Why you should be using a blog reader

If you're reading this blog right now, you're a blog reader. And if you find this blog interesting (even if you don't), there are probably a bunch of other blogs out there that you would find super interesting. And you should be reading them!

 But sometimes, it's daunting to have a folder of favorites that you need to check everyday. Especially if a blog you follow doesn't update daily (like this one) or updates more than once a day. It's hard to catch up when you get behind and it's hard to know when they're updating if you don't follow them on twitter/facebook/telekinesis.

That's where blog readers come in.

A blog reader is a site that you can log into and save your favorite blogs into a "feed" that is custom to your likes. You can follow food blogs, fashion blogs, DIY blogs, lifestyle blogs, tech blogs, comic blogs, you name it - there's a blog for it!

You may have used Google Reader in the past as an aggregate, but sadly the site is no more and many people never made a switch to a new host. If you're wandering around not sure which to pick - let me help! I've used Bloglovin' and Feedly a LOT and both are awesome. But I've been leaning towards Feedly for a while now so I feel like I can recommend it confidently.

This is what your Bloglovin' homepage looks like.

This is what your Feedly homepage looks like.

If I'm being frank here - Bloglovin' is a little too girly for me to confidently recommend. It's logo is a heart. Guys don't enjoy logging into a site that has "love" or apostrophes. And Feedly is just...gorgeous. It's like a slick magazine. You can choose your layout to be in a list format (no photos), card format (see above), or magazine format which is sort of a combination of both.

If you're anything like me, you'll follow way too many blogs to keep up with and only click through to articles with interesting titles/pictures.

Anyway, you'll want to create a login to whatever site you choose and start migrating the blogs you have in your favorites bar over to your feed.  There are search bars on each site for tracking down blogs based on links, titles, or even just browsing by category.

Once you've got a few blogs in your feed, sit back and watch the magic happen.  If you're already caught up on all the articles/posts you may want to mark them all as read to start with a clean slate. Every day, when you have free time, you can simply log into this ONE site and see all your favorite blogs' new posts. The sites update in (semi) real time so you'll be able to refresh and see new posts whenever you want.

Trust me, you'll love seeing everything in one place and you'll end up following even more great blogs (I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing).

If you have any questions, let me know! I love to talk blog readers.  Because I'm a weirdo.

xoxo
Amanda

PS - If you want to add THIS blog to your reader, follow these links:
Hello, Sweetie! on Feedly
Hello, Sweetie on Bloglovin'