Blogging - Developing A Readership

This is a good article for beginner bloggers who don't know much about blogging or the Internet. It gives a quick crash course in best practices for developing a readership, and a lot of the suggestions she makes for functionality are available in the form of Wordpress plugins and open source offerings. As with any site, think about your target readers when you blog, just as you put yourself in the head of your target searcher when you choose keywords and draft content for a full website.

by: Rose DesRochers

You've finally created a blog and you've made your first post. Now how do you get people to actually read what you're blogging about?

Here are some tips on promoting your blog.

1) Quality Content - Interesting content will keep your readership returning. Update your blog regularly.

Googlebot, which is Google's web-crawling robot, loves content. The more you update your blog, the more frequent the search engine spiders will return to it.

2) Take part in forums that are related to blogging. Ask other bloggers for their opinion on your blog and take their suggestions to heart.

3) Publish an RSS/Atom/XML feed. If you're using Blogger, you can turn on RSS feed by clicking on settings in your dashboard and then clicking on site feed and make sure that your settings are set to yes.

4) Carefully choose your subject titles, taking into consideration what other internet users may be searching for.

Use keywords in your title. I suggest subscribing to Word Tracker. Their report of the most popular searches is published each Tuesday and distributed to over 30,000 subscribers.

Technorati.com , is a blog search engine that also lists the top search words. The more targeted your keywords are, the greater your return in search engines will be.

Yes you want to use keywords, and you definitely want to use a Technorati plugin. However, the reason Google and other search engines love blogs is becuase they love content. Post often, and post good content. Google will look at you more often if you post content regularly. If you make your content relevant to what your blog is about, your keywords will naturally come in a blog platform. Also, providing good content relevant to what you advertise your expertise or interest to be in is one of the primary necessities for building a devoted, avid readership.

5) Involve yourself in commenting on other blogs. You can gain a loyal readership just by offering feedback to your fellow bloggers. The comment feature allows you to add a link back to your blog as well.

6) Be sure to include your blog address in forum signatures and in your email signature.

7) Submit your blog to directories.

Submit your blog's url to Technorati, Daypop, Blogdex and Popdex.

8) Write articles. Include a resource box in your article and submit it to article directories such as http://iSnare.com

9) If you're using blogging software such as Blogger, there is an option to notify the central blog update services (such as http://weblogs.com) whenever you've made a new entry to your blog. Make sure that this option is turned on! In blogger, click on publish in your dashboard and make sure that your settings are set to yes under notify weblogs. Alternatively, you can go to http://pingoat.com and send out a ping each time you update your blog. This lets everyone know that you've just updated your blog.

10) Link to other blogs. Use services like blogrolling, which is similar to linking. Blogrolling allows you to maintain an updated list of your favorite blogs. But, don't build a long blog roll of sites that you have no intention of returning to. There is nothing more annoying then visiting a blog that has a humongous blogroll.

Be patient, traffic doesn't happen overnight. The best way that I've found to increase traffic is by getting to know people. Spend what free time that you have, reading blogs, leaving feedback and building friendships. Try to leave comments on the blogs that you visit as often as you can. While you are waiting for the traffic to come, just enjoy blogging. You'll be improving your writing in the process.

Eventually you'll build a network of not just readers, but friends and loyal supporters. Blogging is not just about marketing; it's about creating lasting relationships.

I know this sounds all warm and fuzzy, but the point of it is true. Blogging, whether for business or fun, is about establishing loyalty. Just like companies want to establish brand recognition and loyalty with their customers - a realtionship of sorts in which customers know what to expect from that particular product - you want to do the same thing with your blog, establishing who you are, what you know and what you offer. With so many websites out there, you have to bring some kind of unique value if you want to have an effective presence.

About The Author

Rose DesRochers is the founder of Blogger Talk Blog Community http://www.bloggertalk.net, a friendly fast growing blogging portal, offering bloggers support, advice, tools, tips and information about blogs and blogging. She is also the administrator of Today's Woman Writing Community http://www.todays-woman.net, a supportive online writing community for men and women over 18.

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