Followers ... whilst they shouldn't be the be all and end all of blogging, it's nice to know that you aren't spending all this time and effort talking to yourself. I'm a firm believer in the fact that we shouldn't over emphasize the number, although we can all be a little guilty of this at times, but it is important that once followers are attracted to your site, they keep coming back for more because, lets face it, the main reason for putting all this online is for other people to enjoy it.
First things first, you have to post. People will be far more inclined to come back if they know that there will be a steady stream of new material for them to read, and it's why (I think) followers are so hard to come by in the early days of blogging. As long as you are consistent with your posting, it doesn't really matter how often you do it. For most non-professional bloggers, posting everyday of the week isn't an option with other commitments, but it's really beneficial to make whatever you can do, regular. At the moment, I post on a Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday/Sunday at around 7 p.m and this seems to work well for me, and it means people know when to check back for more posts. I tend to mass take all my photographs at the weekend for the week ahead and then write bits and bobs for them whenever I have the time so I have a little store which is ready to publish. One tool that I have found really helpful for making my posts consistent is the 'Schedule' tool, which means I can have a steady stream of posts that will post themselves at the right time and day, a lifesaver when other work gets in the way!
It may be superficial, but I think your blog layout and photography have a lot to do with keeping your followers coming back for more. You don't need to spend a fortune on a new camera, or a brand new blog redesign (unless you want to!) but most people like a clean, easy to navigate layout and bright photos. If these are both things that you struggle with, or just want to learn more about them, I would recommend coming back in the next couple of weeks because we will be tackling these two topics!
Possibly the best way to keep readers coming back for more is to actually let them know that there is new material going up on your blog. Social Media can be a great way to do this, I speak about it more in-depth here, but using sites like Twitter can be a great way to get people to hop over to your site to see a new post. I think advertising can also be really worthwhile (you can advertise with me for just £1 a month!) but it's definitely not a necessity, I've never done it! Please do be careful about how you go about getting people to follow you though, no-one likes a 'Follow me?' in the comments box along with a generic 'Great Post!' which has obviously just been cut and pasted everywhere. Take the time to read the post, make a genuine comment and then leave your link as well, and others will do you the same courtesy!
My main tip would just to generally get involved, have some fun, be polite, friendly, positive, and the rest will follow.
Want to find out more, here's what Brittany and Sinead had to say on the subject!
