Three Years Of Blogging: Followers + Views

Friday, May 15, 2015
blogging quote myself
This post might be a little controversial as I think gaining followers and wanting to increase your page views is a taboo topic in the blogging community. Not many bloggers say 'I want more follower's and page views' but I think most of us would like that. 

I started out rather stupidly when it comes to blog followers, as for months when I started my blog I forgot to even add the GFC (google friend connect) widget to my blog...no wonder no one was following my blog! I didn't have many followers for a long time, I remember being so excited telling my mum that I had 10 followers; now three years on I have over 1,600 on GFC and over 2,000 on Bloglovin which just blows my mind! I'm so glad that so many people seem to enjoy my content. 

One way of gaining followers and traffic is commenting on other blogs. I only started doing this a couple of years ago and since then my numbers have increased so much. I love reading other bloggers posts (particularly unique posts or ones that I can relate to) and I love finding new blogs. I will have a 'my current favourite blogs' post coming within the next few weeks. 

Although you do not want to spam bloggers *that's not cool*, I try to leave a thoughtful, kind or opinionated comment as getting comments like that on my blog makes my day! Follow for a follow type comments are the opposite, it can be so rude and disheartening that someone only wants to follow your blog so they gain a follower. However, I do encourage readers to leave their blog links so I can check them out at some point. 

Social media interaction and joining in with blogger chats on Twitter are also great ways of getting your blog out there. I only started joining in with twitter chats last year and I don't know why I didn't sooner - I LOVE blogger chats on twitter, especially the #lblogger, #bblogger chats and more recently the #BDIB chat! 

The points above are my two main ways of gaining more traffic and followers that have personally worked for me; here are a few other points to consider:

- Tag brands in photos/posts on your social media accounts. I mainly do this on twitter and instagram so brands know I wrote about them and they might regram/retweet sharing your content with a wide audience. Just look at My Pale Skins instagram follower numbers since Anastasia Beverly Hills regramed her photo - she now has an insane number of followers!

- With regards to the point above, if you've been sent something from a brand/PR company, email the link to your post so they can share your post too. Again this can increase blog traffic, especially if it's a big brand.

- Following blogs, as they may follow back. I remember when I had about 100 followers and the lovely Evelyn from We Were Raised By Wolves followed me *I was so over the moon* and I still love her blog!

- Make it easy for your readers to find your social media accounts/blog - I see this so many times, blog/twitter pages with no blog link or social media icons that are hard to find!

- This point may be a bit controversial - giveaways. I love to host giveaways on my blog as they are a great way of celebrating a blog milestone and to thank followers. They can also give your page views and follower numbers a little boost. I only host giveaways once every couple of months generally as I wouldn't want them to distract from the rest of my blog content. 

- Make your posts as interesting, unique and helpful as interesting content will naturally bring in more readers and traffic. I personally think that great photos and a simple blog design also help as well as an honest, easy writing style.

Please remember that this post contains my personal opinions and yours may differ. Also different ways to increase followers/traffic may work best for different people and don't spam other bloggers/brands. This post isn't about SEO as I'm definitely no expert but if you would like some basic tips let me know in the comments. Last but not least, remember in the end it's not all about the numbers, it takes some of the fun out of blogging and it can be disheartening. 

Do you have any tips? What are your favourite social media accounts for your blog? Do you join in with the blogger twitter chats?

22 comments

  1. Good tips!

    I do think being active in the blogging community really does help. I find that when I don't have time to comment on other blogs my views go down.

    A Forte For Fashion

    X

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Same, my traffic does drop if I don't comment on other blogs or if I;m not very active on social media x

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  2. I love your layout is beautiful!

    www.love-joice.com

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  3. This is such a wonderful and very useful post! I totally agree that interaction and engagement are just as important as content :) I always put time aside to comment on other blogs because a) I enjoy it, b) it builds relationships, c) it makes my day when I receive some :)

    Style Sunrise ☀

    :)
    x

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    1. I do it for traffic but mainly because I do love reading other blogs too! Thank you xx

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  4. Congrats on 3 years! I love both of your tips above, they are very helpful!

    RachelShuchatMakeup

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    Replies
    1. I'm glad you found them helpful, thanks! x

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  5. This was a very insightful post, Heather! As much as you write posts for yourself, it feels amazing when someone else recognizes your hard work. I totally agree - commenting on other blogs and connecting with readers or other bloggers in the community are great ways to increase traffic to your blog ❤
    munchies&musings

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    1. Commenting on other blogs definitely increases traffic for me - It would be fantastic if more bloggers did it too! Thank you x

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  6. Congrats on the three years, that is amazing. Good tips as well, and don't worry, I didnt find it too controversial!

    Annabel ♥
    Mascara & Maltesers

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  7. These are great tips, especially the ones about interacting with other bloggers! I see loads of bloggers complaining that they don't get many comments but if you don't bother to comment yourself then no one will find you. x

    Josie’s Journal

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    1. I always try and comment on as many blogs as I can - some comment back but others don't - it's a bit disheartening and you can't really expect comments if you don't comment on blogs yourself x

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  8. Hi there,
    Great tips, thanks! Can I ask, why are giveaways controversial? I thought something was up as I only have one entry in my giveaway (I set it up to celebrate my new blog, thinking it was the done thing). So I am about to donate a £19 Kerastase conditioner in return for one new Twitter follow :-( Oh well, that's how you learn, I suppose!

    X

    Annabella

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  9. Hi there,
    Great tips, thanks! Can I ask, why are giveaways controversial? I thought something was up as I only have one entry in my giveaway (I set it up to celebrate my new blog, thinking it was the done thing). So I am about to donate a £19 Kerastase conditioner in return for one new Twitter follow :-( Oh well, that's how you learn, I suppose!

    X

    Annabella

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    1. I find giveaways controversial if they are very frequent on a blog, if a blog is just full of giveaways so it takes away from the other content x

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  10. Thanks so much for sharing some great tips. I follow most of them and can only agree to all of your points. Engage and interact with people and they will love your blog and if you show interest in their posts, they will always gratefully return the favour. I'm a bit careful with giveaways now, I haven't enjoyed running them in the past simple because they can attract so much spam and freebie hunters when picked up by competition websites. Hope you're well and enjoy the weekend.xx

    Caz | Style Lingua

    ReplyDelete
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    1. interaction with other bloggers and readers definitely helps - thanks! x

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  11. Love how you talk freely about it, I also think it's disrespectful to ask someone to follow of you in return... I usually don't do that and delete or ignore their comments. I never looked for those conversation on twitter, I do tweet the brand something and they favourite or retweet (I know Asos retweeted me twice... I think! and I was excited!) as much as I want a lot of followers, I'm also very happy with just reading and writing, it hasn't been an obsession, I think you need to focus on the good part of being an underground blogger because you get to interact with everyone and it's really fun! xx love your blog and happy 3 years!

    www.leenatheunicorn.blogspot.com

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    1. I always add brands to tweets or photos on instagram as they may retweet or regram which is always appreciated! Thank you xx

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  12. Great tips! I used to love reading other blogs and leaving comments but I find it so hard to find the time now working a full time job and blogging! This is my first time in agesss that I have sat down and made an effort, but I love reading your blog :)

    Carissa xx | Vanilla Crush

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