When I found this thread in the IFB forums by WORD by Jessie, and through all the ‘follow me and I’ll follow you’ business, one thing is clear… IFB’ers are interested in building traffic. If they weren’t, they wouldn’t be looking for ways to gain followers. How do you get your blog noticed? I keep thinking back to what I did and what I do to build traffic and throughout the tips and tricks that seem to always change (anyone remember blog carnivals?) most of the strategies I have adopted in the beginning have remained in tact. So I asked on Twitter what you did to get noticed… and you answered:

 

 

While many of you had tips that involved going to events, meeting bloggers in real life, engaging in local social networks, Facebook, Twitter, posting only three times a week, or only once a day, etc. With all the tweets we got, there was an overall theme to how bloggers got their blogs noticed:

Authenticity:

There is nothing like visiting a blog that you could tell someone put their heart and soul into creating it. When a blogger really is really enthusiastic and works hard at creating their voice and translating it into the digital space the possibilities are endless. I’ve seen it happen time and time again. Perhaps the trick is to stay enthusiastic and true to your voice over a long period of time. Authenticity is probably the hardest thing to quantify and achieve, because, let’s face it… life happens… when a blog becomes a business, there are days when a blogger isn’t feeling it (who has their A game on every day?) and very few in the social media industry has a formula for making a sustainable living, there are a lot of experiments some of them good and some of them need work.

However, this issue has come up quite a bit lately in the blogging community, particularly with the rise of insincere comments, emails that look and feel spammy, authenticity could be described as commenting when you really have something to say. Engaging in a way that you really love to engage. Write what you really love to write. As much as you can, anyway.

Sometimes I think authenticity is a suggestion to a publisher half for the readers, but also half for their own sanity and sense of fulfillment. There is nothing more fulfilling than seeing something you love succeed.

 

Content:

A blogger can do all the promoting in the world, but if the content is lifeless, it’ll go nowhere. Focus on creating content that inspires you and is useful to your readers, and keep pushing it to the next level. I’ve been going through some stuff with The Coveted over the last year and a few months ago, I decided to rethink my content and really push it as much as possible. It’s had such a positive effect on the traffic, that I can’t say enough how much fun it’s been creating better content and seeing the results. Content will get you noticed, so don’t get lost in the next tip…

 

Engagement:

One of my favorite examples of engagement is Bryan Boy. His twitter feed is such a joy to follow because it feels like you’re hanging out while he goes throughout his day, and his enthusiasm seems endless.  Engaging on a regular basis, especially when things get busy can be tough, but it’s always good to engage, whether it be through commenting, email, twitter, facebook whatever… being accessible is part of what makes a blog different from a magazine. It’s the personal touch that makes social media special, so be there for your readers, you’ll get more out of it than getting noticed.

 

What other ways do you get your blog noticed? What is the most important?