If you have been wondering why your blog has been suffering from a lack of web traffic, comments, links, and increased subscribers, there are a few things you can do to not only make your blog become more popular, but have you screaming with delight!
Let’s take a look at a few things you may be doing wrong, and how you can overcome the obstacles to growing your blog:
- Blog Design
- Post Titles
- Quality Content
- SEO Basics
- Social Media Networking
Why Blog Design Matters
The first impression visitors get when landing on your blog has great impact on whether they will stick around long enough to actually read any of your articles, or quickly look for the exit door, never to be seen or heard from again.
Blogs that contain virtually no white space, or are covered from top to bottom with awards, flashing images, calendars and various other annoying widgets, can easily distract readers from your post content, and may cause visitors to leave before ever having a chance to see what could very well be a phenomenal post on your blog.
Having a nice, clean appearance to your blog theme, with plenty of white space, minimal use of various widgets, is something even I had to learn. Gone are the Spicy Page widget (low performance) and Bumpzee widget (continuous technical issues), my Blogroll and banners are now on their own page, and I removed redundant categories, thereby cleaning up my sidebars to be more esthetically pleasing.
Screaming Post Titles
Regardless of what kind of blog or blog niche you have chosen, you obviously want to increase web traffic, comments and subscribers to your blog, otherwise you would not be reading this post. The most significant change you can make for your blog right away is creating post titles that clearly defines what information readers will receive by reading your post.
There are 13 questions bloggers should ask themselves before publishing a post on their blog:
1. “What was the main point of this post? have I made it clearly?
2. What do I want readers of this post to do? have I led them to this action?
3. Have I written something useful?
4. Have I written something unique?
5. Has what I’ve written taken me closer or further away from my blog’s goals?
6. Have I used a title that draws people into my post?
7. Are my spelling and grammar correct?
8. Could I have said it more succinctly?
9. Have I credited sources of quotes and inspiration?
10. Have I written something previously that relates to this post that I could link to? has someone else?
11. Have I left room for my readers to add something to this post? have I invited them to?
12. What keywords will people search Google for on this topic? have I optimized this post for those words?
13. How could I follow this post up with another that extends it?”(Source: ProBlogger)
Even if your blog is primary focused on social traffic, having clearly defined post titles can make first-time visitors stand up and take notice of your blog, exponentially increasing your chances of building web traffic, subscribers and comments for your blog.
Bland and extremely vague post titles can negatively impact your chances of increasing subscribers and comments, but can also cause you to lose the subscribers you already have. My personal RSS feed list has already been reduced because of lousy, bland and boring post titles that rarely pull me into the blog, and I‘m considering reducing it even more.
“Telling It Like It Is” is fortunate in that it gets an equal share of Social Traffic and Search Engine Traffic, as I have worked very hard to increase my knowledge of using keywords and basic SEO, experimenting and focusing on what works vs. what does not, in order to have achieved that goal and it’s only going to get better.
Content IS King
No matter what your blog niche is, creating valuable and informative content is something that cannot be overemphasized. Having the ability to grip and hold your readers attention throughout an entire post (even long posts), really isn’t that hard in most cases. “Don’t Settle for Scannable: Write Gripping Content” and “The 5 Barriers to Success Series” offers valuable information for all bloggers regardless of your blog niche. (Open another browser window to see Skellie’s blog).
Skellie does an excellent job at gripping readers attention, and I have yet to find a single post that I haven’t been able to finish from top to bottom. Make special note of how Skellie uses short paragraphs rather than large blocks of text, with attention-grabbing images for each post. It makes reading much easier, doesn’t it?
Creating gripping content helps readers connect with you on many levels, personally and professionally. Allow readers to really get to know who you are and what you’re about, engaging them with conversational posts involving topics you are passionate about. Are you genuinely funny in real life? Show it in your posts, your readers will love it!
Connect with your readers and those who leave comments on your blog. Reply to each and every comment left, and by all means don’t turn off the option for visitors to leave a comment on your blog posts, including those found deep within your archives. Why would you want to prevent visitors or newly subscribed readers the opportunity to communicate with you or ask questions on even older posts?
Tip: You don’t have to be a “pro blogger” to write like a professional.
