8 Best Ways To Gain Followers For Your Blog

~ Cristian Mihai

Traffic! It’s one of those words that I do not like much, for it almost begs us to forget that those stats represent actual people.

But… but… I know that one of the main reasons we blog is to be read by other people, so this makes it important to gain more followers, to receive feedback, to feel as if what you blog about truly matters to other people.

That’s why I compiled a list of the eight best ways to increase traffic and gain more followers for your blog.

1. Write better content

This is usually skipped by most of those who write about gaining followers. As if the actual quality of your content is not that important.

IT IS!

The best decision you can make regarding your blogging is to focus 90% of your attention on the quality of your posts. Don’t be lazy, don’t rush it. Do your research. Sit down and write the best possible post that you can write. Every single time.

Mindset tip: Sometimes, when we’re not receiving the type of feedback we expect, we tend to slack off. After all, why spend an insane amount of time and energy to write the best possible post for it not to be read by other people. Don’t do this! Please. Do your best even when it feels as if no one reads your posts. It’s the biggest difference maker, for a lot of people give up way before they quit blogging altogether. They give up in the mind, they lose hope, they lose motivation.

2. Be consistent

Consistency is one of the most important aspects of blogging.

It’s important to give your readers a reason to come back. Also, being predictable is actually a good thing. Figure out what your readers like most, and update your site regularly with new, unique, and useful content that will interest them. Don’t forget to make your content interesting by:

  • Using videos, infographics, or photos related to your post.
  • Using whitespace. Most people don’t read; they scan. They want instant access to the information they are looking for. So make your posts easy-to-read by using short paragraphs and lists.

3. Social Media

There are two different aspects to this:

  1. Social Sharing
  2. Social Media Platforms

Social sharing is a fantastically effective strategy that can get you more readers for your WordPress blog. You should allow sharing of posts on all social media platforms available, whether you have a presence there or not. Let people reblog your posts, share them with their friends.

Word of mouth is still the best way to increase your readership.

Social Media Platforms. Figure out what are the platforms you enjoy most, and create a presence there. Share your posts on your pages. Build that online presence, offer people an incentive to follow you there as a means to staying in touch with you.

4. Add A Newsletter Signup Form

A newsletter is a fantastic way to bring repeat visitors to your site. It allows you to grow your relationship with your readers by sending new updates with a personal touch, and sharing valuable content.

However, keep in mind that it’s important to send something useful and interesting rather than just distributing a newsletter full of advertisements.

 Newsletters should be sent out on a regular basis to familiarize your target audience with your site.

You shouldn’t send an e-mail every time you post new content. A weekly e-mail should be more than enough. Possibly share a “Best of the Week” from your blog, sharing the best content of the week with your newsletter subscribers.

For my newsletter I use MailChimp. It’s free for up to 2,000 subscribers and 12,000 emails per month. Of course, there are different options out there, such as:

5. Use Categories, Tags, and Enable Related Posts

By far, my most important referrer is the WordPress.com Reader. A lot of people follow certain tags in order to find relevant content among the 20 or so million WordPress.com blogs. Using tags makes it easy for new readers to find your post.

You can use up to ten tags in order for your post to appear in the Reader.

Do no underestimate this. A lot of people spend a lot of time there. A lot.

Also, categories make it easier for your followers to spend more time on your blog. Possibly find that amazing post and then want to share it with everyone they ever met. Also, you should enable related posts, which can be done in Settings – Reader – Show Related content after posts. This way people will spend more time reading your posts, while also ensuring you still drive traffic to your older posts.

6. Be A Guest Blogger

Although some say that guest blogging is not the best of methods, it’s still a great way to encourage more readers to your site. In order to maximize its benefits, you should only guest blog on sites relevant to your blog’s topic and make sure the site you’re writing for provides quality content.

Sometimes, when asking other bloggers to guest post on their site, you may receive a negative response. Or no response. Don’t be discouraged with early rejections. When it comes to Internet marketing, persistence does pay off.

