by Tori Bowman of That Pair of Crutches. Tori contributes weekly with tips about how to improve your blog. See her others posts here.
Like it or not, one of the biggest concerns of bloggers is getting readers, loyal readers. And it's totally understandable! Everyone wants to know that someone is out there reading the content that they're working so hard to create. Not to mention the fact that with readership comes sponsorship and other amazing opportunities!
It's easy to think that readers come from following everyone back on Twitter, or spamming other blogs with links back to your blog, but that's not necessarily true. You won't gain a loyal readership by doing things like that. Plus, it's just not very fun. And while there are a few ways to do it, the key is this: build great content and they will come.
Over the next few weeks, we'll talk about how you can do just that, starting with how to the perfect niche for your blog.
First, ask yourself what you do when you procrastinate. Do you scour your local thrift stores for amazing finds? Do you take a walk around your neighborhood taking pictures? Do you search online until you find the best deal on clothing items? Find out what you really, truly love doing, those things that you'd choose over anything else on your to do list, every time. And then write your little heart out. Your readers don't need you to write about everything. If you don't want to share recipes, that's fine, there are plenty of amazing food blogs to help them plan their meals. I don't want to read about everything from everyone; I want to read about a few things from passionate people. And I think your readers feel the same way.
Second, once you've got your list, it's time to narrow it down a bit. When I created my list, I had ten things that I felt I was passionate about, which to me, was too many. So I decided to narrow it down to the few topics that I felt I was really good at, topics about which I felt I could create really great content.
I also had to think about what topics I would want to blog about week after week. For example, I really love DIYs. I love the thought of filling my home with things that I've created and love creating things with my hands. I do not, however, love photographing all of the steps of said DIY, writing out the steps, and then posting it for the world to see. For me, it takes the fun out of the whole process. So I crossed that topic off my list.
Third, do your research. What other blogs are covering the topics you've chosen? How are they doing it? The purpose of this isn't to copy these other bloggers, but figure out what's missing, what angle isn't being covered, and to figure out a unique approach to a topic that is probably already being covered to death. Figure out what you can give your readers that they don't already have. Find a need and fill it.
Next week, we'll talk about more about creating great content so stay tuned!
