How can I increase blog readers?
Do you find it sad when you come across a blog full of extremely relevant info, only to find that there are no comments in sight? There appears to be no site activity except for that of the frantic article poster, thinking that the key to ‘getting their message out there’ is to post as often as possible. This isn’t to say that no-one visits. In fact the majority of your readers (90% according to this study) are lurkers i.e. read or observe but don’t contribute.
Tony Hung of Deep Jive Interests wrote a great guest article over at ProBlogger on How To Market Your Blog in 2007.
What he says goes a long way towards anything I’d have to say on the matter, but here are a couple of things directly relevant to my own blog:
1/ I searched for a wordpress plugin to display posts with the most comments (you’ll find one at the bottom of that page). This does two things. Firstly gives your returning visitors quick access to the posts that they are most likely to have commented on, and secondly it gives first time readers the impression that your site isn’t one of those I mentioned at the start of this article.
2/ I’ve recently become a member of MyBlogLog and added their simple widget to my site, allowing me to build a community and see who’s stopping by. There are tons of articles already written about this new addition to the blogosphere so I’ll simply direct you to a decent one here.
3/ It’s not a blanket covering of visitors that I’m trying to attract. I’m taking it one person at a time, and visiting their blogs, making comments, being as constructive as possible by trying to add to the discussion. Darren Rowse at ProBlogger gives this insight called 10 techniques to get more comments on your blog.
These points all focus on online networking but it’s equally important to have a focus offline. This is where things like my business card and getting on the phone come into play. Ben over at the Instigator Blog recently wrote The Most Important Question You Can Ask When Networking.
At the end of the day it still comes back to your content. If it’s no good then no-one will be interested. I’m just a child in terms of how long I’ve been blogging, but it’s something I enjoy and something that has given me the opportunity to network with some great people along the way.
Thanks for interacting with me and my blog.
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20 spot-on reader comments to “How can I increase blog readers?”
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David you said it. Its the million dollar question. Where are the comments?
In my nightly internet surfing, I bumped into a site [sadly only a sentence was meaningful, and I didnt bookmark it], where the blogger states “Show me some love. Leave a comment.” It made me laugh and reflect too .. How true..
Its the passivity thats killing us. Any writing is like doing stand up comedy.. We need audience feedback ! What do you say?
Well, this gives me pause. I do leave comments but truly not enough. I will work to do better and that includes commenting here. Good info to read about. Thanks. :)
David, I can only speak from my own experience (because I’m only a 2 month-old blogger myself), but I’ve found that it pays (both in enjoyment and returns) to also be an active participant in other people’s blogs. Because often you’ll find that this will introduce you to a like-minded community who will (hopefully) be interested in what you have to say, and will want to comment accordingly.
I also think that the ‘tone of voice’ of your blog is far more important than most people realise. Ben over at Noisy Decent Graphics http://noisydecentgraphics.typepad.com/ (who was my main inspiration when I set out) has a particularly engaging style of writing which draws people in.
And you need to keep at it. Because you just can’t predict which particular posts are going to draw comments, and those that get absolutely zilch.
Beth, thanks again for dropping in.
Great point, David, about the tone of voice of your writing. Ben’s blog is a nice one, and one of my RSS subscriptions (along with yours).
Thanks for the tips! I get a fair few visits through MyBlogLog these days. The biggest hit generator I’ve had so far has been from a post that someone else (Chris) Stumbled. As for the Wordpress plugin to list the most commented posts - I wrote my own (see “Popular Posts” on my site. A little MySQL and a dash of PHP and you’re there. I also knocked up a “Comment Stars” section - to show who’s on the leader board of number of comments posted. I keep meaning to write up how I did it, for other keen Wordpress hackers…
Your comment stars section is a nice tool for keeping commenters coming back. Kudos on the coding.
Pinksy, hurry up & write that article!
David, thanks for visiting my blog, and this article has some great tips in it.
The WordPress plugin Top Commentators (like Pinksy’s ‘Comment Stars’, but you don’t need to be a coding genius) did wonders for my level of comments - it must have quadrupled them and is highly recommended.
My BlogLog is proving very useful and Stumble can give you some good spikes & a ‘long tail’ of RSS subscribers.
You can also show off your business card on blas.st as well - I’ve just written it up on my blog, Blog-Op, and for a new directory, I’ve already had a little traffic from it.
Good luck!
Cheers guys. I promise I’ll write it up as soon as I can…
Hi David. Thanks for the link to Duncan’s Print on Tuesday.
It’s interesting to see what people comment on. I’ve found that most commenters are people so personally moved by an advertising campaign they’ll seek out a place to express their reaction - whether that be gratitude or resentment. In some cases they write as though the advertiser is reading. Maybe they’re right.
I’ll have a look at including the MyBlogLog feature - thought that won’t cover the average web visitor who’s come through Google.
I just popped over to see Darren Rowse’s 10 tips for increasing blog traffic. The only one that sort of bothered me was be controversial. I love a good argument as much as the next guy, but stirring the waters on purpose is a little shallow for me. I at least like to assume that my opponent believes themselves to be correct not just trying to get my goat for audience.
Just suggesting it would make me suspect of all the author’s opinions.
My blogging interest is corporate branding. So I want good content and discussion when I’m out here. I’ve only been blogging for a little over a month now, and I wish I had checked out this concept a long time ago. But already I am enjoying the community and the caliber of the authors and readers. I guess we all would like people to comment but like traditional advertising, I’m also happy to see they they just visited and had a look around. Every exposure to my business is fantastic whether active or passive.
Thanks for visiting - I wish I offer you a coffee as well.
Ed, that’s a great point about being controversial. If you’re blogging just to start an argument I’m sure it won’t be long before people don’t respect what you have to say. Stirring the waters, as you say, is shallow for me too.
Thank you for your article. I agree, MyBlogLog brings a lot of visitors to various blogs. Bringing them back is another thing, something that bloggers must continuously wrestle with.
I see you used point #3 to get me to comment on your blog. :)
I am one of those 90%—sad really since I have a blog of my own.
I find that once I stop caring about receiving comments, or when I barely have time to post (much less reply to comments), they just seem to pour in. By the way, irony has always been at the head of my life.
HI David
I just checked out the ProBlogger link you mentioned, there are some great articles over there for a newbie blogger like me.
Thanks
Tara
Glad to be of help.
Hi David,
I’ve been having a good look around your blog hoping to pick up a few tips on logo and business card design. Not only success but some great articles on networking and reaching out. I recently wrote an article about leaving comments at ezinearticles.com. Readers often do not understand how important those few words can be to the writer. It takes just a little of the “facelessness” out of it all.
I shall continue looking around to see what other great stuff you have to offer
Regards
TrishA
If you think I can be of any help with anything just let me know.
David,
thanks for this GREAT article. I have definitely learnt so much from it. I hope to take to your advise and become more active in some of the methods you have prescribed in this post.
Visiting other blogs as well. ;)
Thanks man.
Adebola
Thanks for the visit.