SEO Basics
I am no SEO expert by any means, but I’ve learned some SEO Basics since beginning this blog that have helped me immensely in my efforts to build web traffic to my blog, as well as increasing the number of subscribed readers. Having the opportunity to write about topics of vital importance to me and my readers, as well as those who find my blog through search engine traffic, has been very rewarding to say the least.
Learning the basics of SEO, using the right keywords in each post (words people use when doing searches online) along with other SEO tricks and tools I have learned, has put my blog at the number one spot for at least two of my posts that I am very passionate about.
Being relatively new to blogging, I feel pretty darn good about that achievement, and it’s just going to get better as I continue to implement various SEO tactics in my posts.
The posts shown in the screen shot above continue to get comments and questions to this day, from people doing keyword searches relating to the problems discussed in those posts, and I can’t imagine turning off the option for them to communicate with me by commenting.
Social Networking
Stop whining about social networking and get busy connecting and engaging with fellow bloggers, those within your chosen niche as well as those outside of your niche.
While there are many benefits of building relationships with other like-niche bloggers, stepping out of your comfort zone and connecting with bloggers that can teach you things you want and need to learn, will bring you and your blog a much wider audience than you may have initially thought.
Using social networks like StumbleUpon is an incredible tool every blogger should utilize, and you will be utterly amazed at the kind of web traffic you can receive by connecting with other StumbleUpon users, as well as opportunities to increase your subscriber numbers and comments on posts. Don’t ignore the value of StumbleUpon.
Social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter tend to get mixed reviews by users. While I do have a Facebook account and occasionally drop in to see what friends are doing, I actually prefer Twitter since it works in real time, and allows me and other users to get to know each other on a more personal level. It’s important to understand how to use Twitter and StumbleUpon the right way, because using it in the wrong way can upset and frustrate Twitter users and lesson your chances of building a fan club.
Have I missed anything? Do you have any other suggestions on increasing web traffic, comments and subscribers? What has worked well for you?
Popularity: 19% [?]
33 responses so far ↓
1 Frank C (9 comments.) // Feb 21, 2008 at 10:14 am
I pulled Bumpzee a while ago because of technical issues as well.
Your site looks a lot cleaner than it did back in the Blogger days when I did a blog review of it. You’ve put a lot of work into improving it.
2 Lin (393 comments.) // Feb 21, 2008 at 10:26 am
Thanks Frank! Yes, I have worked very hard to improve this blog from it’s Blogger days. Perhaps I’m ready for another blog review?
3 Kim (14 comments.) // Feb 21, 2008 at 11:48 am
I am printing this out.. This was a phenomenal post.. loved from start to finish.. lots of info.
4 Lin (393 comments.) // Feb 21, 2008 at 11:50 am
Thanks Kim! I’m pleased it was informative and helpful for you. It really isn’t that hard to accomplish, once you’ve learned the tricks and tools I have worked so hard on.
5 Sapan Behar (3 comments.) // Feb 21, 2008 at 11:55 am
The thing about social media is that it may send a lot of meaningless traffic to your blog - People just reading one post and browsing around and may never actually convert.
6 Lin (393 comments.) // Feb 21, 2008 at 12:00 pm
Sapan, thank you for your comment. From personal experience I can tell you it has everything to do with actively participating in various social media networks.
With there being so many social networking sites, it really boils down to finding a balance, determining which brings the greatest benefits, and weeding out those with low performance.
Take a look at the my article about “social networking for whiners” that I’ve linked to in this post, and you may understand what I mean.
7 Troy (2 comments.) // Feb 21, 2008 at 12:04 pm
Great post, and congratulations on your Google rank! I also like your use of visually interesting Flickr images, especially since that’s what I’m about to post about
Just one distinction: StumbleUpon and Digg are social bookmarking services, while Facebook and MySpace are social networking. I often got confused about these two myself (including once having a category for one when I meant the other in my sidebar).
8 Lin (393 comments.) // Feb 21, 2008 at 7:56 pm
Hi Troy, Thank you for that reminder, I tend to forget the distinctions between them.
I haven’t been much of a fan of Digg personally, mostly because I don’t think my blog niche fits very well with Digg. No biggie though, things are rolling along just fine here without Digg.
