Submitting your blog to a blog directory

To be included in a blog directory, also known as a blog index, a blog author submits his or her blog for consideration to the directory administrator or owner. The directory owner decides whether or not to include the blog in the directory. Blogwise.com is a popular blog directory that provides a blog index for nearly 38,000 blogs with another 1,700-plus blogs waiting to be approved. Another popular blog directory is Bloglines.com. Bloglines.com is an integrated service for searching, subscribing, publishing, and sharing Web content, including blogs. Both have information on their sites on how to submit a blog for inclusion in the directory.

Using a blog directory

A blog directory is a list of blogs organized into a format that allows users to quickly find the information (in this case, a blog) they are looking for. In general, a blog directory, also known as a blog index, is organized alphabetically by keyword. However, a blog directory can be organized or categorized by any means that will make the blog list easier for the user to search. For example, many travel blog directories are organized by country. Blogwise.com is a popular blog directory that provides a blog index for nearly 38,000 blogs with another 1,700-plus blogs waiting to be approved.

Example of a blog network

A blogging network is not the same as a blog directory. It is a collection of interconnected blogs organized around a central unifying theme. One example of a blogging network is the Educational Bloggers' Network. The network, known as EBN for short, is a community of teachers and other education professionals who use blogs for teaching and learning. Networks generally require that users register, but as in the case of EBN, registration is often free. You can find blogging networks on your topic of interest by doing a Google search or searching a blog directory.

Specialty blog directory

There are both general and specialty blog directories available to bloggers. One example of a specialty blog directory is Photoblogs.org, a directory devoted entirely to photo blogs that currently holds listings for 8,415 photo blogs in 83 countries and 36 languages.

Using blog search engines

If you are searching for a blog on a particular topic, the easiest thing to do is use a blog search engine. Two popular such search engines are BlogCatalog.com and BlogSearchEngine.com. In addition to a search function, each offers a blog directory with blogs organized by keyword. To find a blog on a particular topic, simply type in your search term, click "search," and both BlogCatalog.com and BlogSearchEngine.com will return a list of blogs on your chosen topic.