The Three Best, All-Time Tips for Increasing Your Blog’s Readership

Posted on September 14, 2009 by Laura Christianson

Traffic JamSince 2004, when I started blogging, I’ve read – and tried – just about every tip imaginable to lure readers. I could regale you with a list of 100 (or 1,000… or 10,000) tips to drive traffic to your blog, but I won’t. That’s because you have to do only three things to pump up your blog’s readership.

Side note:

Ignore every steroidal article you stumble across that includes the words:

“INCREASE TRAFFIC TO YOUR BLOG 2000% IN 10 DAYS!!!!” (or something similar).

While it is possible to quickly make leaps in readership, for the vast majority of bloggers, readership increases at a slow, steady pace.

Forget the hype and get real. Here are the three basic, bottom-line things you need to do well—and consistently—to build your blog’s readership:

1.  Format your posts for skimmers

There’s no bigger turnoff than a 400-word blog post that’s one endless paragraph. Well, maybe one bigger turnoff: a 400-word paragraph written in 8-point Courier.

Forget what your high school English teacher taught you about writing lengthy, detailed paragraphs. Instead, write like a journalist. Short sentences. Short paragraphs. Short words. Axe the jargon.

Baby Blue EyesThe white space between your paragraphs makes it easier for readers to hone in on subheads and other key words you want them to notice.

Include a graphic element in every post. Readers’ eyes are drawn to images; a visual that illustrates your point, placed in a consistent location in every blog post, will capture readers’ attention and draw them into your article.

2.  Give ‘em your best stuff

Some bloggers – particularly those who blog to sell a product or service – believe in teasing their readers with juicy tidbits.

Then, just when their blog post starts to get interesting, they stop delivering the goods and start pitching their product.

“Sorry folks, you don’t get the rest of my earth-shattering information unless you spend $49.99 on my e-book; or $999 for my amazing, life-changing workshop.”

These shysters aren’t really sorry at all, are they? They’re evil, scheming marketers who only want our money.

To them, I say: You won’t hold me hostage. I’m boycotting your blog, your e-newsletter, and I’m blocking your e-mails.

Maybe it’s just me, but I feel more inclined to buy from bloggers who give me useful information for free. They don’t have to give me everything – I understand they have to earn a living – but when they give me something, I begin to trust them. And once I trust them, I’m much more likely to pull out my American Express card when they ask me to buy.

3.  Don’t check your visitor stats

Wait a minute, Laura. Did you just say, “DON’T check your stats?”

That’s right, I did. I know it sounds counterintuitive… how can you grow your blog if you don’t know how many people are visiting? But hear me out on this…

Too many bloggers obsess over their stats, checking them daily – or multiple times per day. If you’re like most bloggers, checking your stats daily will only discourage you (because most bloggers get fewer than 100 page views per day).

Why bother? Channel your energy into something more productive, like… say… blogging!

If you blog because you get a kick out of sharing what you’re learning or you love to entertain people, you’re on the right track. Don’t let the numbers (or lack of them) get you down. Focus on the craft of blogging, and you’ll soon discover that you have five loyal readers… then 50 loyal readers. And most bloggers would rather have 50 intensely loyal fans who anticipate every post than 5,000 ho-hum visitors who drop in every once in a while.

I challenge you to avoid looking at your visitor stats for a full month. Not even a peek!

For the next month, just have fun with blogging. Work on writing interesting, entertaining, easy-to-read articles formatted for skimmers. I’ll bet that after a month, you’ll notice a bump in traffic to your blog.

Try it and let me know how you do.

*Feel free to reprint this post on your own blog. I’ll be happy to e-mail you the HTML, so all you have to do is copy & paste, and the formatting will remain intact. If you reprint it, please include the following byline:

Laura Christianson, aka The Blogging Barista, owns Blogging Bistro (www.BloggingBistro.com), a Seattle-based social media marketing company.

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  • http://www.jaydip.info/ Jaydip Parikh

    Wonderful tips. Thanks for sharing. Specially like 3rd topic.

  • http://www.jaydip.info Jaydip Parikh

    Wonderful tips. Thanks for sharing. Specially like 3rd topic.

  • http://yesterdayspoem.blogspot.com/ vizionheiry

    I really like your 3 steps. It completely goes against problogger’s logic of anything below 4 means you don’t know your stuff!

    Also, #2 is killer info. I too ignore bloggers pitching to me.

    When you walk into small businesses, they don’t bombard you with products, you can look around. Likewise, a reader should be able to peruse a blog without having a product shoved into their thoughts!

  • http://yesterdayspoem.blogspot.com vizionheiry

    I really like your 3 steps. It completely goes against problogger’s logic of anything below 4 means you don’t know your stuff!

    Also, #2 is killer info. I too ignore bloggers pitching to me.

    When you walk into small businesses, they don’t bombard you with products, you can look around. Likewise, a reader should be able to peruse a blog without having a product shoved into their thoughts!

  • Laura

    I’m a huge fan of Problogger — Darren’s my blogging hero and I’ve learned a ton from him over the years.

    But I do get weary of the constant bombardment of lists of hundreds of things I need to do to get more traffic. I could spend my entire life doing those things, and I care more about having a life, if you get my drift.

    For me, it all boils down to doing a few things well — and doing them well consistently. I often fail in the consistency department, but they’re good goals to shoot for.

    Besides, at my age, I can’t remember more than three things at a time!

  • Laura

    I’m a huge fan of Problogger — Darren’s my blogging hero and I’ve learned a ton from him over the years.

