First, let me say to all my readers, especially those 16 who subscribe and have stayed through all my ramblings, how much I love and appreciate you. This post in no way belittles your support.
But now, I want to know something. Why is it that no matter what I write or do or say, Medusa's Muse is not one of the top blogs on publishing? This blog has been up and running for five years. I've done everything I'm supposed to do: visit other blogs, comment, share info, provide proper credit, write informative posts with the occasional just for fun bit, and give away books. No matter what, I can't get any more readers.
I'm asking because it's not just me who asks these questions. I hear other bloggers complaining of the same thing. They write great content, but no one knows their blog exists. And with the internet so crowded and stuffed with information, I don't know how anyone finds a blog. What's a blogger to do?
I found this article on Copyblogger which addresses those questions. Here is a snippit:
The Oldest Blogging Myth
“Content is king.”
It sounds good in principle. Produce a truly great piece of content, and you’ll get all the links you could ever hope for.
Maybe it worked too, several years ago. The Web used to be a fairly quiet place compared to what it is now, and it was easier for people to notice great blog posts.
But not anymore.
Now great is no longer good enough. The Web is full of so much remarkable content that bloggers don’t have enough time to read it all, much less link to it.
If you want links now, you need to be more than great. You need to be connected.
(Follow the above link for the full story. If you don't know Copyblogger, you need to check them out, and then bookmark them. Great stuff).
It's a great article with good advice, but I realized that I've been doing those things and I still can't get a date to the prom. If it really is about connections and "who you know," then the internet has turned into a giant high school and I'm back to being that Drama nerd everyone made fun of.
Fine! Me and my 16 nerdy subscribers can still have fun. Right guys?
11 comments:
who you calling a nerd?
hehe. I can't answer your questions, but I do know I've urged several of my clients (the self-publishing kind) to read your blog. Regularly. Like I do.
ps. When are you going to post that outstanding review of "What You Need to Know to Be A Pro" -- ***which you wrote*** -- on here?
*And* on the front page of the MM website?
self-promotion, darling. It's all about self-promotion. Start using those drama skills...
Hi! I'm Terena and my blog rocks! Read it! I wrote a fabulous book! Read that too!
Okay, I'll stop now. I have work to do.
It's nothing wrong with your content.
It's just that to be able to reach the people to impress, you need to impress the search engines.
And for that you need something else, because they don't care for quality.
Learn about SEO (Search Engine Optimization). That made a huge difference for me.
Add your blog to the major blog catalogs as well and be active in the communities.
Please don't stop writing.
Of course I won't stop writing! I love writing, blogging, and publishing. Thank you for your comments and suggestions. And for reading. :-)
You need to write one post, that inadvertently contains the right phrase, and then something magical happens.
These phrases:
How to dispose of a body
Girls gone wild, Detroit
Girl posing on a car
Have all magically made my blog appear high in search results. Unfortunately, I'm not really talking about these things, so that even though they bring a lot of traffic, are they really bringing the most desirable folks?
Food for thought.
But yeah, slip some quasi-pornographic phrases into some posts, and traffic increases. Go Internet!
I like the way Jane Mackay thinks.
No one reads my blog either. It is a mystery! I think it's simply become an issue of quantity. Too many sources and choices for too many interesting voices. Blog for the faithful followers, at least you know they really care!
LOL! Don't let it make you too crazy! Blog readership is a funny thing...there are hundreds of thousands of readers, and sometimes it feels like there's no rhyme or reason to which blogs get the traffic, and which ones don't.
Have you thought about adding cute animal pictures with little catch-phrases on them? I understand that can make a blog HUGE... 8^D
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