6 Tips to Increase Blog Readership
According to a survey conducted by Netcraft, there are approximately 555 millions websites on the Internet as of December 2011. This means that in order to become a high ranking site, your blog is required to beat million other websites in the process!
The good news though is that while it is a lot of work, it is not exactly impossible to expand the popularity of your blog. Read on as we expound on six fail-safe ways to increase the number of blog readers on your site.
Be Readable
The nice thing about blogging on the Internet is that you don’t have to be exceptionally verbose, good-looking or scandalous to gain readership. Something that all popular blogs do have in common though is the fact that their website layouts tend to be clean and easy on the eyes. The fonts used are also easy to skim through and it is well equipped with images and/or videos to make the reading much more enjoyable.
Reading a blog shouldn’t involve any hard work, which is why you should also concentrate on using politically correct terms and grammar. Check your spelling and your facts as well, as nobody really wants to revisit a site with a bad reputation of churning out wrong information.
Be SEO-Friendly
Why bother trying to reach out to over other readers when you can get them to come to you instead? The first thing you need to do is SEO optimize all your posts and articles. This way, potential readers who key in certain keywords (Read: How to Determine Keywords) will be able to come across your site via search engines like Google and Yahoo!, which saves you the effort of advertising.
Network
Just like in real life, a random comment from a celebrity, politician or business person might be all it takes to pull your site out from the land of obscurity. To increase your chances of being noticed, find like-minded website owners and nurture a positive relationship with them. This way, you can then exchange blogrolls, guest blog on each other’s site and even share readers.
Be Interactive
Statistically, people are more inclined to return to a site if they have an interest in the blog creator so polish up on your PR skills and connect with your readers! To do this, actively reply comments left on your blog, answer e-mails and consider starting up an interactive chat box or Twitter account specifically for your fans.
The best thing about this is that your readers will be able to provide you with live feedback on your blog entries, which can then help you write and create even better entries in the future. Blog readers are also useful in the sense that they can help your entries become viral overnight, provided that you have something pertinent to convey, of course. An RSS feed is also a useful installation on your blog site as it notifies your readers whenever you update your site.
Join the Community
If you don’t happen to own any loyal readers of your own, create some! Spend an hour or two stalking other similar blogs by leaving comments on the pages and make an effort to get to know owners of popular blogs to help you climb ranks faster.
The nice thing about the Internet is that there already exists an online community for everything, regardless of whether your interests lie in gardening, lip gloss or Justin Bieber. Sign up and participate in both online and offline forums to further spread awareness about who you are and what your blog is about.
Be Humane
The difference between content on a standard website and content on a blog is that the latter is usually meant to be written in a leisurely, personal format. Hence, swap your formal writing skills for a writing voice that is honest, compassionate and yet still authoritative on the subject matter. A sense of humour is often preferred, as well.
The last thing you want after all is to upload an offensive blog post which will only cost you loss of readers or worse yet, a bad reputation.
In a Nutshell
All successful bloggers will tell you that the key to owning a successful blog is to simply keep blogging. Over time, your writing and instinct for the right blogging topics will soon enable you to become a proud owner of a decent blog. Do note though that one should always maintain humility in the blogosphere as blog readers are sensitive enough to stop reading once they feel that your blog has lost its original purpose or voice.
Category: Blogging
About the Author (Author Profile)
Alicia is an experienced web designer. She likes designing WordPress themes and building blogs. She shares beautiful WordPress themes on Best WP Themes. Check out her website for WordPress theme offers and discounts. Alicia's favorite theme designer is Elegant Themes.Subscribe
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wow alicia first i say u look so cute
nice to meet you . im from east borneo – indonesia
ok back to the topic
I very much agree with what you say,, its really simple to understand.
but in point 7 I’ve heard it, and have not tried. Maybe i must learn with you
Anggi Alfonso recently posted..Counter Strike Online Megaxus
Twitter: swamykant
says:
Provide great content to readers is the best way to improve the blog’s viewerships.
Thanks for sharing the tips.
