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3 Reasons No One Comes Back to Your Blog—and How to Fix It

Posted By Guest Blogger 4th of April 2012 Writing Content 0 Comments

This guest post is by Alexander Heyne of Milk the pigeon.

You do a series of incredibly useful posts that get a great response, or you get some massive traffic spikes from guest posting, Stumbleupon, Youtube, or your content randomly going viral.

Your content teaches people something useful, it’s immediately applicable, and you get tons of comments and feedback, so you know it hit the spot…

Yet no one comes back.

Your next post goes into the black hole of the Internet, with little to no response.

What gives?

There are three main reasons why people don’t come back to your site after they initially find their way to it, whether that’s via a guest post, Google, or social media:

1. Your readers are confused

Your blog lacks an underlying, coherent theme that is obvious to readers.

For example, you run a series of posts on exercises to fix back pain.  It’s educational, useful, and best of all, it works. There’s a ton of quality information in the series, and it gets rave reviews.

But on your site, you also publish information on how to improve your golf swing, diet products and recommendations, weight lifting guides, and an online class on biofeedback.

What happens when a new person comes to your site? They arrive from a search engine or are referred from some other site, they read the piece of content they came for, and they look around and go “Uh, what is this place?” They don’t really understand what’s going on. Is this site about health? Is it about diet and fitness? Is it about alternative health?

They don’t really know why’d they’d come back, so they just go ahead and Google the next thing they’re searching for instead. Instead of digging around your site further, they go right back to Google.

Having a blog that contains random content, or posts without a coherent idea or reason behind them, may be useful content-wise but it won’t be a motivating reason to subscribe, since people can’t really tell what they’ll get in their inbox.

If your blog’s theme includes a variety of subjects and topics, you can unite them under one idea. Aside from knowing what to expect, readers will return because they know what problem your website solves.

The fix?
Re-evaluate your unique selling proposition. Then make sure when you write a post, it relates somehow to your underlying theme, and that it obviously supports what your site is about as a whole.

2. Your story isn’t present or strong enough

I want you to think back to folk heroes of the old days: people who fought for a cause and whose names we still remember. Remember any? I’m thinking of Robin Hood, William Wallace, Joan of Ark, Davy Crockett, Che Guevara. Does anyone know the specifics of their lives? Not sure about you, but I don’t. All I remember is their message.

That’s what you want your audience to leave with once they’ve read your content: a feeling.

Even though your content may be good, and it may be useful, if people aren’t coming back, it may be because they just don’t feel anything when they visit your site. There’s likely no background story, no excitement, no purpose beyond just the usefulness of the information.

An example? You write about location independence. That’s great—you teach people how to build a business via the Internet or other means that doesn’t require them to be in one place. You may have readers, but perhaps they’re not people who really feel what you write about—people who really know what it feels like to hate their job day after day, who hate showing up to the cubicle environment, and who crave the autonomy of location-independent work.

If, on the other hand, you communicate your background story—former cubicle dweller that hated her life, and became a living-on-beaches business owner—suddenly, your content resonates with readers.

If you can communicate that position in every post you write, your readers will think, “Man, I really need to get out of here because it’s sucking the life out of me! My life feels pointless and is seriously lacking the adventure I want!” every time they go to your site. This way, you become like a folk hero, as people remember what they feel—the “why” behind your story—and stick around to hear more.

This is where the power of branding comes in, because a brand is an experience. Your blog can be a brand too.  If you establish your “why” and your story strongly enough, people will get the same feeling every time they come.

The fix?
Figure out the background story behind your blog. People relate to stories not only because they’re personable, but because there’s emotion behind the story that connects us as people. A story or brand is an experience—it makes people feel a certain way and is incredibly powerful for unifying your audience.

3. Your personality doesn’t come through.

Business is all about differentiating yourself, right?  There’s so much competition (and millions of blogs)! You need to find a way to stand out.

Some people fail to realize that you can be your unique selling proposition.  You are the spice in the recipe.

