Part 4: Growing Your Audience in a Healthy Way

There are a lot of opinions out there on how you should grow your blog. One of the main areas focused on are things like SEO, keywords, and speeding up your site. These are all great ways in growing your blog and something that should be thoughtfully considered. I myself am researching those areas and trying to understand them more.

However, they’re not the end all. There’s more to growing a blog than that. At least, in my opinion there is.

When I look around at social media accounts or blogs, the majority of them seem to only care about the number of followers they have and how fast they can get more. It’s always about reaching the next hundred, the next thousand, or even millions. But I feel that’s not the way to go about it. It’s not a healthy mindset to have for yourself, or towards your followers.

So how can we grow in a healthy way? Here are a few of my tips.

Write More

While most bloggers probably don’t want to hear this, the more you post on your blog the more traffic you are going to receive. The more you can get viewers on your blog, the higher your stats will raise and the more excitement you can get centered around your blog. However, that’s not the only thing to consider here.

Disclaimer: just because you’re posting often, does not mean you will gain extra traffic.

Do not post just to post! If your goal is to post often to raise your traffic and followers, make it your goal as well to research meaningful topics that would fit your blog. Because while this can be a great tool in raising traffic, it can also be a blogger’s biggest downfall. Anybody is quick to unsubscribe from someone who is constantly posting meaningless stuff and bogging down your notifications.

Be a Friend

Just because your goal is to gain more followers does not mean you should be less personable. Treat your followers like a friend you want to get to know better. If they comment on your post, comment back and even ask them a question. Engage with them and make them want to stick around as well as realize what a welcoming place your blog can be.

That’s another issue I notice. The people who are constantly trying to get more and more followers don’t take a minute to actually engage with those added followers. They’re too busy trying to get even more. That may sound harsh but it’s the truth of what I’ve been seeing. Perhaps it’s justified by the success they may later receive but, to me, I’d rather never have success than to get it that way.

So be a friend and respect your followers just as they’re respecting you and your blog.

Catchy Titles

Yes, the titles matter.

I strongly advise thinking twice before naming your blog post any random thing. Take careful consideration into it. Is this title something that is likely to be searched for? Is this a title that would get a lot of clicks? Would I click on it if I was the one seeing the post?

Be fun with your titles but also try to state clearly what your article will be about. A sense of vagueness isn’t a bad idea if it adds a layer of intrigue that will get the viewer to click on it. Be creative and have fun! But also don’t stress too much about it. Be thoughtful and considerate instead of just slapping any random title on your next post.

Connect With Other Bloggers

In order to grow your audience you need to be seen by other people, preferably those that would be interested in your content. One of the ways you could achieve this is by connecting with other bloggers that are similar to your own. Like their posts, comment, maybe even follow them if you enjoy their blog. This will not only get you seen by them but seen by their followers and the others interacting on their blog as well.

However, as I discussed earlier, don’t do this for the simple sake of more followers. One of the great parts of having a blog is being able to make other blogger friends. You can encourage and uplift one another, enjoying each other’s posts and helping one another out. Believe me, friends are much more fun to have than empty faces for followers.

Guest Posts

Going off of the previous point, guest posts can be a great way to be seen widely. Whether you’re guest posting for another blog or someone else is guest posting for you, you’re being seen elsewhere and that traffic will trickle down to your own blog. Consider putting somewhere on your blog that you accept guest posts or that you are free to do guest posts if this is an area you would like to explore. I have done several guest posts as well as had a couple guest posts myself so I can definitely testify that they are a lot of fun!

Conclusion

When it all comes down to things, it’s going to be a lot of work to grow your blog. Be prepared and ready for that. Be someone that others will want to follow and create content that others will want to read. In short, create a blog that you would want to visit over and over again and, chances are, others will want to do the same.

Your turn!

How do you plan on growing your audience? What are some tips you’ve picked up on? Do you have a blog already or are you working towards creating one?

Blessings, Allyson

Advertisement