How to Grow Your Blog Readership
I've been blogging since 2006, which is a ridiculously long time. Especially when you consider blogs have really only been around since the late 90s. When I first started I had zero readers. Unless you count friends and family.
I wanted readers, though. To me it seemed to be common sense. The only way to get people to read my blog would be to read other people's. So I went out in search of blogs to read and commented.
Over time, I've learned a few things. They're things I can't always put into practice, mostly because life gets busy sometimes! But there are various reasons to blog. For some, a blog is merely a personal diary--a way to vent frustrations and express themselves.
Some merely want to have a small readership of friends. A social network, similar to the one they have on Facebook or Twitter.
For those people, they simply need to maintain their current readership. If they read the blogs of every person who reads theirs on a regular basis, they'll mostly maintain, minus the few people who drop off every year. But there are many, many more of us who want to meet new people. Maybe we just like the thrill of knowing that when we post something, it will be read by many.
Some are blogging for a reason (in addition to enjoying it). We may be trying to get the word out about our books or products. If we stagnate, we miss the point. By growing our community, we grow our brand (and all the other cliched things marketing experts say).
Growing a blog readership can be a tough one. I'll often go through the comments of all of you guys and look for interesting bloggers. That's often a great way to find people with similar interests.
You can also use big group challenges as a way to meet new people. If you're a writer and you want to meet new writers, go through the signup list at the IWSG and meet new people. Better yet--participate and on the first Wednesday of the month, when everyone's posting about their insecurities, read as many as possible.
Sadly, only a small percentage will comment back when you comment them...but a few new friends are better than no new friends, right?
What advice do you have to help others get new readers?
I wanted readers, though. To me it seemed to be common sense. The only way to get people to read my blog would be to read other people's. So I went out in search of blogs to read and commented.
Over time, I've learned a few things. They're things I can't always put into practice, mostly because life gets busy sometimes! But there are various reasons to blog. For some, a blog is merely a personal diary--a way to vent frustrations and express themselves.
Some merely want to have a small readership of friends. A social network, similar to the one they have on Facebook or Twitter.
For those people, they simply need to maintain their current readership. If they read the blogs of every person who reads theirs on a regular basis, they'll mostly maintain, minus the few people who drop off every year. But there are many, many more of us who want to meet new people. Maybe we just like the thrill of knowing that when we post something, it will be read by many.
Some are blogging for a reason (in addition to enjoying it). We may be trying to get the word out about our books or products. If we stagnate, we miss the point. By growing our community, we grow our brand (and all the other cliched things marketing experts say).
Growing a blog readership can be a tough one. I'll often go through the comments of all of you guys and look for interesting bloggers. That's often a great way to find people with similar interests.
You can also use big group challenges as a way to meet new people. If you're a writer and you want to meet new writers, go through the signup list at the IWSG and meet new people. Better yet--participate and on the first Wednesday of the month, when everyone's posting about their insecurities, read as many as possible.
Sadly, only a small percentage will comment back when you comment them...but a few new friends are better than no new friends, right?
What advice do you have to help others get new readers?
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