It’s not your Content
by: Ronovan
You’re new to the Blog world or even been around the Blog a few times and you wonder “Where are all the people that should be lining up to read my work”. (See what I did there, “Around the Blog….Around the Block. No…I tried. And I have no idea why L. L. Cook J’s ‘Around the way Girl’ is going through my head now.)
Blogging is like a lot of things in life:
- It takes time
- It takes practice
- You have to work it
- And it takes great patience
When I started blogging I just wanted people to read my creative pieces. I didn’t really think about how many I wanted to read it or how I would get them to read it, I just wanted to create and click publish.
We like to say we don’t care how many people show up to the party. As long as we put out the nachos in case someone decides to join in we think we’re okay. But we all know we really like to see those faces show up, even those we don’t know. This article is mostly for people who want to increase their readership.
I want to say one quick thing. If your home page is where your most recent posts go then here is what might happen. A person goes to the page, reads the top article, then reads all the ones below it. You get one view for all of those read articles. Some people put in a ‘read more’ break that you place in during your posting process to shorten what’s on that page to create more space or they do it to actually force a click to the next page. I personally no longer do the ‘read more’ just because. I’m happy people showed up and try to make it easy as possible.
The truth is, most of us have content in our articles that is good. We’re going to connect with someone and we’ll find our niche or group we seem to speak to. But it doesn’t happen overnight.
Time
Like I said you can’t bring in hundreds of views of your articles overnight unless you just write some hot button issue and get it out on social networks properly at the right moment. Perhaps hot button is your theme. If so then make sure you do something unique with it to stand out from the crowd.
Practice
Getting your format set up just right takes time. I’ve been through several themes for my blog and tested the waters on what I write. I know what will bomb and what will receive some generally decent response for my site. I still don’t mind bombing as long as I have fun and don’t do it too often. I want my readers to know they can always show up and have something good/useful to read. That is one reason I put out as much material as possible. The other reason…I’m insane.
Work it
It’s tough to say this but just putting your content out there doesn’t mean people will show up. You need to do some work and help people find you, in other words, get the ball rolling:
- Visit other blogs and comment: You are thinking you barely have time to do your own blog but you would be surprised at the ideas you come up with by taking a few minutes to visit elsewhere. Blogging isn’t just about blogs, it’s a community of supporters.
- Link back to other blogs but only if relevant: Don’t just put a link to another person’s blog in your article for no reason. Make it be because it pertains to your article. Honest blogs get honest followers who stay with you.
- Share in Social Networks: Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, Google+ or LinkedIn, whatever your options are use them and share your articles there and spend a few minutes just being at least remotely involved.
- Tag your articles properly: This one is a work in progress for everyone. You have to look at your work and see what it is and what words best describe it. Visit other blogs similar to yours that are successful and see what kind of tags they use.
Patience
You have to be patient. Once things start rolling…they roll. But it will take some time. Just keep working and putting out a lot of content, but quality content.
That’s all for this time and I hope there was something useful for you. Just remember that it’s not always about the content or the writing.
The only way you will fail is by giving up.
© Copyright-All rights reserved-RonovanWrites.wordpress.com-June 13, 2014.
ronovanwrites 
As you know I am very new 🙂 I get frustrated with just how to lay out my post correctly, and then just when I think I got it, it comes out weird. I know I need to take the time to learn and more importantly have some patience. Thanks for the tips!
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Ronovan, 😉
I actually read a book about blogging before I started blogging, it is called “blogging your way to a six figure income” and is released by the good people of the “problogger” site.
http://www.problogger.com
But I learn more from actually doing something that just looking at a bunch of theory.
Blogging and writing is a skill. It is something that develops over time.
Obviously if you don’t have an imagination, it would be very difficult for you to write anything in the line of fiction. Some people just have a more natural knack for seeing the flow in words than others – so these may like doing poetry.
The other day, I saw someone with the same theme as me. It was like looking at your own house, with different furniture in it. Alas perhaps I will try another theme, but for now the theme I have works well. I may just need to spruce up my menu a bit to highlight some of my older content.
Alas, what the good people at problogger also identified is, that blogging is not some overnight success story. It is something that will take allot of work and dedication.
