Transforming Blog Followers into Dedicated Readers: A Guide

As a blogger, your ultimate goal is to cultivate a community of loyal readers who eagerly anticipate your next blog post. However, turning casual followers into dedicated readers requires more than just attracting attention. It involves nurturing relationships, providing value, and creating a memorable experience for your audience. If you’re looking to transform your blog followers into committed readers, here are some strategies to consider:

1. Create Compelling Content: The cornerstone of building a dedicated readership is producing high-quality, engaging content that resonates with your audience. Whether you’re sharing personal stories, offering valuable insights, or providing practical tips, prioritize quality to keep your readers coming back for more.

2. Encourage Interaction: Actively encourage interaction and feedback from your blog followers. Invite them to leave comments, share their thoughts, and engage in discussions related to your blog posts. Respond to comments promptly and thoughtfully to foster a sense of community and make your readers feel valued. Be kind enough to follow people back and read their blogs too. Essentially, be part of the community and be there for your readers too. You’ll meet lovely people.

3. Promote Your Blog Content: Utilize your blog’s social media channels to promote your content and drive traffic back to your website. Share teaser snippets, captivating images, or compelling quotes from your blog posts to entice your followers to click through and read the full article. Consistent promotion can help keep your blog top of mind for your followers. I’ve personally opted out of this one because I choose not to be on social media. Is that hurting my blog growth? Probably, but I need to prioritize my mental health and wellbeing.

4. Optimize User Experience: Pay attention to the user experience of your blog to make it easy and enjoyable for readers to navigate and consume your content. Ensure that your website is mobile-friendly, load times are optimized, and navigation is intuitive. A seamless user experience can enhance reader satisfaction and encourage them to spend more time on your blog. Make sure your blog is easy to read and pleasant to look at. Don’t overdo it with too much text, check your grammar, spelling and punctuation.

5. Deliver Consistent Value: Consistency is key when it comes to retaining readership. Stick to a regular posting schedule and deliver consistent value with each blog post. Whether you’re sharing new insights, updates, or entertaining stories, maintain a level of quality and relevance that keeps your readers engaged and coming back for more. I personally like to post every single day and have found that works for growing my audience. The most important thing is making sure you keep showing up and posting regularly.

By implementing these strategies, you can effectively transform your blog followers into dedicated readers who eagerly engage with your content and support your blog over the long term. Remember, building a loyal readership takes time and effort, but by consistently delivering value and fostering genuine connections with your audience, you can create a thriving community of dedicated readers and supporters.

My Blogging Goals for 2024

I started this blog seven years ago, 23.01.2017. I vividly remember creating the blog and hitting publish on my first post. It was early morning and I was in my office, waiting for my first student of the day. They happened to cancel and I decided I would finally start a blog. I also remember thinking that I’d be happy if I ever got 100 subscribers. In less than 4 months, I had 1000. Then, a year later, 2000. I still don’t know how that happened but I know that I stopped being a dedicated blogger pretty soon after that. It’s one of my biggest regrets and I will always wonder what could have been if I had kept it up.

I know I’ll never get back to that time and to that level of growth but I still have a few goals for this space.

1. My number one goal is to keep writing every day. Even if I’m just answering some random blog prompt or telling you how my day went, it’s important that I keep my writing flowing.

2. I’d like to get to 3000 followers. I’ve been at 2700ish for a long time and would love to grow my audience.

3. I’ll probably go self hosted at some point. I’ve been wondering if I should do it for years and it seems like the right thing for my blog. I’m just waiting on a specific domain to become available again.

4. I mean to start taking my own photos. I use a mix of stock photos and photos taken by me and I intend to use only photos I take myself.

5. Back in 2017, I had 80.000 views. I really want to top that in 2024.

6. I want to go through all my posts, delete the ones I no longer want out there, reorganize my categories and add appropriate tags to all of them. Maybe I’ll repost my favorites.

7. I want to come up with a set blogging schedule.

8. I would love to find new blogs to follow and to connect with other bloggers. We used to be such a community and I truly miss it. Unfortunately, most of my favorite bloggers are no longer active and we’ve lost contact, which makes me really sad.

Finally, here’s my January blog stats:

Blog posts: 20

Views: 1698

Visitors: 794

Likes: 385

Comments: 71

New followers: 24

If you’re a follower, how long have you been here?

