How easy is it for new visitors to subscribe to or follow your blog, so they are notified of all your new blog posts or see them on their WordPress reader feed?
Are you missing out on getting new followers and readers?
WordPress has several ways to follow a blog.
The most popular is clicking the ‘follow’ button in the bottom right corner of a blog. However, the button only appears when scrolling ‘up’ on the site, so it can be missed. And if you install any plugins on your blog, it disappears completely (as does the reblog button). It’s not visible on self-hosted blogs.
Another option is for bloggers to place a subscription or link to follow on the widget bar of their blog. I have one on the widget bar of my blog.
However, some themes don’t come with widget bars. Some themes hide the widget bar behind a button, so unless you click the button, you won’t see the contents of a widget bar.
For those themes that offer a visible widget bar (like the theme I use), visibility is only available when viewing the blog on a desktop or laptop computer, not on a tablet or mobile phone (where they’re hidden behind a button).
Given that many people read blogs on a mobile phone or tablet, I realise that I could be losing hundreds of new followers because it’s not clear enough how to subscribe to or follow my blog when viewing it on a mobile phone or tablet.
WordPress.com now has newsletter capabilities.
All you need to do is add a Subscribe block to all your posts. Readers who enter their email addresses will get an email notification when you publish a newsletter. And to make those Subscribe blocks look a bit jazzier, WordPress has added some newsletter-focused patterns to their library.
You’ll also find some subscribe to/follow my blog blocks amongst the newsletter subscribe blocks.
Here’s how to access and create them.
In the draft page of a post, click the ‘add a new block button’ (the + sign) located on the top left of the page.
Click on Patterns and then on Newsletter.
Click on Patterns – Newsletter to access the subscribe/follow templates.
A list of subscribe/follow templates will open up. Scroll down the list to view all of them.
Some of the templates will be personalised with the name and tagline of your blog.
All of the templates have settings/options that you can change. For example, I enlarged text on some of them where available.
Choose the template you want to use after any changes you’ve made.
Add it to all your posts.
Now readers will be given an easier option of following your blog when reading your posts.
May I ask for your help?
Help me choose a ‘follow’ template for my blog by voting for the one you prefer. The poll is at the end of the list and will remain open until 23:59 GMT on Monday, 23rd January 2023. Any votes cast after the deadline won’t count.
Voting has now closed. Thank you to everyone that voted.
When choosing your template, remember to make it a reusable block so that you don’t need to look for it every time you create a new post. Click here to find out how to create a reusable block.
Remember to add your new subscribe/follow template to all your posts.
Once I know the poll results, I’ll add my new follow template to all the posts I’ve published in 2023 and to all new posts.
How easy was that?
If you have questions about adding a subscribe/follow block to your blog, leave them in the comments section.
Layout, content, settings, and format might differ on self-hosted blogs.
Follow Hugh on Social Media. Click the buttons below.
These 9 popular and easy blogging tips will help bring you and your blog success. Are you missing out on any of them?
Are you missing out on any if these popular blogging tips?
1. Add Excerpts To Your Blog Posts.
Excerpts are a great way to entice readers to click the ‘read more’ link to your post.
Did you know that WordPress offers bloggers a way to add excerpts to posts?
If you don’t add excerpts to your posts, WordPress takes the first 55 words of the post and uses them as the excerpt. This can often cause confusion to readers, especially when sentences are cut off midway.
If the opening sentence of your post does not entice readers, you could be missing out on many more new visitors reading your posts and engaging with you.
I added the following excerpt to this post.
Are you new to blogging or thinking of starting a blog? Are you already a blogger who wants more readers, followers and success for your blog?
These 9 tips will guarantee you success.
Adding experts to your posts is easy and an excellent way to promote and entice readers to want to read them. Here’s how to add an excerpt.
On the draft page of a post, scroll down to the except box in the setting section of the post.
Add an excerpt to your blog post before publishing it.
After adding the excerpt, publish or schedule your post.
The excerpt will be displayed on WordPress notification emails.
Tip: When drafting excerpts, ask yourself what excerpt would make you want to read the post.
2. Change This Setting And Watch Your Blog Stats Boom.
Ensure you view your blog’s dashboard in Default View (not Classic). To do this, click the View button in the top right corner of your blog’s dashboard.
Go to Settings – Writing on your blog’s dashboard and look for the Feed Settings box.
Turn on the Limit Feed To Excerpt button. Users will then need to visit your site to view the full content of every post.
Click the Save Settings button.
Ensure you slide the Limit Feed to excerpt only’ button to the ‘on’ position
3. Engage With Your Audience And On The Posts Of Other Bloggers.
I recently came across a blogger who complained that everyone ignored her. She claimed that nobody left comments on her posts. However, I’d left comments along with other bloggers. The problem was that she only replied to comments with a ‘thanks.’ No wonder other bloggers and I got fed up with leaving comments.
Engagement is a two-way thing.
If you don’t engage with more than a ‘thank you’ to every comment, then visitors will soon get fed up with trying to engage with you.
Make your comments and replies to comments count. Instead of telling a blogger their post was great or that you loved it, expand on why you thought it was great. Most bloggers want to engage, especially when leaving comments that offer feedback and discussion.
