Peace Out, Google Reader! Hello Bloglovin'!

If you don't use Google Reader to follow your favorite blogs {like Mandy's Recipe Box ;) }then this won't really matter to you. But if you do, you will want to read on...

Beginning Monday July 1st, Google Reader will be no more. To keep up with your favorite blogs, consider switching to Bloglovin'. It's really easy to do. 

Here's my Top 10 Reasons to use Bloglovin':

1. It’s easy to get an account on bloglovin’. (Here’s my profile.) This just took a few minutes. I recommend filling out your profile as completely as possible, though. If you have a blog, others can find and follow your blog from your profile.

2. It isn’t hard to claim your blog on bloglovin’.To add a blog and get a bloglovin’ button for your site, you just need to add a bit of code to your site to “claim” your blog. Some add it to the sidebar. I just added it to the bottom of an already-existing post in the “text” view. You don’t need to publish a new post to add it unless you want to announce bloglovin’ through your post.
3. It’s easy to follow blogs through bloglovin’. For blogs that have a bloglovin’ button, you just have to click the button and then click “Follow.” You can search for any blogs within the bloglovin’ site and follow them even if they don’t have a bloglovin’ button.

4. You can move all your blogs on Google Reader to bloglovin’. It’s amazingly simple. I just followed the directions on bloglovin’ when I signed up. They were clear and easy to follow. Just go here if you aren’t automatically directed: Import Your Favorite Blogs from Google Reader. Be sure to check that you follow me and your other favorite blogs when you do move your blogs. I lost a lot of the blogs I followed when Google Friend Connect was discontinued for .com blogs. I know a lot of my followers lost my blog at the same time. So I’m still adding blogs that I lost. My list isn’t complete yet.

5. You can organize all the blogs you follow into categories. I need to do more with this, but I plan to do it in the future.

6. You can discover new blogs easily within bloglovin’. I love this feature! I set my emails to notify me whenever someone follows my blog. Then I can follow them if I wish as well as check who they follow and find new blogs to follow. There are also “top blogs”in different categories and “popular posts” features at bloglovin’ that enable you to discover new blogs as well. When you follow a blog, there’s even a “Similar Blogs” tab, which is really fun and helpful.

7. Bloglovin’ is faster than Google Reader. I had actually stopped using my Google Reader because it simply took too long to scroll through entire posts. With bloglovin’, I typically see the title, short excerpt, and an image. I can easily tell if I want to click on the post to read more.

8. You can get an email with the updates from the blogs you follow on bloglovin’. I’m overwhelmed with emails, but I still really appreciate this. It’s so easy for me to scroll down through the blogs I follow to see the latest updates. I try to keep on top of the latest activities and posts in my niche, and this is the easiest way I’ve found to do it. 

9. You can get a free app to follow bloglovin’ on mobile devices such as your iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad: Free Bloglovin’ App. You can also use it with Android.

10. Blogs get pageviews when you read their posts through bloglovin’. That isn’t the case with Google Reader. Many bloggers are trying to help support their families through their blogging. We tend to put in way more hours than we’re actually “paid” for, but pageviews really help us. You can also “like” posts on bloglovin’. It’s always nice to get “likes” for encouragement and to see which posts are especially popular. If a post gets enough “likes,” it could be seen in the “popular posts” feature on bloglovin’, which helps even more.

 So head on over and sign up for your Bloglovin' account!