Anyone who’s been following me since the beginning?

Love

Cheila

Sorry I’m not there!

Hey everyone,

I’ve been thinking about myself as a blogger. A lot actually.

I know I’ve been absent. For a long time too. I miss you. I miss the time when I used to know you all so well and talk to you daily. I miss reading every post and comment as much as I could. I feel like things still go on but I’m no longer a part of them. I really miss everyone and my blogger family. I really want to be more present.

I really just want to say how sorry I am and how much I miss everyone.

Love,

Cheila.

P.S. Because it gets so overwhelming and I might miss most things, leave me the links to your most recent posts down below. Anything you might want to share, really.

2500 Followers!!

Thank you so much!!

Why I’m no longer an “It Blogger”

When I started blogging I didn’t think my blog would have any readers. I was wrong and pretty soon I was at 1000 and then 2000 followers.

I was very present in the blogging community and most of you knew me well. Some people would call me the blogging godmother or the Jenna Marbles of WordPress.

I was getting up to 700 views on a good day and never less than 300 on a bad day. I was writing every single day, up to 4 posts.

Then, I kind of lost my blogging mojo for a while. I didn’t feel like writing or reading and answering comments was a burden, even though I really enjoyed talking with my readers. I took breaks, I began blogging less and less and got to a point where I didn’t even blog every day. I went back to work and, as I had imagined and even mentioned in a few posts, my time for blogging has significantly decreased.

I’m not the kind of person to have just the one job. I work 13 to 14 hours a week in my main job and that doesn’t mean I have all this free time to do all sorts of fun stuff. It means I have the time to take on other projects. Which I did. I was already working as a virtual assistant and writer in August, before I began working, and I have kept my clients and found some more. I work for a few people, doing different tasks, most of them related to writing, editing, online marketing and eBook publishing.

It takes up most of my day. I usually begin working on these tasks at 10 in the morning, sometimes earlier and I keep on it until I have to go to work, at either 4 or 5 p.m. So I can easily spend 6 or 7 hours working before I go to work, if that actually makes sense. Sometimes I work at home too, on Saturdays and Sundays or after we get home, during the week, if I have a deadline or an urgent task to complete.

Not happy with being that busy, I actually began selling things on Facebook, through local selling and buying groups. I plan on doing it through my Facebook store as well, but haven’t started. I am selling way more than I though I would be. I have sold up to 20 articles in a day, which means I need to talk to customers, take care of orders, invoices, etc. In short, I’m pretty busy and I’m happy about it. I thrive on it. I hadn’t felt like myself until my first day of work, after 6 months at home, recovering from my mental health issues. I don’t regret being home at all. My family, friends and doctor think it was the best decision I ever made. It allowed me to rest, relax and recharge. Now I feel better than I have felt in a long time.

However, I do miss my blogging glory days. I have come up with a list of reasons that are responsible for my decrease in views and I thought I’d share them, maybe to keep you from doing them if you want to keep your blogging going well and growing.

I no longer blog every day:

I used to blog every day. Of course, the more content you create, the more views you get. If readers like your blog, they usually make sure to come back every day, which means you get a bigger number of views, each and every day of the week.

I no longer write more than one post every day:

Again, if people like you and if you have faithful readers, they read all of your posts. The more you publish, the more you have for people to read, which means you’re most likely to get more readers each day.

I no longer reply to all comments like I used to:

I used to reply to every single comment almost instantly, which is pretty impossible for me to do now. I do reply to some of them, but I would say I can’t get to most of them. It breaks my heart and I really want to make time for my readers and to answer comments. I love talking to you guys and I definitely miss the interaction with other bloggers. If you “ignore” people, they’re likely to stop commenting or even to stop visiting.

I no longer read every single post my fellow bloggers publish:

Sad but true, some people will stop reading your blog if you no longer take the time to read theirs. It makes sense in a way. Why would you make time for me if I don’t do it for you? Everyone wants attention and everyone wants to have their work read. Even better if you leave comments, which I haven’t been doing lately.

So, there you have it. This is why I no longer get the attention I used to get. These are the reasons I’m not so well-known anymore. Do I miss it? Terribly. I loved the feeling of a successful blog, interested readers, views. Will I do something about it? I might try.

Thank you for reading.