How to Grow Your Blog

Hi, my lovelies! I’m Marta and I’m back with a post on blogging, I’m going to share some tricks and tips on how to grow your blog, I’m going to focus on how to get followers, views and all that stats buzz.

I’ve been officially blogging for a year (and a month now) and I’m quite proud of what I’ve achieved so far. I know that I’m probably still a baby compared to other book bloggers out there, I still have a lot to learn and I’m fully aware of that, bearing this in mind, I still think I can share some things with you, especially to newbies that might feel a bit lost when it comes to gaining followers and having your voice recognized in this community. I have your back, I’m going to give you some advice that will hopefully be helpful to you.

Without further ado, let’s get into the tips and tricks!

#1. Interact with fellow bloggers

I can’t begin to stress how important it is to interact with other bloggers (and not only when you’re first starting out), comment on their blog posts, interact with them on social media, start friendships. Blogging is not a solitary activity, even though you’re writing the posts alone and organizing things and making graphics, you’re part of a community and if you’re going to involve yourself actively in it, you’re going to feel so much more accomplished about everything.

 I’ve made so many friends on here, some friends with whom I talk almost daily, some friends that support me whenever I feel down about blogging or even life. I have so much love for them as they’ve helped me stick to my blog with their comments, praises and pieces of advice. I have nothing, but love and gratitude for them.

And besides this social point, interacting with fellow bloggers at the start will be helpful for your blog as well. You comment on someone’s posts and they will probably check your blog out as well, maybe even leave a comment if they like your content. And by checking others’ blogs, you can also get inspiration for your writing, you can find blogging advice on how to avoid some common mistakes, it will help you grow a lot.

You can only win by interacting with others. Share the love, you’re not here to compete with fellow bloggers, you’re here to create your content, have your voice be heard, there’s enough space for all of us.

#2. Share your blog posts on Social Media

I recommend you to share your posts on one social media account at least, I primarily use Twitter because I found it more welcoming and accessible to me than Instagram, for example. I also use Bloglovin’, which is very easy to use – you claim your blog and then your posts will be shared instantly without you doing anything. It’s easier to see posts from people who have other platforms, for example Blogspot or Wix, that won’t show up in the Reader section of WordPress.

Don’t feel annoying because you’re promoting your posts on Social Media, everybody does that as every blogger seeks validation. Though I advise you to share your posts on your profile or on threads reserved to such things (sometimes bloggers want to blog-hop and will require links to your posts – I do that as well sometimes on Twitter), don’t share your links on threads that are on entirely different subjects.

I feel like Twitter is probably the greatest for getting acknowledged by publishers and authors, but also by fellow bloggers, because you can easily interact with everyone and it’s more effective than commenting on blogs because there are Direct Messages – you can spark conversations, you can find common interests besides reading (if there’s such a thing).

10/10 would recommend using your social media accounts to promote your posts.

#3. Pay Attention to the Details

What is popular in the community? What are some of your most liked posts? When do people engage with you the most? If you’re on WordPress, you can check the hours and the day when you get the most views in the Insights tab. If you know those details, you can schedule your posts accordingly to those, because they probably reflect things about your audience, for example their time zone, when they spend time reading blog posts and so on.

Be constant with your posting. You don’t have to post daily, but try to post at least once a week, maybe even more frequently. I understand that time is a big factor here, I had months when I couldn’t post even once a week, even once in two weeks, but it reflected in the views I’ve got, in the decreasing engagament rates. It’s normal because people want new content, if you don’t write constantly, you’ll probably not keep your audience engaged.

#4. Reply to comments on your blog

You might not have time to blog-hop. I know I was blog-hopping so much more when I first started because I didn’t have ARCs to worry about, I didn’t have multiple social media accounts to juggle. But something that I try to stick to religiously is replying to the comments on my blog. If somebody took their time to write a comment on my post, I think the least I can do is to write a reply.

Besides making people feel like you care about them, that their opinion is valued by you, you can get more familiar with your followers. I always try to get to know my followers, talk to them, see what they liked about my post, what are their opinion on whatever subject I addressed in my post. It’s important to interact with your followers and in my opinion, this is a very easy and effective way to do it.

#5. Keep a simple, but attractive design

The design should reflect who you are as a blogger. For example, when I made another header, I wanted to keep my original design, but also choose something related to who am I as a blogger. My blog’s name is The Cursed Books (everybody knows me by this title) and I wanted to give a nudge to it in my header, therefore, putting those horror-ish books on the right side. I also love colorful themes and that’s why I have that background.

I love aesthetics, I want everything to look pretty and neat. But usually when I’m looking at other blogs, I appreciate simple themes, if they are original – that’s a plus. But the best thing you can is to have a theme that is easy to read, a color scheme that isn’t too dark or too light to hurt people’s eyes and completementary colors – don’t use light yellow on white as readibility is the most important thing on a blog.

#6. Participate in weekly memes

I’m probably not the best person to give this advice as I was never able to fully committ to any of the memes even though they are amazing. From what I’ve seen, the most popular are Waiting on Wednesday hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine and Top Ten Tuesday created by The Broke and the Bookish and then moved to That Artsy Reader Girl. These memes are very popular on the blogosphere, everyone’s posts are kept in one place and they generate lots of views on one’s blog.

#7. Just be yourself and create the content you want to read

Everyone has a unique voice, we all come from different backgrounds and we all have different stories that we can share. Does something in the community bother you, but nobody has said anything about it before? What are you waiting for? Share your thoughts! Most people are respectful on here and if you do receive hate, other bloggers will have your back. It’s important to be frank with your views, your readers will appreciate your honesty.

Other helpful posts on blogging: 

On Blogging, Social Media and ARCs

Book Discussion : Why you should make a blog

Everything You Should Know About ARCs

What are some tips to grow your blog you’d like to share?

What helped you the most when you first started?