When I first started blogging, my writing was way too formal. It was just bland—there was no sense of conversation to it.  As soon as I cut loose and starting writing like I talk in daily life, people started emailing me to say they love the way I write, and how my personality comes through.

Be personal—it’s a unique selling proposition in and of itself.

There’s another big reason you should let your personality shine, though. When people read 500 blogs about “how to blog” or “how to start an online business” how do they choose which one to read? They’ll often choose the one with character.

The person who can make them laugh while talking about blogging, the person who can make sewing sound sexy, or the person who is so neurotic about working out that they get you inspired to hit the gym.

The fix?
Cut loose and let your personality show. Sometimes that’s all it takes to differentiate yourself, and have people flooding back to your site.

The secret ingredient

At the end of the day, establishing a repeat readership comes down to one simple thing: “hits” on your blog are people.

The second you acknowledge that people—not eyeballs—come to your site, and you adjust your strategy accordingly, engagement will steadily build and people will come back. Because beyond what you are giving people, the most important thing is how you make them feel—it trumps logic every time and will have them coming back for more.

Milk the pigeon is about killing that lost feeling, standing out in the crowd, and living a life of greatness.  Download a free copy of Milk the Pigeon’s manifesto here: Killing Your Old life and Living the Dream.

About Guest Blogger
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Comments
  1. Great stuff – I make sure to engage all my commenters, because I truly want them to return. This can include questions, or even editing my own posts when they add useful information.

    • John,

      Yeah responding is definitely a great way to keep people interested and engaged, but I guess once the popular blogs get popular the author has to decide who to selectively respond to.

      Alex

  2. Hey Alexander,
    I love the post. Especially the part about conveying the message. So true. Personality on the other hand is probably the main reason I read some blogs and would read them no matter the topic, just because of the person writing them.

    • Thanks Brankica !

      Yeah I think the message is becoming more important than ever. The blogosphere is getting really saturated you know? People are really required to figure out exactly what they’re saying these days — and then say it. The more confused the audience is about what they’re going to get, the more unlikely that they’ll return.

      This is something I’ve struggled with a lot on my blog and have re-branded many times!

      And I totally agree, some blogs I read JUST because of the author and how they write

      Alex

  3. I used to have this problem with some of the blogs I visited. I couldn’t really tell what they were trying to accomplish with their blogs. This has been something I have been working on for my own site and I think I am making huge headway. Great post, Alexander.

    • Dwayne,

      Yep, the same has happened with my own , which is why I understand it so personally. I have re-branded many times and have always sought it make it clearer what my audience is getting. It can be a struggle for many new bloggers especially if your niche isn’t an obvious, already saturated one like blogging or marketing.

      Alex

  4. Your history is a very important ingredient to your blog. If you don’t feel empathized with the writer, then you won’t feel what he’s writing. For example, before being an avid reader here at pro-blogger, I had to read many of his articles detailing what he did, what he lost and how Darren felt while starting ten years ago.
    Once I felt I was in a similar position, then I became addicted to pro-blogger.

    • Servando,

      Yeah I totally hear you. A story can be an incredibly great way for readers to resonate with you, and what you write about.

      Stories are important — but we have to make sure that we don’t end up writing too much about ourselves and forgetting the readers again. But a story, done right, can be a perfect way to have people addicted to your writing.

      Alex

  5. #3 is important. You need to make sure that when you write something, people should make a perception of you and what is more important is that they should make the right perception. Any kind of misjudgment of you by them through your writings will be bad thing for your blog in the future

    • Tushar —

      People will always misunderstand others through writing. You can’t quite accurately totally convey a personality through writing, so misunderstandings are bound to happen.

      Some people just get offended easily, others don’t. You just have to have a target market and not worry about the others that you offend. You can’t worry about not hurting everyone’s feelings all the time, or else it gets exhausting.

      Alex

  6. Being able to write engaging blog posts isn’t always easy. You have to know exactly what your readers are looking for and you have to be able to write it in such a way that they’ll stay interested until they get to the bottom of the page.

    Overall great thoughts.

