Increasing Blog Readership

     All new bloggers, and at some point experienced bloggers, face the great problem of a lack of readers or a readership plateau.  Today, we'll discuss how to increase readership for a new and growing blog.  Keep in mind the regular, fresh content is at the core of a great blog. But yes, even great bloggers who have blogged for over a year contend with this.  Below are a few additional tips that can help you increase and improve readership:

Write clearly and completely explain the point/s you're making- Don't assume your readers have a good understanding of the subject. Your reader must be able to see your post for the first time and understand what you have to say without any confusion. If you are expanding on an prior post, link to that post so readers will refer to it.

Enable comments to encourage your readers to re-visit-  Involve your readers; ask for their opinions on the topic and encourage conversation.  Many readers will return if you make them feel involved and that their opinions matter.  If you moderate the comments on your blog, make sure to check pending comments often. It's discouraging to readers submitting and have the blog author wait too long before approving comments. If readers enjoy your post and have something to contribute, they want to view their comments ASAP, and many will expect a reply. Make them feel welcome and extend every courtesy to your audience!

Create an "Ask Me" section- Encourage interaction with your readers by setting up a section for readers to submit questions on your topic (Q&A).  This will help you to learn more on your subject too, and become a better expert!

Make friends with other bloggers- Visit other blogs often and other bloggers will do the same. New friends also have the tendency to link to your page(s) when they like what you've written.  Offer to guest author on other blogs and let others guest author on yours (check their work first).  This way, everyone wins, including the readers.

Create or join a blog community- Use communities and forums to your advantage. Communities are great places to interact with other bloggers and readers--- talk to them, ask questions and advice, tell them about your new posts and post ideas 9not too many details though). This encourages readers to visit your blog frequently. The more involved you make them, the more attention you will receive.

Subscriptions and RSS- Make sure your blog offers your readers the opportunity to sign up for updates thru a subscription (e-mail alerts) or RSS.  Click link for great explanation on RSS 

Press releases- Don't forget basic new business practices!  Announce your blog to the world, or at least to your community, company (if appropriate), organization, trade association, school, clubs, etc.  Use your current e-mail list of friends, family, school contacts and co-workers to inform them of your blog.  Announce particularly good or timely posts through a press release for distribution to the appropriate services (more on press releases in a future post).

Remember, if you want to have a popular blog, you need to make your audience feel welcome.  Let them know that their opinions matter.  Without your readers, your blog is just another bunch of letters on the web.

Don't just blog, Blog To Great!  Please comment below and submit a question.

Comments

[Janice Tully]

Thank you for the great posting. Being new in this wild and wet world of blogging. I can use all the help. I can get.....

[Janice Tully]

Thank you, Your posting is of great help. As a new blogger, i'm going to take your words with me..

[DeeJay - Dance Music Blog]

Nice article.
I am doing almost all the things that you mentioned.
Adding an "Ask Me" section is interesting stuff. I'll try it.

[Liane Schmidt]

Great post. I look forward to reading more of your work. I am going to add a link to your blog to my "BlogTips" category!

Best wishes.

Sincerely,

-Liane Schmidt.