Swamykant recently posted..100 Best Free WordPress Themes for 2012
Very true, Swamykant. Good content is the ingredient of a successful website. That’s why we all must write good unique content!
Alicia recently posted..Responsive WordPress Theme – Evolution
“the key to owning a successful blog is to simply keep blogging” How true. Could not agree more. The journey might be long but with persistence anything can be achieved.
Amanda Gordon recently posted..Cordless Vacuum Cleaners
Hey nice tips to implement…i mst say Alicia, your themes are also lovely…i have been interacting with my readers over my blogs and it helps me get word of mouth publicity.. i broadcast live for interactive sessions for them
Twitter: Mix Twist
says:
All these things are must for the bloggers but using network with Be Interactive is one of the major role player in reader ship. Thanks for placing them in a good article.
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Also, using nice and interesting titles. Thinking and studying about articles. Be open minded for accepting comments. use dofollow comments. light and simple pages with a few ads only. using nice template. powerful CMS, wide bandwidh and …
I want to add something, that is close to the tip be interactive, but not exactly. I want to add Be Nice
. I have a blog where I always answer to people and try to help them in the comments. It does not even take much time. Sometimes I do a quick search in google, and sometimes I just know the stuff, since I am much more familiar with the subject. They are really happy with the fact that I try to help them and I try to be nice and patient with them. Also if they say something like an idea for a post or correct my mistake in a post, I thank them very much. They feel they are important and respected in my blog. And it is true. I have hundreds of comments and fb likes on some posts and Google loves that 
. So be nice to people and respect them. They will notice that!
Niki recently posted..Hotkeys in Skype
Super agree with #1. Simple rules of grammar, spelling and word choice and you’re good to go. Also, write like how you talk. Being conversational and staying true to what you know, think and feel… people respect and dig that.
Cathy Matzen recently posted..Rasmus Grønbech vinder kokkekonkurrencen Årets Vildtret 2011
Yes, the competition is very hard these days and if you want to get anything in general you have to work and keep blogging all the time. Your tips are rather simple and they really work as I know it from my own experience.
I hope i will get 1k of readers now. “be interactive” – i guess that is the key. you won’t get anything unless your blog is really useful and creative.
Twitter: _robinsonc
says:
Such a brilliant compilation. the last “In a Nutshell” passage gives me complete idea about the entire article
Thanks for the great write up .
Cheers Alicia.
Robin.
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Alicia, thank you for this good advice. A human writing voice makes a big difference, even if one intends to be a respected blogging guru. It helps to keep a sense of humor, too.:)
Networking with other bloggers and interactivity can be helpfull. thanks for the post. Ofcourse, We cannot miss The SEO part.
The tips are universal in fact and what is more important they work and they bring the results if you follow them with some kind of persistance in the actions.
I feel the networking comment is one of the fundamental points here. As you say alicia, just having one “celebrity” or authoritarian sing your praises can generate a huge amount of interest. Thanks a for great post.
chas recently posted..Post Boxes UK website goes live! Mailboxes and letterboxes galore!
Twitter: webmaisterpro
says:
I can’t disagree with any of this points Alicia, may be just can say that a great way to increase readership is to respond to every comment.
Carl recently posted..Becoming An SEO Reseller Is A Great Way To Start Your Career Off Right
Twitter: Jajodia_Saket
says:
Great tips..!! We should also add bloggers as friend in Facebook, join blogging groups in Facebook, help people and other bloggers.. Thanks Alicia for these tips..!!
Saket Jajodia recently posted..How To Increase Your Internet Speed (Browse Web Faster)
Wow! These are really good tips and I appreciate the efforts of the blog author regarding this draft with marvellous skills. Thanks Alicia for sharing such useful information.
Some real good tips here Alicia. So many people refuse to interact with their readers and it creates a stale oneway relationship, which no one likes!!
Thanks for liking my tips, Max, hopefully they are useful for you. Yes, always interact with your readers… reply to comments and answer their queries.
