no one reads my blog

No one reads my blog.

That is one of the most common complaints I’ve heard since I started my blog, Blog Tyrant.

Even when you do all the right things (like long-form content that rocks) it still seems to amount to only small bits of traffic.

Why is that?

In this post I’m going to talk a little bit about why no one reads your blog and some tricks you can use to completely change things no matter what niche you’re in or how old your blog is.

Ready?

Why doesn’t anyone read my blog?

If no one is reading your blog the first thing you need to do is ask yourself a big fat question.

Would I share this stuff on Facebook?

If “no” is your answer then chances are you aren’t producing anything worth reading.

Remember, people are bombarded with dozens of excellent, viral pieces of content every day.

You see Charlie biting his brother’s finger, Bored Panda and BuzzFeed showing you nostalgic funnies from the 90’s, and a million other articles borrowed from the front page of Reddit and imgur.

Think what you will about these sites, the content is compelling.

There wouldn’t be a single person reading this article now who could hold their hand to their heart and swear that they’ve never clicked on one of those shareable posts on Facebook.

We all do it.

So now we need to look at our own blogs and ask ourselves deeply and honestly about how well we are competing for peoples’ attention.

Do our blogs cut it?

Why it might not matter

The interesting thing to note at this point is that creating content that “cuts it” is often not enough.

It still doesn’t get noticed.

That is when things start to get really frustrating for bloggers – you do all the right things as far as content production goes but still nothing happens.

Depressing.

So what can we do about it?

9 tricks to get people to read your blog

If no one is reading your blog then there might be a few things that you’ve failed to consider.

Here are a bunch of tricks that aren’t always directly related to good writing, but will help to get you read.

1. Check your site speed right now

The number one reason that I click the back button is when a site isn’t loading fast enough – especially if I’m in “research mode” and have 40 other tabs open to investigate. The stats always seem different but the generally accepted figure is that you’ll lose 20% of visitors for every second that you site takes to load over 1.5 seconds.

Tip: A fast blog is achieved by using fast servers and minimising objects that need to be loaded. Use Pingdom Tools to analyse what’s causing yours to lag and start your research on an item-by-item basis. For example: firstly, how do I shrink big images.

2. Change your blog photos to engage humans

Photos are often the first thing that you notice on a blog. Humans have evolved to recognize faces and this carries over to our online lives as well. This means you have to pay careful attention to the imagery that you use on your blog, and make sure any photos that you have of yourself are professional and of good quality. Don’t ever use clip art imagery, or photos that have a stale white background from a cheap stock photography site. Make sure every photo fits the brand.

Tip: Here’s a guide to finding photos for your blog. Taking your own photos is often the best option. It gives you complete ownership of the rights and is another piece of original content that Google will identify. Failing that, check the downloads number on each photo before using it. If it’s been used by heaps of people it’s basically like lots of duplicate content.

3. Get a mobile responsive design that collapses well

A time will come when we won’t have to keep recommending this to bloggers! But, alas, that day is not here yet. So many of the websites I visit through the comments here on Blog Tyrant are designs that are not mobile friendly. Not only is it bad for user experience, it is now a negative ranking factor for your blog’s SEO. But before you go and grab just any theme, make sure it “collapses” so that the content is at the top and not menus, sidebars and other distractions.

Tip: Start a WordPress blog already. There are hundreds of free mobile responsive themes including the new default theme which is beautifully simple and easy to customize. If you have an existing theme you want to keep contact my buddy Viktor who can code it to make it responsive.

4. Link out way, way more

A lot of bloggers think that linking out to other websites will cause you to lose page rank. Personally, I think that is total rubbish. The more you link out to other (quality) blogs the more value you will provide your readers. Not only that, the people that you link to will notice you and often give you a shout out or help to promote the post. A lot of SEOs have been predicting that putting well-trusted links around your own will also help your ranks.

Tip: In a 1,000-word post you’ll want to have at least 10 links to other websites. Try and imagine you’re back at college and you need quality references.

5. Make your font a lot bigger

I recently updated the font here on Blog Tyrant to a larger size and a less harsh color. I also used a Google Font instead of a self hosted one and saw significant speed improvements. But, the studies all show that bigger fonts are important because there are a lot of older people reading your blog, a lot of people reading on small phones and a lot of older people reading on small phones! A large well spaced font makes a huge difference to how appealing your writing appears.

