3 Reasons Blogging Helps Authors Grow Readership
by Jennifer Slattery @JenSlattery
With over 152
million blogs on the Internet, why would anyone read yours? Is blogging even
worth your time?
In short, yes, and here's why:
1. When one blogs correctly, their content
continually draws new readers.
This is the
beauty of Internet search engines. Our search engine ratings increase with
every post, especially if our posts are consistent, meaning, focused on one
main area. More than that, our posts are likely to draw a very targeted
readership. For example, my personal blog is completely Christian living.
Therefore, I’ve never drawn a reader looking for panty hose sales or a man
searching for the best chain saw deals. Rather, Google sends me those asking
about prayer, particular verses, and faith-related issues—exactly what I write
about! Plus, those posts never stop working for me.
Here’s an example: In 2012, I published a piece from a guest blogger called, "Carry Their Burden, Not Their Load." This post is still driving traffic to my site, now four years later. In fact, from December first through eight, it received 178 views, all brought by search engines. Since I posted it, it's received over 12,000 views.
12,000 views for a piece I spent maybe an hour formatting four years ago.
2. Blogs allow direct access to an author’s readership.
When readers
stop by a blog, say through a link on Facebook or an Internet search, and like
what they see, they’ll often subscribe to follow future posts by email. Now the
author has direct access to their targeted audience. Whenever they have a new
release, they can mention it in their posts, and that post will go directly to
their reader’s inbox.
3. Blogs can be used to network with other
authors.
I rarely write
my own blog posts. Instead, I invite guests to blog for me. This frees up my
time for other things, provides my readers with more diverse content, and often
brings my guest’s readers to my site. When I have a book release or something
else I wish to highlight, I in turn seek out guest writing opportunities. Over
time, this creates mutually beneficial networking relationships.
If blogging
gives you a migraine or makes you want to curl into a ball and cry for days,
you might want to choose a different platform building option. For the rest of
us, however, I believe we’ll find the benefits of blogging most often
compensate for the time and energy spent. Our content can continually work on
our behalf and our blogs can keep us connected with our readers while helping
us build ongoing relationships with other authors. And if we really hate it, we
can always solicit guests to do the writing for us.
TWEETABLE
Buy it on:
Christian Book Distributors: http://www.christianbook.com/restoring-love-jennifer-slattery/9781625915139/pd/915132?event=ESRCN
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Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Restoring-Love-Contemporary-Jennifer-Slattery/dp/1625915136
Novelist and speaker Jennifer Slattery has a passion for
helping women discover, embrace, and live out who they are in Christ. As the
founder of Wholly Loved Ministries, (http://whollyloved.com) she and her team
put on events at partnering churches designed to help women rest in their true
worth and live with maximum impact. She writes devotions for Internet Café
Devotions, Christian living articles for Crosswalk.com, and edits for Firefy, a
Southern fiction imprint with Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas. When not
writing, reading, or editing, Jennifer loves going on mall dates with her adult
daughter and coffee dates with her hilariously fun husband.
Visit
with Jennifer online at JenniferSlatteryLivesOutLoud.com and connect with her
on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/JenSlatte
Connect with
Jennifer
On Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/JenSlatte
Twitter:
@Jenslattery
Pinterest:
https://www.pinterest.com/jenslatte/
just did set about changing my blog and website to more of a gathering place for friends. I've let go of writing my own posts, and joined a group for #FirstLineFriday, also have guest posts and interviews. And after nearly three years, I'm consistently seeing new followers - which makes me very happy!
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed the article. I have faithful followers on my blog. I consistently get new followers, but it's been slow
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