Five Reasons Your Blog Isn't Growing

By Laurie Epps

It's easy to get discouraged when you're blogging. This is for a lot of reasons. I, too, have often felt discouraged about it. 

A big de-motivator for me early on was, "Nobody's reading it, what's the point?" But your blog is like a little seedling, it's not going to be a big tree just a month after planting, and neither will your blog.

Let Edie Melson give you some helpful tips with her book, Connections: Social Media and Networking Techniques for Writers. We're continuing to learn the nuts and bolts of building your blog.

Here's some basics to help your blog grow:

• Keep a regular schedule. When you create a blog, you're making a promise to your readers. It's your job to keep that promise.
• Answer comments. Even if you think what they're saying is rhetorical, thank them for stopping by.
• Social Media Interaction. Can your followers find you easily on Facebook and Twitter? Well, they should be able to that with ease.
• Can subscribers follow your blog? If they can't subscribe by emal and RSS news feed, that should be one of your first priorities to fix that. To fix this, simply go to Gadgets and follow the directions on most template blogs.
• Are these components easy to find? Most marketers know that there's a money spot on any webpage. Roughly, it's mid-right hand column right in the main focal point of the page. Use this wisely. If you want to boost subscribers, this is where it should appear on your blog.

Connect Activity:
You might feel overwhelmed by all of this, so I suggest you make a list. Once you see what you need to do more concretely, prioritize it. Then, add a few elements at a time so you can gauge effectiveness.

What are some thing that have helped your blog grow? Please share with us below. We'd love for you to join in the conversation.

Can't learn enough about social media? Check out Edie's Social Media Mondays column at: http://thewriteconversation.blogspot.com

Come back next week, and we'll talk about perfectionism.

Laurie Epps is a senior at Anderson University majoring in Creative Writing. Already Laurie is most published as a feature article writer, essayist, and poet. A seeker of beauty and world traveler, Laurie hopes to grow into a career in travel writing illuminating the many stories that make us human despite our differences. Currently, Laurie also has a Thoughtful Thursday column dedicated to the fine art of poetry.