Tip: Make sure your font matches your brand. Try to use fonts that are familiar to people as they appear less confronting to new readers. The best bet is to find a website you like and ask your coder to copy the typography.

6. Get really good at sneaky research

It doesn’t matter how good your articles are if they’re pitched at, and promoted to, the entirely wrong group of people. You need to know what your audience wants, what problems they’re having and then where you can reach them best. You also need to know what your competitors are doing and how you can improve on that. A lot of it comes down to clever Google searches but you can also use tools like SEMRush and Google estimator to get some good details.

Tip: Find out the top 10 most successful posts on your main competitors’ websites. Figure out where they got their links and shares from and then try to imitate it with a better article or tool.

7. Focus on reach, not loyalty

This is something that a lot of people find upsetting but is so important to business. It has really helped me grow a lot over the last two years and is an idea I wish more people understood. You need to get in front of more people, not make your existing readers more loyalty. Loyalty is a by-product of reach. So if you get more traffic you will get more loyal readers. In fact, Brian Sharp showed in his book that if you focus on loyalty you’re actually losing money.

Tip: If you read one book this year make it How Brands Grow which talks about why loyalty is not as important as everyone thinks. Every marketer needs this.

8. Do one test a week – every week

Last year a few big bloggers talked about how split testing is not all its cracked up to be. In fact, a lot of tests, they argued, were a waste of time and caused you to get the wrong kind of results. Well, the thing I feel that is missed from this argument is what split testing itself teaches you. And it’s often not about one particular goal.

By split testing on my blog and with adverts I’ve learned so much about the people who visit my blog, branding, conversions and even the tech behind my set up. Testing is how we learn.

Tip: Start by using AWeber (or your equivalent) to work on increasing sign ups on your blog by 1% only. Then figure out how to get 1% more email opens. Then try to get 1% more clicks. Repeat.

9. Stop doing the same thing that’s brought zero results

I think it was the motivational speaker, Tony Robbins, who has the famous quote: “If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.” I’m not a big one for TV self-help stuff, but that is really true when it comes to blogging. Sometimes you see bloggers writing the same kinds of articles month in, month out, and hoping for some big break. Unfortunately it doesn’t often work like that.

Tip: Get your writing out there. Guest blog, approach newspapers, buy adverts, etc. And then experiment with different formats and even different writers. Try videos. Try podcasting. Add value and solve problems in radically different new ways. Keep trying.

What would you tell someone who told you that no one reads their blog?

I am really curious to hear what all the Tyrant Troops would advise to someone who said that no one reads their blog. Do you agree with the tips above or do you think there is something else major that they should be working on?

Please leave one of your amazing comments!

122 Comments

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  1. Sue Anne Dunlevie on January 8, 2015

    Hi, Ramsay,

    Totally agree with your points! As one of the “baby boomers” that need bigger fonts, 12 is the new 14! (and on my blog, 14 is the new 16)

    I’ve been speeding up my site and it is making a big difference in the amount of views. And I was starting to worry that 74% of my blog readers are new readers, but you made me feel better about that. I’ll pick up the book on How Brands Grow.

    Thanks!
    Sue

    1. Awesome! Hope you enjoy the book.

    2. Tom Southern on January 8, 2015

      With you there Sue! Bigger fonts are what I need, even with my glasses on – and I find black on white is best. A lot of sites type appears very faint.

      I’ve made a point of using size 16 and black for my content. I’ve picked Georgia font because it does look nice on screen – even though I’m a Century Gothic myself.

      1. Sue Anne Dunlevie on January 8, 2015

        I’m with you, Tom. I also use 16 pt Georgia on my blog!

        Sue

  2. Thanks for this, Ramsey. I quite often feel like my numbers could be much higher even though I’m doing ‘all the right things’ so this is great. I find the bigger font one particularly interesting as I have always said our font is too small. Nice one!
    P.S. You promise 37 tricks in your subheading there. 😉

    1. Whoops! That was just me doing a lazy placeholder. Sometimes I write like 4,655. Missed one!

      1. Hee hee. I found a glitch like that in one of my old posts the other day too.

  3. Wannabe blogger reading ALL your stuff in the name of research… and perhaps just a little bit of procrastination

    1. Ha ha. Hope it helps!

  4. Hey,
    Totally agree with the images bit. What if the blogs are more suitable for a LinkedIn audience rather than Facebook?