Caroline Middlebrook was kind enough to Stumble this post too, so that’s very cool. Thanks Caroline!
9 Neena (NeenMachine) (2 comments.) // Feb 22, 2008 at 12:01 am
Lin,
This is such a thorough and well thought out post. I especially find it hard to keep up with social networking.There are so many sites and it is all very time consuming - but you are right, the payoff can be great.
10 Lin (393 comments.) // Feb 22, 2008 at 12:07 am
Hi Neena, thank you - I appreciate your compliment.
Personally speaking, sometimes it comes down to deciding what social networking sites do well in bringing traffic, comments etc to your own blog, but also helps you build relationships with other bloggers.
If those aren’t working with whatever social networking/social bookmarking site you actively participate in, then it’s time to consider “kicking it to the curb” and move onto those that do.
11 Troy (2 comments.) // Feb 22, 2008 at 8:06 pm
Digg is still my stock example, because in the wider world more people seem to know about it than StumbleUpon, but you’re right that it doesn’t seem to be doing very well traffic wise. Also, the categories never seem to fit well with my posts, so I’ve stopped bothering with it.
12 Tot's Mom (3 comments.) // Feb 22, 2008 at 10:24 pm
I think building blog traffic also takes time because you do need quite a number of posts to bring in seach engine traffic. Commenting on other people’s blogs also help but I also tend to think that there is a limit as to how many blogs one can visit in a day. So, perhaps having meaningful and quality content together with search engine traffic is the way to go for the long term.
13 Lin (393 comments.) // Feb 22, 2008 at 10:29 pm
Hi Tot’s Mom! Thanks for the input!
I spend quite a bit of time doing social networking through a variety of methods, and fortunate that I have a pretty extensive RSS feed list of blogs I enjoy.
It hasn’t really been too difficult for me to comment or participate, because some blogs I subscribe to don’t post every single day nor…always post something I feel I have anything to contribute to, even though I drop in and read the post.
14 Hungry Mother (39 comments.) // Feb 23, 2008 at 8:46 am
Just a polite difference of view on blogs:
————————————————-
I have a blog in order to express myself in a more subjective way than my objective online journal and my objective online trip reports. I don’t really want to have a lot of traffic, just my relatives, friends, and a few other people who might have some interest in what I’m doing or thinking.
I know a lot of people try to make money with their blogs, but that’s not my interest at all. I have no problem with anyone trying to make a buck, but I’ve seen some blogs that follow the TV model where the content is subordinate to the commercials. If I didn’t like your blog I wouldn’t read it, but I just wanted to point out that there other forms of blogging.
15 Lin (393 comments.) // Feb 23, 2008 at 8:57 am
Hi HM! I understand where you’re coming from, as your blog is more targeted towards Social Traffic as you mentioned. Please don’t think this post is directed at your blog, as I do enjoy your blog and reading your posts.
There are actually quite a few blogs I subscribe to that don’t fit the mold I describe in this post, and do enjoy them very much. This post is more about putting into practice the various things I’ve learned in order to have both Social Traffic and Search Engine Traffic, which is important to me to reach a wider audience with my message such as the “Helping and Enabling” posts.
Welcome back from vacation! I’m still on “vacation” myself, but decided not to actually leave town but just chill out and relax.
16 Momo Fali (7 comments.) // Feb 23, 2008 at 10:22 am
All great tools to increase traffic. I’m trying to find the time to redesign my blog and do some of the stuff you mentioned.
17 Lin (393 comments.) // Feb 23, 2008 at 11:16 am
MomoFali, I know what you mean! I’ve been meaning to clean some things up for a couple of weeks now, and finally got to it.
18 Caroline’s Favourite Links #11 | Caroline Middlebrook // Feb 23, 2008 at 2:17 pm
[…] 5 Ways to Make Your Blog Posts Scream for Attention - Nice headline huh? A nice in-depth post that does what it says on the tin as we say in the UK. This post comes from Lin from Tell It Like It Is. […]
19 marti garaughty (1 comments.) // Feb 24, 2008 at 1:26 am
Hi Lin, you’ve covered 5 very vital points. Unfortunately a lot of bloggers tend to skip over point # 1.
