Starting from the bottom is never easy. In the world of blogging, everyone starts with 0 followers. Yep, imagine that. Even the biggest of big blogs (The Daybook anyone?) started with exactly 0 followers. At one point, her (Sydney) GFC follower number was 25, was 100, was 500, was 1,000. The point is, all bloggers start from the same point and have to grow the same way. To date, 15,073 individual people have clicked “Follow this site” on Sydney’s site. It may seem like it, but it’s not as if her follows count as 10 people or anything. One follower is one follower.
Blog growth is very much like a snowball effect. People want to be a part of something cool, hip and popular. If you visit a blog with 10,000 plus followers, you are much more likely to follow it than a log with 75 followers. It’s human nature. We want to be part of the “in” crowd. This reason can make growth simple and oh-so-difficult. Snowballs gather more and more steam the larger they get, but some never really get going. You’ve got to give your blog (snowball) a boost and give it everything you’ve got.
I chose the number 200 because it is around that point where you can say, “hey, people actually read my blog”. Suddenly 200 becomes 300 and 300 becomes 500 and you’re off and running. Getting to the 200 is the hardest part. Well, getting to the 25 is hardest, but I’m looking a little further than that. So it’s time to find out some tips on how to get your first 200 blog followers.
Comments
Good quality comments are your best friend when trying to grow your blog. “Great post, check out my blog at www.blognamehere.com” is NOT a good comment. As a matter of fact, that is one of the worst types of comments you can ever make. What this tells the blogger is, “hey I really don’t give a crap about what your post says, but I really want to leave my link here in hopes that some of your readers will click it”. Nothing makes you look like more of a jerk than doing this. Most readers know to see this as tacky and will not likely click your link anyway. Good comments, however, can bring you traffic. Add something to the discussion. Compliment the blogger who wrote the post. Share your side (if it’s not starting a fight) of the story.
Link-Ups
These are great tools to get more people on your blog. Link-Ups are themed posts that have a place at the bottom where you are able to leave a link to your own blog post about the subject. Find some of the bigger link-ups and participate in them every week. Just make sure to follow the rules of the link-up. Again, you’re not trying to make enemies here! A couple of larger scale link-ups that have brought great traffic to my wife’s blog are What I Wore Wednesday from The Pleated Poppy and Friday’s Letters from The Sweet Season Blog. Those are just a couple. Look around the blog-o-sphere and you’ll find a link up for anything you can imagine!
Button Swaps
Find a blogger that is of similar size and reach out to them. Ask them to swap blog buttons with you for a month. It’s a great and free way for both of you to get more people reading your blog.
Note: make sure you are clear as to how long the swap will take place. Try to keep things on a monthly basis. If your blog “blows up” and you’re getting advertisers coming, you might not want to have free buttons on your site anymore. Trust me, it’ll make for a lot less awkwardness if you put a time frame on the swap.
Keep Writing
People are more inclined to follow a blog that is updated more often than once a week or every 10 days. So at the beginning, while you might not think anyone will read, you have to keep writing and publishing good posts. The more great content you have for people to read, the easier it will be to pick up some followers. So stick with it!
There ya go! Starting out can be tough, but with these tips and a “never give up” attitude, you’ll have gobs of followers in no time!
Thank you so much!! That is seriously really helpful!
Thanks for stopping by and commenting! Glad it helped!
Great info. I didn’t know about link-ups and button swaps, but now I am sure to try them!
Thanks! Yea definitely try them.
Great site, too! That bear picture got my attention really fast!
I love it when you said, keep at it. My blog is really new, I just started this July, but sometimes I want to see a lot of traffic so that it encourages me to write some more. I have to keep reminding myself that I am doing this because I love it and when it is meant to be, my blog will find its way to those people who might be blessed and who will need it. So, I will keep in mind what you said, keep at it.
Yes, you’ll find yourself having to remind yourself to keep at it a lot. It’s great that you love doing it because that will help carry you through those days where it seems like no one is reading. Your blog looks great and the photos are awesome. Those homemade Oreos look amazing!!
Brill post. I can see why people get frustrated when they’re putting their heart and soul into their blog and it feels like nobody’s reading it, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned it’s that the key to being a successful blogger is perseverance. It’s very comforting to think that even the big-shot bloggers started off with 0 followers – it’s really easy to get blind sighted by the big numbers and think you’ll never achieve that many followers, but clearly it can be done!
http://www.mrjoiee.com
Thanks! And yes, perseverance is key!
Hello, i want to start a blog at weebly. I am still working on its design and ideas but i’d like to know how to gain first readers after publishing?
I can’t think of better advice than to follow what is in this post.
Hi Zack, Just starting a new blog, not for the first time. Been there, done that, but always anxious when starting the new one. Will people like it? I was searching for new ideas when I came across your post. Very inspirational. The one thing I would add is friends and family. Maybe they can help with the first 25? I’m not saying that they should follow your blog because they are friends, but if you show it to them, if they see value in it, they may take a second look.
Hi Tom! That is definitely a great addition. I like the idea that you’re not thinking they should be obligated to follow because they are family/friends. I agree presenting a new idea/website to fam/friends first is a great idea!
This is great advice, and I’m already doing most of what you mentioned. It’s very frustrating to write to 0 followers and feel like no one cares. Whenever I comment on a blog, I want to make its a GOOD comment. I put in the effort. I want the blogger to see that I care about his or her advice, and then I share some of my own or ask a question. Even though I only just started my blog this month and I feel anxious waiting for more followers, I still try my best and have fun. The main question I have for you is this : how long does it take from day one to start seeing followers? http://www.knowledgefromtheheartwithmariel.blogspot.com
Hi Mariel!
Glad you found this post. It’s easy for me to say, but you have to lose some of the anxious feelings. Building a blog audience takes time and patience is key.
As far as how long it takes, I can share my wife’s blog experience. She wrote for almost 6 months (50 or so posts) before getting comments on her blog. And they were from a blogger whose she had been commenting on. You just have to keep writing and being “out there” in the blog world and on social media. I do think it’s easier to grow a bit faster now, with the popularity of new social networks like Instagram and SnapChat.
Keep it up!
This was a helpful post, thank you! I am going to particularly look into link up parties to see if those can help me grow my traffic.
Happy New Year!
Thanks for this great post! I have been debating whether I should be posting more than once a week since my blog is new, and after reading this post I believe I will up that to two posts a week. I will also have to check out the link-ups you talked about. Thanks again!
Thank you for the helpful information. much appreciated.
Thanks for all the tips! Starting out can be so hard… but keeping in mind a good and positive mindset really helps!
Glad you like them!
Agreed it’s all about the mindset!
Thank you so much, this was encouraging and I love the idea of swapping buttons and looking for link ups, and not being a total a-hole when leaving comments.
Haha, not being an a-hole is truly the main goal of any action!
It really is!!! Thanks
Some great ideas. The concept of making sure to blog more often is something that I’ve been working on. I’m glad to see that it’s one of the suggestions.