A Blog Roll is a list of links that the web owner likes.
These links point to other blogs.
The blogroll is usually included in the blogs sidebar as a widget, which is the standard way to do it.
It is possible to split your blogroll up into categories if you so desire.
One could have their list of blogs related to their blog, then a miscellaneous list of blogs that they just like but are not related to their blog.
The blogroll is based on the blogger's personal preference and it can be changed at any time.
Standard Blogroll Operating Procedure When a blogger links to your blog it is standard practice to do the same thing back.
You should add a link back to their blog as well.
While this is the standard thing to do it is not always done.
Perhaps one of the bloggers does not like the other blogger's blog and does not want to be associated with it.
That is fine and you should never feel you NEED to link to someone elses blog just because they link to yours, but if you don't mind their blog or even like it then you should link to it.
Blogroll Benefits Other than just pleasing the other blogger with a reciprocal link there are a couple of benefits to this.
Every time another site links to your site you get what is called a backlink.
The search engines work like this: the more powerful and relevant sites that link to your site, the more relevant and valuable your content must be.
This gives you a boost in the search engines and makes your blog stand out more than others.
Also you can get traffic from people clicking on your link from the other persons blog.