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I haven’t read any books about blogging so far. Work and dedication is just something that you have to do in anything. I used to be a ‘corporate trainer’ type person. I would identify areas of opportunity, break something down into pieces, and then train about it.
As for themes. My own needs work, a lot of it. But theme here also means the topics you write about. Some people have food blogs, some gardening. Mine is random acts of wordiness. 🙂
Loved this reply. Loved that you took this much time and to be honest it amazes me that I wrote something that had you write so much. Wow. You’re a dream reader for any person with a blog.
Much Respect
Ronovan
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Thank you. When I do have the time, I try to read as many posts as possible. But alas I don’t get to read them all. I think most bloggers can agree, that time is just sometimes a problem. And if I’m going to comment I may as well make sure my comment suits the post.
Sometimes just a smile or a “I like this post” is all I do just to let the other blogger know his / her efforts have not been wasted and that someone has read the post.
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Exactly. And if I get that from you then I know I did well. 🙂 So that’s why I appreciate when you do write a lot because I must have written something you found interesting. And I really love the idea you took time with me. You were a very happy find.
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😉 Namibia does have many Diamonds in the rough.
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And some that already shine and sparkle like the sun.
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Good article! I am not new but very much still a baby. It takes time, you’re write about that. The important thing is not to lose focus and keep on writing. Reading other blogs is an effective way of increasing readership. That’s how I found a lot of great people. You’re one of them.
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Wow. Thank you for that compliment. I am definitely taking extra time out of my day to read as much of your work as I can today. I want to lean more about you.
Much Respect and Gratitude
Ronovan
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Never short on tips and advice for blogging. I’m very glad I followed your blog 🙂
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Thank you. I have tips because I make mistakes. 🙂 Either that or I just like to hear myself type. I’m not really sure which. And the feeling’s mutual.
Much Respect
Ronovan
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It’s always great to have some words of advice regarding blogging, especially so since I am pretty new to it.
I don’t just enjoy writing, I also enjoy reading the blogs of others. Knowing about different people and cultures gives me a view into their worlds. Sure, a lot of people check your blog if you comment on theirs and that increases number of visitors on your blog, but reading others’ works also improves your own writing.
But then again everyone wants some sort of validation and the number of followers is just that. So thanks a lot for your words of advice. I will surely work on those lines. 🙂
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Thank you. I read a lot of blogs but I don’t always click like or comment. I only do that if I truly mean it. I don’t feel right about just doing it to increase my readership. It sounds like you are doing it the correct way. If you do read something that either you enjoy for the culture experience then just comment something like “I really enjoyed learning from you today. Thank you.” Or whatever words are yours. I don’t do that to everyone, but if an article really made me click on the comment box then I’m going to make that person feel appreciated for giving their time to writing something for me to read. The same goes for writing style. I’ll leave comments about how I love a site or I love how the phrasing of sentences are so authentic and carries me into whatever they are writing about. Again not to bring readers but to show appreciation.
The comments are to let them know your appreciation and maybe they will visit you as well. I don’t always click Follow on one article I like. I read the About of the person first and some other articles. I want to know what I’m following. 🙂
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I totally agree with you. Thanks for letting us know your approach towards blogging. Its definitely helping me learn. 🙂
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Great tips shared, yet again Ron! 🙂 PS: hope your kitty is back safe.
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🙂 I just finished petting him. We’ll see if he keeps coming back. Planning to turn him into a house kitty soon. 🙂 Hopefully. As for the tips, I just hope people don’t realize I have no idea what I’m talking about. I don’t really have a method of blogging. I just do what I like and click what I like and follow what I like. But I know some what more out of their blogs. And sure, I like people reading my work.
Much Respect
Ronovan
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O good 🙂
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Good advice. Thank you for sharing.
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Thank you for the tips..had me rethink my break…need to plan a good comeback.. 🙂 Thank you once again!
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No break for you! grrrrrrrr
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Thanks for sharing! I’m just starting out and find the stats info on WordPress helpful to know what kind of traffic I’m getting, which pieces are more popular, etc. Hadn’t thought about the part you wrote in italics though, that depending on layout it’s possible to read various articles and this only counts as one ‘hit’. Cheers for your insight!
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