I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve been asked how to generate more readers, comments and followers to a blog.
Make no mistake about it, with limited amounts of time, millions of other blogs to read, readers have a vast choice of not only which blogs to follow, but which posts to read and/or comment on.
Here are seven methods I use as a blogger which have produced great results.
1. Eye-Catching Post Titles
I’ve said it before, and I’m repeating it again, but the title of a blog post is the first thing readers and visitors see before deciding wether to read your post or not.
Make your blog post titles count! I always look at the title of a blog post first before deciding whether to read it or not.
The title of the post has to really grab my attention and make me want to click the link to open it. If it has no appeal, then I move on. Take, for example, these two titles –
Some Blogging Tips.
Why My Blogging Tips Will Bring You More Readers.
Given you only had the choice to click one of those titles, which one would you choose?
Think about it this way. What makes you click on a title of a blog post?
What is it that makes you want to find out more?
Make a list of the blog post titles you click on, and analyse the results.
Look for keywords in the titles that are repeated continuously and make you want to click on the ‘read more’ link.
Start creating blog post titles that you would click on.
And if your WordPress account has it, use the free headline analyser when creating titles. You’ll find it when creating titles. A headline score of 70 or more is best for clickbait. Reanalyse titles until you get a good score. The title of this blog post scored 81.
Click here to access the headline analyser tool if you do not use WordPress.
Always ensure your blog posts have a title before publishing them. Nobody wants to see a blog post title that is a line of numbers (that is what happens when a post is published that has no title).
If you add hashtags to your titles, don’t use more than two. Google and other search engines consider blog posts titles containing more than two hashtags as spam.
My blog post How To Write The Perfect Titles For All Your Blog Posts has lots more information.
2. Scheduling posts
Once you’ve got yourself some followers, you need to do all you can to keep them and ensure they keep coming back.
You may have blog post titles that will have readers clicking on them, but overload your followers with too many blog posts in a short space of time, and you’ll probably overwhelm and loose some of them.
Scheduling blog posts, to ensure you have large enough gaps between each post, is something every blogger should consider.
Did you know that WordPress condenses blog posts on the WordPress Reader? Publish too many blog posts within a short period of time, and your posts are condensed to allow content from other bloggers to show up. It isn’t a particularly nice look, and many readers consider it as ‘blog spamming.’
How much time should you leave between each newly published blog post?
My advice is at least six hours. This is a broad enough gap to stop overwhelming your readers. Plus, your posts won’t get condensed by WordPress.
However, if you’re somebody that does lots of reblogging (and don’t forget to tell your readers why you’re reblogging a post), then a three-hour gap between reblogging posts is a good approach.
Not sure how to schedule a blog post? Click here to see how to do it.
3. It’s all ‘About Me,’ isn’t it?
Yes, it is, and one of the first places most new visitor to your blog will want to visit is your ‘about me‘ page.
Most new readers like to know a little about the blogger before they decide whether to follow or not.
Ensure you have an ‘about me’ page which is not only easy to find but also tells your readers a little about yourself, what you blog about, and why they should consider following your blog.
Don’t forget to tell visitors your first name. And if you want to remain anonymous, give them a name by which they can address you in the comments.
Not sure what to put on your ‘about me’ page? My post ‘Why Every Blogger Should Have An ‘About Me’ Page On Their Blog‘ gives full details.
Don’t forget to update your ‘about me’ page at least once every six months. Nobody wants to read that you’re publishing your next book or going on your next adventure in October 2016, when it’s already 2021! This just shows visitors that you’re not bothered by the details contained on your blog.
4. Leaving Comments
Did you know that one of the easiest ways to get some free promotion for you and your blog is by commenting on other blogs? It makes sense, doesn’t it? Leave comments that are interesting and helpful, and readers will probably want to find out a little more about you and your blog.
Don’t have time to read and leave comments on other blogs? Make some time, even if it’s setting yourself a target of reading and commenting on a few blog posts a week. It’s better than leaving nothing at all.
And try and leave comments on new blogs every week rather than keep leaving comments on the same blogs.
Always ensure your comments are friendly and interesting and clearly show you’ve read the post. As a general rule, I won’t leave a comment unless it’s at least a couple of sentences long.
Don’t become a ‘comment spammer’ by leaving the same comment on lots of posts.
Avoid leaving comments such as ‘great post‘ or ‘nice photos‘ or ‘I love this.’ Tell the blogger what it is that made the post great, or what it was that you liked about the photos, or what it was that made you love the post.