    • Shamelle,

      Yeah, you’re right it’s really not easy to write engaging posts every time. But, done right, a blog with some consistent ideas will grab people’s attention and keep them engaged.

      You can also help people get to the bottom of the page by doing things such as using list posts, neatly outlined posts, etc.

      Alex

  7. Wow, this article is perfect for me. I was just thinking about how I’m too general and need to be more focused.

  8. WebDesign says: 04/04/2012 at 2:01 am

    Good post! Keep it up.
    I just want to give my personal advice to successful web design:
    1. Include a Tagline
    2. Implement Site Search
    3. Don’t overuse graphics
    4.Use site maps
    5. Always have a stable workflow
    6. Make each page easy scannable
    7. Do not mislead visitors purposely through design
    8. Always reply to feedback
    9. Use JavaScript sparingly
    10. Avoid CAPTCHAs. They might be useful but they’re very annoying!

  9. The main problem must be that there are millions of blogs and it takes time to build an audience.

    • Michael,

      There are a lot of reasons why no one will come back to a blog. Like you said there is a ton of competition — but the life of most blogs is pretty short, I think most people stop blogging in under a year or two years.

      Ultimately if people like what you offer them, if they like your personality or your character, and if they like your message, they’ll come back. You can’t capture a person’s attention all the time every time though, so you have to do the best that you can.

      Alex

  10. 3 is a big issue with bloggers Alexander. Holding back makes people hold back around you. Let your personality out, people come out to comment, share their take, and engage. The outside is simply a reflection of your inner world, and readers speak up when you speak up, speaking your true voice and allowing your personality to shine through.

    Amazing how this tiny shift of simply being you, and blogging with your own voice, changes your blogging success in an unreal way. Thanks for sharing.

    • Ryan,

      I couldn’t agree more. When I first started writing I was way too formal. And even I was getting bored by my posts.

      And one day I thought “forget it, I’m just gonna write how I talk — no BS, down to earth, cut through the garbage, offensive at times” and you know what? I started getting emails where people told me how much they loved my writing and that they loved my character.

      There really is no replacement for YOU when you write, so it should be one of your most valuable assets.

      Alex

  11. In my experience people leave my blog for two reasons:

    1. My writing is rubbish.

    2. My content is not what they are looking for.

    Publishing lies will also kill your blog as well, lots of people do this when they post sponsored posts.

    • Dean,

      There are dozens if not hundreds of reasons why people will leave a blog.

      Writing could be an issue, so could the content. One of the best ways to find out what people want is to look around the blogosphere and see what is the most popular, what is getting commented on, etc. Then you can base some of your writing topics around that.

      Alex

  12. While you analyzed the reasons of why people wouldn’t come, you didn’t say much about “how much is enough”. For example, 19% of my visitors are returning ones, which could look like not enough, but 81% of others are coming through search engines, which is great, or even referrals, which is just awesome.

    So before thinking you have a problem, try to analyze your stats. How many subscribers you have today and how many you will have in a week, what is the dynamics of that process, is it relative to the number of posts. What is your bounce rate, if it’s applicable to your blog? Try to analyze where your subscribers were when they clicked the “subscribe” button. YouTube is doing that when people subscribe to your channel, and it’s not hard to do using Google Analytics or any decent log analyzer.

    Embed rating system into your blog, either the default of your blogging platform, or the one provided by disqus (comment provider, I am happy to use it in my blog as well) – that way you will know what posts were successful or not, and why.

    However, unless you have many thousands of readers, don’t change your blog or your style if you get a wave of negative reactions. Everyone has haters, and no one said that you won’t meet ones among your first rare visitors. There was an article at ProBlogger about how to handle criticism, so if your article is ironic, don’t remove it just because some people have no sense of humor.

    And the last 5c from me – don’t follow the most detailed instructions about how to write your blog, because that is the shortcut to loose your personality. What’s the point in having your own blog, if it looks and feels just like the other one?

