Need advice on attracting readers to my blog

[Angie]

Hi,
I'm relatively new to blogging, and I'm having trouble getting readers to my blog. I was doing well for awhile, but now I feel like I've stalled. Does anyone have any tips they would like to share with me.

[Jessica Mueller]

Check out http://darngoodblogging.com/ it's a blog about blogging. It's pretty helpful stuff.

[Maw Books]

Problogger is doing a series of posts on his blog right now that address that exact same question. I would check it out:

http://www.problogger.net/archives/2009/03/06/how-to-expand-your-bl...

(And I'll put in a plug for the blogging tips group here if you need any help: http://bookblogs.ning.com/group/bloggingtips )

I'm struggling with this right now too, as my stats have plateaued. But I really like the series that Problogger is doing.

[Jo]

I'm new to blogging too. I don't know how things work on other sites, but I use livejournal, and I've found joining communities, and posting on there a few times has people coming over to my blog. It's been pretty helpful. Twitter seems to help too, I tweet every time I post a new blog, and some come over for a look.
I found Presenting Lenore's Advice for New Bloggers FAQ very helpful, as well as the blogging tips posted by The Story Siren, Content and Visitors is probably the best one for you.

Hope that's helpful!

[Angie]

Thanks for the help. I appreciate it.

[The Book Cave]

Welcome, Angie. I'm new to this, too.

[Angie]

Thanks.

[pussreboots]

Join a link exchange like entrecard. Make relevant comments on other book blogs. Participate in weekly memes like Weekly Geeks, Wordless Wednesday, Thursday Thirteen and so forth. Do a book giveaway.

[Trish Collins]

When I first started blogging, I was under the assumption that "if you type it, they will come." Unfortunately, that's not the case for 99.9% of bloggers (especially me!). For the majority of bloggers, you really have to do some work to get readers. A lot of people who read blogs are other bloggers. So your assignment, should you choose to accept it, is to read other blogs and comment on them consistently. Let bloggers know you're out there!

An important part of gaining readers is to write good posts. Sounds like silly advice, right? But it's so important to make sure that your posts are grammatically correct, that they're interesting, etc.

Lastly, you want to make sure your blog is set up in a way that encourages people to come back (check out the blogging tips group for more specific advice).

In my opinion, those are the most important things a new blogger should do/focus on.

[Angie]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I only had time to try 2 of the things that were suggested last night, and I already saw a big improvement in the number of visitors I have. I'm going to try a few more things today. I've also noticed that the font on my page seems a little too small and I think it might be hard for some people to read, so I'm going to work on changing that as soon as I've finished reading my book for the day.

[Mike B.]

You have to get out there and make comments on other blogs that have a similar audience to yours. That will direct them back to your blog. It is the easiest way to develop a readership.

Liquid Thoughts

[Anne]

I agree with all the comments so far. Comment on other blogs and for forums have a signature with an interesting link to your blog. This allows people to visit it if they wish; people don't like posts on forums that are nothing but an invitation to visit a blog.