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One question I’ve been thinking a lot about is: what makes the best blogs and websites different from a visitor’s point of view?
This is not traffic, often it is not the number of subscribers. This is something that visitors do not see or should not see.
If what visitors see makes your blog or website popular and successful, it becomes popular and successful for visitors.Once that happens, it’s only a matter of time before the numbers start to match how people see you.
If you can influence how visitors perceive your obscure website or blog, it can start to look like a niche product.
1. Think like a daily visitor
What I’m trying to convey is that much of what a visitor perceives as a website or blog is (necessarily) based on assumption.The guess is based on characteristics common to popular blogs and websites.Characteristics that you can implement on your own blog, no matter what the stats look like under the surface.
If you have a large number of followers, comments don’t matter much.If you don’t have followers, your comments will need to tell the story you want.
If you reply to every comment you make, you double the number of comments.
If you interact with commenters, they have a reason to comment again.
If you ask questions, you will get answers.
1. The most popular blogs and websites tend to adopt a “less is more” strategy.They have fewer ads, but they can charge more for each.
2. If no one ever talks about you, people simply will not notice your blog. To do this, you need to be more active, for example, on different forums.
3. For a reader to decide to subscribe, they must feel that your content is 1) unmissable and 2) tailored to them.
4. If you can’t quickly describe your target audience, then you have just identified the key reason why you don’t have as many subscribers as you would like.You must write for the people.
For example: you have a blog about finance, investing, saving.Can you imagine a person for whom all these things are of great interest?
If you are trying to pay off debt, investments and savings may not mean much to you.
Compare this to a personal finance blog written specifically for people who are in debt. With the target audience in mind, you can ensure that every post you write is relevant. You can skip talking about savings and investing and instead give valuable advice on budgeting and frugality.
When an indebted person visits such a blog, they may skim through the content and say, “Everything here is about me” and will most likely want to subscribe.
Once you figure out who you are writing for.When a visitor feels like your articles are consistently tailored to their needs, they are more likely to subscribe.
Summary:
- Focus on the target audience, not on the choice of topics.
- Write each post for the benefit of this target audience.
- Let new visitors know who your blog is for.
How to keep interest in the long run?
- Don’t be afraid to write about what interests you, even if it’s against your blogging tradition.
- Learn to enjoy blogging as a hobby.
- Never stop communicating with your audience, be it 10 people or 100,000 people.
- Don’t be afraid to take breaks. A break is better than a burnout and your followers will stay with you. A blog that is not updated is not a problem.
- Talk about the future of your blog, what’s in store for your followers in the future, people love to look forward to something and that will tell them that your blog won’t stop.
Summary:
One high value post is better than multiple low value posts. The subscriber needs to feel that your content is worth cherishing.
If you’re having a hard time finding the time to write helpful posts, post less. One helpful post a week will grow your blog faster than seven posts of little value.