How To Grow Your Blog


I started my blog in January 2015 and, since then, I feel like I have picked up a few tips on tricks to help you get your blog out there to the masses. I'm not saying my blog has thirty three million readers or is the most influential website on the internet, however, I feel like it is successful.
Success means something different to each individual. To me, my blog is successful because it has become something which I enjoy writing on and it makes me happy, as well as giving me the freedom to write about whatever I want, allowing me to develop my writing skills and allowing me to actually help other people, and that's all I ever wanted from it. However, as I say, we all see success differently.
I wanted to share with you the things I would recommend doing if you want to grow your blog audience and gain loyal readers. Like I said, I don't have millions of those myself but I have had more readers than I could have ever imagined (*insert massive thank you here*) and so thought, if I've got some advice for baby bloggers, why not share it? Plus, this blog post has been requested by a lot of you on Twitter and I aim to please!

1) Share it on social media
Social media is more powerful than we could ever realise and simply by Tweeting the link to your blog. sticking it in your Instagram bio or sharing it on Facebook, you can gain a massive audience, especially if you already have dedicated followers on your social accounts. For me, I use Twitter to spread the word about my blog the most and I know that pretty much all of my readers have come from there. You never know who may come across the link to one of your blog posts and click on it, it could be just what they're looking for! Those people may then share it with their friends, who share it with their friends, and so on. ReTweets can work wonders too!

2) Comment on other blogs
Commenting on the posts of other bloggers is a great way to get noticed. Not only will that blogger see you when they read through their comments, but other people who comment can see it when they comment too. However, don't spam! Be sure to leave comments that actually relate to the blog post you're commenting on, don't just spam blogs with the link to your own blog as not only will it make people not want to click on it, but you'll also become known as a serial spammer!

3) Collaborate with other bloggers
Collaboration posts are a great way to gain a larger audience. Of course, you shouldn't beg other bloggers to collaborate with you and shouldn't just become friends with a blogger to grow your audience, however, if you do have a blogger friend and happen to have an idea for a collab, go for it! That way, both of your audiences can grow! They'll include you in their post and so their social media followers and blog readers will hop over to your post and may even read some of your other posts if they like what they see, and vice versa!

4) Respond to your readers
Reply to your comments, reply to Tweets and Facebook messages about your blog posts, don't ignore your readers! Don't just respond with one word answers either, start a conversation and build up a relationship with your audience, that way, they're sure to come back and you may even make a few friends! I reckon it's important to build up a nice community within your blogging circle, but you can only do this by engaging with your followers. It makes the whole thing a little more fun too, as I know I love getting feedback!

5) Work on your design 
Looks aren't everything, by a long way, however, ultimately, the fact is, if people don't like the look of your blog, they're bound to click off, even if your actual content is amazing. Be sure to have a clean layout that isn't cluttered, be sure to have large images, text that is easy to read and a template that is easy to follow and find everything on. You don't even have to hire a professional to design your blog for you or purchase a premium template! I have always designed my blog templates myself, it may take some time and a lot of faffing around with HTML, however, it will always be worth it, plus, it makes your blog a lot more enjoyable for you to look at! There are many places online where you can find fabulous yet free templates and there's a whole load of widgets and gadgets you can use to jazz it up!

6) Post regularly
Sounds simple, but is very important. If people click onto your blog, hoping to see new content yet there's always nothing there when they do, they'll soon lose interest. Posting every single day isn't necessary and isn't always possible, however, post often and when you can because you need to show your readers that you are interested in your blog too.
I wouldn't advise making a schedule and will always stick by this as I don't think there's any point in just sticking any old blog post up for the sake of just sticking to a schedule. Upload posts when you feel inspired and feel in a creative mood to write good content, however, be sure to post frequently so your audience doesn't disappear. Why would they keep coming back to a blog which has no fresh content when there's a million and one other blogs they can go to who are up to date?

7) Ask your readers what they want
Its always great to write about whatever you want to write about, that's why I love my blog as I have so much freedom to write about the things that interest me, however, I also love posting about things that other people want to read about. Ask your followers on social media or on your blog what posts they want to see from you. Of course, if their suggestions just totally aren't your style, you don't have to write them but, personally, I have found that when people ask me to write certain blog posts, I always enjoy doing it. Plus, if you know someone is going to want to read it then it makes you want to work even harder on that particular post to make it the best that it can be. 
If someone is expecting a certain post, they'll wait for it and will come back to check when it's up.

8) Be unique
We're at a point now where the internet is completely saturated with bloggers and it's getting harder by the day to stand out, however, try and be a little bit different. Whether its with the types of posts you write, your blog design or your images, work on one little thing that is going to make people remember you and want to come back to your blog. Don't just copy what everyone else is doing, otherwise, your readers will just go to the other bigger blogs. Don't allow yourself to get swallowed up by being the same as every other blogger because you think its what people want to see, it isn't. Audiences want something new, something unique, something fresh, something exciting that they haven't seen before!

9) Be nice
Simple, but significant. Obviously, be kind and compassionate in everything that you do without even thinking about it, but also, be nice on your blog, People will remember your character and the things you say very easily so make a good impression. Ensure your posts aren't offensive or rude as it only takes someone to click on that one post that isn't paticularly nice or helpful and they'll be put off your blog forever. Take feedback positively, help out your readers by letting them know you are there for them and try to give advice. Just. simply, be kind and people will get a much nicer vibe when they read your blog.

10) Write about what you love
My tenth and final tip is something which is easy to follow, write about what you love. Yes, it's important to post on a regular basis and is good to post what your readers want to see sometimes, however, one thing which you should always ensure is that you are writing content which you enjoy. Readers can see through a blog very easily and it is more obvious than you think if you're writing about something that doesn't interest you and are simply blogging about it to get page-views or because its what everyone else is blogging about. Writing about the things that genuinely interest you also makes blogging a lot easier! If you're writing about a topic which you couldn't care less about, it makes writing the post boring and you'll find yourself sitting at the keyboard for hours, trying to think of what to say, and that isn't what blogging is about! Blogging is about being able to sit at your computer and having your fingers move like fire across the keys because the words are just "rolling off your tongue." Writing about what you love also helps with tip number 8 as it means you can write about the quirky little hobbies and interests you have, plus, it allows your readers to get to know you more and find something in common with you. Writing about topics that you enjoy honestly makes blogging so much more fun, and who doesn't want that?

I hope you found some of those tips a little bit helpful, be sure to let me know if you did!


What tips do you have for anyone wanting to grow their blog? <3

Love, Emily :) xx

2 comments:

  1. I love this Emily! And I will 100% be putting some of your tips in to practice! xx

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    1. Ah thank you for reading, Ellie! I hope you find a couple of them helpful! :) xx

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