How to Get Blog Followers, Part II

I once posted an article where I shared ways of getting blog followers: I recommended commenting on other blogs, using forums, guest posting, and participating in blogfests. Since then, I’ve learned a few other techniques I’d like to share.

Search Terms

As soon as you set up your blog, you’ll start getting hits from Google. At first, it’ll be for the most random things. I once got a hit from a search on “Randy Jackson,” and I don’t recall ever using the word “randy” or “Jackson” on my blog, ever. 

Eventually, though, you’ll start getting legitimate hits. That’s when you should start thinking about what terms people search for and add those terms to your content.

For example, I’ve had tons of hits from the phrase “how to get blog followers.” I also get hits from things like “vestal virgins,” “nanowrimo,” "beta," "foreshadow" and authors names. Using words that attracts online searches is called SEO, or Search Engine Optimization.

Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin

You can set your blog posts to automatically appear on your Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin accounts. Your followers can see the posts and click on them if they're interested. (For the first six months of blogging, all my followers came from Facebook.) Here's what you do:

Twitter: Set up an account at Feedburner.com. This site is great and provides you with all kinds of helps and goodies. Click on Publicize > Socialize > Add a Twitter account.

Facebook: Go to Networkedblogs.com, set up an account, and click Add Your Blog. Click on Syndication and it will link them up.

Linkedin: In the top menu bar, click on More > Get More Applications and you’ll see a Blog Link button. I have mine attached to my Twitter Feed.

Triberr

Triberr is a site where a group of people help each other get traffic by reposting their articles on Twitter, Stumble Upon, and Google Plus. You can’t be a freeloader, though; you have to repost other people’s content too.

You have to either be admitted to a tribe or find a tribe you like and ask to join. I’m a member of a historical fiction tribe of 24 people. All together, we have a reach of 19,815 Twitter followers. That’s a lot of followers. It’s also a great way to make friends.

Photos

I get more hits from images than anything else. It’s actually frustrating because the people using my photos aren’t always interested in my content, so the hits from photos mess up my stats. I got so sick of my posts on Phantom of the Opera and Tron always getting on my Popular Posts list that I finally deleted the pictures.

The more pictures you use, the more traffic you’ll get, and even if such traffic is often useless, at least it's traffic.

Titles

Titles are like the cover of a book. It’s the first thing people see, and it’s what they use to judge the content of your article. Sometimes it’s the only thing people see, like on twitter, Facebook, Tribber, or links on bloggers’ sidebars. Titles give you more search hits than the content itself. 

I don’t know the secret to a perfect title, but I do know it needs to be descriptive but short and to the point while at the same time being intriguing. It’s a tall order. Good luck with that.

Links on Other Blogs

When people post links to your blog, it’s flattering, generous, and very helpful. It’s also a gift – in other words, it’s not something you can control. All you can do is be friendly with other bloggers, thank them if you notice they’re generating traffic for you, and post links to other blogs to gain appreciation or to return the favor. Making friends will always help you.


Do you have any helpful advice to share?