How do I get more people to see my blog?

[keyboardhousewife]

Don't laugh, but my blog has only 1 sad, solitary follower - though it gets just over 1000 hits per month and has been going for a year - www.yumyumbubblegum.blogspot.com

I'm on FB, Twitter and Pinterest.

What the Dickens do I do?? All suggestions gratefully received.

[talentedladiesclub]

Just had a look at your blog and it's great - lovely cakes (the chocolate and ginger one with courgette... LOVE the sound/look of that)!

I'm new to blogging myself so I am sure people will be on with more experienced suggestions. But I did notice that your sign up box just says 'follow by email'. Have you thought about giving people a reason to sign up? Like 'get a delicious recipe delivered to your inbox every week' or something similar? Think about who MAY sign up to your blog, and what they would want and tell them they'll get it.

Another thought is to look at really popular blogs and see what they're doing that's different? How do they encourage people to sign up?

Also, how active are you in engaging with other bloggers? When we launched six months ago, we struggled to engage/get noticed, but then started interacting online (Twitter particularly has been great for us... just followed you on there too) and got much more traffic and started building great relationships with other bloggers.

As I said, I am sure someone else will come on with better tips, but hope these help maybe in some way? Will also read any other replies you get for ideas too :)

Hannah

[MollyBerry]

How do you count your followers?

[YumYumBubblegum]

Hi Hannah

Thanks so much for your fulsome reply and compliments. Yes, Twitter is a-mazing and I've found out it really isn't ever too late to teach an old dog (me) new tricks!! You are so right about giving people a reason/encouragement to sign up. I will.
I have realised that it's good to link up to other blogs, and to submit recipes to Tesco recipes, Woman and Home recipes, etc. I've also joined the UK Food Blogging Assoc.
Someone once told me that successful writing is 10% writing, 90% prostitution!
I'm going to check YOU out now!
Vicky

[YumYumBubblegum]

Hi MollyBerry
Blogger counts them for me. It says in bold orange type something like You Have 1 Follower!
Size doesn't matter, of course...
Thanks for replying
Vicky

[YumYumBubblegum]

Thanks BogStandardOldWoman (love your handle!)
All suggestions gratefully received, as I said!
Vicky

PS I've changed my name since first posting in case you're confused.

[MollyBerry]

I've followed you but I use feedly which is a RSS thing - I hope it counts it :) I love reading blogs

[Mintyy]

Why does it matter to you? This is a totally sincere question.

[YumYumBubblegum]

Hi Hannah - me again
Wow, what a great website! I especially liked the post about how to provide healthy family food when time is short. I see you have had input from other august people on the subject of food, but please bear me in mind if you'd like something practical yet humble. I started my website in response to other mothers asking me how on earth I managed to provide 'proper' food all the time. I am almost evangelical in my crusade to convince everyone that "If you can read, you can cook".
Best wishes, Vicky

[YumYumBubblegum]

Thanks. I hope I don't disappoint...

[YumYumBubblegum]

Hi Mintyy
Thinks I suppose it's an ego thing... And I should be very pleased that anyone bothers to look at it at all!
Thinks more It's also about having a voice. The bigger the audience, the bigger the voice?
BW, Vicky

[MollyBerry]

I also don't want to criticise because your content is good but photos/presentation does make a massiv difference. Even if you only have a point and shoot camera there are lots of stylistic and lightning tips which are worth noting. If you google them and have a read around there are lots of useful posts regarding improving photos

[YumYumBubblegum]

You're right, MollyBerry. I only use an iPhone but there ARE loads of things you can do. It's always a struggle to get the photos taken before the ravenous hordes start digging in!

[RazaMeTimbers]

Hi YumYum,
I'm in the same situation. What app/widget (not sure of terminology) do you use to get followers?

I'm on Blogger and was using Google Friend Connect which counted the followers but now it's been retired apparently and doesn't work for me any more. So I'm looking for recommendations for the app/widget to use to allow people to join. Someone on the web recommends Bloglovin' so might try that.

[talentedladiesclub]

Hi Vicky, I've just sent you a message via Mumsnet.