    1. Hi there. I’m not sure what you mean…

  5. Not having a responsive theme will give you negative SEO? I see no evidence of this, would love to see your PROOF? Making sure the site loads quick and looks effective on mobile is important but that doesn’t mean it has to be responsive.

    1. Hi Anon.

      Thanks for the comment and pulling me up on that.

      You’re right, I should have been more clear.

      A mobile-friendly site doesn’t just mean responsive but responsive is certainly best. Especially as we are talking about blogs mostly here.

      Google talks about a bunch of factors that now affect mobile results: http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com.au/2014/11/helping-users-find-mobile-friendly-pages.html

      Unless one has a mobile-site or a responsive site it would be difficult to tick all of those boxes. Even a few months ago when this blog went to a responsive theme I saw an almost instant (maybe two weeks later) big uptick in mobile traffic.

      Moz has some good points too: http://moz.com/blog/seo-of-responsive-web-design

      Hope that helps.

      Is there a reason you don’t leave a name?

  6. I just read your post and I was able to learn alot. Can you please help me assess this site http://www.nnews247.com whether it meets global standard. Kindly state any adjustment I can do to improve it. Thank you

    1. Hi Slyman.

      My main suggestion would be to spend some time updating your design to a modern responsive news theme. There are many good ones out there.

  7. Tom Sharp on January 8, 2015

    10 links per 1000 words -great tip! I’m definitely going to start using more than I used to.

    Good work, Ramsey.

    1. Hope it helps Tom!

  8. Dr. 'Malik Haruna King on January 8, 2015

    Thanks a lot. This is so timely, for me—I need this…especially now that I am experiencing a kind of “plateau” in readership.

    And, I won’t forget to recheck my font size and type.

    Thanks!

    1. Thanks for stopping by, Doc.!

  9. Gerrie Malan on January 8, 2015

    Thanks Ramsay. Makes sense. Although I have been looking at some of these already, will keep the pointers for more than just a one time checkup.

  10. Ramsay, I’d love to write a bunch of helpful comments but my teenager has her radio blasting rap music while she showers and I can’t concentrate.

    Ok, that reminds me…people are distracted all of the time…create a web site free of 8 million items in the side bar (four at most)…and go where your audience would go…when you find them where they are, they will clear out their own distractions to make room for you…I hope that makes sense, I’m rather distracted.

    1. Ha ha ha. Love it. I remember those days.

  11. Lisa Sicard on January 8, 2015

    Ramsay, I’d love a tutorial on how to do a/b testing on a WordPress site, how to make 2 different pages running to do it.
    I really agree about linking out more, something I plan on doing more of in 2015 as well as larger font. If I can’t read it on my phone I will NOT read it.
    If it’s not getting read and you are doing the same thing over and over, it’s insanity if you are expecting a different result, right? One of my fav quotes!

    1. Thanks Lisa. Have you ever had any interesting results with your testing?

  12. Ramsey these tips are great.

    Surely everyone has seen the headlines that are curiosity driven, and so compelling… “Blah blah blah and then THIS happened.” Most of the time I am a bit disappointed and I have learned to purposely not click on manipulative curiosity headlines unless it is clearly a topic I am interested in – otherwise I feel like all I did was help boost someone’s click statistics and ad revenue.

    Also I see some bloggers placing Soooooo many ads on their website that the browser is near crashing even on my fast machine, and it slows down the page scrolling – don’t ever do that!! I even told this writer what I thought and he said he needed to support it with ad revenue. But I ca only imagine that won’t last long.

    I think an authentic voice that resonates with the reader is so important.

    And content that your ideal readers can’t do without. I think that most bloggers often feel like – how do I come up with this on a consistent basis when blogging isn’t my primary business tool? Ramsey I would think much of your time is spent developing the success of your blog. For many of us however the blog is a content and communication tool to work alongside and commerce store selling products. Necessarily there is less time and energy we can put into the blog.

    1. Hi Raphael.

      In regards to that last point, I guess it depends where your sales are coming from. If it is the content and the blog and traffic that is directed to the blog then why wouldn’t we spend more time there? I get your point though. It’s a tricky balance.

  13. Peter Ewin Hall on January 8, 2015

    Thanks Ramsay,
    I’ve been working across a number of fronts including performance. Still not got that licked (“Specify a Vary: Accept-Encoding header” anyone?)
    To paraphrase Seth Godin I guess blogs need to be remarkable – is your blog “Purple Cow” enough!? That might be harder than peformance.