You’ll reap the rewards when leaving interesting and helpful comments. The blogger whose blog you’ve left the comment on will not only be delighted that you left a comment but will probably come and visit your blog, too.
Avoid long conversations in the comments section that have nothing to do with the post. Take those conversations offline, rather than inflict them on your other readers. They’re probably not interested anyway.
And, never leave any links in a comment (not even to your own blog) unless you’ve been invited to do so.
5. Let’s Be Friends
Always ensure you respond to and/or acknowledge comments left on your blog, especially comments left on your ‘about me’ page.
Readers who take the time to read and comment don’t like being ignored. Some may decide it’s not worth leaving any more comments on your posts but, at worse, some may even choose to unfollow you.
If you don’t have the time to respond to comments, then consider switching them off. Click here to find out how to switch off comments.
Even if somebody doesn’t agree with what you’ve said in your post or in a comment, always respond in a kind, friendly and professional manner. Don’t get yourself into any arguments with readers who have left comments. It’s a sure way to attract internet trolls; a visitor nobody wants to welcome.
6. How Do I Look?
Finding the right theme for your blog can be time-consuming. However, once you have found your ideal theme, ensure you dress up your blog so that it’s easy to navigate around, easy to read, and there is no broken links on your homepage, ‘about me’ page, or in any widget bars.
Don’t be afraid to ask readers if there is anything on your blog that they don’t like. For example, some of my readers informed me they were not keen on live moving images that distracted them when reading. That’s why you’ll never see a ‘gif’ on my blog posts.
If you spot a problem on a blog, let the blogger know. Many will be grateful that you’ve highlighted a problem that they probably knew nothing about.
Make your blog posts easy to read by ensuring the text is not too small and that the colour of the font does not make it hard to read. Spilt the paragraphs up into smaller sections. As a general rule, don’t have any more than four sentences in each paragraph.
7. Keeping It Fun
Why did you decide to start a blog?
For me, it was because I wanted to write, share my work, and get to know other like-minded people. However, I also saw blogging as something that would be fun to do. When I started to get stressed out by blogging, and it started to make me feel guilty, I knew I wasn’t blogging correctly.
I was faced with the choice of either discontinuing blogging or changing how I blogged.
I had to work out what it was that was making me feel stressed and feel guilty. Once I identified the problems, I set myself a plan and have stuck to it. It wasn’t long before I found the fun in blogging again. Readers can often pick up how you feel when they read your posts.
Taking a break from blogging can also help get rid of any stress you’re experiencing with blogging.
Author and blogger Mae Clair recently wrote and published a great post about the advantages and disadvantages of blogging breaks. It got a lot of people talking. Click here to read it.
If you’re thinking of taking a break from blogging, don’t forget to inform your readers and give them an idea of when you expect to return.
You may be interested in reading my post ‘How To Stop Feeling Guilty Or Stressed Out About Blogging‘ if you are suffering with blog guilt or stress.
Let’s wrap it up
- Your blog post titles are the first thing readers or visitors see. Make them inviting so that readers want to find out more.
- If you blog on WordPress, use the free headline analyser tool when creating your blog post titles.
- Aim for a score of 70 or more for blog post titles when using the analyser. The higher the score, the better.
- If you publish a lot of blog posts on a daily basis, space them out by scheduling them with at least a six hour gap between each one.
- The ‘about me’ page of a blog is one of the most visited pages of your blog. Make sure you have one and that you update it at least once every six months.
- Try and read and leave interesting comments on at least a couple of blogs a week.
- Challenge yourself to leave comments on new blogs instead of leaving comments on the same blogs all the time.
- Always respond to comments left on your blog posts as quickly as possible. Never ignore your readers or take them for granted.
- Choose a blog theme that you like and which fits what you blog about.
- Make sure your blog is easy to read, easy to navigate and is a friendly place to hangout.
- If you become stressed or made to feel guilty about blogging, change the way you are blogging.
- Keep blogging a fun and interesting thing to do.
What do you do to generate more readers to your blog and keep them coming back? Please share your tips by leaving me a comment.
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Hugh's Views & News 
Great tips. I have been using some of them. But since my Blog is mainly technology based, I need to do a lot of research before I can write a good article.
But I also have a personal blog which is more informal… it’s easier to write but difficult to get the traffic
I hope my tips in this post help you get more traffic. They’ve all certainly helped me on my blogging journey.
Thank you, Hugh! I’m glad your tips show I’m doing a lot right: posting regularly, using trimmed titles, and above all–leaving comments on others’ blogs. It’s an act of kindness that has paid off for me in friendships around the world! 🙂
You’re welcome, Marian. Leaving genuine comments on other blogs has always been a winner for me. I can’t think why any blogger would not respond to comments left on their blog.