[Tee2072]

So only one follower but how many page views?

Not everyone follows blogs through the Blogger follow option.

[fcknits]

Hi keyboardhousewife, have had a peek at your lovely blog.

There are only 2 ways to drive more visitors to your blog: marketing and content. If you are confident that you are writing content that people will want to read (and your recipes look lovely) then you need to continue stepping up SEO (search engine optimisation) and promotion (social media, blog 'link-ups', blog directories, etc). Which is pretty much what you are already doing! ;)

It is a slow process (months rather than days) but should eventually pay dividends!

Feel free to leave a comment on my blog FC Knits (it's knitting and crochet, although there are a couple of recipes that should fall within your field of expertise), which will give you a new backlink, or to follow me on Twitter (@fcknits) - I'm always happy to do retweets on request. Backlinks and social media visibility can help with SEO.

HTH and good luck with your blogging. :) x

[MollyBerry]

Oh and as a reader not a blogger if there's a blog I like I tend to look at their 'blogs they like' link if they have one as often it's similar content. Even if it is their friend's blogs I don't mind beacuse it means I get to discover new blogs.

As already said, network within the blogger world!

[RazaMeTimbers]

Hi Yumyum,
nice blog, will have a better look later.

I set up bloglovin' today so am just checking how it works. I'm now following you, I think, although not through your 'follow by email' option. Do I show up as a follower for you? (I'm Razamatazz or hilarymcgrathraza.blogspot.fr/).

[YumYumBubblegum]

Hi Raza
Now you've got me, what with your talk of widgets! I susbscribe to some blogs via Bloglovin but they arrive all jumbled together in one email. Just not very user-friendly imo.
Thanks for your kind comments and for becoming a follower. Blogger still says I only have 1 so I'm just going to ignore it!
I have learned sooooo much in the last year of blogging, thanks to patience and Google, but maybe now I need to get some professional help to get me onto the next level.
Now off to look at your blog...
Vicky

[YumYumBubblegum]

MollyBerry
Excellent idea re blogs I follow. I haven't updated that since the very early days.
Thank you
Vicky

[YumYumBubblegum]

Fcknits
Thanks for your comments. Yes, I need to do more cross-linking/networking/hooking-up but, wow, it IS time-consuming isn't it? I will dedicate myself and be more patient!
Now off to peruse your blog...
Best wishes
Vicky

[RazaMeTimbers]

YumYum, yes it's so time-consuming. That's why I'm trying to figure out the best method so that I can just get on with blogging then without becoming an expert on the mechanics of it.

From what I can gather (and I'm such a rookie), there are so many systems/'widgets'/ways to follow that none dominates. If you followed me by email I can't see you and don't know how I can find out who else follows by email. Ditto, you obviously can't see me because I followed by bloglovin'. Mad.

Still, at least I've got a recipe for baked apples!

[RazaMeTimbers]

Hi talentedladiesclub and Fcknits,
Browsing your sites and following (but guess you don't see unless you use bloglovin too --god I feel like I'm selling the bloody thing I've mentioned it so much today!)

Question for talentedladiesclub: you have your own domain name I think. Do you think there are a lot of advantages to that? Am getting a bit fed up of Blogger already and thinking I'll invest if it's not too difficult.
thanks

[talentedladiesclub]

Hi RazaMeTimbers

Yes for us as we wanted more control over our site - especially the design, layout and navigation. Ours is built in Wordpress so we can manage it behind the scenes, and I find it really easy to use (I'm not vaguely technical!).

We use Google Analytics to measure our traffic, and also have a weekly newsletter, so obviously can measure how much interaction we get by the growth of the list of subscribers. Google Analytics is great because it helps you understand where your traffic is coming from (which blogs link to you, whether people come from Twitter/Facebook/Google search etc) so you can see what is working.

We also link directly to blog articles, so by looking at landing pages into the site, I can see what type of articles are most popular, or have the best 'hook'.

Another great site is Webmaster Tools, which helps you understand how you rank for particular search terms, and how people are finding your blog in search.

Hope this helps??? Hannah