Alicia recently posted..Responsive WordPress Theme – Evolution
Twitter: sparklevalley
says:
Hi,
I liked the post but want to know more about the community point. Which community can I join since I like web design and shopping?
Btw nice to meet Alicia. Eleganr themes is also my fav. except the timthumb prob. which I faced for 1st time.
Thanks
TC
Sourav S recently posted..Sparkle Valley
Yes, timthumb caused a lot of problems for Elegant Themes as well as for all the other themes which use it. But this problem has been resolved by Elegant Themes shortly after it was discovered.
Alicia recently posted..Elegant Themes Modest Theme Review
Twitter: iqheadquarters
says:
I agree the most with “Be Humane.” Although everything on that list is very important, I really think the most important thing is to be able to connect with your readers. Every profitable blog seems to do this, and I hope that I can attain that sort of informal, friendly relationship with my readers.
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Twitter: xamresults
says:
Thanks for sharing such a valuable information. Well presented and easily understandable for newbies..It is essential to build healthy relation between readers
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You are most welcome. I like sharing what I have learned over the past few years blogging on my various blogs. Glad that you like my article.
Alicia recently posted..Responsive WordPress Theme – Evolution
In such a hard and severe competition you should be rather different and various in orderto attract more readers. If you follow all the tips at once you can do it, but in fact it is impossible in fact. Something will be lacking.
Hi,
Can you add that you must write frequently? If you write one article a month, nobody will follow, but if you write frequently, they will. Otherwise, this article is well designed and very complete.
Thanks for this post, Nathan
ATYQ recently posted..Who is Steve Jobs?
Ten years ago you’d have no problem getting noticed, but now we have to use social networking, blog commenting, guest commenting and so on, at their full potential else we just get buried under the pile of mediocre websites. With so many out there, it’s easy to run out of air.
There’s more work to do, but the satisfaction is definitely greater.
Beth recently posted..Nursing Grants
Beth, that’s very true. These days there are just too many blogs and websites so we must work harder and smarter. Hopefully my tips above will be useful.
Alicia recently posted..Responsive WordPress Theme – Evolution
Hi Alicia, this is helpful information. And I will definitely use all these tips which you have mentioned above. Thanks for sharing this wonderful article.
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Hi Mohd Akbar, I am glad that you like my tips. Do come back to read more tips from us.
Super like to the post yeah genuine posts and conversational blogging is the key to success ,,, and this also helps to build good relationship thanks for the post cheers!!!
Samrat kafle recently posted..Tons of traffic but higher bounce rate !
Of course, we need to write good quality posts. And, sometimes I find that if we throw in a little conversational style, it will be easier to read. People like to read easy-to-read blog posts.
Alicia recently posted..Kreative Themes Typozine
Twitter: mohdaatif90
says:
At first i was not posting daily and the result was getting 400 -500 visits daily but now each day a post giving me more than 1k . So i think keep blogging is helping me out
aatif recently posted..Google Nexus Tablet Will be another affordable tablet !
Great and helpful tips! I will certainly be using them when I create content for my blog tomorrow – thanks!!!
I agree with you Alice, interactivity is essential for a blog, as it attracts more people, sometimes because they have immediate response to your comments. Congratulations for the post.
Twitter: com_howtoguide
says:
I think the key point is consistency, regular posting of high quality content is a great way to build up loyal readers.
Peter Lee recently posted..How To Detect Malicious Websites
Couldnt Agree with you more Peter. Regular posting to your own site is critical. I personally try to post at least once a week, but I know this is on the low site. Ideal is at least once a day, and more if you have the time, energy to do it!
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Hi Alicia,
Being interactive with your readers is one factor that makes your blog more appealing for visitors to come and read your articles. Their comments, no matter how simple, must be at least be replied back to show how much you appreciate their feedback.
That’s how I always manage to visit again the sites I frequently comment on.
Felicia recently posted..PCA: Faraz Jaka still going strong in Bahamas
Felicia, you are right on. It never fails to feel appreciated to see a reply to your comment. Glad that I am replying your comment. Hehe…
Alicia recently posted..Kreative Themes Typozine