{"id":2926,"date":"2010-10-13T12:00:34","date_gmt":"2010-10-13T06:30:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bookbuzzr.com\/blog\/?p=2926"},"modified":"2014-12-23T16:34:50","modified_gmt":"2014-12-23T11:04:50","slug":"how-to-write-a-popular-writing-blog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bookbuzzr.com\/blog\/how-to-write-a-popular-writing-blog\/","title":{"rendered":"Mid-Week Book Marketing Tips: How to Write a Popular Writing Blog"},"content":{"rendered":"

Guest Expert: Lexi Revellian<\/a><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been blogging for over three years using Blogger. My blog is a writing one, with a 4\/10 Google ranking, and I want to share with you my ideas about what makes a blog popular. You may not agree\u2026which is fine. Every blog is different.<\/p>\n

Blogging basics<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Blog regularly, at least once a week. Regard it as you would a paid column for a newspaper \u2013 you wouldn\u2019t tell your editor, \u201cSorry, I can\u2019t think of anything to write this week,\u201d now would you?
\n\u2022 Make sure your spelling and grammar are correct. Don\u2019t be sloppy. You are a writer!
\n\u2022 Add a device to give information about your visitors. I use Statcounter, which tells me the number of visitors, popular keywords and pages, time spent on my blog, and where visitors came from. (The information it gives may surprise you \u2013 my most popular post ever is \u2018One space or two after a full stop?\u2019) And Statcounter is free.
\n\u2022 Be patient. It will take you time to build a following, and I don\u2019t think there are any short cuts.<\/p>\n

Content<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Like all writers, when I started my blog I posted short stories, or particularly good bits from my novels. But they never got much reaction from readers, and I realized I never read these on other people\u2019s blogs. My advice is, don\u2019t do it unless you have hordes of fans hanging on your every word, like Neil Gaiman.
\n\u2022 Vary the content. If you harp continually on the same theme you will bore your readers; they will get fed up and not bother to return. I occasionally have quizzes, videos or cartoons instead of writing an article.
\n\u2022 Keep it brief. Readers are daunted by great wodges of text.
\n\u2022 Controversial is better than bland.
\n\u2022 Links: these are vital. A list of links to interesting and useful sites and blogs is a big plus to your readers. Update it frequently as you come across new sites, and be ruthless with those that go downhill.
\n\u2022 Of course you will want a link to where readers can buy your book, if you have one.
\n\u2022 Widgets and gadgets: on the internet you can find some fun things to put in your sidebar. I have the moon\u2019s phases, a virtual hamster, and of course my novel in Bookbuzzr format.
\n\u2022 Invite guest bloggers. Most people are pleased to get the opportunity to post to a new lot of readers, and the favour may be returned.<\/p>\n

Visual appeal <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Use images \u2013 a picture is indeed worth a thousand words. Google images is a good resource; aim for striking images that are relevant (it doesn\u2019t have to be in an obvious way).
\n\u2022 Think about the layout and colours of your blog, and the fonts you use. It\u2019s easy to make your blog wider, if that\u2019s what you want (look up how to do it on the internet). Make it different from other people\u2019s blogs. Remember that the colour black, though it\u2019s a dramatic background for pictures, isn\u2019t sensible if your blog has a lot of text. It\u2019s too hard on the eyes.
\n\u2022 Tweak the appearance of your blog from time to time. Good can always get better.<\/p>\n

Comments<\/strong>: you want comments, right? They show to you and to anyone passing that your blog is busy and popular. So make it easy for people to comment, not hard.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Do not make your commenters do word verification \u2013 they are doing you a favour, don\u2019t give them work.
\n\u2022 Do not enable blog moderation \u2013 when readers post, they want to see their comment appear immediately. Blogger now has spam filters, and you can remove inappropriate comments, if you get any.
\n\u2022 On Blogger\u2019s Settings, if you select not to show profile images on comments, you will save commenters having to tick the secure\/non-secure viewing options.
\n\u2022 Never ignore people who bother to comment. Respond to the points they make. This is not only polite, it\u2019s fun, like having your own mini-forum.<\/p>\n

Attracting readers<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 It\u2019s worth joining Twitter, since this will alert a lot of new people to your blog. The thing to aim for is retweets, which will reach people outside your ambit.
\n\u2022 Put a link to your blog in your email signature, and add to your signature in any forums you frequent.
\n\u2022 Comment on other people\u2019s blogs (and follow the best). People are curious; if you make an amusing or interesting remark, they will come and look at your blog.<\/p>\n

There, I think that\u2019s the sum of my knowledge about How To Blog. Best of luck with your blogs, and you are welcome at mine any time!<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/a>Lexi Revellian<\/a> has written three novels, and has self-published the most recent, Remix, in e-format with the paperback version available soon. Her day job is designing and making silver and jewellery – commissions include fruit bowls for 10 Downing Street and the Royal Household’s Jubilee gift to the Queen. Her dream is to sell lots of her books…<\/em>
\n\"\"<\/object><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Guest Expert: Lexi Revellian I\u2019ve been blogging for over three years using Blogger. My blog is a writing one, with a 4\/10 Google ranking, and I want to share with you my ideas about what makes a blog popular. You may not agree\u2026which is fine. Every blog is different. Blogging basics \u2022 Blog regularly, at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":2928,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,123],"tags":[9,175,236,3,18,189,307],"class_list":["post-2926","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-marketing","category-mid-week-book-marketing-tips","tag-authors","tag-blogging","tag-blogs","tag-book-marketing","tag-book-promotion","tag-writing","tag-writing-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookbuzzr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2926","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookbuzzr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookbuzzr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookbuzzr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookbuzzr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2926"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bookbuzzr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2926\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookbuzzr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2928"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookbuzzr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookbuzzr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookbuzzr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}