    1. Specify a Vary? What’s going on there?

  14. I’ve started a movie blog in mid October at http://www.thefilmbox.org and a new one within the last two weeks at screenplaywritenow.com and of course I’m struggling with getting visitors. I’ll have to look at some of your tips like increasing the font size. I’ve never thought of that but can see how it would force somebody to leave. I’ve also tried to make backlinks as best I can but I have no idea if they’ve had any impact at all. I guess a big part of this is just time and patience but it is frustrating at times as we all know.

    But you can’t blame me for trying to find shortcuts! by coming here!

    1. Hey Cameron.

      What do you mean by “make backlinks”?

  15. Robert Swilley on January 8, 2015

    Quality post as always. Your raise some very good points. I agree on the font size big time (no pun intended). No one wants to read a site with micro font.

    1. Thanks Robert.

  16. Stephanie Martel on January 8, 2015

    So many good tips in this one, Ramsay!

    One thing I’m focusing on is writing content that I like to read because I know others like the same kind of stuff. There are a few blogs that I love + stalk (he he) all of the time because I really want to see what they’re going to post next–what they’re posting is genuine + interesting pieces about themselves and their process of art. So knowing that I love that, I figure a lot of OTHER people love reading about that too.

    I’m trying to be more myself in posts (easier said than done!) and hoping to see an uptick in readership. It’s a no-brainer, but it’s certainly a process 🙂

    1. Yeah the voice of a blog is really hard to find. I still struggle with that one a lot. Because this blog is instructional it’s very hard to keep it sounding humble and not too much like a lecture.

  17. Great article,

    I would love to hear more about split testing?

    I think bloggers have to spend a lot of their time marketing their content (online & offline), insted of just writing an article and hoping social media is going to get them viral…

    1. Hi Nina.

      Here’s one article I wrote: https://www.blogtyrant.com/split-test/

      But there are some people who do this material really, really well out there. It’s a fascinating subject.

  18. Charlotte on January 8, 2015

    Great post! Lots of awesome tips and tricks here. Time to put them to work 🙂
    Thanks!!
    -Grateful reader

    1. Thanks Charlotte. Hope it helps.

  19. Thank you for this post! I’m a fairly new blogger and your pointers have helped me tremendously. I particularly liked the point about focusing on reach, not loyalty. Loyalty is a by-product of reach. You settled a debate I was having with someone last night regarding my focus. He suggested I gain a loyal follower base within one social media forum before attempting to introduce my blog and company to other areas. I felt promoting my blog in as many areas as possible was key to increasing my readership.
    Thank you,
    ~T

    1. Yeah, I think you’re wise there. The more people you reach the more people you can impact.

  20. Kelly the Take Action WAHM on January 8, 2015

    10 links per 1000 words?? Wow – and I thought I did pretty good by linking out to 3 other sites in a 1600 word post. :/

    Definitely agree on the SEO benefits of linking out, though – Brian Dean was saying the same thing over on his blog, and it only makes sense.

    1. Hey Kelly.

      Just a heads up that your comment was in the spam folder. Might want to leave off the website name as I think it triggers the filters.

      Thanks for stopping by!

      1. Thanks for the heads up 🙂

  21. Great post Ramsay. I so have to remember about the links and do more. I liked what Ana Hoffman said at Traffic Generation Cafe, the person may not get the ping back so message them. I need to focus on links and just getting the good old traffic up. I am doing up a post at the moment about how I experimented with getting my twitter followers up, went from 10 to 1700 in the last month. Funny experiment. 🙂

    1. Sounds like a great article! Let me know when it goes live.

  22. Kelsey @ Brosix on January 8, 2015

    We definitely have to reconsider our policy on limiting external links per blog post. Our current practice is just adding 2 links per post. Thanks for the tip!

    1. Hope it helps. It’s all about testing so check and see how it works for you.

  23. Ben Gangloff on January 8, 2015

    Thanks again Ramsay.

    Great tips, I have some work to do!

    Your post about being “awkwardly thorough” has made a big difference & every time before I click “publish,” I give it at least one more look… oftentimes I end up writing quite a bit more.

    1. Oh I’m really glad to hear that! Wasn’t sure if anyone read that post. Ha.

  24. Christiane on January 8, 2015

    Great post! Just startet a blog sex weeks ago in a narrow niche for people who actually want to walk the Buddhist path.
    Until implementing the SEO by Yoast Plugin last week I didn’t even think about outgoing links.