By fully engaging with your readers, you’re likely to get them and more visitors wanting to engage with you. They’ll likely follow your blog if they want to engage and see that you engage with others who leave comments.
However, don’t leave dead-end comments where the only response can be a ‘thank you.’ If you’ve nothing of value to add, click the ‘like’ button and move on. Never feel guilty for not leaving dead-end, pointless comments.
The more you engage with your audience and other bloggers, the more you’ll reap the rewards of your blog becoming successful and a place other bloggers will want to visit and engage.
If English is not your first language, then don’t be afraid to leave a comment in your native dialogue. Free online translation tools, such as one from Systran.Com, are available, so bloggers can translate your comment. My thanks to Renard Moreau for recommending Systran.Com.
4. Reduce The Size Of Your Images Before Publishing Posts.
If a blog post takes too long to download, most visitors will likely get fed up and move on.
One of the biggest causes of a blog post taking too long to download is that the images and photos within the post are too big. They also take up lots of space in the media library.
Before placing an image or photo in a post, reduce its size.
The majority of the photos and images in my posts are no more than 900 x 675 pixels. I’ve found that the quality of images and pictures this size are still excellent, plus they take up much less space in my media library.
Many apps and software allow you to reduce the size of images and photos, but many are not free to use. So be careful when choosing.
To reduce the size of images and photos on an iMac, open the image, click on Tools and then on Adjust Size (both found in the toolbar).
Click here to find out how to reduce the size of images and photos in Windows 10 and 11.
How do you reduce the size of images and photos on your blog? Tell us in the comments section.
5. Categorise Your Blog Posts.
Categorising your blog posts is essential when helping visitors find information.
Never categorise any of your blog posts as Uncategorised. It’s not helpful and only makes the blog’s owner look lazy and not care about their followers or visitors.
However, don’t use too many categories. A long list of categories can confuse readers. Cut categories down by adding sub-categories. Click here to find out more about categories and tags.
Important information: You may have already heard the cardinal tagging rule on WordPress.com, but it’s worth repeating: you should never add more than 15 tags and categories (combined) to your post; otherwise, it won’t show up in the WordPress Reader. This cap is used to keep out spam blogs — you need to ensure that your tags are only those most relevant to your post.
6. Blog Post Titles
I’m always shocked by the many boring and dull titles I see bloggers using for their blog posts. They don’t give me any incentive to want to read the post. Other than those who read every blog post some of these bloggers publish, nobody will be enticed to read posts that don’t draw you to click the ‘read more’ button.
Given that the first thing the majority of readers see is your blog post titles, make the titles count. If the titles of your posts are bland, dull, and uninviting, they won’t entice readers to want to read the post. You could be losing out not only on lots of new followers but lots of engagement.
When thinking of a title for your blog post, ask yourself what would make you want to click the ‘read more‘ button.
If you struggle with thinking of good titles for your blog posts, use a Headline analyzer such as Coschedule.com. It’s free to use and challenges you to come up with the best titles for your blog posts.
The title of this blog post scored 92 out of 100. That’s the highest score I’ve achieved when creating a blog post title.
Important Tip: Never duplicate your blog post titles or use the same titles as other bloggers. Why? Because SEO, such as Google and Bing, rank blogs lower that contain duplicated blog post titles.
7. Ensure Links In Your Posts Do Not Close Your Blog Down.
Do you find it frustrating when you click on a link in a blog post and a new window opens on the same page you are reading? When this happens, most readers won’t return to the page they were reading, thus losing the possibility of leaving a comment.
When creating pingbacks or links in posts, ensure you turn on the ‘open in a new tab’ button by sliding it to the on position.
Ensure your readers don’t lose the page they’re reading when clicking on links.
Visitors won’t lose the page they’re reading when you switch on this button when creating pingbacks and links.
Not sure how to create a pingback? Click here for details.
8. Don’t Become A Blogging Spammer.
What do I mean by a blogging spammer? Somebody who leaves uninvited links to their blogs, blog posts or products in the comments section. This also includes bloggers who leave a link to their blog in all their comments.
Fortunately, the antispam system on WordPress sends the majority of these types of comments to my spam folder.
Only leave links in comments when invited to do so by the blogger you’re leaving a comment for. If you need more clarification, ask first before including any links.
I get comments every day that include uninvited links. Most go straight to my spam folder, and I mark as spam the ones that don’t. You’ll never find comments that include uninvited links in the comments section of any of my blog posts.
9. Slow Down
I’ve witnessed many bloggers become overwhelmed with blogging because they try to do too much in the time they have available to blog. It often results in what is known as Blogging Burnout.
Blog at a leisurely pace. You don’t need to participate in all those blogging challenges. You don’t need to read and leave comments on all the posts of the blogs you follow. You don’t need to follow the blog of every blogger who follows you. Only read and comment and follow the blogs that interest you.
Never feel obliged to read, comment and follow because they read and comment on your blog posts.
Slow down. Enjoy blogging. Never allow it to overwhelm you or make you feel guilty or stressed.
Let’s wrap it up.
Rather than allow WordPress to choose what words to introduce your posts, use your own excerpts.
If you want people to visit your blog, don’t display your whole posts in the WordPress email notifications. To get more visitors to your blog, switch on the ‘Limit feed to excerpt only’ button. Users will then need to visit your site to view the full content of every post.
