Tia, the woman behind Fantasy Debut, has put together an absolutely fantastic article about how to successfully pull together a blog. She mostly focuses on how authors, but having read the advice, it’s information that’s priceless to anyone looking to start a blog or just bump up their traffic!
The most important part, in my opinion, is the section she has on publicizing:
Publicizing Your Blog
You can set all that up and still get no traffic. Here’s how to help drive traffic to your site for free. Well, there is a cost, but that cost is time, rather than money. The closer you get to 40, the more you realize how very valuable time is.
* Comment on other blogs. People know you exist this way. I still check out every new commenter.
* Answer your comments. You want to appear accessible. Plus, when you answer comments, you encourage conversation.
* Thank reviewers. Even thank reviewers for bad reviews. We feel all special when authors thank us. We may not be special at all, but it is in your best interest to encourage such feelings anyway. Don’t kiss our ass; we can see right through that. Just thank us. We’re more likely to remember you and to blog about you when we have warm and fuzzy feelings about you.
* Consider blogging about bad reviews as well as good ones. This makes you look uber-cool, like nothing can touch you. You may be crying your eyes red, but we don’t know that. We’re just marveling at how awesome you are. Of course, if you’re only getting bad reviews, this will simply make you look pathetic, so use some balance here.
* Shout-out other blogs that you admire, and include a link to that blog, or the particular post that caught your eye. We’ll most likely notice (see below for how) and we’ll appreciate it.
* Consider using Twitter. I have not taken the plunge yet. Try it and see if it’s for you. If you like it, include your Twitter feed on your sidebar. Twitter should have instructions on how to do this.
* Join science fiction and fantasy forums and participate. Yeah, I know. I need to take this advice, myself.
* Ask! Email the blogger/site owner and make a request. Offer to trade links, or to do an article or guest post, or to send a review copy. The worst they can do is say no, but most of the time, bloggers are happy (read: giddy) to help authors out.
I strongly advise anyone with an interest in blogging to check out the entire article HERE. You’re sure to learn something. I certainly did!
Thank you so much for the shout-out. Mulluane has added her tips for what I would call “advanced blogging”, so be sure to check out the comments section for that. I’ll be taking her advice, myself.
Good content deserves to be read! I’m happy to do any little bit I can do to help.
Mulluane’s tips were good, too. I’ll be checking some of them out myself.