Sometimes in my internet wanderings I find a lonely blog. No comment on post after post, only two or three followers--- if they even have a 'follow' widget on the blog at all. When the blog belongs to a writer, that can be especially frustrating. They likely blog to build a platform--- but how can a blog help with that if no one reads it?
I had that problem myself at first, but I learned some things that I could do to fix my blogs loneliness. In no particular order, here they are.
1. Put up at least one 'follow this blog' widget on your blog. There is one for Blogger blogs, and one from Networked Blogs, and one from Linky. I have all three in my sidebar somewhere. This gives people who find your blog and like it a way to find and read your blog posts.
2. Make a point of reading other people's blogs and commenting. I've read that author Alex J. Cavenaugh spends a few hours a day reading blogs. And as a result he's well known in the world of author blogs. Be sure to read the blogs of your own followers and comment on a few, and also reach out to bloggers you haven't met before. Set a goal of commenting on 3 or 5 or 10 followers' blogs and 3 or 5 or 10 new blogs every day, or every day you are working on your blog, anyway.
3. Make your blog about more than just you and your book. You may be eager to find new customers who will buy your book, but the hard-sell approach doesn't win you any new blog readers. So blog about your genre and issues related to it, or another genre you also read, or current affairs, particularly those of interest to readers in your genre. Post a recipe or a picture of your kitten getting a bath. Anything to make your blog more than just another author's buy-my-book blog.
4. Participate in blog events such as blog hops. When I started out blogging I discovered the Christian Science Fiction & Fantasy blog tour. This is a monthly event where a group of authors reviews a work of Christian Science Fiction or Fantasy, and shares a list of the URLs of other tour participants. I got my first blog followers by doing the blog tour. Currently I participate in 2 monthly blog hops--- the Insecure Writer's Support Group and Indie Life. Links to these three blog events are in my sidebar, and you may find plenty more by looking through author blogs. By the way, if you are looking for new blogs to comment on, find the link list from a blog hop and check out some of the blogs on it, even if the blog hop is long over.
5. Join Facebook, and use the app 'Networked Blogs' so that you can make your blog posts appear in your feed. If you put up a Facebook author page as well, you can have your blog posts appear there--- or on both your personal page and your author page. Twitter and Google+ are other places to share your blog posts. I should point out that if you want to use these social media outlets to build up a platform rather than destroy one, use them like a grown-up. Don't send rude or hateful comments to random people who disagree with your political or (ir)religious views. Don't post pictures displaying some one's private parts and then scream 'censorship' when a grandmother asks you to take it down since her little grandkids are roaming around Facebook. Don't pitch a fit at ANYONE. And don't use curse words even if your Facebook friends do.
6. Blog regularly. When I was actively participating in the Christian Science Fiction & Fantasy blog tour, there were a couple of lonely blogs I visited that had no posts except that month's blog tour post, and the previous month's blog tour post, and the month before that.... I can understand how that can happen, on a lonely blog. You get discourage when you post and post and no one seems to be reading it, except perhaps on blog tour day. But if you don't post regularly, your blog doesn't look active enough for anyone to want to follow it.
7. Do a mitzvah (good deed) for other bloggers regularly. Make it your mission. You can share a good blog post from another blog--- particularly a lonely blog. If a blogger speaks of technical difficulties they are having on their blog, tell them how to fix it. Give them a good review of a book they've authored if you can do so honestly. There are many ways that you can show that an important part of your identity as a blogger involves helping others--- not just asking others to help you by following your blog, buying your book, and the like.
8. Review your blogging stats regularly. Note which of your posts were most popular, so you can do more like them. Notice what search terms were used to find your blog. That may not help--- my top search terms are 'David Tennant naked', which, alas, is not something I provide here at The Lina Lamont Fan Club. But I do see a lot of searches which include 'asperger' or 'autism' and so I make a point to blog about the autism spectrum side of my life from time to time. And, finally, note new links to your blog posts. This will help you find out if someone has linked to one of your blog posts recently, so you can go visit their blog in return.
I hope some of these ideas can help you make your blog a little less lonely. Do you have any great ideas yourself for increasing blog traffic? Post them in a comment!
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Great advice.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I heard Alex is into Cloning, so that might be his secret of being everywhere!