3 Reasons Blogging Helps Authors Grow Readership

Edie here again. I've got another treat for you all - a second guest post this week. This one is from my friend, Jennifer Slattery. She's visited with us before and always has valuable things to share. Be sure to check out her newest book, too, Restoring Love (details at the end of the post).

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.

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3 Reasons #blogging helps authors grow readership - @JenSlattery on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)

Restoring Love

Mitch, a contractor and house-flipper, is restoring a beautiful old house in an idyllic Midwestern neighborhood. Angela, a woman filled with regrets and recently transplanted to his area, is anything but idyllic. She's almost his worst nightmare, and she s also working on restoring something herself. As he struggles to keep his business afloat and she works to overcome mistakes of her past, these two unlikely friends soon discover they have something unexpected in common, a young mom who is fighting to give her children a better life after her husband's incarceration. While both Mitch and Angela are drawn to help this young mother survive, they also find themselves drawn to each other. Will a lifetime of regrets hold them back or unite them and bring redemption along with true love?

Buy it on:
Christian Book Distributors: http://www.christianbook.com/restoring-love-jennifer-slattery/9781625915139/pd/915132?event=ESRCN

Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/restoring-love-jennifer-slattery/1124423437?ean=9781625915139

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/