You published four posts this week, which have gotten a total of three hits between them. You’ve worked hard lately to try and create content you hope others will want to read, but no one seems to be reading. What do you do?
This dilemma might not have anything to do with your content or your theme or the way you write, or it could be a combination of a few different roadblocks. Here are a few solutions to help your blog get noticed.
Solution 1: Define a clear “mission”
If you’re looking to gain a decent following on your blog, you first need to figure out your blog’s identity. Novelty Revisions has gone through many transitions in the past six (almost seven!) years, but in 2015 we finally settled on our mission: to address common struggles aspiring writers face and offer strategies and solutions to help them make a name for themselves in the publishing industry. Since then, our following has doubled (statistically speaking).
A blog filled with random posts about your daily life probably won’t gain a huge following, not because you’re not awesome, but because, unless you’re someone pretty important, people aren’t going to hop on the Internet just to read about you. People search for articles, blogs and websites that will help them solve a problem or connect with a community, generally.
Weave a common thread through your posts, sort of like I do when I blog about running. Know why you’re blogging and make that clear on your front page or in your about section. Even if you do want to write about your life, don’t make it all about you. Teach your readers something similar each time you post.
Solution 2: Post consistently
While there are a few minor downsides to posting frequently, the benefits are going to, more often than not, outweigh the risks. Posting consistently doesn’t mean you have to post every day, but if you can build an editorial timeline that helps potential readers know when to expect new content from you, they’re much more likely to keep an eye out for it.
If you’re first starting out, posting often gives you more content to work with and build off of, and even if random web searchers happen to stumble upon older posts, at least they’re finding you. Keeping a consistent posting schedule, which is also what we’ve been doing over the past few months, shows potential readers you are reliable, and makes them more likely to want to stick around.
Solution 3: Promote your posts
Honestly? Your posts aren’t going to be found at random just by posting, even if you post frequently. A lot of bloggers wrongfully assume that just because they’re active, they don’t have to do anything outside of posting. In reality, there are millions of blog posts going up on different platforms as you’re publishing yours. You will get lost in the mix.
Even if you’re not usually active on social media (which you should be, and we’re going to get someone on here pretty soon to talk about that), you need to promote your posts on multiple social networks if you want to be found. If you’re not okay with broadcasting your posts, you’re just going to have to learn to be okay with no one reading them.
Sorry to break it to you like this, but social media isn’t something you can ignore anymore, especially if you want to get your name out there. You don’t have to create separate pages or accounts for your blog right away, or even at all—just promote links on your personal profiles for now and see what happens.
Remember that these things take time. Novelty Revisions is growing slowly, but it’s still growing, which it hadn’t really been doing for the first five years of its life. You’re not going to rise to the top the minute you start. Be patient. But most importantly, keep writing. Don’t let low page views stop you from enjoying it.
If you have any other tips to organically, strategically boost blog traffic, you’re more than welcome to discuss them in the comments. Let’s help each other out today. What works for you might work for someone else, too.
Image courtesy of Novelty Revisions.
Meg Dowell Writes 
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