How to Build a Following by Blogging
Blogging on a consistent basis can be challenging. It can be very unrewarding at times when you pour your heart out and very little comes back in way of visitors or response. You want people to engage with, but no one seems to be stopping by. So what can you do to build a following and get a conversation going with an audience? Below are three tips that will get people to stop by and engage in conversation. Follow along and see which ones you need work on.
- Find out what others are talking about. It is one thing to write a blog post. It is another to write a blog post that people are currently searching out. If you find a topic that people are currently looking to read about, you have just won half the battle. The easiest way to find out what people are searching for is to go to Google Trends and Google Insights. Simply follow the links and type in some topics that you cover. On the right hand side your can specify region and time range. I suggest narrowing down the time range to 30 days. You can begin to see which countries are most interested in your topics, what day of the week it is most read, and which topic is most popular. Use this process to decide which topics are most valuable and when you should post them.
- Never use the silent treatment. If you were in a conversation and you spoke, then the other person spoke, and you never spoke back – what would they think? That is what happens when you blog, someone comments, and you do not comment back. Get in the habit of replying back; it is the best way to keep your readers engaged, coming back, and telling their friends about your blog.
- Words can be boring. Make sure that each post is visually interesting. This normally means pictures, but it can include graphics, videos, quotes, and visual separators like lines. Make sure that you look at each post through the lens of a graphic artist. Make sure that the post is not sloppy with long run-on paragraphs. Use bold, italics, and different colors to liven up the post. The more visually appealing your post is, the longer a reader will stay.
I trust this has been helpful in getting your blog off and running. I welcome your questions on this since I could write another 12 paragraphs on the subject and just be warming up. Let me know what you think.
