Blogger Plugin for Related Posts: nRelate @nRelate

Warning:  This is a post for people who blog.  I promise to be back to crafty posts soon!  

So way back when I changed my layout in January, I changed to a new plugin for related posts.  A related post plugin is what you see all the way at the bottom of this post that gives you thumbnails of other related posts you might like.  So after my layout change, I decided to give nRelate a try.  When you visit a post here    on the Country Chic Cottage you will see this at the bottom:

That is nRelate!  Helping readers to find my older posts that they may like just as well as the post they are reading right now.  For instance, I pulled the screen shot above off of a post that is about spray painting.  All of the links that nRelate pulled are also related to spray painting.  This is a great way to promote your older content.  Most of those posts are from last summer and would not normally be up front for my readers to access.  

So why did I choose nRelate?  Frankly, the plugin I was using did not work with my new layout but it also did not seem to pull from my older posts.  There always seemed to be the same "related" posts with little variety.  I set up nRelate in a few minutes and was up and running.  I thought I would give all of you bloggers my thoughts on nRelate in case you are thinking of adding or switching plugins.

• The variety of styling options is amazing.  The part that really worked for me was that I could put it on my post pages only and not on my homepage.  You can choose your thumbnail size, styles for your thumbnails, a relevancy setting of how relevant you want the options to be, etc, etc.  The options are wonderful.
• A related post plugin will increase your pageviews.  Seriously if you have a blog and have not installed a related post plugin -- do it now!  Did you know that just by adding you can increase your pageviews 5-12%??  That alone is awesome!  Plus you are keeping your readers engaged longer and highlighting some of that older content that you have.  
• I personally have not tried this option yet but you can also share posts from your blog roll at the bottom of your post.  So where you see "you may also like" it could have some or all of your friend's posts there.  Helping to spread the bloggy love is good karma!      
• As shown with my example above, it pulls very relevant post results.  Plus it pulls from my oldest content.  I love that.  There is no other way a reader is going to get to a two year old post on my blog.  
• You can monetize.  Want to make a little more money on your blog?  One of your thumbnails can also be an ad.  I have added that to my nRelate plugin.  However, for some reason the code is not working correctly.  I contacted nRelate and they have been very prompt in responding to the issue.  They are working on my specific problem.  I love it when customer service is awesome don't you?    

Overall I love the nRelate plugin.  If you want further information, you can head on over to their site and get all of your questions answered.  There is a version for Blogger as well as Wordpress so they have you covered for both.  It is super easy to set up and test drive.  I would recommend setting it up on your blog and giving it a try if you are at all interested.  I think after you set it up and get it styled the way you want it...you will love it!  You can also find nRelate on twitter and facebook for more information.

~Thanks for stopping by!~

~Angie~

Posted in: product reviews