Dear Hugh: Thank you for your usual brilliance and pure wisdom shared through your post. I don’t often read the entire post, particular if it’s too long winded and tend to skim through and glean as much as possible so I give enough attention to other bloggers and their posts too. But in your case, i noticed that it’s not easy to skip lines because the construction and presentation of each paragraph is relevant and important enough to merit a patient read. Thank you for being so patient to spell things out with such clarity and hand-holding. it helps, especially for novice bloggers and also others who may not have the insights you do. I have a few ideas that I think are what have helped my blog find a certain niche of readership. Might be happy to pen it down in case you or someone maybe interested.
Thank you for your lovely comments, Sophia. I’m delighted that my blog posts keep you reading rather than skipping information. I always set out to write my blog posts so that I’d find them easy to follow if I were a visitor. Being dyslexic means I have difficulty reading and writing, so it makes it even more important that I write in a style that keeps the readers’ attention and hopefully engages them with what I’ve written.
If you have ideas of how your blog found its niche of readership, I’m sure your readers would be interested in reading them. Ceratinly, when I have shared what has worked for me, I usually get a good response.
Well said Hugh. My success has come from remaining consistent with my content and NOT pushing out anything that’s mediocre. I pray earnestly before writing and the desire is always to offer value without expecting anything in return and it has worked for me. I find that whenever I try to deviate from this and try stunts like trying hard to impress or come up with something with the hope that it attracts more viewers, it mostly does not bring me real satisfaction and neither does it yield the results….often it’s the simplest post, from the heart that garners the most affection, and that makes it worthwhile for me to stay up into the night writing for my readers, every single one of them, to make them feel loved, uplifted and charged to do more.
This was so helpful. I’m just starting out in the blogging world so thank you. I absolutely love writing and really want this to become a little success story 🤞🏻
You’re welcome, and good luck on your writing journey.
Thank you for sharing such helpful methods. Is anyone else having issues with the “About Me” section? Mine doesn’t show.
I can see your ‘Who We Are’ page, but not an ‘About Me’ page. You need to add it to the menubar of your blog.
Good to know about the headline analyzer! I agree about commenting–I have followed some bloggers because I often saw their kind comments on others’ blogs.
I’m surprised about the frequency you mentioned. I tend to unfollow blogs that post more then once a day.
Thank you for confirming that leaving nice comments makes people want to check out the blogger who has left them, Barbara.
Many blogs publish more than one post a day. If I want to follow them (and that’s only because I find the content of interest), I switch off email notifications and check the WordPress Reader for new posts. That way, my email box does not get clogged up with notifications from them.
Thank you so much for telling me about headline analyser site really helpful post
You’re welcome. I’m glad it has helped, and I hope you get a lot of use out of it.
Hugh, thanks for the tips. I need all the help I can get! Of course, as a food blogger, I can’t get too cute with the post titles. Learned that early on, in 2010, when I posted a recipe for hummus, I think, and titled it “Enough Already with the Garlic!” I always enjoy your posts and learn from them.
Thank you, Jean. I find that some of the fun is now trying to get a big score when thinking of the titles for my blog posts. This tool has helped me produce titles I’d never have dreamt of trying. I say – keep having fun with it.
Very helpful reminders, Hugh. Especially the ‘have fun’ part.
Yes, ‘fun’ and enjoyment is what blogging should always be about. No blogger should ever forget that.
I didn’t know about WP’s headline analyzer! And comments take a lot of my time, both leaving and responding, so it’s good to be reminded that it makes a difference!
Those comments do make such a big difference to any blog, Michele. Blogs with comments tell us that not only are the posts engaging but so is the host.
Great tips as always Hugh!
Thank you.
Great! Thank you for the advice, Definitely I will follow this.
Great. I hope you have lots of success using them.
This is very helpful! Thank you.
You’re welcome. I’m glad it’s helped.
You’re welcome. I hope the analyser and tips help.
I think it’s more about how interesting the content is. I like witty poosts, but then I’ve also enjoyed reading posts about life-changing events that contain sadness and grief. It’s also more about the way a post has been written that determines whether I stay and read it all or not. If a post is engaging and encourages comments, then that’s good, too, regardless of what the post is about.
Great tips, Hugh! Thank you for sharing, and have a good rest of the week! Michael
Thanks, Michael. You too.
