[Tensejim]

I started my first blog last month. I know I need to learn more about how to really make it good, I may even need to find a better site for making one. I am interested in all advise I can get. At this point, I have no comments which tells me either nobody is reading or it is boring. Most of my blog talks about my book, what is going on at this moment, and future books. If you have the time to look it over, please let me know what you think, what should I do, is it in a good place, am I doing it right, any advise would be welcome!! I am sure others here would be interested for their blogs also!!

http://giftedbook.blogspot.com/

 

[sweetcrabhoney18]

There are tons and tons of way to market a blog. Best ways are to get followers. You can do this by posting often and using social media to spread the word. Pinterest is great for this as is twitter and facebook. You can also promote your blog on other blogs. You might want to grab a book about blogging since there really is a ton of creative ways to market. Good luck with your blog.

 

[Christopher Hunter]

Use your blog to do good for others. Positive actions bear fruit to positive results.

 

[Tensejim]

Thanks guys, great advise!! I will start doing that. I have so much to learn still!!!

 

[Shadow XX]

Positive, helpful posts that will draw people in are a good idea.

Also, while your blog is in the early stages it might be worth looking into the different blogging software options. Blogger is good for what I do, but had I wanted more functionality on my blog I would definitely have gone with Wordpress. Now, when you're just starting out, is the best time to settle on a particular piece of software.

 

[Tensejim]

I will look into the different software ideas...I am just using Google plus right now. Don't really know if that is good in comparison. At some point in time I would like to start a website with an attatched blog.

 

[KM Logan]

The number one tip for growing your blog is to actually update it frequently.  Getting involved in a group giveaway with a great prize also helps too. 

Another idea that has worked for me is offering freebies to subscribers.  You may be able to draw people from your eBooks to your blog if you're willing to offer something for free there.

 

[Strayer]

First thing, use a darker font. Don't use italics, they are harder to read.
Ask yourself why would someone read your blog.
Are people interested in what you are writing?
Blogs get readers by word of mouth.

 

[daphne dangerlove]

Use Twitter.

If you have build up some good content on your blog, you can tweet about your posts to your followers.  Good content gets retweeted as well, then people start following you. If you don't have followers on Twitter, start building them while you are working on content creation.  I've found that Twitter is a great way to drive traffic to my blog or websites, especially while I'm waiting for my SEO efforts to take effect.

 

[AmsterdamAssassin]

Make sure people know what your blog is about. Make sure it's easy to connect with you. Make the content interesting. Make sure that people who click on your link get to an 'About' page that will actually tell them something. Make sure your blog is easy to navigate. Make sure your books are featured prominently, so people can click on them and go to a retailer. Don't add too many bells and whistles. Make sure that the important stuff is the first thing a visitor sees. They'll find the rest when they check out your site. Make sure there's a 'Sign up to follow this blog' button prominently displayed.

For an example: http://amsterdamassassin.wordpress.com/

 

[Justawriter]

Go to www.hubspot.com and read some of the free content there on blogging. There's tons of information. You drive traffic to your blog by posting often but by being strategic about what you post. If you provide interesting content readers will find you when they do google searches, so make it easy for them to find you. The title of your blog post should represent the topic of your post that day and should be repeated a few times throughout the post. Bold sentences that give key points to your topic. If you just post personal updates on your daily writing progress you probably won't get a ton of traffic unless people know you personally.

Interview other writers, post book reviews of other books you've read, comment on what's happening in the world.

There's a lot of competition out there, so you want to give people a reason to find you, and to keep coming back.
good luck!