On increasing blog views (again)

I mentioned in a comment of mine for yesterday's post that I would be making a follow-up piece to it. Here are some more thoughts on the matter, though they do crossover with some of what I wrote before, and are a little more to do with blogging etiquette:

1. Think of other bloggers
I think it is important to not see other bloggers as "opponents" or "enemies". Every other blogger has the same goal as you: to write and have their content read by as many people as possible. Before saying "why am I not getting any views?", it is best to think that other people have been in that same position, and you should do your research and see what they have to say that can help you.

2. Networking with other blogs
If your blog has a specialised topic, such as being about children, cooking, or politics, there will be networks of blogs that you can join. If you do join a network, and its members help you and successfully integrate you into their community, remember to then help other people within the network, plus any newcomers: you do not want to take and not give anything back.

3. Comment on followers' blogs and follow them back
Overlaps with yesterday's fifth point, but I would argue that commenting the blogs of your followers is perhaps more important than commenting on random blogs. At the very least, it is discourteous to not comment on other blogs when people are commenting on yours. Of course, you should not comment just to ensure that people continue to give you comments: what you write on their blogs needs to be as genuine as what they write on yours.

It is probably a good idea also to follow the blogs of people who follow you, although this does depend: if you are followed by a particular blog(ger) that you find to be unpalatable (like if the blog serves no purpose other than to slander people, or the blogger themselves is a known troll), I can understand not wanting to follow back. In addition, if you have a huge amount of followers, it may not be feasible to follow them all back and keep track of them...on the other hand if you do have that many followers, I doubt that you will need advice on how to increase your views!

4. Respond to comments on your blog
This is similar to the part right above, except it applies to your own blog: if people are commenting, it is paramount that you reply to them: a lack of response may come across as though you are not interested in feedback (if you have comments enabled on your blog, by default people are going to assume you want input). If people disagree with what you have to say, providing they are being civil you should engage them back politely (blatant trolling should just be deleted, there is no need to feed trolls); and if people compliment you, be grateful!

So ends my follow-up to "On increasing blog views". I would again like to thank Jenny for her inspiring me to write the first post, and subsequently the second. Regardless of how many views you get, remember to have fun blogging!