Engage with your audience when replying to comments and when leaving comments on other blogs. Avoid leaving short, pointless comments that add no value. Always say more than a ‘thank you’ when replying to comments.
Reduce the size of images and photos before placing them on blog posts; otherwise, your blog may download slowly and force visitors away.
Categorise all your blog posts. Never categorise them as ‘Uncategorised,’
Make all your blog post titles count by giving them titles that will entice readers to want to read the whole post. Consider using a Headline analyser for them.
When adding pingbacks and links to your blog, always switch on the ‘open in new tab’ button so that readers do not lose the page they are reading when clicking on links.
Don’t become a blog spammer by leaving uninvited links in the comments section of other blogs.
Take blogging slowly. Don’t try doing too much in a short space of time. You’ll only end up feeling overwhelmed, stressed or guilty if you try to fit everything in when you don’t have the time.
Keep blogging a fun and enjoyable experience. If it becomes a chore, step back and take a good look at how you are blogging. Make changes. Only consider quitting blogging if you lose interest.
Are You New To Blogging Or Thinking Of Starting A Blog?
Click here to read an excellent blog post by James Lane that is full of essential information for new bloggers and acts as a gentle reminder for those who already blog.
What’s the best blogging tip you have? Do you have any questions about the 9 tips in this post? Leave them in the comments section.
Layout, content, settings, and format might differ on self-hosted blogs.
This is an updated version of a post originally published on Hugh’s Views And News in 2020.
Follow Hugh on Social Media. Click the buttons below.
This is my ninth December in the blogging world, and it’s turning out to be as similar as others.
I see a familiar path. As the days in December tick by, the blogging world gets quieter and quieter.
Don’t allow blogging to lose its sparkle in December.
I’ve already witnessed bloggers signing off their blogs for Christmas, wishing their readers a Merry Christmas and saying they’ll be back early in the New Year. Others have announced the dates when they’ll take a blogging break.
Just because the world of blogging gets quiet doesn’t mean you don’t have to stop blogging, but I’ve always found that this time of the year is perfect for doing blogging jobs many of us were meant to do during the year but never quite got around to doing.
1. Fix broken links.
I use the free version of Brokenlink.Com to check and fix broken links on my blog.
It can be daunting if you’ve never checked for and fixed broken links on your blog but don’t be put off doing it.
Fixing broken links helps the SEO score of your blog and also helps to reduce spam. Did you know that spammers are attracted to blogs with many broken links?
Your readers will also be happier because they’re not taken to pages, posts and links that no longer exist.
Top tip for checking broken links: Don’t try and tackle the list in one go. Do a few every day. Before you know it, you’ll have smashed it.
Click here to start checking for broken links on your blog now.
2. Update the About me page.
Every blogger should have an ‘about me’ page on their blog. Why? Because not only do most readers like to know a little about the person behind the blog before following, but it’s also one of the most visited parts of any blog.
When did you last update the About me page on your blog?
Not sure what to put on the About me page? Click here for recommendations.
3. Do some blog housekeeping.
From sorting out the tags and categories on your blog to updating the menubar, housekeeping your blog is vital if you want to keep your blog fit and healthy.
Blogs, where no or little housekeeping gets performed, lose more followers and readers than well-maintained blogs.
Get your blog ready for the New Year by performing some housekeeping on it during December.
4. Explore the Block editor.
Are you still terrified of the Block editor? As the number of bloggers using the Block editor continues to climb, now is the perfect time to explore the Block editor and join all those already using it.
WordPress has excellent tutorials on how the Block editor works and how to use it. Click here for more details.
If you’re still using the Classic editor, WordPress recently announced that they’ll continue supporting it until either the end of 2024 or when necessary. However, don’t forget that you can still use the Classic editor via the ‘Classic Block.’
5. Unsubscribe from blogs.
Following too many blogs is not good for your mental health. It can cause some bloggers stress and guilt from being overwhelmed with too many posts to read.
There are many good reasons for unsubscribing from blogs. Here are just a few.
No longer interested in the content being published? Unfollow that blog.
No new published content for many months? Unfollow that blog.
Not read any of their posts for the last year (also known as ghost-blogging)? Unfollow that blog.
Check what blogs you are following by clicking on the ‘Reader’ button at the top of your blog. Click on ‘Manage‘ (next to ‘Following‘). You’ll be presented with a list of blogs you are following. Go through them and unfollow the blogs you’re no longer interested in.
Click the ‘Manage’ button to see a complete list of the blogs you’re following.
6. Choose a new theme for your blog.
If the WordPress theme you are using has been retired, you are likely (or soon will be) having problems with your blog.
Once WordPress retires a theme, they remove support for it. Don’t waste your time trying to find workarounds. Choose a new theme.
To choose a new theme, go to your blog’s dashboard and click on Appearance – Themes. You’ll be presented with lots of current themes to choose from. However, my advice is not to spend too long choosing one. As soon as you find one you like, go with it.
The current theme I use for my blog is Toujours.
7. Delete old blog posts.
Did you know that keeping old, out-of-date posts can damage the health of your blog? These out-of-date posts are often the source of many broken links.