7. Make friends

This is probably the most misunderstood advice. Finding a way to network with fellow bloggers and build rapport with them in the hopes of influencing them (and some of their readers) to visit your blog.

I wrote that sentence and felt like my soul was leaving my body.

No. Just make friends. Read the kind of stuff you genuinely enjoy, follow blogs you find interesting, and comment if you have something to say. And never, ever, ever, ever ask people to visit your blog or add links to your blog in your comments. That’s called spam and even though not illegal, it is frowned upon.

I almost never approve comments that include links to the author’s blog. I could edit the links out, but I prefer to just delete the post altogether. Why? Because they simply commented on my blog in order to get met to visit theirs. It’s disrespectful.

8. Perseverance and Patience

Some of you are going to be mad about this, but these two are valuable tools in gaining more followers. Manage your expectations, and if possible, let them go altogether.

And then persevere, have patience, do your thing over and over again, write quality posts for a long period of time, longer than others.

Going viral is one of the most harmful concepts. Overnight successes rarely exist. And the odds are so low, that… you shouldn’t even count on it.

What you can count on is you slowly, ridiculously so at times, growing your audience. And for that you need patience.

This is not a sprint, but a marathon.

97 thoughts on “8 Best Ways To Gain Followers For Your Blog”

  3. Number 7 I think is super helpful especially to new members. I’m still new to blogging, but fell into this trap for the first couple weeks. I find now that way more people are interested in my blog when I’m genuinely interactive on theirs, instead of just dropping my link at the end of each comment.

    Liked by 8 people

    Reply

    1. Hi Tim,

      Yes. There is. You can set up a pop up, let other subscribe to your newsletter. It can be found in Settings, Widgets.

      I’d also recommend adding a call to action at the end of posts, urging folks to subscribe to your newsletter.

      Add a link in your blog’s main menu can also help out.

      Liked by 4 people

      Reply

  14. It’s not a sprint but a marathon. I have to always remember to keep my pace. I forgot to ask you this… do you experience burnout? What do you do to overcome this? Many thanks and once a again, I had a good read.
    Eva

    Liked by 7 people

    Reply

    1. Not that often. I have a rather different mentality: there’s plenty of time to rest when I am dead. I also enjoy doing this far too much to get tired mentally.

      I think it also helps a lot to take care of one’s body, exercise, all that. I get some of my best ideas while running in the morning. I also read a lot, accumulate ideas. If you put a lot of content into your brain on a daily basis, it’s very easy to write stuff.

      It’s not like I a chopping down trees for a living.

      Liked by 5 people

      Reply

      1. And because of that different mentality, you are who you are today. It’s different but effective. I think you exemplify the word YOLO.

        I better start taking care of my body if that is the case. Exercise

        I haven’t reached the point where I got mentally burned out with regards to my writing. I did however experienced burn out in my other work. Maybe that is where all the fear is coming from.

        I shouldn’t compare two separate things. Again thank you for the advise.

        Liked by 5 people

      2. It’s all mindset. It’s also learning to love what you do. If you do something that stresses you out, then, yeah, you burn out. Hence the exercise part. It’s supposed to stress you out to the point that nothing else stresses you out anymore… that’s the idea behind it anyway.

        I exhaust myself early in the morning, work out close to one and a half hours, then I’m pretty chill.

        Liked by 3 people

      3. Working out close to one and a half hours is crazy. Well crazy according to my standards. But your body is used to by now and wouldn’t function probably without it. Am I right?

        I’m a couch potato looking for change. For the past 3 months I spent more or less 10 hours a day to study. That probably explains the burn out.

        I have another personal question if you don’t mind me asking. When it comes to my writing, how could I improve myself to reach out to my readers and to encourage them to be more interactive and dynamic?
        Many thanks

        Liked by 7 people

      4. Yeah, it is. But you get used to it.

        Well, your blogs need to make people feel. That’s what makes them want to interact with a blog post. What do you want your readers to feel? How do you want them to feel? Write in such a way that you exaggerate those feelings in your readers.

        That’s one way to do it.

        Liked by 4 people

      5. When I write I want them to feel what I’m feeling. When I’m happy, I want them to feel the same happiness I am feeling.

