Updating the Blogroll

Starting today you’ll notice an updated blogroll on this website.

For readers not familiar with the term, a blogroll is a collection of links to other sites and blogs a writer or blogger finds interesting, reads regularly, and wants to share with their readers.

A blogroll might display on its own page or in a specific location on every page of a website. My blogroll displays in a column on desktop/laptop and above the site footer on mobile.

Blogrolls were a standard feature on blogs years ago. As social media usage rose, many people stopped publishing on their own websites.

Choosing instead to post on social media.

Over the past few years, there’s been a return to owning your content and publishing on your own website.

And with that, a return to blogrolls.

Personally, I’m glad blogrolls are popular again; I’ve discovered many new sites to read and follow.

Why the Change?

When I added the blogroll in January 2024, I chose some of my favorite sites I read regularly.

But, over the past 10 months some of the people I followed stopped publishing on their website.

And I discovered I want to update the blogroll more regularly to keep it relevant, remove broken links, and highlight time-sensitive content.

Which is why you’ll find a Halloween-focused site on my blogroll this month. Which will get removed in November.

What You’ll Find in My Blogroll

My updated blogroll continues to highlight my interests:

• Birding
• Science
• Nature
• Gardening
• Detroit-area stories

as well as links to friends’ sites I’ve followed for years.

Wrapping Up

Blogrolls are an excellent way to share blogs/websites you follow, recommend, and enjoy. I’ve extended my blogroll to highlight newsletters I read as well.

My plan is to review my blogroll monthly and update as needed.

For my readers with your own websites, have you added a blogroll?