Building a Better Blog

Beetnik Mama at Songs About Beets recently hit me up for my blog-building secrets.

Actually, I get quite a few emails from frustrated bloggers who haven’t been able to generate a large readership, even though they feel like they’re working very hard, writing interesting content and doing all the right things to promote their blogs.

I started to do a silly post with nonsensical advice on getting new followers…

• Institute “Cash for Comments” program
  
  
• Live weigh-in cam
  
  
• Somehow work it out so that when people Google “weight loss”, your site pops up first

But I get enough emails from folks who are genuinely interested in the subject and figure that I’ve somehow cracked the code. I don’t know how much more I know than you, but I’m willing to share what I’ve learned…

It all starts with comments. Just like I tell people that they can lose weight by eating less and exercising more, I firmly believe you can build a blog audience by making insightful, clever and/or thought-provoking comments on other blogs. Most people find interesting blogs by backtracking from interesting comments. (Hint: you can start by leaving a comment here today…)

It takes commitment. I’ve posted something new or semi-new every day for the past year. You don’t necessarily have to go to that extreme, but you do need to make certain that you keep things fresh on your space.

Writing counts. After I write a post, I always spend some time looking at the words and phrases and seeing if I can make any of them more interesting. Simply replacing the word “said” with “squawked” or “mumbled” or “groaned” makes a sentence more entertaining to me. I also see if I can say whatever I’m trying to say in a more concise way. Keeping things short and sweet shows consideration for your readers.

It’s not always about you. If you’re trying to build a readership, then occasionally write something that your readers can apply to their own journey. Sometimes it’s as simple as changing the point of view from “I” to “you”.

A picture’s worth a 1,000 views. Blogs that contain nothing but unbroken lines of text can be difficult to read. Think about including images, bullet points, interactive elements, multimedia content or anything else that can spice things up. And putting your face on your blog helps readers connect with you in a real and significant way.

Make a good first impression. It took me a bit to understand that titles can have a huge impact on people actually clicking on your blog. This is your opportunity to draw readers in. Remember, you may not get another opportunity…

Build a brand. Just like a product, your blog is a brand and you want people to connect to it. Keep in mind that today’s post may be the first time somebody is reading your work. For instance, whenever I work in my daughter Pisa, I always preface her name with “my daughter” for those people who have so idea who Pisa Sh*t is. Inside jokes, references to older posts and other shows of exclusivity can put off new readers, but they help build continuity and make loyal readers feel more connected to you. If you're building a new blog, or just trying to build up your traffic, it’s a good idea to write down the attributes of your personal brand… those things you’re trying to get across… and keep them in mind as you write.

Remember, building up your blog is all about providing value to your readers. Give them something that can entertain them, that can inform them, that can assist them in their journey, and it’s more likely that they’ll come back for more.

Got any other blog-building tips?
I'd love to hear what's worked for you...