    • Dmitry,

      I agree you can solve a lot from the analytics and the pure science and math, but sometimes it doesn’t provide very useful answers to bigger questions about the general nature of why a blog works or it doesn’t.

      And I love the idea of using a rating system.

      Agree, I wouldn’t change or take down a post because it got a lot of criticism — that’s sort of like the idea “there’s no such thing as bad publicity.” One of my first posts was called “why luck doesn’t exist” and it was very critical of lazy people who wish for luck while talking about how successful people make their own luck.

      To this day, it is still one of the most popular search engine posts and gets a LOT of criticism. But I left it up anyway.

      And I agree — there’s no point in following so many rules in your blog posts that you lose your individual voice. Ultimately that’s what people end up showing up for anyway.

      Alex

  13. Alex,

    Fantastic post with some overall great posts. I really like the idea of being memorable to bring people back; something that will make them want more of your voice.

    I was reading this post, and hadn’t noticed that it was a guest post. I was thinking, another fantastic post written by the people at problogger. This is the second time in a couple of days I’ve seen a guest post of yours. Looking forward to more.

  14. It took me awhile to understand this but I have now started another blog that is more focused on a topic that I enjoy. Though it is new, I will continue to implement the ideas I have found on your blog.

    • Ocha,

      I hope it helps you! Sometimes, as hard as it is, you need to start over or totally re-brand your site. Don’t worry, i’ve done it more than once.

      If you want to succeed badly enough you can, as long as you’re willing to start over as many times as it takes to succeed.

      Alex

  15. Hi Alexander, really nice article.
    Honestly, my big problem is on point #2 and #3. they need more exercise :)

    • Thanks tantan,

      Yeah, having “a story” can be difficult, especially if your blog is about blogging, you know?

      But check out John Saddington (http://tentblogger.com/) — look how he differentiates himself from all the other bloggers?

      He talks about his kid, his wife, and how much he LOVES blogging because it provides him with freedom to enjoy his life.

      That is a story people can resonate with and will like more than just “Oh, another blogger..” you know?

      Hope it helps —

      Alex

  16. I love that you mention that at the end of the day, your blog is about people. It’s good practice to take a step back and look at your own blog and say, “If I were visiting this as a stranger, would I care about coming back?” I look at my blog objectively a lot and often make changes for the better.

    I really do need to present my personal story a lot better, that’s definitely a tip I could implement.

    Thanks for the tips! :)

    • Morgan,

      It’s been a BIG stumbling block in my own blog too. I’ve redone it several times because I thought it could be better or it wasn’t good enough for my audience.

      And that one tip about business that someone told me “it’s about people at the end of the day” has always stuck with me.

      We’re not writing for readers or the internet, we’re writing for other people.

      Alex

  17. Personality is definitely the big one! Not only being personable, funny, etc., but also be consistent! If the sum of your posts come across as though you are a schizophrenic, you’d better figure out exactly who you are and stick with it. Readers will have a hard time connecting with you when they don’t know who is going to show up in todays post!

    • Marc,

      Haha sometimes sounding like a schizo is okay! But seriously, some people come off as WAY too overbearing, total nut jobs, and people think they’re hilarious and come back.

      But like you said, the key is to stick to a couple narrow inter-related topics so people have an overall idea of what your schizo-ness is about.

      It’s more pronounced in generic self-help or productivity blogs where people write about daily things that are more subjective, but that’s just part of the challenge.

      Alex

  18. These are great tips and so true. With millions of blogs on the Internet, and a wide variety of them poorly written, badly focused, and completely disorganized, it’s no wonder people don’t stay on a blog site.

    I recently restarted my blog. On the days when I say I’m going to publish, I get 350 hits, otherwise it dies to a few. Reviewing these tips gives me great ideas.

    Talked to someone from my targeted audience today about what she wants to see. She sighed and said, something new. So much is hashed and rehashed about topics that nobody wants to read anymore, she wants to see something fresh. Knew exactly what she meant because I stopped reading a blog on another topic for the same reasons.