All the above tips can be performed at any time of the year. But make the most of the quietness the month of December usually brings to the blogging world. Keep blogging from losing its sparkle in December.
Am I planning a blogging break?
Yes. I’ll take a blogging break from December 23rd – January 3rd.
I won’t be publishing any new blog posts during this time apart from my monthly round-up post on December 31st. I won’t be reading and commenting on blog posts during this time. However, I will be responding to comments left on my blog posts.
What will you be doing with your blog during December?
Looking for more blogging tips? Click on the ‘Blogging Tips’ and ‘Block Editor – How To’ buttons on the menubar of my blog.
Follow Hugh on social media. Click on the buttons below.
Sharing the blog posts of other bloggers is something the majority of bloggers like to do. But is there a safe way to do it without facing the possibility of copyright infringement?
Have you tried ‘Press This’ on WordPress?
In January 2022, I published a guest post by author and writer Deborah Jay where she shared a story of how she faced a copyright infringement fine simply for reblogging the blog post of another blogger. You can read Deborah’s post here.
The ‘Press This’ feature on WordPress is simple to use and (when used correctly) removes all the possibilities of being fined for copyright infringement. It also comes with other benefits that reblogging a post does not have.
How To Use Press This.
Ensure you are in the Default view of your blog’s dashboard, not the Classic view mode.
Ensure your blog’s dashboard in ‘Default View’ mode.
Click on Settings – Writing.
Click on Settings and Writing
On the Writing Settings page, scroll down to Publishing Tools (at the bottom) and look for the Press This button.
Drag the Press This button to the favourites bar on your device.
Drag and drop the Press This button to somewhere you can access it quickly when reading blog posts. I dragged it from the bottom of the Writing Settings page and placed it on the ‘favouites bar’ of my desktop computer, where it’s visible while I am on the internet.
When you find a blog post, you want to share, click the Press This button.
A new window will open, but you can close it down as a draft copy of the post you wish to share will be in your draft folder.
Open the draft you have just created. In the images below, you’ll see one of my blog posts which I have made via the Press This button.
Find the draft post that has been created by the Press This button
Before publishing the post, you need to add tags and categories. To do this, click on the meatball/kebab menu next to the post (the three dots) and click on Edit.
Click the meatball menu to edit the post.
Not only can you add tags and categories, but you can also edit the post, add an excerpt, and add your own images and photos.
Edit the post before publishing it
Don’t worry about the left alignment of the link created by ‘Press This’, as in most cases, it will be centred when the post is published. However, I recommend you preview the post before publishing it, as the theme you use may not automatically centre it.
Save the draft.
As soon as you’re happy, either click the publish button or schedule it to publish on a date and time that suits you.
What are the most significant benefits of Press This over Reblogging?
No images from the post get downloaded into your media library, so there is no risk of copyright infringement.
You do not use up any valuable space in your media library.
You can edit and add tags and categories before publishing the post— no need to go back to it after publication to add details or leave it as an uncategorised post.
Sub note: Unfortunately, the ‘Press There’ sharing button at the bottom of blog posts is not working correctly. Therefore, the above method for sharing via ‘Press This’ is recommended.
Do you have any questions about Press This? Please leave them in the comments section.
Layout, content, settings, and format might differ on self-hosted blogs.
Looking for more blogging tips? Click on the ‘Blogging Tips’ and ‘Block Editor – How To’ buttons on the menubar of my blog.
Follow Hugh on social media. Click on the buttons below.
There are many gallery blocks on WordPress, but did you know WordPress has added some secret gallery blocks and that you can add captions to them?
Have you found these secret Block galleries on WordPress?
Here’s how to find and use them.
On a draft post, click on the add a new block button (the ‘+‘ symbol) and click on ‘Patterns.’
Click the ‘Patterns’ option.
Either click on the Featured box and select Gallery or click on the Explore box. In this post, I’m using the Explore box.
Use the Featured or Explore box to find the secret galleries
Select Gallery from the new list that appears.
Select Gallery.
Select one of the galleries. In this post, I’m selecting the Large image and grid gallery.
Select the gallery you want to use.
The gallery and images are inserted into your post. Note – the images already on this block are not downloaded into your media library.
To change the images to your own, click on an image and select the Replace button from the image toolbar that appears.
Click the Replace button.
Click on the Select Image button and the button where your image is located. In this post, I’m selecting images from my Media Library.
Click on Select and then on the button where your image is located
Select an image from your media library. Don’t forget to align the image to centre the caption. Click here to find out how to align photos and images.
Don’t forget to align your image and caption
Do the same for the other images in the block.
Captions will display provided you have added them to the photos and images in your media library.
Your gallery is now complete. Here’s mine.
The Welsh Valleys
The Waiting GameDo you know the timekeeper?Can you solve the puzzle?How many sea views can you see? Waiting For SummerWhat do you see on the horizon?
When readers click on any photos in the gallery, any watermark or copyright information you have added will be displayed on each photo in the slideshow. Go ahead and click on one of the images in my gallery to see the watermark.
There are options available to change the background and text colours in the gallery I have used in this post. Click on the block and then on ‘Block‘ (in the top right corner of the draft page) to change them.
