby’s post about it by clicking here. If you reblog posts, I recommend you read it.

If you’re not sure if images are free to use, ask the blogger whose post you’re reblogging where they got the images from and if they are free to use.

If you’re not convinced or are still not sure, then don’t reblog the post.

Permission

As crazy as it may seem, some bloggers get upset if you reblog one of their posts without asking their permission to do so first.

It’s very rare that this happens, but I wanted to mention it because it can happen. They may have a reblog button on their posts, but it doesn’t mean they want their posts shared.

If you’ve not reblogged one of their posts before, ask for permission to do so.

However, the majority of bloggers will be delighted that you’ve reblogged and shared their post. You’re less likely to come across someone who does not like any of their content being shared.

Just for the record, I welcome my posts being reblogged.