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Finding Readers for Your Blog (Part D)

Posted By Darren Rowse 23rd of September 2004 Blog Promotion 0 Comments

This is the final post of the ‘Finding Readers’ mini series. Also read Parts AB and C of this series.

12. Blog Search Engines and Indexes – Get yourself registered on sites like Technorati. These sites have features that allow people to search for blog entries via topic and keywords. They also list the most popular recent topics and each have other interesting features which can enhance your blogging experience.

13. Get Involved in others Blog Projects – From time to time other bloggers will invite your participation in a blog project of theirs. Put your hand up, volunteer some time and contribute in some way. Don’t just do it to get a link on their site, but take the opportunity to build a relationship with them and their readers. Not only will you make a friend, but over time you build some credibility as a blogger who is not just thinking about themselves.

On the flip side start your own blogging project. Do something that is of service to other bloggers. My Underblogs project and ‘Group Writing Projects are examples of these.

14. Get involved in other web forums – Blogging is not the only vibrant online activity at the moment. I visit a number of other discussion forums and e-zines that explore similar ideas/hobbies/interests to me and my blog. I’ve found an increasing amount of traffic to my blog is coming as a result of my contributions to these forums as many of them allow you to add your link as a signature to your posts. For example my recent influx of readers on my Australian Idol post came after I left a comment on the Aussie Idol Discussion Forum. Once again – don’t troll these forums – genuinely interact with them.

15. Take all advice with a grain of salt – Be yourself and have fun! – The web is full of advice like the above – what I’m saying isn’t rocket science. There are no rules of blogging, just people’s experiences. I’m sure there are a lot of blogs out there that ignore all or most of the above advice that have a bunch of regular readers and healthy hits. So relax, be yourself and have fun with it. Experiment with new tools, styles of design and writing.

Once again – hits are not everything. For me blogging is about developing quality relationships and networks, mutual learning and bouncing around ideas with others doing similar things to me. Growing a readership can help achieve these goals, but hits in and of themselves are somewhat meaningless. So don’t be obsessed by them and enjoy blogging for what it is. Have fun.

About Darren Rowse
Darren Rowse is the founder and editor of ProBlogger Blog Tips and Digital Photography School. Learn more about him here and connect with him on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
Comments
  1. Blog Tip 15 – Finding Readers (Part D)
    12. Blog Search Engines and Indexes – Get yourself registered on sites like Blogdex, , Popdex and Daypop (they require RSS I think). These sites have features that allow people to search for blog entries via topic and keywords. They…

  2. Hey Darren, just thought you should know the link to popdex is not working!

  3. thanks Mike – should be fixed now

  4. This series is very old I can see, so I wanted to let you know that you may want to update alot of these links. I was reading the series and many of the links I wanted to check out were gone. :) I know you are a busy man, so I thought I’d tip you off so that nobody else becomes frustrated. Hope this helps.

  5. Hi Darren,

    I’ve been blogging for two years but didn’t realize I was missing an opportunity to earn income through my work telling all about my experiences as an Avon Lady. I’m taking good notes on your wonderful articles here and will get to work optimizing my site and adding some streams of revenue other than the simple paypal donation button I now sport.

    Thank you for providing this site, I will add you to my blogroll and will mention you in my next weekly newsletter.

    Cheers,
    Birdie Jaworski
    Beauty Dish: True Underground Adventures of an Avon Lady

  6. Thanks Darren.

    I recently started my own art blog. It features my own writings and images, but I also contribute to another art blog, Art & Perception. We experienced a bit of a fall off in readership, or rather, a lack of growth, so I decided to research blog promotion. Just having good content is not enough evidently. That’s gets ’em to come back, but getting them to find the place in the first place is the nifty trick.

    Your tips are great. Your writing is clear. I’m following your advice, and I’m recommending this to my friends.

  7. Thanks again Darren for all of your advice. It really gets me excited about blogging.

    Randy

  8. Very interesting blog, i have added it to my fovourites, greetings

  9. Hui Darren,

    I really liked your article. Ist rather old but still ranked high. That just shows that the “modern” SEO stuff is totally overrated. The content, age of domain and update-frequency are the most important factors for google & co. The rest is nice-to-have but not crucial for the success.

    Greets

    Weltreiselust

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