Random Reader Questions: 5 Ways to Increase Blog Traffic

Jen writes: Other than participating in memes, what is the best way to increase blog traffic ?  I don’t have profound things to say, but I’d like to increase my traffic, increase my comments, and make more friends in bloggy land!

Me: Well, that’s the 10 million dollar question, isn’t it?

Actually, the answer is fairly simple.  “Bloggy land” is much like life.  As my mom told me when I was an awkward child in middle school, “If you want to have a friend, you have to be a friend.”  And you know what?  That sums it up quite nicely.

That’s nice, Jo-Lynne, but what do you mean?  How does that translate to the blogosphere?

I’m getting there.  Patience, grasshopper.

1.  Participating in carnivals (I believe that’s what you mean by meme – memes are those lists of questions on a particular topic that seem to circulate around cyberspace at an alarming rate – carnivals are when you link your post up to a carnival host’s site, such as Wordless Wednesday or Tasty Tuesday) is certainly a great way to be a part of the community and to get your name out there.

But simply linking up your post will not do you much good.

If you want to make the most of a carnival (assuming that your goal is to build traffic and make some friends) then you need to go through the list of carnival participants and visit their posts and leave thoughtful comments.  (And by thoughtful, I do not mean, “Great picture!”  Be specific.  What do you like about the picture, or how can you relate to that post?)

And don’t forget to leave a comment on the carnival host’s post. Sometimes I find myself linking up and leaving, and then I realize I never even read the original post or left a comment.  As someone who has once hosted a weekly carnival, I know how much those comments mean.  So don’t forget the hostess with the mostest.

2.  Other than carnivals, the very best way to gain readers and make friends is to simply spend time reading and commenting on other blogs. Sorry, I wish I could give you some advice that’s more original, but that’s really it.

I’m a Grannie in blog years.  That’s not to say there aren’t dinosaurs out there who have been blogging a lot longer than I have, but I’m in my 5th year of blogging, and when I discovered this community, ad networks and product review blogs were the exception, not the rule.  Back in the day, before companies discovered what a great mouthpiece blogs could be, mom bloggers blogged simply for the love of writing and for the community.

I’m not saying there is anything wrong with blogs who are out to be a business.

I’m just saying that in the beginning, when this community was formed, it was purely social.  And socialize, we did.  That’s how we grew our blogs.  We didn’t realize that’s what we were doing; it just happened naturally.

That is, after all, why it’s called social media.

Socializing is still what grows most blogs. If you’re a deal blogger or offering a service of some kind, this advice may not be as applicable.  But for those of us who are “life bloggers” or “memoir bloggers” or “diarists” or whatever you want to call it, the best way to grow an audience is to get out there and leave your foot prints around the blogosphere.

Find bloggers who have similar interests, whose posts inspire you or make you laugh, and visit them regularly and leave kind words.  Read their posts thoroughly; don’t skim and miss the point.  And then take the time to craft a thoughtful comment.  For How To Write Blog Comments That Get You Noticed, you can see the guest post that Stephanie wrote for me some time ago.  Stephanie is a master at doing this.  She takes time each week to read through my latest posts and leave relevant, insightful comments or ask questions.  I remember when she started leaving comments on my blog.  I remember clicking over to see who she was.  Eventually I added her to my Google Reader, and even though we’ve never met in real life, I consider her a trusted friend.

3.  The other piece of advice I would offer is to be yourself. Again, it sounds obvious, I know.  The more I think about it, blogging is a lot like junior high.

Seriously, though, sometimes newer bloggers struggle to find their voice and end up copying what other bloggers sound like.  Or, they try to portray their lives they way they want them to be, rather than the way they really are.

Resist the urge.

Really, it is so obvious when people do this, and it’s a huge turn off.  It’s easy to fall into that trap; I’m sure I’ve been guilty of it more than once, but the sooner you get in the habit of being authentic and even a bit vulnerable, the sooner you will find your traffic and comments growing.

4.  I hope it’s not necessary to say this, but I will.  Play nice. Be a positive force in the blogosphere. No one likes a complainer.

5.  Finally, I couldn’t write a post on growing blog traffic and making friends in cyberspace without extolling the virtues of Twitter.  Twitter is the hub of social media, in my opinion. I do more socializing on Twitter, I read more posts from clicking on links from Twitter, and I get more blog traffic from Twitter than any other platform.

I love Twitter.

We get it.  We get it.  Enough about Twitter.

No, really.  You HAVE to be on Twitter.  Twitter enables me to keep a pulse on the community during those weeks (months?) when I haven’t got time to go through my feed reader.  It’s a great way to promote my own posts.  And best of all, it helps nurture the relationships that I form on my blog.

But I don’t have TIME for Twitter.

I didn’t say it wouldn’t be a time suck. But it doesn’t HAVE to be. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Twhirl is an awesome Twitter app. It’s just a pop-up browser on the side of my computer screen, and I can see it at all times. I don’t “go to Twitter” and spend hours there. It’s just there, on the side of my screen, and I hop in and out of conversations as I have time and interest.

See? It looks like this.

I love it. Everyone else talks about TweetDeck, but I find that way overwhelming. Twhirl works just fine for me.

For more about using Twitter, see my Twitter for Dummies Beginners post and also How To Use Twitter.

I thought you said this was going to be a simple answer.

Yeah, well. I thought it was gonna be. I think I’m what they call wordy.

Oh, and one more thing.  If you want to encourage commenting on your blog, turn off the horrid CAPTCHA spam filter thingamabob.  I often think I’ve left a comment on someone’s site, only to go back to their tab on my browser and realize that one of those CAPTCHA things had popped up and I never even saw it.  Or worse, I see it, and it takes me three tries to get the right key combination because they’re so hard to read.  I’m willing to bet, if you have one of those on your blog, that you aren’t getting half the comments people try to leave for you.

So there you go, six tips for the price of five.

So how about you, dear reader? Do you have any additional advice for Jen? Is there anything I didn’t cover?  What do you think is the best way to increase blog traffic?

Tagged as: increase blog traffic