    My blog will refocus. My personality will show. I’ll turnaround my blog readership by taking these tips to heart and finding those topics that are fresh and new. Challenging? You bet, but I love challenges, and this one could pay off very well.

    • Linda,

      Yeah it’s a little scary knowing there are millions of other blogs, but when you think about it, the majority are struggling and like you said, poorly organized.

      That should be inspiring to most of us that want to improve. With a little focus and a lot of work it should be easy to outshine the millions of other half-done blogs, you know?

      And like you said you can always re-do it, re-brand it, change your unique qualities of the blog. I’ve done it a ton of times, and my blog still has a long way to go.

      Keep at it! Re-start as many times as it takes until you’re where you want to be

      And consider yourself very lucky that you spoke directly with one of your audience members, I mean, that’s a very very opportune moment to get some insight and get free answers about where to go with your blog more.

      Alex

    • Linda,

      Yeah it’s a little scary knowing there are millions of other blogs, but when you think about it, the majority are struggling and like you said, poorly organized.

      That should be inspiring to most of us that want to improve. With some focus and work it should be pretty easy to outshine those.

      And like you said you can always re-do it, re-brand it, change your unique qualities of the blog. I’ve done it a ton of times, and my blog still has a long way to go.

      Keep at it! Re-start as many times as it takes until you’re where you want to be

      And consider yourself very lucky that you spoke directly with one of your audience members. That’s a perfect moment to get some keen insight into where you should be going with your blog next.

      Alex

    • Jing Hu says: 05/20/2012 at 6:42 pm

      “…millions of blogs on the Internet, and a wide variety of them poorly written, badly focused…” To each their own! And since when is a persons level of writing based on their blogs??!?!

      It saddens me to think people care more about the comments on their blog these days. No wonder the U.S. obesity rate is increasing, more people sit on their asses all day waiting for comments on their blogs than going out and being physically active,

  19. I can definitely attest to how much of a difference it makes writing ‘casually’ rather than formally. The stats on my blog boomed after I relaxed my writing style.

    Great article. Thanks.

    • Donovan,

      I was exactly the same way. As soon as I wrote like I speak, I started getting emails where people told me how much they loved my writing style —

      Alex

  20. One of the biggest problems bloggers face is staying consistent to their niche. That is absolutely true. Stay focused on your site if you intend to make it anywhere with it.

    • Kalen,

      Yeah it can be really difficult to stay in your niche. But every once in a while it’s a great to step out and have a “things you didn’t know about me” or “guilty confession” type post that gives good insight into your character that your audience may connect with.

      especially for niches like blogging where it’s hard to have your character come out.

      Alex

  21. I have noticed adding personality into my blog posts increases comments and visits.
    Sometimes, I find myself so stuck in the grammar and technical aspects that adding flair sits on the sidelines.
    I’ve written a couple of posts recently about livening up a blog and whether you can successfully have a blog with several topics.
    I think it all comes down to your desire to have targeted traffic and how you intend to monetize your blog.
    Thanks for giving me more food for thought on both of these topics.

  22. Great post Alexander, No. 3 really stands out for me, i think people like to connect with the writer and understand who he is. We all know who Darren is and I think to a certain extent we fell like we know him personally. Well put by Ryan as well.

    • Alex —

      Yeah, I think that’s a biggie. Especially if you’re in a niche where it’s hard to have your personality come out like blogging. We WANT to know a story. Otherwise it’s just another blogging blog , you know?

      Alex

  23. I agree, I wouldn’t go back to a blog that had any or all of those three things going on. I also wouldn’t go back if the blog looked lame or forgettable (yeah, I’m that shallow). The blogs I enjoy are either helpful, entertaining or really really pretty.

    • Aziza,

      Haha looks are important in a blog! But research on blogs has shown that looks aren’t as important as we think — we like nice looking blogs, but if they have the content we’re looking for, we tend to stay (unless they’re really super ugly)

      Love your name btw!

      Alex

  24. This is an most valuable and useful topic. I have getting more knowledge in this topic. Thanks author for sharing an nice topic.