Other galleries available in this gallery block are –
Gallery
Organic gallery with intro text
Gallery with description and a button
Three images side-by-side gallery
Two images side-by-side gallery
Give them a try, and let me know how you get on by leaving me a comment.
Click here to find out why you should always watermark your photos and image.
If you have questions about these secret galleries and how to use them, leave them in the comments section.
Looking for more blogging tips? Click on the ‘Blogging Tips’ and ‘Block Editor – How To’ buttons on the menubar of my blog.
Layout, content, settings, and format might differ on self-hosted blogs.
This is an updated version of a post originally published on Hugh’s Views And News in 2020.
Follow Hugh on social media. Click on the buttons below.
Getting readers to engage with you by leaving comments on your blog posts is something many bloggers crave.
And when those comments clearly show that your post has been read, it’s one of the best feelings in the world.
However, once you get visitors reading your posts and leaving comments, you need to do all you can to ensure they keep coming back.
Writing good quality posts that make your readers want to engage with you and each other is one way to keep your readers returning, but you also need to ensure they can easily find your other similarly themed posts, which are often buried deep in your blog archives.
Need more readers and followers? These 5 blogging tools will help
Here are five blogging tools that work for me. Not only do they give my readers a way of finding more similarly-themed content, but these tools have also helped bring me many new readers and followers.
1. The Search Bar
The other day, I was writing a new blog post and wanted to include links to some posts I had read on other blogs.
However, try as I might, I couldn’t find one of the posts I wanted to link to. Even worse, there was no search bar on the blog concerned.
It wasn’t long before I gave up looking for that blog post. I didn’t have the time to find it.
You can make it easy for readers to find what they are looking for by including a search bar on your blog.
Does your blog have a search bar? If not, WordPress has a ‘search’ widget. Click here to find out how to install one.
Once you’ve installed a search bar, open up one of your blog posts and check you are happy with its position. Ensure it’s visible and easy for visitors to find. The search bar on my blog is the first widget on my widget bar to the right of all my blog posts.
Remember, too, that you can use the search bar when looking for your own posts. You can save yourself a lot of time by doing this instead of scrolling through all your blog posts on your blog’s dashboard.
2. The Menu Bar
Navigation is of prime importance on any blog. Make it difficult for visitors to navigate or find more content, and they’ll probably give up and never return.
That’s why it’s essential to have a menu bar on your blog.
A menu bar allows your readers to check out what is on your blog and helps direct them to other parts of your blog they’d like to explore.
Many bloggers can be frightened by including a menu bar on their blog or adding items. However, it’s an easy and straightforward process.
Click here for details on how to set up a custom menu bar on your WordPress blog.
However, don’t overload the menu bar on your blog, as it can look overwhelming. And ensure you keep it updated and check that everything works on it.
3. The ‘Contact Me Page
Just imagine another blogger, a magazine editor, or somebody from your local radio station wanting to contact you to invite you to write an article or appear on a show. How exciting would that be? But they can’t find a way of reaching you privately!
Not everyone wants to leave a comment when they want to invite you to write a guest post, be interviewed, or ask you to appear on a show. If you don’t have a ‘contact me’ page, and nobody can contact you privately, then they’ll probably move on and give that opportunity to somebody else.
On the menu bar of my blog, you’ll see a ‘Contact Hugh’ button. That’s how people can contact me privately.
I get lots of people contacting me every week. As a result, I’ve written guest articles, appeared on radio shows and recorded podcasts, all of which have allowed me to promote myself and my blog. In return, I’ve got hundreds of new readers and followers to my blog.
Make sure you’re contactable. Click here to find out how to set up a ‘contact me’ page.
4. The ‘About Me’ Page
Ever since my early days of blogging, I’ve been told that many new blog visitors will want to learn a little about the blogger behind the blog before deciding whether to follow.
When I visit a new blog, I first look for an ‘about me’ page to learn more about the blogger.
If the blogger doesn’t have an ‘about me’ page or it’s difficult to find, I’m more likely to move on than check out the rest of their blog.
If you do have an ‘about me’ page, ensure you allow new visitors to introduce themselves by allowing them to leave a comment on it. And don’t forget, a friendly reply is more likely to keep that visitor returning to read your posts.
Click here for details on setting up an ‘About Me’ page and what to include.
5. The Gravatar
The image that appears next to all comments is known as a Gravatar. A gravatar is created for you as soon as you leave your first review or comment on the internet.
How many times have you clicked on the gravatar image of somebody who has left an excellent comment on a post and not been able to find their blog details? Frustrating, isn’t it, especially when you think it may be a blog you’d like to follow.
Unfortunately, one of the biggest mistakes many bloggers make, as soon as their gravatar is created, is they forget about it. Many don’t realise they can add images and leave links to their blog and social media accounts on their gravatar.
If a reader then clicks on your gravatar, they’ll see the links to your blog and social media accounts and be able to visit them. That means more visitors to your blog and social media accounts which could result in more followers.
Click here to find out how to add links to your blog and social media accounts to your gravatar.
Let’s wrap it up
Many blogging tools can help readers notice your blog and keep them returning.
Make sure you have a Search Bar on your blog to help visitors find other content.
Ensure your blog includes a menu bar, but don’t overload it with too many items.
