It’s the main thing most of us want – more readers. It’s also one thing many of us struggle to get.
We have to be realistic here and remember that growth does take time. Few bloggers hit the jackpot of a viral post and have 15 minutes of fame and those that do often find themselves back to square one when their post becomes old news.
Here are some tips you can use to get some more readers on your blog.
Tell your family and friends.
It might seem daunting, but often your family and friends will be your biggest fans as even though they might not be interested in your niche, they’re interested in you. It’s fine to wait a while before you share your blog with others. You might want to wait until you develop your site, style and blog into something you’re proud of, but it’s an easy way to get more people reading. They may even share it with their friends. So post links to your Facebook, send invites to your page and talk to your friends about your blog.
Leave great comments on other blogs.
I have shouted and screamed about this for years. Leave GREAT comments on other people’s blogs. Don’t say ‘great post’ and then dump your social media links. Don’t ask them to follow-for-follow. I still see this happening every day.
Read the post and comment something thoughtful. It doesn’t have to be massively long (whey!) – but it has to be something that shows you’ve read the post and not just looked at the photos.
I find blog comments come easiest with me when I am able to relate a similar story about something that’s happened to me that relates to the blog post.
Some people don’t like it when a blogger leaves a link, but if the comment form doesn’t give an option, I always encourage others to leave a simple link to their blog at the bottom.
Socialise with the blogging community.
Join in Twitter chats, find other bloggers that are a similar niche and have a similar following to you.
Twitter is the easiest way to do this by using hashtags to find bloggers:
- #bloggers for general
- #fbloggers for fashion
- #lbloggers for lifestyle
- #bbloggers for beauty
- #pbloggers for parenting
- #tbloggers for travelling
- #sbloggers for students
- #psbloggers for plus size
- #ukbloggers for UK
- #hbloggers for health and fitness
There are many other hashtags you can use. You can also use online communities and retweet accounts such as #thegirlgang and #blogginggals.
These can be used to both promote your own content and to find other bloggers to interact with.
Make your images shareable.
Use websites like Picmonkey or Canvas to add text your images that will make them stand out when you share them across social media and also encourage others to do the same.
It’s been proven in many studies that people are more likely to click on a link that an eye-catching supporting image.
Link to other bloggers.
Roundup posts that share other people’s blog posts are a great way to get more readers. Not only will those bloggers you featured read and often comment, but they are likely to share your post across their social media, too. Make sure you tag them!
Be realistic.
It’s unlikely you are going to get hundreds of views straight away. It takes years of establishing yourself in the blogging world to get attention. There are so many bloggers out there nowadays that review the same things, that have the same message and target audience – it’s difficult to stand out in the crowd.
Although it’s wonderful to have lots of readers, don’t allow it to be your main motivation for blogging. Focus on putting out great content and building a regular readership and friendship with a handful of bloggers and then go from there.
What are your tips?
Great Post! F4F?
Just kidding, these are really great nuggets of advice and I definitely need to try some of these a little more. Maybe February will be the month of commenting on blog posts – I used to be really good at it but nowadays I just forget.
This is such a useful post, it’s so important for people to manage their expectations! I love finding the time to read other blogs- it’s fun and I’m so happy to be a part of the community! 🙂
x
Great tips! I think I must be more patience too 🙂
I always wonder how much blog commenting I need to be doing. Like, how much is ‘enough’ y’know?
Great post though Corinne 🙂
This is such great advice! I told all of my family and friends about my blog and you’re right, they are honestly the biggest supporters! I will definitely be taking up all of these tips 🙂 xx
I am at the point where I am trying to care less about stats, I just can’t afford the stress anymore. Ever since I stop the whole crazy cycle of commenting and replying everyone, the stress is lesser and I’m spending more quality time offline.
Love these tips — especially about telling friends and family. While it’s a little nerve-racking, it’s a great way to build readership and you never know where things might lead when they share with their own networks!
Fab tips! I would love to make more pinnable pictures but every time I try they look very MS Paint and I end up getting really wound up and not using them! However, telling friends and family about my blog was one of the best things I ever did – if nothing else I know I’ll always get a view off my Mum everyday hehe!
Sarah 🙂
I loved reading these tips, they really make sense ….I totally agree about leaving meaningful comments. They don’t have to be long, they don’t even have to be detailed….Personally, I don’t expect my readers to read everything every time…sometimes I post things that may not be interesting to everyone- I understand and respect that. I would be fine with someone leaving comment saying that is not their area of interesting or saying they don’t have the time to read it now…or whatever….I’m happy with anything but those ‘great post’ spam comments. Nobody likes those.
I opened a twitter account but I haven’t figured out how to use it yet…baby steps:) I think that we don’t have to be ‘very’ present on every social platform but it is always good to open a profile in case someone looks for us there. I’m more active on Instagram then on Twitter but that might change some day.
I’m finding this a total hit and miss at the moment, sometimes I just feel so overwhelmed by all the social media options that go along side a blog, IG, Twitter, Snapchat, SO MCUH! I really focus on commenting, but I could do with an extra 2 hours in the week to have time to get things done! 🙁
Another post we can totally relate to! We have found that finding the time to interact and communicate with other bloggers has really helped with our blog traffic. We have actually decided to post once a week for now to allow us to do this which we have found so beneficial. You are so right about being realistic with your blogging expectations, your not going to get thousands of views over night but if you remain positive and determined it will certainly help.
Thanks for sharing xxx
Thanks for sharing your tips! I’ve always been awful at uploading photos to my blog, but if it gets people to read my crap, why not, right? 😛
I agree about the meaningful comments. It makes me want to check out other blogs. x
This is so great, and really helpful! Thanks for sharing. I’ve definitely found commenting on other blog posts, socialising with the blogging community and improving my images has helped improve my readership massively!
I think it really does just take time, but these things definitely help! Sharing my blog with family and friends really made a difference to my views because now they all read it! And omg it drives me up the wall when people leave a blog comment without actually reading my post, it’s so rude!
Amy xx
http://www.callmeamy.co.uk
Great tips. The comment one is so important, so many people don’t read a post fully and leave daft comments that make no sense in relation to the post. The Twitter chats is a great way to get chatting and involved in the community Lucy x
I so agree about the meaningful comments. Someone new commented on a blog post I did today (the one with the jumper with robins on) and she literally wrote ‘interesting’ – no punctuation whatever or any information about what, in my fairly mundane post, was interesting!
I very cheekily went over to her blog and wrote a comment saying, “To quote your visiting comment to my blog: interesting! (and why a haggis???) . Then, to be nice, after making my point, I left her two nice comments!
I find using hashtags and commenting on other blogs is the best way to go! 🙂 Tania Michele xx
Thanks for this useful post Corrine. I’m just getting serious about my blog. I’m hoping it has a niche as I’m over 55 and into health & fitness. Take a read…
Great post Corinne. I’m a new blogger myself, and just setting up I had unrealistic expectations. Now I just take whatever I get in my stride! I will take your note about commenting more on blogs though.