  25. I’ve also been struggling with finding a theme for my blog. Thank you for the useful info!

  26. Its like you read my mind! You seem to know a lot about
    this, like you wrote the book in it or something. I think
    that you can do with a few pics to drive the message home
    a little bit, but instead of that, this is excellent blog.
    A fantastic read. I will certainly be back.

  27. Thanks a lot for the advise. My blog have few of the issue you share. Will improve it accordingly. Thanks.

  28. This is a post to study and practice from. Your style is accessible and inviting. I need that when the topic is daunting.

  29. This is the first time i am reading your post and admire that you posted article which gives users lot of information regarding how to attract the reader to your articles…..

  30. I really like your point on the story.

    My original intent of my blog was “exponential results for the underdog.”

    I shifted to the idea of “stand on the shoulders of giants” … insight and action for work and life.
    The idea was to draw from books, people, and quotes, as well as my real live adventures of driving projects and leading teams to make the most of what you’ve got.

    Recently … I moved to a very clear and concise benefit:
    “Proven Practices for Personal Effectiveness”

    It’s simple, elegant, and it’s worked wonders.

    The immediate clarity and compelling promise helps draw people in to learn more.
    They want to find out what they are capable of.

    It’s also helped me better integrate the theme across my posts, as you pointed out.
    The common thread among them all is — empower YOU … with skill.

    After all … who doesn’t want to be effective?

    • J.D.

      Yeah I’ve re-branded my site many many times, and I still need to do it once more.

      I think as long as a person makes it obvious what the audience will get out of the blog — and it must be clear immediately when they show up — they’ll stick around and are more likely to return.

      The key (after all my mess-ups) I’ve realized is to make it clear what your audience gets, and ideally it must be what your audience wants (not what you want).

      Alex

  31. Very good post. It’s so try that when writing an article you need to write for your readers and engage with them.

    Cheers
    Lloyd

    • Lloyd,

      Yeah, it can be hard to remember too. After all we write for the audience (not for ourselves) and we are connecting with people (not readers — humans).

      Alex

  32. This is such great advice. We spend so much time trying to get traffic to our site, that we don’t work on conversion. What if you could get a loyal fan a day that comes back. How great would that be!

    I’m a videographer and I love video. But I felt like I was being too boring in my post.

    I’ve just starting adding some of my humor into my post. I can’t wait to see if it pays off.

    • Jalanda —

      Yeah the irony of traffic is that you can say “Great, I have 1000 Facebook likes.” but if you use a link tracker like Bitly you’ll see that only 150 of those likes are actually reading your posts… makes you think.

      I would much rather have 5 super raving fans, than 500 that only read a couple posts from time to time.

      Again, the challenge is to make all your content have those 5 fans rave, and it can be a challenge.

      You mean you were being too boring in your writing or in your video style?

      One thing about me is that I’m much much better in person, more engaging, more interesting, more fun, more flirty. Which is why video is temping, but video is only a one-way dialogue, not two — so it’s still not as good as a real first person conversation.

      And you will never go wrong with showing some humor or personality in your writing — seriously, there are millions of boring blogs out there, it’ll definitely pay off.

      Alex

  33. Za er says: 04/04/2012 at 6:06 pm

    Sometimes blogs are so bad that they are good. Narcissism can be very entertaining. Especially when the person is oblivious as to how ridiculous they are.

  34. An interesting article, particularly the point about having a coherent set of articles. I have also settled on a theme for my blog that I feel helps to show the photos and captions properly.

    • K —

      I’ve found that your blog CAN contain a multitude of niches as long as you somehow link them.

      “Better strategies for health” or “Getting clients smart, faster” can include things like health, blogging, travel, etc. if you can relate them to what you’re writing about.

      Alex

  35. Thanks Alexander,

    Great Post. I especially liked the point about personality as a unique selling proposition. I’m going to have to review my blog to see what ways I can implement this on my site.

    Thanks again.

