My first thought on growing your blogging audience is that growing your audience takes time. It rarely happens overnight or with your first blog post. Exceptions to this rule of thumb, and there are always exceptions, are people who already have a platform and are already well-known. If tennis star Serena Williams suddenly decided to create a blog about being a mom, her blog would instantly have a gazillion readers and followers.
My second thought on growing your blogging audience is illustrated in the example I used in the previous paragraph. The niche or subject you choose to blog about matters. Mom blogs are one of the most popular niches. If you were to start a blog focused on the TV show “Yellowstone” you would like garner a huge audience right off the bat.
My blog is a Christian blog. That’s my blog’s niche. When you visit my blog you are going to read content focusing on Jesus, the Bible, prayer, worship, spiritual growth and my Christian experience. Over the decade that I’ve been blogging, The Devotional Guy™ has developed other streams forking off from the main river. You will discover posts about writing, recovery, homelessness, and a sprinkle of other topics on my blog. Over time, your blog will weave a tapestry of topics together. As you begin, I urge to focus on that one thing you desire to blog about more than any other.
Can you guess what niche features the most popular blogging topic? Yep. FOOD.
My third thought on growing your blogging audience is that it is vital to identify the why that drives you to blog. This is generally true for any creative endeavor and maybe true for any worthwhile pursuit in life. Identifying the why is key because that’s what gets you out of bed and gets you typing words on the screen of whatever device you use to create your blog post.
My fourth thought on growing your blogging audience is to do the work you need to do to become a subject matter expert. My friend Kathryn McClatchy blogs at Unleashing the Next Chapter. Over a number of years, Kathryn has carved out her own niche as a social media expert for writers and bloggers. Whatever your blogging niche is, strive to be the resident expert on your block of the blogosphere.
You can read about the presentation “Separating Your Blog From the Herd,” Kathryn and I did several years ago here.
My fifth thought on growing your blogging audience centers on creating quality content. Grammar matters. Word choice makes a difference. Sentence structure and storytelling impact the growth of your blog. You are in a competitive environment brimming to the rim with options. Your potential reader scrolls through hundreds of other blogs. Good quality writing draws readers whereas poorly written content distracts from your topic and steers readers away from your blog like a bad street littered with potholes.
My sixth thought on growing your blogging audience is that frequency makes a difference. The simple fact of the matter is that I have more readers on days that I post than on days when I don’t. It’s not rocket science. If you aren’t publishing new content, someone else is and that’s where your readers will go. How often should you post? Often enough to keep people engaged without compromising the quality of your content.
My seventh and final thought (at least for this post) is that engaging with fellow bloggers makes a critical difference in growing your blogging audience. Community is a key component that fuels blogging. Be a good neighbor. Engage with other bloggers and their blogs. Read, like, comment, and promote other blogs. You will be amazed at how much more fun blogging becomes when you connect with others.
Well, my fellow blogger, those are my seven thoughts on growing your blogging audience. In a future post, I might decide to tackle a couple of these thoughts more deeply and in greater detail.
What are your thoughts on ways to grow your blogging audience? Share them in the comments below.
Happy blogging!
The Devotional Guy™
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The Devotional Guy™ 
Hi Rainer, Yes it does take time and patience. And sometimes you grow the blog audience and then they fall away and you have to generate another audience for your blog. The way people find you in search with SEO optimization can make a huge difference as well.
But of course, once they find you, your content better be good and answer what they were searching for 🙂
Have a great Saturday!
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These are great thoughts, Rainer! Thank you for taking the time to share; many of us are relatively new to the blogosphere and appreciate the tips.
One thing I’ve found that helps with engagement is to write shorter posts that make one good point and then stop. I follow almost 100 blogs, so I’m unlikely to read all the way through someone’s 1000 word treatise on Psalm 119.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and Sweet T.
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Excellent point, David. Yes, something like Psalm 119 really needs to be broken down over multiple posts. I’ve found varying the length of my posts helps just like varying between long and short sentences. An occasional long post interspersed between shorter, quicker reads is a formula that I’ve found works for me. Thanks for reading and engaging!
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Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Lisa. I agree. SEO does help.
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…and quality content is what keeps people coming back 😃
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Right again, Rainer. I’ve found an occasional longer post sits well with my readers. Maybe it’s just my personal preference, as I have the attention span of a squirrel 🐿.
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Thanks, David. Our attention spans are definitely shorter as a culture and society. We’ve got so much competing for our momentary devotion. Back in the day, sermons would run 45 minutes to an hour easy. These days anything more than 20-30 minutes makes people restless.
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Aw yeah, great tips here. I’ve had tremendous success by engaging on WordPress, and the friends I’ve met have been awesome too. Good things to take note of here. Thanks for sharing!
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Thanks for reading, Stuart.
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Hang in there, Charlene. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. It’s a big term that sounds more intimidating than it is. WP does have some insights on how to utilize SEO. There are also videos and classes you can take. I will go check out your post. Thanks for reading. Don’t get discouraged.
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I enjoyed reading your thoughts and suggestions. As a new Christian blogger, I wanted to share my story as i rediscover a relationship with God. I’m looking forward to reading more of your content and making connections.
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Thank you for your kind,encouraging words. I’m glad my post resonated with you.
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Thank you for the tips!
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You’re welcome. Thanks for reading.
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Ranier, I concur with your seven points. In my fourth year of sharing my own writing journey, I am still energized to write nearly every day with a definite schedule of posts. This didn’t happen overnight so patience and perseverance have guided my progress.
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Amen! Perseverance is critical to many endeavors, especially writing.
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