Thank you, Hugh! You had the efforts, and puplished wonderful information. Enjoy a beautiful evening, and a much more better weekend! Michael
Lots of great tips Hugh. Thanks for sharing. I’d love to do more but these days I seem to have less time for blogging. I miss it. Looking forward to being a full time writer in around 6 months time. Wish me luck!
I wish you much luck on your new writing adventure, Marje. And I look forward to reading all about it on your blog.
Thank you Hugh. I’m excited to see how it goes. x
Quite an enriching experience… certain things like headline analyser is something new for me…hopefully I will gain from your recommendations…
Thank you..🙏🙏
I found the headline analyser tool to be a brilliant new tool WordPress has introduced. It’s certainly got my posts more visitors and more noticed.
Thank you very much for the great tips! I think we all seek these answers often and have a hard time finding good sources of information. You have accomplished that! Thank you very much!
You’re welcome. I’m glad they have helped.
Insightful as always Hugh and also very practical.
Interesting suggestion from you to comment on new blogs each week rather than the same ones every time. I do try to find new blogs from time to time but then feel guilty because I’m not commenting on blogs that have been my loyal followers for years. Just not enough time in the day!
Which headline analyser are you using ? The one I have is a free plug in from MonsterInsights. I’m still getting used to it but it’s very helpful at showing the impact just changing one or two words can have.
I left the ‘feeling guilty’ for not reading and commenting on the blogs of certain bloggers years ago, Karen. I believed I had to read and comment on every blog post they published, which sent me down a slippery slope of feeling stressed and guilty. Now, I only read blog posts that interest me, and to get me interested, the title of the blog post or its excerpt has to catch my eye and make me want to click the ‘read more link. This opened up lots more spare time for me to read interesting posts by other bloggers.
I follow lots of bloggers that don’t follow me, but only because their content is interesting to me and often gets me commenting. That’s gone on to more people saying that they come over to my blog from (insert name here) because they read my comment and wanted to find out more. Likewise, I have regular comments from bloggers who blog about beauty products and fashion, which I have no interest in. So, try and get rid of that ‘guilty’ feeling and read what interests you. I’ve only come across one blogger who told me they were going to unfollow me because I wasn’t reading and commenting on all their posts, and it wasn’t worth me trying to persuade them not to unfollow.
As for the Headline Analyser, I’m using the one WordPress has recently given access to all its users. The link on this post for those that don’t use WordPress takes you to the site. I’ve had great success since using it. This post alone (with a score of 81) has bought in lots more traffic than I get on posts where I did not use the analyzer. So it seems to be a win-win situation.
I shall work on ridding myself of those guilt feelings Hugh. Not something that is going to happen over night of course but I shall keep chipping away at it. I do find myself skipping content more and more if it’s not one of particular interest – only a few years ago I would have pushed myself to read it. That way madness lies!
At least you’re not wasting time by reading full posts that you’re not finding interesting, Karen. However, never feel under any obligation to read and comment on posts. Read and comment when you like, and only if you find the post interesting.
Next time I find myself reading something only mildly interesting, I shall have your words of wisdom reverberating in my head, telling me to STOP
Thank you for posting such great tips! I started doing so far, 2 posts on 2 different days that readers can look forward to each week. I hope to add more also. So far, on Mondays, I do Quotes(Wisdom Quotes), and on Wednesdays, I do jokes for the middle of the week for Hump Day, to get people through the rest of their week. I call them Hump Day Ha-Ha’s.
Having a blogging schedule and keeping to it is a great start. But don’t feel bad if you need to change it. Finding the perfect balance is what’s it’s all about.
Thank you! I did have to change it once but I let everyone know😁
I’ve realised how seldom I read new-to-me blogs – mostly I read posts by bloggers I already follow. Perhaps I need to broaden my outlook but time is limited and I struggle to read everything posted by those I follow. Oh, dear, I can feel a guilt trip coming on – better go back and read your post about that. I actually printed it out once 🙂
Don’t go down that road to blog stress and guilt, Mary. When I decided to read blog posts as and when I could and not worry about missing reading posts from the blogs I follow, it took a lot of pressure off me. I don’t expect anyone to read all of my posts, and I think many bloggers feel the same thing about their posts. Sit back and enjoy the whole blogging experience instead of believing you have to read every post. I have no hangups anymore of deleting posts I’ve not read. I read them when I can. It’s much more fun doing it that way.
Great list. 😀 … I’d add, ‘keep it real’. Most people can spot fake content or BS a mile off.
They can. And who wants to come back to a blog that is nothing but fake?
Great tips. Saw a lot of things I do wrong!
I hope you’ll soon get those mistakes taken care of, Sharon.