  36. nice info, when i visit some blog, even the writer is really confused of what he/she is saying, how can u expect me to go back to that type of blog….i think with this many writer will know what they are doing…nice info

    • Globalwalyy,

      Yeah I totally know what you mean. It makes sense that no one would go back when the writer can’t even get their own stuff straight !

      That’s why it makes it that much more important to figure out exactly what direction you want to go, and what value you provide to the people who read.

      Alex

  37. Great breakdown, Alex! You’re the second person I’ve heard lately recommending letting personality come through.

    I’m struggling to figure out how to apply that to my teaching blog (linked in my name) – it’s for non-native English speakers, so I’m not writing oodles of text; the entries are short, clear, and to the point. Any ideas for injecting more personality into a blog like that?

  38. Thank you for sharing. I think point 2 is one I really need to work on

  39. I have to agree with a point made in the comments above.

    We are sometimes so caught up in trying to get traffic to our sites, we can end up missing the bigger picture…

    Yes, we need visitors, and lot’s of them if we wish for our sites to do well.

    Though, to just focus on that side whilst neglecting our site greater purpose, is probably not the best way to go about it.

  40. Over the course of time, I’ve realized that it’s essential to communicate with blog commenters after they leave their comments, messages, etc. It’s part of how you show who you are and what character you have.

    Rahman Mehraby
    TraveList News

  41. Showing some personality is key. A blog is meant to be an informal way to communicate. If your posts just read like white papers- there is no conversational tone and people will get bored.

  42. Really interesting post and comments thank you. My story is definitely not evident on my blog so definitely needs review and rewriting!

  43. This is fantastic. Thanks for the solution.

    One think I’ve done to bring my personality into my blog is by using video. I try and post at least 2 videos a month and I find that it makes people feel a deeper connection. Someone once said that it’s easy to quit a blog, but hard to quit a person. So my goal has been to make my blogs into ME and promote Kimberly Gauthier as my brand.

    Thanks for the list and the solutions. You’ve given me a lot of great ideas. I wish I could have you take a peak at my blogs and give me more suggestions.

    Have a fantastic week!

    Kimberly

  44. Great stuff – I make sure to engage all my commenters, because I truly want them to return. This can include questions, or even editing my own posts when they add useful information.

  45. Pebbles Flintstone says: 05/07/2012 at 3:54 am

    I’m tired of hearing about blogs and numbers of hits and reader traffic. It means nothing. No one is selling anything. No one’s ideas are hitting red buttons. It’s nothing but one big gigantic popularity contest. Twenty likes versus 20,000. I feel like I’m back in junior high. As adults we should stand for something higher than this nonsense.

  46. Jing Hu says: 05/20/2012 at 4:07 pm

    Why is our society so focused on what others think of us as indivisuals? Why can people just be happy with who they are and how their blogs are without ruminating about being appealing to others? This is such a deep predicament….

    Bloggers, dont listen to these “rules” or “reasons” just free yourself and be the person you are in your blogs.Sure, your blog might not be appealing to the masses, but why change yourself to fit in with what you are not!

    “Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it”

    –Bruce lee.

  47. You have some great concepts here, but one thing I think you should touch on is that many bloggers, and other web developers, look to other sites and blogs outside their theme for link exchanges. If you end up getting referrals from other sites that have nothing to do with your blog theme, they’re much less likely to stay and read up. It may work if you link to a single post on your blog that fits in with the original site, if the topic you discuss is relevant. Otherwise, I think you hit the nail right on the head with these three suggestions.

    Keep up the great work!

  48. Thanks Alexander for a great read.

    Quite often when I visit a blog I will look at their about us page or introduction to get an idea of what the overall blog is about – sometimes the lsit of categories ehlps, too. If I can’t find that I am less inclined to spend any time there – certainly not to offer them guest posts or share their blgo on my social media channels, etc.

    So even if your theme is clear to someone reading a few of your posts, I think it is worth telling people what your theme is. In other words, make it easy and fast for readers.

    Its even more important in case someone comes across your blog for one of those off the topic, out of the ordinary posts we all do occasionally.

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