Before I start, I want to say I'm not mad at anyone... I just want to make sure I'm clear, in case this doesn't come across in my writing.
A while back I got an e-mail from someone. This person said they liked my blog (I was flattered), gave me a link to their blog (I was curious), and asked me to give a link to their blog from my blog if I liked their blog. That last bit made me feel a bit offended... I was essentially being asked to advertise their blog. Now, I'm pretty sure the writer of the e-mail didn't intend to offend, but I wanted to let them know that this is the effect the e-mail had, I'm afraid.
I can certainly understand the desire to have more readers. However, there are better ways to go about getting readers than for asking for advertising. Here are my tips for good ways to get readers... although, given I only have around 25 subscribers, I may not be the best one to give this advice. But, I will let you know what has worked for me.
1. Join a ring of related bloggers.
2. Comment (intelligently) on other people's blogs.
The first one is pretty straightforward... people find one blog they like, and then use the ring to find similar blogs.
The second one is straightforward if you think about it. Bloggers are real people... just like you. They enjoy comments just as much as you do. When a stranger comments, they wonder who it is... and go check out your blog to see who you are. (At least, I do. Maybe bloggers with thousands of readers lose the thrill a bit.) Now, if they like what they see, they're likely to put a link to your blog. If they don't, they won't. But then, they wouldn't in that case even if you asked them.
I gained the majority of my readers this way. There are others that I have no idea how they found me, but then, I have no idea how they found me, so I can't really tell you how to attract these readers... you'll just have to hope they stumble upon you too. ;)
Oh... and one more tip... make reading your blog as easy as possible for your readers. We're all busy people these days, so the easier your blog is to keep up with, the more likely we are to do so. To that end, make sure you have your feed (rss, atom, whatever) turned on. In Blogger, you do this by going to Settings -> Site Feed. Having a feed means your readers can keep up to date using services like Bloglines. I have encountered a number of neat blogs that I would have liked to read, but they didn't have feeds, and I don't have time to keep going to check to see if they have new posts.
I hope these tips help. Good luck!
2 comments:
I pretty much agree with you on all points. The funny thing is that I've been online journalling since 1998 or thereabouts, before the weblog explosion.
Back then, comments weren't commonplace so when I set up my fiber blog, I was surprised when someone wanted comments (and just got around to adding them this weekend). rss/atom? Wasn't used back then, either. So it's been an interesting travel for me because there's such a difference between a weblog in 2005 and a journal in 1998... ;)
I know what you mean... I learned to program on a green screen apple. ;) Now my iPod has more memory than my first computer. I only started blogging last fall, when I saw google was offering free blogs. It was more a whim than anything.
I don't actually blog for the purpose of gaining readers or getting comments. I blog because I like to. I added a feed so that a friend of mine could keep up with me with her lj account. The first time a stranger commented it really freaked me out. I couldn't figure out how they found me, and why they were reading my blog. I must admit that comments are fun, and I enjoy getting them, but, now that I started, I would blog even if I didn't have any readers. Maybe not quite as often... who knows.
However, I've noticed others have a different point of view, and feel they need to have readers and comments. My advice was for those people... a nice, public, open letter, so I don't have to repeat myself. (As much, at least. ;) ) I am not actively seeking readers, but I'll welcome any who happen to feel my blog is entertaining. ;)
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