Ensure the links on your blog’s menu bar all work. Check for broken links at least once a month and fix any that have become broken.
Ensure your blog has a page where readers and visitors can contact you privately. Not everyone will want to leave a comment inviting you to write a guest post or to appear on a radio show or podcast.
Many new visitors want to know a little about the person behind the blog before deciding whether to follow. Tell visitors a little about yourself on an ‘about me’ page.
Ensure your Gravatar has links to your blog and social media accounts.
This is an updated version of a post originally published on Hugh’s Views And News in September 2018
What powerful blogging tools do you use on your blog, and why do you use them? Share them with us by leaving a comment.
Have you ever spent hours researching and writing a blog post for it to then get very few (if any) reads or comments?
Disheartening, isn’t it?
Have you ever been deflated when all your hard work and time put into writing a post ends up giving back little if any reward?
Heartbreaking, isn’t it?
Struggling to get your blog posts read?
Over the years I’ve been blogging, I’ve used seven methods that have not only helped me get my blog posts noticed but have helped get readers to leave comments and follow my blog.
Try them out and see if they work for you.
1. Blog Post Titles
I can’t express enough how important the titles of blog posts are. They are like the shop window to your blog.
The title of your blog post can make or break whether it gets any attention. It’s the most critical element in whether somebody will read your post or move on to another blog.
I’ll be honest and tell you that in the past, I’ve given some of my blog posts terrible titles. No wonder they weren’t getting any attention, or any new visitors leaving comments on them. All they did was make my blog posts flop.
If the title isn’t eye-catching or enticing enough to get visitors to click on the ‘read more’ link, then you’ll be losing hundreds of potential new readers and followers.
But first things first! Always ensure your blog post has a title before hitting the ‘publish’ button.
That may seem like common sense, but I often see blog posts without a title, resulting in WordPress giving the post a random number as the title. It not only looks strange, but it looks unprofessional.
Of course, it’s easily fixed, but too many blog posts without titles can put readers off from reading any new material from you.
At the very least, you should be previewing all your posts before publishing them, so make sure the preview shows a blog post title.
If you’re stuck for a good blog post title, ask yourself what title would make you want to click the link to read the post. It can sometimes be as simple as that.
Once you have your title, try inserting it into a headline analyser and see what score it gets. The higher the score, the more likely your blog post title will attract search engines and readers. I use CoSchedule for this. Click here to try it out for free.
And finally, do not use blog post titles you or other bloggers have used before. Why? Because search engines rank blogs that use duplicated titles lower than those with original titles.
2. Add An Excerpt To Your Post
For those followers who get an email notification of your new blog posts, adding a captivating excerpt can also entice readers to then click through to read the post.
If you don’t add your own excerpt, WordPress will use the first 55 words from your blog post as the excerpt. This can often make the post sound confusing, or give no incentive for readers to want to click the ‘read more’ link, especially if the excerpt cuts off midway in a sentence.
Where possible, I always ask a question when writing an excerpt. For this post, I’ve used –
‘Having trouble getting visitors to your blog or to read and leave comments on your posts? Here are 7 methods I use that have resulted in thousands of readers reading my posts and leaving comments.‘
The more you make an excerpt intriguing, the more readers your post will get.
The excerpt box can be found under ‘Featured Image‘ in the settings menu that appears on the righthand-side of your screen when composing a post.
Creating enticing excerpts for your blog posts will make visitors want to read your posts.
3. Opening Line/Paragraph
Just as the excerpt to your post should be enticing, so should the opening line or paragraph. If your opening line or paragraph is not engaging and appealing, then readers are more likely to move on or skip over the post without leaving a comment.
I often begin my blog posts by asking a question. If you ask a question that poses a problem, readers will want to find out more because you’ll likely be helping solve the problem. Your post then has a greater chance of getting read.
Again, ask yourself what opening line or paragraph would make you want to read more and comment on the post you’ve written.
4. Images
Like many others, I believe that blog posts that include photos and images look far more inviting to read.
Did you know that blog posts containing images are over 70% more likely to get clicked on and read than those that do not include any images?
Adding images or photos help break the post up and creates white space, which all help to make the reading experience more comfortable.
However, be careful when adding any images or photos. Large images can slow down the speed at which your blog post opens. If your blog takes too long to open, many readers will move on rather than wait for everything to download.
Always reduce the size of any images or photos before adding them to your media library.
I use an iMac and am able to reduce photo and image sizes by clicking on ‘Tools – Adjust Size’ on the toolbar of my computer.
5. Be Kind To The Eyes
You may have a brilliant blog post title and great excerpt to entice readers, but if the body of the post isn’t kind to your readers’ eyes, or not attractive to look at, many will move on quickly.
A few things to consider about the body of your posts –
Is the font the right size so that your readers do not have to squint or enlarge the page to read it?
Can the font be seen clearly? Black font on a white background is the safest combination to use.
Is the background colour of your blog gentle on the eyes?
Are paragraphs too long, thus making them blocky. Keep paragraphs to no more than four sentences long. This helps creates white space on the post.
Is the spacing between each paragraph correct?
Does any of the text run into any of the images you’ve inserted on the post, resulting in paragraphs breaking up in the wrong place?
Have you lined up images correctly, so they are in line with the correct text?