    Funny, though I only have 5 subscribers, they already discuss the articles intensely and write letters to me. That’s what I was looking for – People I can talk with on my blog.

    Thank you for all the reminders!
    Christiane

    1. Wonderful to hear! I hope your blog brings lots and lots of benefit to people.

  25. Ramsay,
    Thanks again for the tips. I always forget to link out. If a guest blogger shares a post, I always link out to their website. I haven’t seen this as too helpful unless they share the post with their audience.

    As far as photos, it gets a bit sticky when you aren’t a photographer. I read the other day that famous style bloggers all have professional photographers for boyfriends. Must be nice to have someone follow you around all day and take pictures of you. *note of sarcasm. They might write less than 500 words, but their photos bring in thousands of readers a day.

    Guess I’m still trying to figure out the secret formula to success.

    1. Ha ha. Fashion bloggers have photographers as boyfriends? What a business relationship! Ha.

  26. Tara Sauvage on January 8, 2015

    Would you suggest I change the blog name to just something else? or is having it hosted on blogspot a bad thing? I have had a blog here for 5 years.

    1. It depends whether or not the blog is working for you or not. Are you having good results? Remember, if you change your domain name you’ll lose your backlinks.

  27. Tara Sauvage on January 8, 2015

    should my blog be hosted elswhere?

  28. This is how I feel about my blog, but I’ve been working hard on it for the last few months. Slowly changing and tweaking things to make it better and more useful to myself and of course to others.

    1. Let me know how it goes. Hope this stuff helps.

  29. Luke Sprague on January 8, 2015

    Ramsay,

    ” Focus on reach, not loyalty” the key here is go target your blog post at your desired audience that is going to draw them in by providing useful content by using the right keywords in context. Somethings just do not have the same draw as others.

    Luke

    1. Completely agree.

  30. Lizzie Thomson on January 8, 2015

    Site speed and font size are so important, alongside targeting the right keywords. Great tips, great post.

    1. Thanks Lizzie.

  31. Jeanniece on January 8, 2015

    I’m in reasearch phase of completely rebranding my business. My plan is to have a relaunch between now and March 1.

    I tend to read blogs that tie in from other platforms. I will see something on YouTube or Pinterest and then want more information about the subject or find out what else the author might have to share.

    How much do you feel that cross platform collaboration helps a blog?

    Thanks a bunch!

    Jeanniece

    1. Hi Jeanniece.

      I think it is really important. It helps with conversions but mainly it is just a way to provide more methods for people to encounter your content. The more the merrier.

  32. David Gillaspie on January 8, 2015

    Great post Ramsay. On the link quantity: I’ve stopped linking after getting warnings from my security guys about bad links. As in another website has problems that become mine if they have iffy links.

    Do internal links still help?

    And fonts. I get a message when I update for wordpress that my site will lose any customized stuff. Bigger is better here, but locking the size in would help.

    1. That’s an interesting point. I’ll have to look into that more.

      Internal links are extremely important.

      If you are going to lose your changes you need to use a child-theme. Talk to your coder about that. You want to be able to update freely every time one is released.

  33. Ryan Biddulph on January 8, 2015

    Amen to reach Ramsay!

    My New Moment Resolution – and has been for about 3 weeks – is to focus on reach not loyalty.

    Sure I take care of my friends but I’m reaching into new friend networks daily.

    Meet new people, make new friends and keep on powering up those bonds.

    Brilliant post!

    Ryan

    1. Thanks mate. Hope it works really well for ya!

  34. Alex Garner on January 8, 2015

    Number 4, linking out. That’s a big one for me which I think I REALLY need to do a lot more of!

    1. Hope it helps. Let me know any results.

  35. That surely helps! Thank you.. Just getting geared up and summing up the courage to jump into blogging. Something’s been holding me back! I’ve been following all your posts like an eagle on the look out for prey. Ha ha! I just hope I can get over all the apprehensions and begin with blogging! Thanks again.

    1. Yeah I used to be like that too. It’s normal. But once you get going it’s a lot of fun.

  36. Cathy Mayhue on January 9, 2015

    Excellent suggestions and tips Ramsay! What I liked the most was your suggestion that, whether you would like to share this blog post on Facebook or not?This is I think crux of the content marketing. Once this is done, more than half the battle is won.