A first impression really does make a difference, even online. With so many decent looking blog templates around, there’s no excuse for an ugly blog. Excellent post!
20 Lin (393 comments.) // Feb 24, 2008 at 9:04 am
Hi Marti, thank you for your comment. Even I have had to learn the importance of blog design, so I just hope people stop and think about it from a visitor’s perspective.
21 melissa (7 comments.) // Feb 24, 2008 at 12:28 pm
hi honey!!!
things that have worked well for me…cre8buzz, random visiting of blogs on others blogrolls, stuff like that.
as usual, that was a wonderful and informative post!!
i haven’t figured out stumbleupon but, one day, i will!
xoxo
22 Lin (393 comments.) // Feb 24, 2008 at 12:31 pm
Hi Melissa! I know what you mean! I’ve been discovering some incredible blogs (including your very active one!) and have greatly increased my RSS feed list these last few days! The list gets longer and longer by the day!
23 Dee (1 comments.) // Feb 27, 2008 at 5:47 pm
What a relevant topic and5 good tips too. I am with blogger and so very limited but I am just starting. Thinking of adding something else to my short name like - CEOmum - instilling direction and passion or helping you to do better. Oh it is hard when you are not very creative.
24 Lin (393 comments.) // Feb 28, 2008 at 8:16 pm
Hi Dee! Yes being on Blogger does have it’s limitations for sure. I used to be on Blogger but am thrilled to have moved to Wordpress. It’s soooo much better than Blogger.
25 Todd Morris (18 comments.) // Mar 1, 2008 at 1:35 pm
Hi Lin,
Oh, what a nice long, well researched post. Obviously I agree with the points you’ve raised … we seem to be cruising along a similar learning trajectory … although you write better than I do (I’m jealous
)
I’m still not convinced how I feel about social bookmarking/networking sites. On the one hand, it was very cool to open up my stats and see 1,700+ visitors in a day at one point. But in the long run, I think that commenting on other blogs, and getting to know cool people such as yourself will actually turn out to be much more rewarding.
Thanks again for sharing your good ideas … as always I enjoyed reading.
Catch up with you again soon,
Todd
26 Lin (393 comments.) // Mar 1, 2008 at 2:47 pm
Todd, LOL thanks! There is always new things to learn and finding ways to improve our blogs and I’m no different.
So many people blog about Digg and Del.icio.us and other sites, but I just focus in on getting to know other bloggers on a more personal basis and doing whatever I can to link to their posts that add or further my own. That seems to work best for me. Oh, StumbleUpon is really awesome.
27 TheMobiBlog (1 comments.) // Mar 2, 2008 at 10:43 am
This is really a very nice blog and just loaded with interesting content.. Good luck !
28 Lin (393 comments.) // Mar 2, 2008 at 10:46 am
TMB, thank you so much. I appreciate hearing that my efforts are working well.
29 Link Love - Social Networking, Building Niche Stores, Adsense Rules, and Much More | Weekly Best Links | Success with Todd // Mar 4, 2008 at 3:01 am
[…] last week, I still couldn’t resist reading, and Linking to Lin’s wonderful post about 5 Ways to Make your Blog Posts Scream for Attention. I was already a basic understanding of most these tips: 1. Blog Design 2. Post Titles 3. Quality […]
30 Jason Pearson (6 comments.) // Mar 20, 2008 at 2:40 pm
This was a great article. Well written and easy to understand. I especially liked the questions to run through about post titles
31 Nesher (1 comments.) // Mar 21, 2008 at 3:32 am
Your article was posted in the “Bringing more traffic to your blog” - 3rd Ed. Blog Carnival:
http://blogging4good.blogspot.com/2008/03/bringing-more-traffic-to-your-blog.html
Appreciate your participation.
32 Thoughts on Themes, RSS and Splogs // Mar 24, 2008 at 6:46 pm
[…] design DOES matter, though, and Lin tells us why with "5 Ways To Make Your Blog Posts SCREAM For Attention". If a blog suffers from too many widgets, slow-loading times, and doesn't take advantage […]
33 2008 Social Networking Tips For All You Whiners | Telling It Like It Is // Apr 19, 2008 at 6:28 pm
[…] 5 Ways to Make Your Blog Posts Scream for Attention […]
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