Is there anything in the post or on the page (such as a gif) that can distract from reading the post? If so, consider removing it.
As I mentioned in the above points, I’ve found that a good rule to apply to a paragraph is to never have more than four sentences in it. This helps break up a post nicely and makes reading it a comfortable and pleasant experience.
Finally (and this is something you should always be doing), always preview your post before publishing it so you can correct any issues.
6. Add Sub-Headings
Inserting sub-headings, especially in long posts, break up a post nicely, giving readers a more enjoyable and comfortable read. They’ll be more likely to keep coming back if they’ve found reading your posts a pleasant experience.
As you’ll see from this post, I’ve changed the colour and the size of the font to the sub-headings I’ve added. This helps make the post look inviting and friendly to read.
7. When To Publish Your Posts
As you publish more and more posts and visit more and more blogs, you should get an idea of when are the best days and best times to publish your blog posts.
For example, if most of your readers are based in the U.S.A (and you’re based in the UK) the best time to publish your posts is between 12:00 and 17:00 GMT. Why? Because the mornings are peak-reading times for many.
Remember that your posts will appear on the WordPress Reader of the bloggers who follow you, but will slowly disappear as more and more posts drop onto the reader.
I’ve read many articles about when is the best time to publish blog posts, and most of them claim the best publishing day and time is Monday at 11 am EST. However, until you know where most of your audience is, this will differ.
Let’s Recap
Blog post titles are the shop window to your blog. They can make or break your blog.
Make the titles of your blog posts enticing enough to make visitors want to click the ‘read more’ link.
When creating a blog post title, ask yourself what title would make you want to click the ‘read more’ link.
Never use duplicate blog post titles. Search engines rank blogs and posts with duplicate titles lower than those with original titles.
Adding your own excerpts to your blog posts are far better than allowing WordPress to use the first 55 words of your post as the excerpt.
Hook readers by making the opening lines of your blog posts enticing to make them want to find out more.
Blog posts that contain images or photos are 70% more likely to get read than those that do not contain any images or photos.
Reduce the size of images and photos before adding them to a post. This will help your post download more quickly.
Make sure your blog posts are kind to the eyes. Avoid glary colours, tiny font, and combinations of colours that make the font hard to read.
Use no more than four sentences in each paragraph, as this helps breaks up blocks of text that can look intimidating to read.
Use sub-headings in long posts to help break the post up.
Find out where the majority of your followers are located, and schedule posts to publish during the morning in the timezone they are in. Mornings are peak-viewing times.
What do you do to entice readers to read and leave comments on your blog? Please share your tips in the comments section.
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Of all the blogs I follow, I’ve never yet seen them using the block I’m promoting today. I wonder if you’ve used it?
Once I tell you about this block, when showcasing some of the least visited parts of your blog, you’ll want to use it too. I’ll certainly be using it a lot more to help promote some of the parts of my blog that seldom receive visitors.
Have you discovered the Pages list block?
Do you feel sorry for the ‘pages’ on your blog?
If you’re unsure what I’m talking about, I’m talking about the pages you’ve created that sit behind the scenes of every blog. Blog posts are the performers, whereas blog pages are the behind-the-scenes folk.
What’s the difference between a blog page and a blog post?
Posts are entries listed on your blog in reverse chronological order. Think of them as articles or updates you share to offer up new content to your readers. Every time you publish a new post, a notification gets sent to your followers, and, in most cases, it appears on the WordPress Reader.
Pages are static and are not affected by date. Think of them as more permanent fixtures of your site — an About Me page, a Contact Me page, and a Home page are great examples of this. When you publish a page, your followers do not get any notifications that you’ve published it, nor does it appear on the WordPress Reader. Therefore, they rarely get viewed unless visitors to your blog click on links to them or on the menubar of your blog (where links to pages appear).
What happens if the home page of my blog is a page?
It should already be getting lots of views. I have the ‘about Hugh’ page of my blog set as my home page, which means it’s one of the most-visited parts of my blog.
What’s the block I’m referring to in the title of this post?
The ‘Page list‘ block. It’s there to help bloggers promote the behind-the-scenes pages of their blogs. I’ve included one on my ‘Meet Hugh‘ page. When you add it to a post or page, it automatically pulls through links to all the pages you have on your blog.
Before I add the ‘Page list’ block to this post, please don’t be tempted to click on any of the links in the block until you’ve read the rest of the post. You’ll discover why towards the end of this post.
Contact Hugh – is a secure way for visitors to my blog to contact me without leaving personal information in the comments section of any of my posts or pages. Every blog should have a channel for visitors to contact the owner, other than via leaving a comment. My blog post, How To Create And Add A Contact Me Form To Your WordPress Blog, gives full details.
My Books – details of all my books, what they are about, where they are on sale and some reviews.
Disclaimer & GDPR: This is something every blog should display. Never think or believe it doesn’t apply to you and your blog. It does!
Tales From Under The Rainbow – The first chapter of a work-in-progress I have underway. The blogging community helped by giving me feedback on sections I published on my blog. It’s the final result. Let me know what you think if you give it a read.
The Newlyweds – a flash fiction piece that turned into a short story after participating in the weekly 99-word flash fiction challenge hosted by Charli Mills at the Carrot Ranch. It’s a strange tale led by prompts. If you read it, let me know what you think about it.