    1. Yeah I think that’s a really big one. So hard to achieve though.

  37. Hi Ramsay,
    I am a little bit unsure about linking out to others, I know its a good way to make a post more resourceful, and it can help in making new friends, and who knows, the person I sent the link out to may find my post very interesting and share it with his readers.

    My concern is just that, sending out 10 outbound links in a 1000 words post, isn’t that too much? Mathematically that would be about 1 external link for 100 words, right?

    Considering I will also have to link related articles on my blog, wont readers find it distracting? I mean running in and our of hyperlinks?

    Its a great post above all, and am glad to be a tyrant! (Two weeks in)

    1. I reckon the best thing to do is to test it out. Do two 2,000-word posts and make one full of useful links. Test to see whether it gets better ranks and shares. The links don’t also need to be always in the paragraph – you could have a resources section at the end, for example.

  38. James Hughes on January 9, 2015

    Hi Ramsay

    This blog is awesome! I’ve just discovered it.

    Great tips on how to improve your blog that I will be implementing asap.

    Thanks for sharing these.

    James Hughes

    1. Thanks so much! That means a lot.

  39. WNW Digital's Friday Blog Round Up | WNW Digital Blog on January 9, 2015

    […] No One Reads My Blog – 9 Tips To Try And Change Things –  This entry provides great advice on factors you should be considering if your blog views are low. […]

  40. Great post. I am going to test which font size I should use on my website now.

    1. Let me know how you go!

  41. John Hammond on January 10, 2015

    Hi,

    Great post. Do you believe that the more frequently you blog, the more readers you get? How many times per week do you recommend posting? Thanks,

    John

    1. Hi John.

      I prefer to focus on just writing something useful, even if it isn’t that regular. Better to go with long-form quality in my experience.

      Hope helps.

    2. Whenever you write, focus on usefulness. If you can write useful posts every day, its great. But that is not sustainable in the long run. That is why it is better to write less but focus more on quality. One post a week is fine if you make it really useful. Ramsay does it and he is quite successful.

      Neil

  42. Rodney Robinson on January 10, 2015

    This is awesome advice for 2015, Ramsay. Thanks. There are a number of tips here that I will employ for my 6 month old blog! Thanks again.

    1. Hope it helps!

  43. Page speed is definitely going to be important in your blog in 2015. Not only can page speed cause users to click away, but it is also a SEO rank factor. There are many ways to improve your page load speed.

    1. CDN (content display network)
    2. Reliable hosting and a fast server.
    3. Image compressing plugins.
    4. Caching plugins.

    1. I would add:

      1)cleanly coded theme
      2) disable hotlinking
      3) optimize css and js placement

      Regards
      Neil

      1. Nice one guys!

  44. Hi Ramsay
    Clicking your own photos is a great idea. It will bring originality to your brand. Just need to be a little creative. BTW, love the photo in this post!

    On another note, I have sent you an email about an expert roundup post.

    Regards
    Neil

    1. Thanks Neil. Appreciate you thinking of me.

      1. You deserve it!

        Neil

  45. Darin Spears on January 12, 2015

    Hi Ramsay,

    Liked your tips and suggestions. Though I have seen howtos and tutorials, if crafted with some imagination and hard-work, never fail.

    1. Yeah – especially if you can do them on a really good evergreen topic.

  46. Ramsay, thanks for that amazing post. I really appreciate your post. Pls, i’m new in blogging. Is it possible for me to blog with mobile device? If yes, how can i go about it?

    1. I think WordPress has an app but I don’t really like using the phone personally. Much faster on the computer.

    2. Stick to a computer mate. Much better for your eyes.

      Neil

  47. Monday Must-Reads [01.12.15] on January 12, 2015

    […] No One Reads My Blog. 9 Tricks to Change Things. […]

  48. Hi Ramsy! I’m so happy I found your blog. I am starting a new website and your input is very helpful. Thanks for sharing!

