Blogging is Dead-Four Tips to Increase Your Blog Readership

You may have heard authors say that blogging is dead. Perhaps you’ve said this yourself.

If so, consider these statistics, found on GetCodeless.com

Blogging ensures marketers are 13X more likely to see positive returns on their investments.

Researchers have found direct correlations between the number of posts organizations (or authors) publish each month and their overall website traffic.

When one’s site includes a blog, they are likely to see 67% more leads than they would otherwise.

Over half of consumers (including readers) feel more engaged and positive toward a brand (or author) after reading blog content.

But perhaps the most compelling: The majority of marketing experts prioritize blogging over their other inbound marketing efforts.

Therefore, if our blog isn’t getting read, the problem likely lies with us more than our potential audience. Could it be were not utilizing this medium effectively?

When I first began blogging in 2009, I didn’t know anyone outside of the publishing industry who blogged, though people were making great money at it. In fact, professional bloggers were brining in an annual income of $75,000, with one third of them making six figures. Soon, everyone wanted in on this seemingly easy income stream. As a result, the number of blogs grew from 127 million worldwide to over 440 million located on Tumblr, Squarespace, and Wordpress alone. (Read more stats HERE.)

Our goal, then, is to do what we can to make our content stand out.

Here are some ways we can do so:

1. Use strong, clear, attention grabbing titles

We’re writers. We likely being cutesy and clever with our words, but if our reader doesn’t know what a post is about, why will they feel compelled to stop scrolling through Facebook to click on your link?

They won’t likely click if you simply state your topic either. You want to do so in a way that makes the reader feel as if they absolutely need to read whatever you’ve written about.

For example, consider the two titles, written about the same topic.

“Building a Strong Marriage”

“How God Brought Us Back From the Brink of Divorce”

Both provide an indication as to your post’s main focus but the second is likely to get more clicks. (Bonus: Readers love transparency. Share how you’ve blown something related to the topic and even your second cousin four-times removed will be likely to click.)

2. Start with a “bam” opening.

I’m often surprised how many blog entries begin similar to how one might start a daily journal:

The other day I was out running errands with my kids.
Lately I’ve been contemplating what it means to surrender.
I’ve always struggled to understand what Jesus meant when He told us to carry our cross.
I love reading books with strong female leads.

When considering the strength of your opening line, ask yourself, “If someone were to read this first line alone, would they feel compelled to keep reading?”

If the answer is no, revise.

3. Avoid reader whiplash.

I’m borrowing from Andy Stanley here. In his book, Communicating For a Change, he discusses the importance of providing your audience (or in our case, readership) a clear roadmap so that they don’t think they’re heading one direction then feel a jolt when they realize we’ve been discussing something else entirely.

When I edit content from my ministry team, I encourage them to provide a hint by the first line. I don’t want them to provide the solution or main takeaway just yet, but I do want them to awaken reader hunger. For example, if their post is on loving others as themselves, they could begin with a line that points to self love: I can become quite self-obsessed. Or, My self-obsessive tendencies nearly destroyed my marriage. If you want to talk about generosity, you could start with: Greed cost me my house, my kids, and my self-respect. Or, my struggles with generosity suggest I don’t believe God’s as good as the Bible makes Him out to be.

4. Build tension.

Often, we provide the solution before we’ve taken the time to build reader hunger for it. How we do this will vary based on our type of content. Since my blog posts are almost always devotional in nature, I’ll share how this looks for me. I like to start with a personal story showing my life when I lived in rebellion to our outside of whatever truth I’m espousing. For example, if I’m writing about lasting friendships, I’ll start with a story of a time when unloving behavior led to loneliness. If I want to talk about biblical finances, I’ll begin sharing how my husband and were once over $35,000 in debt.

Blogging isn’t for everyone. Some of you may get more traction through podcasts or simply pumping one book out after another. But before determining this free tribe-building medium isn’t for you, I encourage you to evaluate your time and effectiveness. Might you receive better results if you were to practice the above tips? And if you found doing so helped consistently increase your readership, would you then deem it worth your time?

Join the conversation! Do you blog? If not, why? If you do blog, what tips would you add to the one I mentioned here? How do you strive to stay relevant and competitive in today’s super noisy Internet world?

Jennifer Slattery  is a writer and international speaker who has addressed women’s groups, church groups, Bible studies, and other writers across the nation. She maintains a devotional blog found at Jennifer Slattery Lives Out Loud and on Crosswalk. She has a passion for helping women discover, embrace, and live out who they are in Christ. As the founder of Wholly Love Ministries, she and her team partner with churches to facilitate events designed to help women rest in their true worth and
live with maximum impact. When not writing, reading, or editing, Jennifer loves going on mall dates with her adult daughter and coffee dates with her hilariously fun husband. Contact her HERE to book her for your next women’s event.
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