Those are the six pages I have on my blog. In turn, all of them appear on the menubar of my blog.
Can the ‘Page list’ block be improved?
Yes. When clicking on any links on the ‘Page list’ block, they don’t open in a new tab on your device. It means you lose the post you’re reading. However, you’re still on the blog you’re reading, although in a different part.
You may not want all your pages to appear in the block, so another improvement is to have the choice to select specific pages you want to appear (as happens in the ‘Blog Posts‘ block).
I’m feeding both suggestions back to WordPress.
Where should the ‘Page list’ block be used?
I recommend not clicking on any of the links on the ‘Page list’ block earlier. I’d recommend inserting the block either towards or at the end of any blog post. Readers will likely have read most of your post before clicking links and taken away from your post.
Therefore, I’m including my ‘Page list’ block again.
If you’re an author of a published book, this is how creating a reusable block for your book will put it in front of hundreds of new visitors to your blog.
Every week, I get contacted via the ‘Contact Hugh’ button on my blog’s menu bar. If I didn’t have a way for visitors to my blog to contact me securely, I could have missed many opportunities.
Blogging Tips From Hugh
Many of those who contact me usually ask me questions about blogging.
However, I also get people contacting me with guest posts invitations, information about my books, and even business opportunities to advertise on my blog.
Suppose somebody can not find a secure way of contacting you. In that case, they may well pass on any opportunities they wanted to offer you to somebody else.
Don’t miss out. Have a secure way for visitors to contact you rather than leave an unsecured comment on one of your blog posts.
How To Create a ‘Contact Me’ form.
On the navigation bar of your WordPress blog, click on Pages and then on Add New.
Pages
On the lefthand side menu of the page that opens, click on ‘Contact.’
Contact Templates
There are four templates to choose from. However, most of them require you to add personal information such as your email address, home/business address and contact phone number.
Unless you’re a business blogger, never share any personal information on your ‘Contact Me’ form or anywhere on your blog. Keep those details safe and away from spammers and spambots. These details include your personal email address, address, phone number and date of birth.
Instead, open a blank template by clicking on the ‘Blank Page‘ button located at the top of the menu.
Give your new page that has opened a title such as ‘Contact Me‘ (I use ‘Contact Hugh’), and click the ‘add block‘ button.
Title your page and click on the ‘add block’ icon
In the search bar, add ‘contact‘ and select the ‘Contact Form‘ block.
Select the ‘Contact Form’ block
Save and preview the form before publishing it on your blog.
I have also added a line above my contact form informing visitors how to contact me securely. Here’s what it looks like.
My ‘Contact Me’ page
I also recommend adding some tags and an excerpt to your page/contact form before publishing it. Also, decide whether or not you want visitors to the page to leave any comments. Note – not all WordPress themes allow you to add tags to pages documents.
Add tags and an excerpt to your ‘About Me’ page
Now we’ve created a ‘Contact Me’ form; it’s time to add it to your blog’s menubar.
On the navigation bar of your WordPress blog, click on ‘Appearance and Menus.’
Appearance and Menus
Choose either an existing menu or create a new one.
Adding a button to your menu bar
As I already have a primary menu on my blog, I’m going to add a button for my ‘Contact Hugh’ page to it.
Click on the ‘Add Items‘ button and scroll down the list of your pages and find the ‘Contact me‘ form you’ve created. Click on the ‘+‘ symbol next to it.
Adding a button to your menu bar
Save your changes by clicking on the ‘Save Changes‘ button at the top of the page.
Your ‘Contact Me‘ button now appears on the menubar of your blog. Here’s an image of where it appears on the menubar of my blog.
Hugh’s ‘Contact Me’ button
Click on the ‘Reorder‘ button to change the order of the buttons on your menubar.
Want to reorder the buttons on your menu bar? Click on the ‘reorder button
Don’t forget to click on the button you’ve just created to make sure it’s working.
Let’s wrap it up
It’s important to have a secure way for visitors to your blog to contact you. Many will not like leaving unsecured messages containing personal information and/or opportunities in the comments section of a blog post.
Creating and publishing a ‘Contact Me’ form on your blog is the perfect way for visitors to leave you secure messages.
Creating a ‘Contact Me’ form is easy to do.
Adding a ‘Contact Me’ button to a menu on a blog is easy to do.
Make sure your ‘Contact Me’ form is easy to find. The best place to put it is on the menubar of your blog.
Any messages sent to you via your ‘Contact Me’ form will be emailed to you by WordPress.
Messages can also be viewed by clicking on ‘Feedback’ (just under ‘Comments’ on the dashboard of your blog).
Make sure you respond to messages sent via your ‘Contact Me’ form as quickly as possible.
Don’t publish personal information anywhere on your blog. This includes, your personal email address, home address, phone number and date of birth. Don’t give scammers a chance of obtaining your personal information.
Does that help? Do you have any questions? Feel free to leave me a comment or contact me via the ‘Contact Hugh’ button.
Layout, content, settings, and format might differ on self-hosted blogs.
This is an updated version of a post originally published on Hugh’s Views And News in 2020.
Hugh's Views & News 