Congratulations on your new blog! You’re a writer now.
Your next step is to get some readers. What are some good ways to help people find you?
1. Invite people you know.
Many bloggers begin with an audience of their own relatives. Eventually, a cousin shares your site with a co-worker, who will share it with her sister-in-law, and so on. When you blog about faith, you can also let your pastor and church groups know about your website.
2. Add your blog URL to your online profiles.
If you participate in discussion forums that allow you to put a link in a signature, add it—especially if it is a forum related to your niche (your major blog topic). Add the link in your Instagram bio and to your Twitter and Facebook profiles. Some curious folks will click on it to see what you have to say.
Set your blog up to automatically share your blog posts to your various social media accounts. This not only reminds people of your blog, it lets them know what you’re saying. Many people prefer to share their posts to social media manually so they can personalize the introduction a bit, but there’s nothing wrong with letting the system do it for you.
3. Connect with other bloggers in your niche.
Pay attention to who else writes about your subject. Follow them on social media. Like their blog posts and links on social media. Share their posts on your own social media accounts.
If you notice that they handle something particularly well (for instance, talking about their personal trials or responding to angry comments), email them and ask for advice. If the blogger publishes guest posts, offer to write one in exchange for a link to your blog.
4. Comment on posts on other sites.
Reading other blogs can show you what the hot issues are and also where the gaps are in your niche. When you read those blogs posts, leave a comment. Most blog commenting systems have a place where you can include your own URL, which means that people can click on your name and land on your blog.
It is considered bad practice to share your own links when commenting on someone else’s, so even if you just wrote a fantastic post about the same subject, limit your comment to asking a question, thanking the blogger for the post, and affirming something the blogger has said. (You can do the same thing when you read articles on other Christian sites about your main subject.) If people like what you say, they will want to know more about you and they’ll click to your page.
One Important Reminder
The most important thing you can do to attract readers—and keep them—is to focus on writing good blog posts. Content that genuinely speaks into people’s lives will help you keep the readers you have and will encourage them to share with others. It’s easy to get caught up in the bells, whistles, and bling of blog design and getting more traffic—but if you don’t have good content, none of the fancy stuff will matter.
All of these tips can help bring potential readers to your site. Your content is what makes them want to come back.
