Atheism is increasing gradually here in the U.S., but interest in atheism is experiencing explosive growth at the moment. This is reflected in increased traffic to many of the established atheist blogs and in the emergence of many new ones. Keeping up with the many atheist blogs worth reading is becoming more of a challenge. Not surprisingly, I have been receiving at least a few e-mails a week asking me to add an atheist blog to my blogroll. In this post, I will clarify how my blogroll works and provide some tips for those of you looking to increase your blog traffic.

Please recognize that bloggers use their blogrolls in different ways. Some use them almost exclusively for reciprocal links (i.e., I'll add you if you add me) and will add anyone who reciprocates. Others are highly selective, adding only a handful of blogs which they regularly read. Still others attempt to catalog every single atheist-oriented blog, regardless of merit or reciprocation.

So how do I use my blogroll? I use it to list those blogs which I read myself (at least periodically), find useful, and believe that others interested in atheism would find useful. That is, these are blogs which I recommend to my readers. I make no attempt to include every atheist blog in existence. I want inclusion on my blogroll to reflect quality and not simply quantity or reciprocal link agreements. Thus, my criteria for including a blog on my blogroll are as follows:

• The blog must be primarily focused on atheism, freethought, or similar topics. A limited number of exceptions may be made for truly outstanding blogs in peripheral areas.
• In order for my recommendation to mean anything, the blog must be one that I read fairly regularly and recommend to others interested in atheist-oriented material.
  
• The blog must have at least 10 posts.
  
• Blogs must be active, posting at least twice a month.
• A reciprocal link to Atheist Revolution is appreciated but not required.
  

Continue to notify me about your blog if you think it might make a suitable addition but understand that I owe it to my readers to be selective. For other ways to jump-start your traffic, I recommend you check out Mojoey's Atheist Blogroll, Planet Atheism, AtheismOnline, and Atheist Blogs Aggregated. These can get you on the map quickly. Also, start commenting regularly on posts at other atheist blogs. This helps you establish a reputation as someone with something to contribute. Finally, and I can't stress this enough, reference posts from other blogs on your blog. With trackback, bloggers and their readers will learn about you and start visiting your blog.

Tags: blog, blogging, blogroll, atheist, atheism