Does your Blog Suck?

So, your blog isn’t doing so well.  It’s been online for about 8 months and you have minimal subscribers, limited comments on posts and the traffic statistic aren’t promising at all.  You update it regularly with fresh content and you have submitted some posts to the social bookmarking sites but that hasn’t seemed to change your traffic at all.  While there is the remote possibility that your blog sucks and you’re just not interesting, it’s more likely to do with other factors.

The blogosphere is one of the most popular ways to connect with a target audience when you have something to say, no matter what type of business you’re operating.  Setting up a successful blog however is a lot harder than it first appears to be.  Any goon with opposable thumbs can run an auto install on WordPress and click “post”. It takes a bit more to keep things going, boost traffic, increase subscribers and promote yourself.

• Readers First - With everything involved in developing a Blog, it’s extremely simple to get off task and forget about what’s most important – the reader.  Making sure that you put up fresh, consistent content is the cornerstone of what you’re doing.  When you develop any kind of a production schedule, your readers quickly begin to rely on it.  When someone visits your blog expecting to read something as part of their lunch routine, and there’s nothing new there, it can be a heavy let down.  Your content also needs to carry some weight.  If it’s not helpful to your readers, they have no reason to return.  If they’re reading the same rehashed “blahblahblah” that the next blog over is posting then you can guarantee a quick and violent, spasmatic death for your Blog.  When you create engaging content, you attract more readers.

• Do Follow – You can do a lot to promote your Blog by allowing do-follow comments.  There are a lot of users out there who seek out blogs based on their personal interests, but a number of them could also be looking for something in return.  By providing dofollow backlinks you encourage comments on your blog by giving them an opportunity to list their own site within the comment. They build link weight and you build comments/followers.  Careful moderation is necessary to help avoid a backlog of spam.

• Social Butterfly – Nothing can exist in a vacuum, not even a Blog.  If you’re posting but you’re not engaging other members of the blog community then you’re essentially talking to yourself.  You’re that guy at the party in the circle of people shouting “HAHAHA!  Oh my god I’m so funny, hey here’s another one…”  So how do you avoid becoming Captain Obnoxious?  Visit related blogs in your market or your niche and post insightful (not spammy…) comments.  When you first start, you should avoid linking all together and build a reputation.  Make a few comments here and there before slipping your link in a comment thread as a signature link.

• Shout out – Reaching out to other bloggers is a fantastic way to draw attention within your niche.  Trackbacks let other bloggers know you’re talking about them, and placing another blogger into your blogroll shows others that you’re promoting these people as experts.  With well-placed contacts, you can expect your blog to be promoted by other expert bloggers within your target market or industry.

• Blog give-away – You can attract quite a bit of attention to your blog by introducing some kind of a contest or give-away.  Entrance into the contest can be as simple as asking your visitors to reply in a comment to a specific thread.  While a chunk of the users won’t stay after the contest period is over, a number of them well and you have effectively added to your reader base at the cost of a small prize.  It doesn’t have to be anything extravagant.  People flock to free items like a fly to shitake mushrooms.

• Participate in blog carnivals – If you’re as terrified of clowns as I am, you can relax.  There are no Stephen King monsters creeping around here.  These are generally a moderate collection of posts on a related topic, often hosted on one blog.  A blog carnival is a fantastic way to help you network with other bloggers in your market who haven’t heard of you.  They’re also free.  www.blogcarnival.com to search for a carnival that’s relevant to your niche.

• Social networking – Ah, the good stuff.  The meat of the net.  Your blog should become part of the buzz on the large social media networks – Twitter, Facebook and other social networking sites that you’re a member of.  If you’re feeling industrious, create a youtube channel then setup a facebook fanpage for your blog and business.  Most importantly – give yourself a tweet-feed and let the world of Twitter know you’re alive.

Every one of these tips will help you generate and attract the traffic you need to keep your project alive.  Just remember that no matter how much networking and promotion you do, you won’t go far without great, creative, engaging content.  Good content is necessary to make these tips work together.   It’s not a one shot deal either.  Marketing yourself and your blog is a full-time business.  You get back exactly what you put in.

So basically:  Wash, rinse and repeat.

Related posts:

1. Keeping your Finger on the Industry Pulse
2. Building Links through Guest Blogging
3. Advanced SEO – Examining Social Media Outreach
4. 11 Reasons why your Business Needs Facebook

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