Are you a blogger who has tried every “trick in the book” to improve your following? Do you watch out for falling stats every time you open your laptop or phone? I became an advice blogger to help with problems like these.
Recently, I was engaged by a skeptic.
What kind of blogger are you? I was asked.
Why, I am an advice blogger, I replied.
Advice should result in people’s happiness. How does blogging about blogging bring others happiness?
Were they even kidding? Anyone who knows a blogger, (and I’ve been privileged to meet many,) knows that increased traffic brings bloggers joy. That is the subject of this post—how to bring bloggers traffic.
The Picture
In 7 Tips I Wish I Knew When I Started Blogging, I offered free picture sites.
- Start with an interesting picture, put it on Pinterest, and then link it back to your blog post. I know a blogger who gets 40% of her page views from Pinterest. How many pictures do you need? Philosophies on that differ. Jon Morrow, whose blogging articles I often cite, believes it might slow down the loading time of your blog posts. You don’t want readers to get impatient and wander away.
- Put the picture at the top, so there aren’t so many characters at the top of the page when they first open your post.
The Headline
In 13 Foolproof Ways You Can Stop Writing Ineffective Blog Headlines, I gave many details about how to write a blog headline. However, there are only a few simple steps involved. The most effective headlines contain:
- a number, (use the digits, not the words)
- the word “How”
- the word “You”
- use the word “Ways” or “Tips”
- offer a promise
The Introduction
The arrow is pointing at the “Read More” tag.
I like putting in a “Read More” tag, so I get double page views. That means you must grab your reader in the first paragraph, or they won’t click “continue reading”. A successful introduction:
- discusses the reader’s goals
- empathizes with the reader’s inability to reach those goals
- assures them by following your tips, they can be successful
- establishes credibility. In How to End Communication Problems Once and For All Part I I explained in my introduction why I was qualified to help people with their communication problems.
The Body
I have read that until you are getting the readership you want, blogging topics should be about one of four topics–avoiding fear or frustration, or realizing dreams or desires.
- Suggest simple strategies for reaching their desires. Bullet points work well. Readers can see at a glance how many tips (or “ways”) you are offering them. Opinion on word of mouth varies as to how many tips you need. I know one blogger who believes you need a maximum of five to be effective. Blogging guru Jon Morrow advises a minimum of eleven.
- Give reasons your readers should try to accomplish reaching their goals.
The Conclusion
- I generally state my best tip last and use that as my conclusion.
- You could also restate why readers’ time was well spent by reading your post.
- End on an upbeat note.
The Call to Action
End with a question for your readers. Many times my readers have added insights to my topic I didn’t see when I first wrote the post. The icing on the cake comes when all your readers are engaged in a conversation about a question that you raised. It’s a great way to increase blog traffic too!
Readers, have you tried any of these tips and found them successful? Can you add to what I’ve suggested? What makes a post a killer post? I look forward to your views.
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Do you give private or group lessons? Do you charge a lot if you do?
This may be a dumb question, but how do you do a page break?
Hi Lauren,
Thanks for writing. I was using the term “Page Break” and “Read More” tag synonymously. I have since gone into the post, changed the wording to “Read More” and inserted a picture, for those who don’t know where that tag is. It’s vital for people who want traffic since it results in double the page views when they click that button. So you can see the picture, once again, here is the link http://wp.me/p5jxvv-lh
Janice
Great tips! Pinterest? Who knew?
I have been using Pinterest more and more. I read that if I move the Pins (photos) around, I will rise through Social Media faster. IN other words, I can get to the first page of Google faster. Thanks for writing.
Thanks for these tips! I get almost all of my new visitors from pinterest, so photos are extremely important.
Wow! Almost all! Sounds like you should be giving me tips!
Sorry, not sure if I replied. How many photos per post do you have? Sounds like I could be getting a lot of tips from you!
Visiting from SITS. Very helpful!
Thank you so much! Thanks for letting me know how you found me since I always wonder. I had a great response from SITS. You are awesome! Thanks for the nice words about my blog post.
Janice
great tips!
Thank you so much! I appreciate the validation! Thank you for reading my writing.
Janice
Reblogged this on my personal thing.
Janice, the Pinterest idea was brilliant! What a help! Thanks!
My pleasure. I love to help. Thank you for reading what I wrote, and the nice compliments. I am so glad you and I made our connection.
Janice
Great blog…lots of handy tips there…as a new blogger this week I am always looking at ways to increase traffic. Thanks!
Hi Jo!
Nice to meet you! Did you find my blog in the Community Pool? That’s what I do here. I help new bloggers, so you came to the right place. Thank you so much for following my blog, and the nice comments about my post.
Janice
Thank you for the tips. I joined Fizzle recently and have been going through the lessons on Blogging – and they continue to stress, in every section of each lesson, to consider your audience. What is the reader going to get from visiting your site? And this most always refers to practical matters… answers to questions, help with issues, etc. They also stress the importance of a headline… and I see that in your advice you mention “offer a promise.” One key seems to be to always deliver on that promise. It’s so easy for me to get side tracked in ramblings and not address that promise. :-/
Thanks again,
Jo
Hi Jo,
First of all, thank you so much for the blog follow! How exciting. My new site, mostlyblogging.com will be up and running in a day or two. I hope you will follow me over! Next, I have never heard of Fizzle. What is it? Third, your comments are spot on: make a promise in the headline and deliver on it in the article. I’m glad you liked my article. Thanks again for following me.
Janice
Hi Janice,
Fizzle is an online community that offers video workshops/lessons for starting up a business, creating a blog, etc. I think you can get the first month free, and then it’s a cost per month, but not much.
I’ll definitely check out your new blog Janice.
Jo
How nice you sound Jo. Thank you in advance.
As far as Fizzle, how interesting. Perhaps I can recommend it in a blog post. As far as I go, I have start up expenses for my new site, so for now, no new expenses for me! Thanks for letting me know about it.
Janice
hi Janice,
I recall our meet in Danny’s site, but lost track thereafter. So thanks very much for your gracious visit to my site and commenting on one of my posts, in turn truly enabling my connect with your world of blogging about blogging. Reading a couple of your posts, it really looks like I have a giant resource in the livewire form of Janice, on whose shoulders I can happily climb on, to see some of those things that remained outside my ken..best wishes… Raj.
What a beautifully worded hello! Welcome so much to my blog. I am so excited to have you as a new subscriber. Danny has such a nice community. Once again, welcome!
Janice