        Exaggerate. That method never crossed my mind. I think I’m a better speaker than a writer. I know I do quite well when it comes to public speaking. Usually at the end of my talk, my audience would say I have a way with my delivery.

        But blogging doesn’t express those certain strengths of mine. So I have to exaggerate more to deliver the message.

        Thank you for the homework. Hopefully I can translate all these pent up emotions into my writing. Is it okay to ask if I could continue to update you with regards to my progress?

        Liked by 5 people

      7. Oh wow. Thank you very much for taking the time. Your efforts are very much appreciated.

        I want them to relive my emotions.

        However I’m am stuck and I don’t know the answer with regards to the 2nd question on how it would help them.

        What do they learn? Something new. I want them to feel that it was a time well spent that they read my blog.

        So I have to research more and give them facts they have never heard of. Or I should write about something more relatable but with a fresh twist to it? Or i could put both together?

        Liked by 4 people

      9. I’m very overwhelmed. I have a lot of ideas I just don’t know how to paint the picture. Words present themselves but I can’t manage to put them in order.

        Can you feel my frustration? Or not just quite yet?

        I think I’m also quite guarded when it comes to writing. Do you feel that I only touch the surface and never go too deep? I think I need to be more vulnerable?

        Liked by 3 people

  19. Your last line is a great reminder. I haven’t tried using tags yet. Those would just be words that describe he content of the post? I’m trying to build community with people who blog in my category, like you said, and I’ve actually found it very rewarding and encouraging!

    Liked by 5 people

    Reply

    1. Yes, tags are like.. hashtags. People can find your content by them though in the WordPress Reader, where everyone’s posts are showcased based on tags. If you do not use tags, then your posts will only appear under blog in the WordPress Reader.

      Liked by 3 people

      Reply

  21. This is the third post of yours I have read in 10 mins! I love that you focus on making friends and simply writing great content. Sometimes I get so wrapped up in the tiniest of details, just like you said, instead of focusing on the content. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate all of the help, encouragement, and support that your blog has given me! Keep up the amazing work!

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

  26. I really like that you address how a blog builds slowly over time. I think this is very valuable for us first time bloggers so we can get used to how things work and how to manage the ‘traffic’ as it grows. If the blog went viral overnight it seems that it would be very overwhelming to deal with it all for those of us who are just learning. Thank you for being so informative and brutally honest in your posts. This is exactly the sort of helpful information I need! 👩🏻‍💻

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

    1. Consistency is truly magic. It matters so much. After all, think of your favorite TV show. You’d hate it if they released episodes when they felt like it. No clear schedule. As a matter of fact, I think that no matter how good the show, you’d stop watching it because of that.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  34. I. Love. This. Thank you for setting healthy expectations for what it means to write publicly. I LOVE that your number one rule was focusing on good content (it seems like a duh! but at the same time you can get distracted by the hamster wheel of online marketing). Also, that patience is key – as I’m JUST starting out and exploring my OWN style and preferences in the blogging scene, I REALLY appreciate you encouraging others to take their time and not obsess over “going viral” which IMO is made out to be more common than it is. Oh, the internet lol. Thanks again for this 🙂

    Liked by 5 people

    Reply

  39. I’ve had a blog for more than 4 years. The other day I went to my followers to see if they were still around. Most of them weren’t, at least from the first couple years. I haven’t checked the rest yet. They come and go. That is why thinking that how many followers you have determines if you are successful doesn’t equate. and most of my hits come from outside sources, not bloggers so you have to determine if what you write has an appeal for a wider market. If I looked at only how many likes i got on a post, I would have quite long ago.

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

  45. Yes, it’s been a 7 year marathon, but with the persistence you write about, a new follower every other day or so is actually happening. But, the handful of regulars are who I write for … and yes👍🏽 developing their friendships is the priceless reward. Thanks for the reminders!

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

  46. I like especially this part of your post : And then persevere, have patience, do your thing over and over again, write quality posts for a long period of time, longer than others. Thanks for such great post!

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

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