Building an Audience
Quality Content
Once again, provide quality content. There really aren’t too many blogs that consistently draw great traffic with insipid content.
Keep ‘em Coming Back
But it’s not enough to meet some minimum standard of “quality.” An effective blog keeps its readers coming back time and again. What makes a blog “returnable”?
First and foremost, there needs to be a steady stream of good content. Anything less than one post a day is unlikely to build a repeat audience. Why check in every day if you know that there’s unlikely to be anything new?
It also helps to be “indispensable.” Make yourself an addictive must-read by establishing yourself as an expert.
Be An Expert
There are general-issue blogs, some of which are quite successful. And there’s always room for more.
But you’re probably more likely to build an audience if you’re an expert. The fact is, by guiding your audience to the latest news on a given issue, and proving perspective on a given topic, you establish yourself as an expert on that topic. And, as an expert, you become a “must read” for people who are passionate about your niche – and for people who are passingly-interested but fascinated when your topic dominates the headlines or otherwise piques their interest.
Build a Community
Just as comments sections on other blogs can be a great way to get your blog noticed, comment sections on your own blog can help to build a community of readers. In fact, the most successful blogs are often just as much about the commenting communities that spring up within them as they are about the blogger him or herself.
Of course, comment sections can raise the complex matter of comment management. Many bloggers monitor their comment sections to various degrees, banning particular users (and particular IP addresses) for various violations. For sophisticated blog commenting systems, user-based management systems like Drupal and Scoop allow users to rate comments, with low-rated comments disappearing from view. This helps to minimize abusive comments, so-called “trolls” who add nothing to the conversation, and spam.