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.
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?
