Drive People to Your Blog

Many people have blogs, whether as a creative outlet, for business purposes, or both, they can serve as a great tool. Most all of us want to have readers! Some tips for bringing and keeping readers:

Post often. Mel from Actual Unretouched Photo told me this. She's got to be on to something, because I LOVE reading her blogs and they're not about anything all that relevant to me. I even read her diet blog, and I'm not remotely trying to lose weight.

Be personal. People are nosy. They like to know your personal business.

Read out loud before you post. If it sounds funny when you're reading it outloud, then it's likely going to read funny to others also.

Notice patterns and change them, or keep them, but notice them. If you start every.single.post with an 'I went' or 'I had' mix it up a bit to keep interest.

Proof read. I like to read through my posts at least 3 times before I post them. Often I'll start a post one day and actually post it a couple days later.

Get to the point. In the first paragraph have a point. People aren't going to want to read if they're not sure that they're going to be interested in what you're writing.

Keep it real. Admit that you're not perfect and you'll gain credibility. Make your every day life something that others can relate to.

Use key words if you want search engines to pick up your blog. Use them often but don't use them out of context. There's nothing more annoying than trying to look something up and only finding keyword spam when you get to the page.

Have a target audience. I don't know anyone, barring God, who has written something for all people, so don't even try. Just pick a group that you're targeting and cater your content, speech, and appearance to suit them.

Offer something to the reader. People want to know 'what's in it for me' so give them something, whether it's how to get their infant to go potty in the toilet or how to save time doing laundry, people want to learn, be amused, or save time.

Interact with your readers by responding to comments. Ask open ended questions, and don't say everything that there is to be said about a topic. People like to feel important, let them answer your questions!

Link to other pages within your blog that are along the same topic lines. People like to be 'in the know' of things, so link to other places where you've talked about similar things.

Link to others. Flattery can get you anywhere :)

Use paragraphs! Enjoy it! If it's something you enjoy doing, it will show in your writing. People like to be around other happy people, so be happy.