I wish all of those people did subscribe to the blog, but at least it's reaching a lot of writers/readers which makes me grateful beyond belief. But don't we just love seeing that number of subscribers go up? It's something about numbers that writers love. And blog statistics are no different.
Unfortunately, getting people to your blog is the easy part. The hard part is where they commit to receiving all of your updates by subscribing. You have to make sure that once you have the people visit your blog, that you have the stuff that keeps them there.
Here are the steps that got me there:
1) Design
You've heard that the first impression is the most important, it is no different with blogging. Yes, I have light colors, whirly twirlies, a bird or two, but it's not overpowering with bright colors and jumbled up.
Your blog should be easy to navigate, clear and concise.
2) Unique
There were over 164 million blogs, according to invesp.com.
As you can see, readers are eating the blog world up. They are using more mobile devices and tablets more than ever.
This is great if your blog is UNIQUE enough to stand out. You have something different to offer! It's up to you to figure that out and stick with it. Your blog numbers will grow if you stick to what makes you unique in the blog world.
3) User Friendly
Your blog has to have the right buttons. Is your Facebook, Twitter, SUBSCRIBE button easy to see and easy to use?
There are so many cute buttons out there, but does it get the job done? Is it clear that you take subscribers?
4) Content
This is MOST important....
All the points above make it easy for the reader to join and to enjoy your blog, but the ultimate aspect that will cause them to join is what you are blogging about.
Your content has to be geared toward your reader, NOT YOU! It's great that you want to showcase your novels. I do that, but not in a BUY MY BOOK way (you can here if you want....just joking...um...not really!)
If you tell a story that you feel is necessary, your story should inspire or help your reader in some way. That is what this blog was built on. This blog content is about helping other authors to stay positive on their career path of writing no matter what stage of the game you are in, as well as how to effectively market your novels.
If you have too many stories that don't give back or you post your scenes from your novel (which I don't think you should EVER do), you are going to loose your audience. They come to a blog to get something from it. Know your audience, give them what they want.
Strategies:
* Create author swag, like business cards, that have your blog URL that you can hand out at conferences. Conferences are always asking for authors to send swag in for their conference bags. TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS!!
* Offer to guest post on other sites. In order to ask the site owner if you can do this, you should visit the site regularly and leave comments. Let the blog owner see that you do come there and participate in their blog.
* Visit blogs that are similar to yours. Comment, comment, comment and use your blog URL when you fill out the form while leaving a comment. The other commenters will see your value in your comment and click on your name that will take them directly to your blog.
* Host bloggers that have similar blogs to yours. You will be attracting their readers. More time than not, once you have a new reader on your site, the reader will click around and read some of your post. Hopefully you have done your job and hooked them.
Ultimately it's up to you to try strategies to get that subscriber count up. Some will work, some will not. Try, try again, don't give up, and watch your count grow.
I'm going to give away a copy of THE TRICKED OUT TOOLBOX~PROMOTION AND MARKETING TOOLS EVERY WRITER NEEDS to one lucky commenter. I want everyone to succeed in their efforts to market their career.
What tips and tricks do you use to help drive traffic to your blog?
