What are creative ways of attracting and retaining blog readers?
What are some creative ways to drive traffic and keep the readers coming back to your blog?
Routes I have explored are Social Bookmarking Sites. However, as you enter those sites you are also unfortunately entering the world of thousands of competitors competitors. If a person is searching for a certain topic, they will eb displayed your blog along with hundred others. I'm not saying that social bookmarking sites do not work, but they have their flaws.
Linking with other related blogs, presents the same situation as above. It may work for broader topic blogs, but if you are a niche specific then you are teaming up with your competition.
There is also, being active and visible out there, and establish yourself as an expert in the area. I think this is viable option, definitely worth undertaking. However, in addition, have you come across any other way, that you wouldn't mind sharing that help you attract and retain readers?
Thanks,
Remi
Good Answers (5)
Fahim F
Independent Software Developer / Consultant / Writer / Editor
Best Answers in: Blogging (2), Web Development (2), Writing and Editing (1), Starting Up (1), E-Commerce (1), Enterprise Software (1), Telecommunications (1)
One thing that seemed to work (at least at one time on my own blog) was having something personal and on-going (sort of like reality TV :p) on my site. Of course, depending on the tone of your blog and the target audience, this will not always work :)
Another option is to have serialized content which will attract a regular readership like a serialized story, a series of how-to-articles, or a regular webcomic/cartoon. But this requires a lot of work and will also require that you be able to create quality content regularly ...
Vikram D
Senior Analyst at AOL APAC New Market Operations
Best Answers in: Blogging (10), Wireless (3), Job Search (1), Advertising (1), Public Relations (1), Professional Networking (1), Enterprise Software (1), Using LinkedIn (1)
Here are some innovative tips, which will help you in promoting a blog, and increasing hits – When you send mails to friends and co-workers, put your website’s/blog's URL after the closing salutation. The moment that person will read your mail he will notice the URL and click on it and if your website is really interesting and insightful the person will congratulate you as well as ask others to read your blog. Putting the website’s URL as a customized message, which gets displayed in your Google Talk or Yahoo or company’s internal messenger. Whenever you are online, the blog URL will get displayed and people in your friend’s list will click it out of curiosity and if they find it interesting rest will be history. There are Blog search engines where you can search blogs on the topics, which can be of interest to you. Search such blogs, read articles, if you like the articles comment on them and in that comment also put the URL of your website. Next time the person on whose blog you have commented, will read your comment he or she will definitely visit your website. These tips are not as efficient and accurate as Search Engine Optimization but they work thats for sure. The more your website gets visibility and traffic, automatically it will gain visibility in search engines also. Also, don't forget to add the Google Meta Tag for indexing from the Google Webmaster tools. Get listed with Blog directories.
I am a starter in the world of blogging but I have compiled some tips, which might be useful to you in making your blog a successful one as well as improve it. Here you go,
Research other Blogs - When you want to start a blog on a topic/product/service/experience, it is highly recommended that you first research similar blogs on the Internet, this will give you an idea, what popular blogs have in them, why people come back on these blogs, how they are written, style etc. Please don’t think that this is plagiarism, this is inspiration; it is not a bad thing to learn from a successful blog.
Clarity – Be very clear what you want to write and how do you want to write posts on your blog. If you are creating a blog to give your views on a topic/product/service/experience then stick to that, in these kind of blog you can also have news and give your own views on that. This helps, but give credit to the source from where the news was taken.
Layout/Design – The layout/design of your blog should mirror your interests or it should match with the total theme of the blog. Initially managing this will be problem, but once you get familiar with templates, it will be a cake walk.
Credits – When you start your blog, you will obviously take articles or insights or nuggets of information from other websites/blogs, give proper credits. This helps your in building credibility in the Blogosphere.
Tracking – If you have a blog don’t you think that somebody should keep a track of visitors/keyword for you? Don’t worry, just register your blog with FeedBurner or Google Analytics, they will do the rest for you. Just follow the instructions they give you and your blog is ready to be tracked.
Blog Indexing – Do not forget to index your blog with Google or Yahoo’s Webmaster service. It is free and once again their simple tutorial will help you in indexing your site. Indexing will primarily help your blog to come in search results of these search engines.
RSS Feeds – Once your blog is up and running, use FeedBurner to create feeds for your blog. This will help other people to subscribe to your blog in a reader or through their mail. Promoting Your Blog The Easy Way SEO is the best way to promote a website/blog and increase visibility and hits, but that needs some time and expertise.
Do let me know if this was helpful to you. If you have any feedback for me I am all ears.
Best of Luck!!!
Cheers,
Vikram Deo
Not Another Mobile Phone Blog - http://godspeedz.blogspot.com
Layman Tech Tips - http://techblog.dotcoy.com
If it is an actual blog, you may want to try generating some popular content with a hook. I recommend starting a Top 10 List or telling an outrageous story as an initial hook, and providing your usual content along with more hooks to generate a steady flow of traffic.
If you are looking to expand your blog, I second the suggestion about a webcomic or some sort of series of events that retains a viewership.
Chris B
VP of Business Development at Vanguard Technology
Best Answers in: Market Research and Definition (1), Blogging (1)
Remi-
This is a great question. Some simple things you can do to get some quick traffic are comment on other blogs, use StumbleUpon or Digg to generate traffic, or create a list of followers on Twitter and "tweet" each time you make a blog post.
Ultimately, though there are a few primary things to remember when blogging.
1. You have to write about a subject you're passionate and knowledge about. And you have to write in a way that engages the reader. There has to be value there...every time. You have to be a persuasive and compelling writer.
2. Even if you have great content, having a successful blog takes time. There is no silver bullet to readership. It's a slow build. Even the top bloggers like CopyBlogger and ProBlogger will tell you this.
3. Once you get readers you have to get them to come back. You can do this by offering subscribe buttons, but if the content doesn't resonate, they won't subscribe. Anticipation is also key. Build that into your writing.
4. Lastly, and this is somewhat random, but you need to have excellent titles to your blog posts. ProBlogger has many posts describing what that entails.
Hope this helps you on your quest for getting and keeping readers.
Links:
Gurmeet S
Senior SharePoint Technology Specialist at Microsoft Corporation (India)
1) Make your Site Visible to Search Engines
2) Exchange Links with Other Bloggers
3) Create an RSS Feed
4) Promote your Blog amongst your own Friends and Contacts
5) Join a Webring and/or text ad network
6) Guest Blogging
7) Get your Users to talk to each other and you by enabling Comments
8) Check your Visitor log to find other Bloggers to exchange Links or Guest Blogging requests with
9) Find out who is linking to other similar Blogs to yours to find more sites to exchange Links or Guest Blogging requests with
10) Use Trackback and enable on your Blog if Possible
More Answers (2)
Greg H suggests this expert on this topic:
I have my personal blog in addition to being the Dallas editor for www.IsMyHome.com, Dallas reviewer for www.Wcities.com and Dallas Ambassador for www.InterNations.org. In other words, I've been very proactive about getting out there and securing gigs that would help cross promotion of my other endeavors.
On the personal blog I can get away with things that I can't on the third party blogs. Also, it's important to keep in mind that I I'm an executive producer that works on programming catering to the travel and motorcycle markets and as a woman I am exposed to things that would be a litigation feast fest in other industries.
I get to write about these situations on my personal blog. I also get to be me and make posting titles that are sure to shock and awe to the degree that I really shouldn't mention some of the titles in this environment.
Find your niche and just go deep. Also, and this is crucial, after each posting make sure you visit www.Ipings.com and that will ensure the search engines know your blog's been updated recently -- Ipings is a great tool!
