How do I get people to read my blog?

That’s a rhetorical question, lest you get any ideas….

But all seriousness aside, I get asked this question a lot so here are some answers. And those in the know, feel free to add some more thoughts in the comments.

Don’t Monologue – There are a lot of blogs out there and chances are, whatever industry or community of interest you are in, there are a few other blogs covering that same territory. There’s no way they will know you exist unless you tell them, and the best way to do that is leave comments (thoughtful comments, not spam) on their blogs, and links them on yours.

Remember, marketing is conversation and conversation is dialog. If you aren’t engaging, no one will know you exist, no matter how brilliant your 1800 word tomes on Byzantine iconography.

That’s Enough About You – While we are on the subject of dialog, don’t fill your blog with stuff about you, your company and your products. You probably have a whole marketing program to do that and in any case, blogging isn’t a sales channel, it’s a conversation channel.

Talk about your industry. Be a resource for others who are following in your wake. Share some of your real brilliance. And of course, pay attention to the first rule – don’t forget to share it with others.

Think Search – If you want people to find you, you have to understand a bit how search engines work. And you have to put yourself in the head of someone who might be looking for what you have to offer. See the title of this blog? ’nuff said.

Use Every Tool – Tag your posts. Announce them on Twitter. Share full RSS feeds. Don’t feel that because it’s a blog, you have to stop at blogging. Use every tool in the social media toolkit you can find to bring people to you.

There’s a start. I’ll have more throughout the week.

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  • Great topic! May I add a caveat to this? (That was rhetorical, you know I will...*wink*) Yes, use twitter, but don't twitterspam the community. Don't link twitter to your blog so that it automatically tweets every post. It's ok to tweet a blog post, but personalize it and don't do every single one;) Twitter is a community, not just a broadcasting tool:)
  • Annie - Good point. I guess I left that unsaid but it's important to know when to digg, tweet or otherwise pump your own content and when to shut up.
  • Great topic, David...

    Regarding so-called "twitterspam" I have to mildly disagree with Annie. Plug-ins like Twitter Tools for Wordpress make it super easy to tweet blog posts and then republish digests of tweets back to your blog. I think of Twitter as an extension of my blog so why not have them appear for RSS readers?

    I guess it would be different if you were tweeting dozens of posts a day but one or two is not spam IMO.
  • Great advice! As I'm reading the comments I too am thinking about how I announce new posts on twitter etc. It seems to me that the automated way of doing it is easy, but it is so impersonal that it's easy to just dismiss it as twitterspam when you see it. A far more effective approach would be to highlight the blog posts personally, by letting people know why you would want to read the post.

    / going and changing my twitterfeed settings now...
  • Liked the post, David. When I announce a blog post on Twitter, I do so in the context of "any thoughts" - especially when I'm really not sure of my stance and am seeking true conversation vs. me preaching.
  • Good insight, will share with my twitter network
  • David, I found you from SXSW articles, was impressed by what you had to say, so I subscribed to your feed. It's a good thing you chose a very effective title for this blog or I would've never found it: it's quality work. My favourite part is, "dialogue, not monologue." If you keep this up, I'll never unsubscribe! Keep the post titles relevant and effective, so I don't gloss over another potential diamond in the rough.
  • I am a newbie to blogging. How can I get people to get involved in my controversial and eclectic topics? What is Twitter? Can you explain what an RSS feed is exactly and how it works? I understand that it is a news ticker, but how does that help me get people to hop on over to my blog? Thanks.

    Perhaps you would be kind enough to read my blog and leave comments and tell others about it! Many thanks.
  • I am also new to the blogging world and want to increase my traffic.

    I use feed burner, technorati, facebook and everything i can think of to get the message out there, but i still seem to be low on the list. any suggestions?
  • hi there. It seems that I am horribly untechnical. I write a blog 'cos I like writing but I don't know what any of these feed burn / tweeting/ etc things are. Aaargh. I shall never be read by anybody!!!!
  • Great topic it really helps me as a beginner because i just created my own blog at blogger.com so i was surfing through the internet and i found this it really a big help and it motivated me once again Thank you.
  • I'm a new blogger. I actually don't have an official blog yet just Mutiply. These suggestions are very useful for me.
    Thanks!
    -Aileen
  • Thanks for the great ideas. I am new to the blogging community, so I'll start with you :) Please check out dishandscoop.blogspot.com when you get a chance. I will certainly be using your resourceful ideas...greatly appreciated.

    Echo Eve
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