How to Find Blogs

• You can find specific blogs using a basic internet search.
• Search by topic in directories to find popular blogs.
• Scan social media to find new content, or reach out online for recommendations.

Perform a basic internet search.

Entering a search term and adding “blog” will give you tons of results. The easiest way to find blogs that interest you is through your favorite search engine. Include a keyword or two based on the topic you’re interested in and tack on the word “blog” at the end of it. For example, if you’re interested in blogs about baseball, you might search for “baseball statistics blog.” Use modifiers like “best,” “top,” or “new” to find fresh or popular blogs in a given subject. For example, you search for something like, “best cinema blog,” or, “new interior design blog.” You can always group your search terms together if you want to find something specific. Use quotation marks to only pull up results with words that appear in that order. For example, “top “Chicago street art” blog” will only pull up results that specifically mention the phrase “Chicago street art.”

Search the most popular blog-hosting sites.

Use the search function on blog sites to find what you're looking for. Alternatively, you can use a standard search engine and simply add the hosting site in quotation marks at the end of your search term to pull up results for whatever you’re searching for. Wordpress is arguably the most popular blogging platform. If you’re looking for individual blogs, Wordpress will have tons of results for you. Medium is a publishing platform that anyone can use, although it tends to be more popular among professionals and full-time writers. If you’re looking for in-depth content, this is a great site to dig through. Tumblr is technically a social media site, but it’s extremely popular among bloggers. If you’re a fan of any popular public figures, they may have a blog on Tumblr. Content hosting sites like Huffington Post, Buzzfeed, Engadget, and Gizmodo technically qualify as blogs and they all offer a ton of content.

Use blog directories to search by topic.

Directories are kind of like encyclopedias for blogs. You may need to sign up for a free account to use some of them, but they make it much easier to find content. Most of them have a search function, although all of them allow you to sort and scan results based on a category. Some of them even track your searches to customize the kind of content you see based on your preferences. Alltop scans the most popular content sites out there and presents the headlines in a tight, streamlined format so you can pick out what you want to read. Bloggeries is a great resource with more categories than a lot of the other directories out there. Spoke is a popular blog directory designed specifically with businesses, finance, and marketing material in mind. Bloglovin is a great site if you’re specifically looking for fashion, beauty, or home décor blogs.

Use an RSS feed reader to track new content.

Think of an RSS feed reader like a collection bin for content. You enter a topic or website domain, and all of the most popular or recent content pops up. You can also set notifications up for keywords, authors, or topics to get the quickest scoop on new info. RSS feeds used to be extremely popular, open, and free, but most of them now require you to sign up for an account these days. Some of them require a monthly subscription as well. The Old Reader is one of the best free RSS readers out there. You can bookmark certain sites, track multiple sites and authors at once, and all you need is a Google or Facebook account to sign up. Flipboard is a popular mobile app that’s geared specifically towards news. It does include blogs and regular news articles in its results, though. Feedly is another popular option, although you do need to play a small fee. It’s a great option if you like to organize and collect sites from all over the internet in one place. Inoreader is a really popular RSS feed reader with a free version. It has a built-in podcast player if you like to listen to things while you’re scanning the news.

Search for curated lists to find recommended content.

There are a ton of sites out there that publish lists, rankings, and suggestions. Go into your search engine and search for something like, “Top 10 automotive blogs,” or “50 most popular photography blogs” to pull up a ton of lists and recommendations. Some of these will pop up naturally in your initial search results, but don’t discount them! You’re going to run into some advertising by doing this, but you can still find plenty of great content by perusing these lists. You could also search based on specific recommendations. For example, you could search for something like “Anthony Bourdain’s favorite food blogs.” Sites like Cracked, Buzzfeed, Ranker, and Listverse specialize in this kind of content if you want more.

Scan social media to find new content.

Poke around on social media to find new content and writers. Bloggers and sites that host bloggers tend to be extremely active on social media, so searching Facebook and Instagram can be a great way to find new content. This is also an especially solid option if you want to find popular stories and topics that are trending in the news. Searching the trending tab on Twitter is a great way to find popular content as it’s breaking in the news. Pintrest is a great platform if you’re looking for visual content. Bloggers often post recipes, links, and design ideas on there. You can follow or subscribe to your favorite blogs on social media to get notifications whenever they post new information.

Reach out online for recommendations.

You can always ask others for help finding interesting bloggers. Since your friends know you best, asking a question on Facebook can be a great way to get recommendations. You can also create a Reddit thread asking for great authors to follow online. If you’re interested in any kind of niche subjects, like pet hedgehogs or model trains, look for online forums where people in that subculture gather to exchange info. Asking a question on your favorite wikiHow article is another great way to get recommendations! Just scroll down to the bottom of the page to find the question & answer section. Depending on the article, someone may have already asked for recommendations!

Don’t forget about vlogs.

You may be limiting the scope of your search if you stick to written articles. A vlog, which is shorthand for “video blog,” can be just as interesting or insightful as a written article. The most popular vlogging site out there is YouTube, by a large margin. If you sign up for an account, you can also subscribe to your favorite vloggers so you get a notification whenever they post something new. Twitch (specifically the IRL section), is a fun alternative if you want to watch live video and interact with the author while they talk. Vimeo is a popular platform among professionals. If you’re looking for quality content, Vimeo’s search results are probably going to be less amateurish than YouTube’s. There aren’t a ton of folks making content there compared to YouTube, though. The Vlogbrothers, Philip Defranco, Casey Neistat, and Jenna Marbles are all popular vloggers over on YouTube.