    But I do get weary of the constant bombardment of lists of hundreds of things I need to do to get more traffic. I could spend my entire life doing those things, and I care more about having a life, if you get my drift.

    For me, it all boils down to doing a few things well — and doing them well consistently. I often fail in the consistency department, but they’re good goals to shoot for.

    Besides, at my age, I can’t remember more than three things at a time!

  • http://yesterdayspoem.blogspot.com/ vizionheiry

    I am following Probloggers 31 Days to a Better blog.

    I like the dip in and dip out blog posting method.

    I’m a new (consistent) blogger and already I subscribe to 10 blogs. Divide that by an hour and that’s 6 minutes a blog. So I try to offer readers bites of content that they can use in less than 6 minutes.

    Really, should people spend more than that an hour a day reading blogs? Most of us are not trying to get rich blogging. We’re blogging to develop a community around our niche content, a home on the web.

  • http://yesterdayspoem.blogspot.com vizionheiry

    I am following Probloggers 31 Days to a Better blog.

    I like the dip in and dip out blog posting method.

    I’m a new (consistent) blogger and already I subscribe to 10 blogs. Divide that by an hour and that’s 6 minutes a blog. So I try to offer readers bites of content that they can use in less than 6 minutes.

    Really, should people spend more than that an hour a day reading blogs? Most of us are not trying to get rich blogging. We’re blogging to develop a community around our niche content, a home on the web.

  • Laura

    Vizionheiry,

    I have done the 31 Days challenge as well. Some good stuff there.

    I subscribe to a handful of blogs that I read every day; I visit others from time to time. Most folks won’t devote 6 minutes to a blog — in reality, it’s more like 30 seconds. When you plan your blog posts, I suggest thinking in terms of what a 30-second skimmer wants. It’s a sad-but-true fact about blogging: readers have short attention spans, and they’re fickle.

    I completely agree that most of us bloggers have no intention of getting rich blogging. We constantly hear about the “big” bloggers who have made millions blogging, and we tend to put these folks on pedestals as examples of what we should be doing with our own blogs. In a way, it’s like idolizing a movie star or other celeb and trying to emulate them. Their stardom isn’t likely to rub off on us.

    While there’s nothing wrong with setting big goals for yourself (particularly if striking it rich via blogging is your goal), for the vast majority of bloggers, it’s all about developing community within our niche. It sounds as if you have a good handle on how to grow your blog, Vizionheiry — keep on doing what you’re doing!

  • Laura

    Vizionheiry,

    I have done the 31 Days challenge as well. Some good stuff there.

    I subscribe to a handful of blogs that I read every day; I visit others from time to time. Most folks won’t devote 6 minutes to a blog — in reality, it’s more like 30 seconds. When you plan your blog posts, I suggest thinking in terms of what a 30-second skimmer wants. It’s a sad-but-true fact about blogging: readers have short attention spans, and they’re fickle.

    I completely agree that most of us bloggers have no intention of getting rich blogging. We constantly hear about the “big” bloggers who have made millions blogging, and we tend to put these folks on pedestals as examples of what we should be doing with our own blogs. In a way, it’s like idolizing a movie star or other celeb and trying to emulate them. Their stardom isn’t likely to rub off on us.

    While there’s nothing wrong with setting big goals for yourself (particularly if striking it rich via blogging is your goal), for the vast majority of bloggers, it’s all about developing community within our niche. It sounds as if you have a good handle on how to grow your blog, Vizionheiry — keep on doing what you’re doing!

  • http://twitter.com/TrvlConnOsseur Travel Connoisseur

    Love the tip about not checking out your stats. Now, THAT is a tough challenge!! My blog is pretty new, so the stats have become my friend, but you are right. Checking them just makes you crazy!!

  • http://bloggingbistro.com/ Laura Christianson

    You might want to set a specific time each week to check them so you can measure the progress of your new blog. Putting stats checking on your calendar keeps the craziness at bay. Try it and let me know if it works.

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  • http://www.AvaWrites.com Ava

    Ouch! Not look at my blog stats for a week? That would be monumentally difficult for me!
    Still, you did make me feel better about my stats. I started blogging about 2 months ago (thanks to reading Blogophobia Conquered!) and I'm getting anywhere from 3 to 30 views a day. I thought that was terrible, but if most blogs are getting under 100 and my blog is still a “baby” perhaps it's not as bad as I thought! :-)

  • http://bloggingbistro.com/ Laura Christianson

    That's exactly why I think it's good not to obsess about visitor stats too much, Ava. Building a blog readership takes time — many bloggers assume it'll happen instantly. Unless you are already a celebrity when you begin blogging, it's unlikely that thousands (or even hundreds) of people will flock to your blog just because you started publishing one.

    As you've likely heard me say, blogging is a marathon, not a sprint. You have to develop that marathon mentality of “training” over the long-haul, and setting a goal of making a positive difference in the lives of your readers, whether that means three people, 300 people, or 3,000 people per day.

    Hang in there!

  • Tobemejewelry

    Good points!

  • Ann

     Wow!  You described me on checking the stats!  I’m a very new blogger and constantly check my stats!  I’ll give it a try – but how ’bout I start off small and not check for a day….then a week….then work up to a months!  Thanks for the GREAT advice!

  • http://bloggingbistro.com/ Laura Christianson

    Anything to reduce your blood pressure, Ann! I hope you can resist checking your stats for 24 hours. It is good to check them every once in a while to help you fine-tune your article topics. For example, I checked mine yesterday and noticed that post titles that begin with the words “How To…” get lots more page views than others.

    Best to you with your blogging!

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