  49. Makar Sankranti Wishes on January 13, 2015

    Nice Article Thanks for sharing

  50. Melissa K. McCarthy on January 13, 2015

    Love this blog!! What a great resource for bloggers. I’m not new to blogging, but I am very new to WordPress, SEO, and all this behind-the-scenes stuff. These are excellent tips! Thanks so much and I’m looking forward to reading the eBook I just downloaded! 🙂

    1. Thanks Melissa. I hope it helps.

  51. Brenda Lee on January 13, 2015

    I am so new at this and learning with every blog. My blog is about learning how to blog and am inviting readers to learn with me. I am still not understanding everything but am enjoying it so far. If you could be so kind and take a look, I think that I am adding links but am sure not enough of them, any help would be appreciated and it would give me more to write about (if I should be so bold in admitting this)

    1. Hi Brenda.

      You want to make sure you’re adding some anchor text and not just posting the link. It is a much nicer way to display links for your readers.

      Just highlight the text you want to be clickable and then click Add Link and paste the URL.

      Nice work!

      1. Brenda Lee on January 14, 2015

        Thanks, I’ll give that a try, many thanks!

        1. Hey Brenda

          Add some formatting to your blog. That will make it more readable. Use sub headings and stuff. Also try to align your images with your text. Basically you want to make your blog more readable.

          Regards
          Neil

  52. Focusing on outgoing links is an absolutely phenomenal suggestion, and I’d like to add an extra reason why.

    I find that I gradually develop more trust in blogs that will link to authority sites, even if that means losing some of the traffic away to those sites, if only because that other site is the most useful to a human being.

    Too many blogs are super conversion optimized and treat every blog like a landing page, sacrificing links and shoutouts to good resources all in the intent of getting that user to signup for the email list.

    Even if I am already signed up for that email list, my trust in that resource is relatively lower, and I’ll read a lower percentage of their posts.

    On the flip side, posts that take the time to link out and honestly link me up to the authority content will get a coveted spot in my RSS reader. In turn, I will read their content much more, and interact with the content more as well.

    1. Great tip Sarah. Something for all bloggers to ponder upon. You need a balance though. Too much linking out will only drive visitors away from your site. The best way is to write an authoratative post and then link out to related topics on other blogs.

      Regards
      Neil

    2. Perfect!

  53. Hunain Ahmed on January 15, 2015

    I think the most important is content. If you have more content interlinked and intresting posts. Google will send you more visitors.

    1. Unfortunately I don’t think it’s always that simple. But mostly I think you’re right.

  54. No One Reads My Blog. 9 Tricks to Change Things. | Digital Marketing Blog on January 16, 2015

    […] Source link […]

  55. Changing to WORDPRESS.org about 2 years ago… CHANGED my blogs life for the BETTER and it only keeps on getting better 🙂 It’s highly recommended by me as well!

    1. Totally agree!

  56. Hi Ramsay,
    thanks a lot once again for your useful tips.
    I’ve finally made my font size larger. I’m also thankful that I now know the existence of tools like SEMRush… Amazing!
    I’m so happy that I found your site and your ebook is helping me a lot as well.
    Please would you be so kind and have a look at my site. Any suggestion would be highly appreciated.
    Many blessings

  57. David Arrington on January 21, 2015

    Hi Ramsey,

    Really great job putting this post together. I was expecting all tips focused on the quality and type of content.

    This post was refreshing in that in brought in some additional angles for what to pay attention to when blogging.

    One tip that fits with the “more readers over loyalty” advice is to engage more on other people’s websites. Be found outside of your blog to bring in a new audience.

  58. Hey Ramsay,

    Really good post here.

    I’m shocked by this statement you made, ” In a 1,000-word post you’ll want to have at least 10 links to other websites.”

    Really?

    But doesn’t that make it look as though you’re desperate for links or putting links that are irrelevant to just get links?

    Also, I agree about testing. I publish once a week on Mondays and I wanted to test other days just to see if I’d get better readership. I’ll have to test that out.

    Really good post and tips.

    – Andrew

  59. Some great info here. It is frustrating when you put the work in with low traffic results. However I find that it is a slow start with huge effort at the start and then it seems to get easier as it goes along

  60. It really frustrating after building your blog and people don’t visit.thanks for this post.

  61. Why Doesn't Anyone Read My Blog? | Stir Up Media on January 29, 2015

    […] No One Reads My Blog. 9 Tricks To Change Things.  […]

  62. Ramsay,

    ” Focus on reach, not loyalty” the key here is go target your blog post at your desired audience that is going to draw them in by providing useful content by using the right keywords in context. Somethings just do not have the same draw as others.

    Luke

  63. Maira Karlinsky on July 13, 2020

    Exactly what I was searching for, appreciate it for posting.

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