10 Ways to Pump up Engagement for Your Blog

Do you envision tumbleweed rolling thru the corridors of your blog?

You give your heart to your blog if you’re writing about something that makes you passionate, but what if other people aren’t passionate about your blog? What if they don’t even know about your blog?

You may feel like you’ve wasted your time, but don’t give up before the miracle happens! Trust me! You may be competing in a niche where there are some heavy hitters, or you may be dealing with a topic in an over-saturated niche. Here are some tips to help you get the traffic all of your hard work warrants.

1. Don’t just use Pinterest, make Pinterest a part of your life! You will never find more open-minded information seekers than people who are hitting up Pinterest for information. They may not know it yet, but they’re looking for YOUR blog. If you’re on Pinterest, posting about what they love, they could find you! You want them to find you.Something fun about Pinterest… you can GO ON PINTEREST TO LEARN HOW TO USE PINTEREST! Woot! I think that’s super fun. I love Pinterest…. I have tens of thousands of saved posts and have found some of my favorite people and blogs in the ether within its confines. Before I ever even blogged publically, I Pinned. I’m been there since its inception and I’ll stay until its demise (which I pray never happens!). Pinterest is your friend… nurture it like any other friendship. What you put in you get out… I’m out of cliches… use Pinterest!

2. Post ALL THE TIME and at REGULAR INTERVALS!

I’m seriously yelling that! Yes! Writing regularly is awesome for an array of reasons. For starters, it will help keep you on a schedule and having a routine is a major factor in good time-management. Make a set time to work on your blog and post, posting regularly is also important because if you decide to take on affiliates at some point, they will look at your posting frequency….

How does this have an affect on readership, though?

Google ranks your blog posts based on PAGE VIEWS. The more posts on your blog, the more page views, the higher the ranking. Ranking well will have a huge impact on your page views.

You can change the diapers and wipe up vomit, you don’t have to have everything chiseled neatly into a specific hour, but you can say…. I will spend an hour… sometime in this five hour period, blogging.

People who read your blog may stop reading your blog if they don’t see regular content. If they read your blog… and especially if they subscribe to your blog, they’re interested in something your blog is saying. Don’t let them down. If you have a parenting blog, you can write about changing diapers and cleaning up vomit. Write about it in an interesting way, and your readers, if you’re in that niche, will relate.

3. Recycle old ideas. Say you tried a meal plan or a new recipe… who says you can’t try a new meal plan or post a new recipe. If you posted about an easy meal to make when you have no energy left, people who read it will likely be interested in another meal that you can make when you have no energy. You can also go back and a. say more about what you discussed in an older blog post or b. update an old blog post and show the date you updated it so people can see its been updated recently.

4. Use Emojis! I know this sounds weird, but emojis actually illicit an emotional response from some people. I have found from older blogs I’ve done, that the most commented on blogs are generally the ones where I inadvertently included a silly face like a laughing face or a crying laughing face. It works. I have NO IDEA WHY, but it works! This works especially well when you’re writing about a blog post for a link on social media. Like a status update for your blog on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram…. you get the idea…. I hope.. Comment if I’m not making any sense.

I should do this myself, I don’t think I’ve used a single emoji for promoting this particular blog yet.

5.Know your audience! Know what you’re offering. If your niche isn’t a specific cat breed, you don’t want to rant on-and-on about a specific breed of cat, especially if your blog is called thedoggieblogstop.com. That’s an example… You need to know why people would want to stop at your blog. Are you teaching them something they don’t know? Are you offering something they can use? whether its humor or a tutorial, knowing who you’re trying to attract will help you to focus your blog to the needs of those readers.

One way to do this is to go to blogs you like, and think of what drew you in. Does your           ‘About Me’ Page paint a flattering portrait of what your blog offers? Be as relatable as             possible right out of the gate and you’ll see more repeat visits.

Don’t be “general in your blog topics. If you’re all over the place, someone may read one post and never come back. If you attract someone with a post and they see that you touch on the topic that interests them… a more specific niche, you can build a readership with that person that could last the life of your blog.

6. Niche UP! So you know how I suggested two seconds ago that you stick with a niche? Do that, yes, but to a degree…..

You want to stay in your niche, but your niche cant be too small. A small niche will trap you and you’ll write everything that can be written on a topic and tun out of stuff to talk about. You want to have a general niche, not too general, not too specific. You’ll get the hang of it! Its not a book report, its not a library!

7. Hook ‘Em With a Headline!

I’m totally NOT the be-all-end-all of this topic, but I’m okay-ish at this! Headings are what draw people in. Use some action words or words that POP in your headings!

1. Quick
2. Easy
3. Fun!
4. Outrageous!
5. ….that you’ve never heard of/ before
6. Fast
7. Exciting….

you get the idea. Let people know your blog post will hold their attention by getting their attention in the first place.

8. Make your blog posts shareable and make it easy!

A for-instance… someone shared a post that wasn’t theirs… a bit no no! I saved it because I thought it was the person who shared it’s original content. Pinterest reached out and messaged me that the cake recipe that I’d saved was deleted because the owner didn’t want it shared. The owner had it on their website. I went to their site to see if there was a way to save it where they got credit. There was not. I didn’t save the site, or bookmark it. I’ve never gone back, I don’t even remember the URL or blog name.

Make your stuff shareable and include buttons where people can share easily. This makes it so you a. Get credit and b.. Allows people to drive readers to your blog. There are no losers in this situation!

You can even schedule new posts to hit your Pinterest boards, so people who have saved previous posts can see your new content without much effort.

‘Click to Tweet’ is a nice option for Twitter as well.

9. Ask People for their comments!

Don’t write…. say something about my post! Instead, offer people to offer their own insights. It starts a conversation with them and having a conversation with your readers is a great way to let them know you’re a real, living, breathing mammal that cares about their input. I also ask people if I’m missing something… truth be told, I may leave out something that someone else thinks is important. Having input could help me make a post better… and I could even credit them after an update for their comment.

10. Feature Others on your Blog.

Ask bloggers that you like if they could a. contribute to your post or b. if you can link or suggest their post. Building a relationship with other bloggers could help your blog a lot. If you drive traffic to others’ blogs, they may suggest yours too.  Its also another way to get a blog post out when you have a dry spell for original content… it means you’re still offering something to your readers.

That’s all I have for now. Seriously, comment if I’m missing something vital or even if you have a suggestion. I miss stuff sometimes.