Getting Readers

Well, you might try posting links to your blogs in your signature here, for one thing. My friend has received a few hits from other AWers.

Commenting on other blogs is good too - most let you link to your blog in your name, or some other non-obnoxious way.

Plus, having good content will cause your blog to appear in Google. It's all about content, baby!

Sorry...too much coffee tonight.

- Brandon Kerlee

Brandi - welcome, hope you've mentioned your blog up in the Absolute Writers' Blogs sticky thread...

Brandon has made good points - AW readers who find your blog interesting will keep coming back to it. Commenting in other blogs and linking to them helps. I get new blogosphere friends by doing that. That said, I only average 21 visits to my site a day (that's unique readers, not page loads).

Technorati, for us folks out on 'the long tail', works better if you use tags and use them often - and use popular tags. Making the header listings is very difficult - you need thousands of links and hits to get there.

Another thing is to blog every day and keep them coming back wanting more. End posts with a hook or a question. Be sure to go into comments often and respond to things people say - they check back to see if you did and might not post again if they feel ignored.

Of course there are other ways to get traffic - you have to decide what kind of traffic you want and how much work it's worth to get it.

I agree 100% with Brandon about the importance of good content. I like to add that if possible try to update your blog everyday. Also, try to figure out what readers would love to have your blog. For example, my blog is about South Asian Business. I suppose noone would come to read about short story here. Being relevant to the topic is very important.
To me the most personal quality is having own your voice or style. There are so many sources for information in Internet. You must try to develop a voice of your own to sound different to the visitors.

I'll start with a description of where I am, hit-wise. My primary blog seems to average around 50-60 hits per day, according to Site Meter. So if you want to be up there with Instapundit, Daily Kos, or Gizmodo - I'm not the one to ask.

The bulk of my hits come from search engines. My blog does have a fair amount of how-to information, enough that I'm actually thinking of buying a domain name and starting a companion website where I can store the articles in a more logical format. A little homemade search engine optimization may help pull in hits.

I'll admit that I have on occasion used the key words that people used to find my blog as jumping-off points for new posts. For example, I somehow got a bunch of hits from people looking for "homemade windshield washer fluid," even though my blog didn't say anything about the topic. So I went and looked up what's in the stuff - it's mostly methanol - and posted an entry called, naturally enough, "Homemade windshield washer fluid - the recipe." My blog is now the #3 hit on Google for homemade windshield washer fluid.

The next biggest source of hints is from the message board at the Megasquirt forum. They have a lot of people wandering in and asking very similar questions. I wrote some answers to their questions and, with the permission of the administrators, posted links to them in a sticky at the top of the main message board.

I post a link to my blog in my sig on virtually every message board that I visit. This accounts for a small but steady trickle of hits.

I leave comments on other blogs. This doesn't pull in a huge number of hits, probably less than message board sigs, but I sometimes get results from them. And if this leads to a major blog, such as Autoblog, finding my site and posting a link to something I write, this might really pay off.

There are a few sites run by others that have permanent links to mine, too. Right now one of them accounts for maybe 5% of my hits - the others, maybe 1-2 hits a month. The two keys here are the number of sites that link to you and how much traffic each one gets.

**Warning: Shameless Self Promotion Ahead**

I wrote a tip article about this very thing.

**End Shameless Self Promotion**

There are tons of things you can do to pull in hits. But the main focus should probably be on keeping readers there as well as making them want to come back. The main thing I've learned (actually still learning) is having good, solid content rules. The nice thing about having good quality content is it will spark the word of mouth process where people who have visited your blog will recommend you to others looking for the same information.

Also RSS is the big thing now. People are so busy, busy, busy. Make sure you have your rss feed link on display somewhere so people can subscribe and be notified when you have updated your blog. Feedburner is a great resource for tracking subscribers to your feed and also has a partnership with Feedblitz to offer your readers a way to get updates via email.

Keep us updated as to how things are going. Good luck.

In addition to everything mentioned above, occasionally I advertise with a reciprocol service (I think it's Blogs by Women, or associated with that group).

The real problem is not just getting readers, but repeat visits. You can almost control the number of hits your blog receives by the wording of the post titles. It is the content that keeps 'em coming back, I think.

Georganna, welcome to our forum and AW Water Cooler in general. I hope you'll go up to the Absolute Writers' Blogs thread and formally introduce yourself.

After that, please wander around the rest of AW and get to know all the great folk here. I hope you'll find this a place worth visiting often.

Georganna Hancock said:

In addition to everything mentioned above, occasionally I advertise with a reciprocol service (I think it's Blogs by Women, or associated with that group).

The real problem is not just getting readers, but repeat visits. You can almost control the number of hits your blog receives by the wording of the post titles. It is the content that keeps 'em coming back, I think.

Click to expand...

GH! I'm looking forward to getting to know you around here!

I'm trying to accomplish this same goal -- this thread is a big help! Thank you!

Lurking works

This AW-clopedia is very useful. I figured out how to put a "subscribe me" email signup on my blog today. I'm feeling very smart.

I have to agree with others -- I write a weight loss blog, and the best way I've found to build up my readership is to link to and comment in other blogs that focus on the same topic. Also, if there are any online blog directories that focus on your topic, make sure your blog is listed there.

I also learned that if you want a quick bump in hits, link to a Washington Post article and hope that your blog's link shows up in their little "Who's Blogging?" box that accompanies the online article.

Ooh! Great ideas!

Thanks,
Kelly