How To Build An Audience For Your Blog

This post, which will be rather long and boring but might interest you if you want to build an audience for your blog which may be suffering from a serious lack of attention at the moment - I will try to explain how you can build an audience.
i’m reading gonzo journal bcoz cowboy caleb posts a multitude of interesting links daily without fail, so i was pleasantly surprised when i found my blog listed under his blog reads. he’s gonna make me a star. i feel it in my fingers. i feel it in my toes.
I found that on a post written by PostDisko on his blog through Technorati. As flattering as it may be, I really need to highlight one thing.
Nobody can make you famous. Not mrbrown, not miyagi and certainly not me. The most we can do is link to you one time. You will be famous for that one brief moment when the whole asian blogosphere descends upon your blog to read that one post we linked to. That one moment only. And after that you’ll remember with great happiness the day you got a few thousand hits. That’s right, you’ll be a one-hit wonder.
Unless you build your own audience.
It’s important to note that I’m not going to talk about how to blog. Tony Pierce has already covered that and although I disagree with him on several points, he’s got it covered pretty tight.
There are thousands of blogs out there. What makes yours so special? You can sit down and think all night if you want, but there isn’t an easy answer. So what’s a poor ignored blogger to do then?
- RSS is your friend
Forget your pretty blog design. If you have an RSS feed, which is offered by most modern blogging systems, then you should max it out. Most bloggers use an RSS aggregator to read your RSS feed instead of visiting your blogsite. This means that they dont have to see your red text on black background anymore. If your RSS feed is not a complete feed, they will have to visit your site to read the whole post (they won’t, too much hassle). Make sure your RSS feed shows the full text instead of a summary - this option is available in most blogging tools. This way you can be sure that bloggers are reading your entire post. - Don’t make your readers jump through hoops to comment
Nothing is more annoying then a blog that requires readers to enter their email (wordpress, pMachine) or login (livejournal, blogger, MT) when they want to post a comment. Isnt it enough that they have already read your entire post and feel like giving you feedback? What you’re doing isnt helping you to score brownie points. Switch things like this off. Use modern comment-spam catching techniques instead of passing on the pain to your readers. - Start a meme or participate in spreading one
Memes are great ways to make yourself visible. If you participate in a meme started by a more popular blogger like SexyBlogger then you’re giving a chance for other bloggers to discover you. And that’s how we discovered the previously-unknown-cute-like-hell Lynn - Be consistent in your content
When Bubblemunche burst onto the scene, he was one sad sack of virgin shite. Many episodes later, he’s still the same. Life has not improved for him. But his blogging audience sure has improved by leaps and bounds. Do you see the moral of the story here? - Use images to reinforce your message.
Sometimes just text alone doesnt cut it. Images can paint a thousand words and make your content more real. With Flickr image hosting, you can now have pretty photos on your blog for free. Just make sure the size is consistent (refer to point 4). - Comment on other blogs
Don’t just lurk. Post a few comments from time-to-time. Comments that consist of short phrases like “Hi, nice blog” reek of shameless self-promotion. Try to post intelligent comments that reflect the fact that you actually read the whole post thus infering that you give a shit about it thereby indebting the author to return the favor (some day). - Broadcast your posts
When you’ve got a good post, share it with others. Inform other bloggers about it via email or comments. Chances are they will plug it and give you credit.
Building an audience is a long process, not a one day job. Following the steps above will point you on the right direction towards building a blog with a steady audience that most importantly interacts with you on a daily basis.
Cowboy Caleb recommends 


50 Comments