Despite your claims that you want to just blog for fun, I am sure all of us want to have a successful blog, deep down. When I started as a full time book blogger, all I wanted was publishers to look my site and send me free books. That is what success meant to me, then.
What is a successful book blog to you? While I speak about the different measures to success as a blogger, what is it that ticks you? What gets you excited and motivated is your way to success? Share on XThen once in a while, I would come across a post about how someone received 1,00,000 views in a month and I would feel like I had to get me some traffic. Some days, it would be all the engagement and comment some other blogger is getting. Or the number of followers.
Basically I wanted them all and worked towards not one particular goal. Did I reach some of my goals? Maybe. Did I get all of them? Not really. But am I a successful book blogger, according to myself? I still dunno.
What is success to you as a blogger?
When I started blogging, I just wanted to claim a space on the internet to call it a home, where I can talk about things that mattered to me. But as things (and myself) evolved, I wanted to have a successful blog and I had no clue what a successful blog was.
Also what ‘successful’ is to me may not be a big deal to you, or the vice versa. How does even measure success? What are you imagining the success of blogging to look like?
Putting out quality content, regularly
Consistency has always been my pitfall. Publishing regularly and consistently is one of those goals that I used to struggle constantly. I know I set myself to fail when I chose to post four times a week. I succeed in failing often, or even worse, I get those burnouts that lasts for weeks.
So my view of a successful blog was publishing engaging content like a clockwork. I am in awe people who have been blogging about books for years like Cait from Paperfury and Pages Unbound.
Becoming an authority on the subject
If you need to learn about something online, one of the first sites you remember is Wikipedia. That is because Wikipedia is an authority on the subject. Same goes to IMDB or Goodreads for film/book reviews.
Getting to a place where you are known for the type of content you publish is definitely a good measure.
I know I am up for snarky posts when I think of Shruti from This is lit and it is going to some YA related books from Charvi from Not Just Fiction.
Likewise, you know are always get to read interesting discussion posts if you go to Nicole’s blog at Feed Your Fiction Addiction.
I love it when people come to my site specifically with the goal to read my reviews and thoughts on a book, or a bookish discussion. It helps ranking high on the Search Engine Results Pages.
Community driven engagement aka comments and shares
I love receiving comments on my posts and any chance to have a conversation with fellow bloggers. When I talk about books, I genuinely want to hear about if you have read the book and enjoyed it. Or did you hate it? When I take about productivity, I want to know what are the concerns that are blocking you from being a better you.
Blogging may just be my elaborate ruse to find people who share my interests, for all you know.
Are you like me? How much does it matter to you when you get comments in your blog or a mention in others’ blog?
How do you measure your book blog's success? How much does it matter to you when you get comments in your blog or a mention in others' blog? Share on XPage visits and traffic
Apparently, some people receive millions of visits on their blogs each month. It sounds really far away from my reality.
But again, who would not want people flocking down to YOUR site to read YOUR opinion about things that matter to YOU. I sure do.
Is that what you want to get out of blogging? Do you want your site to be internet famous? Or just steady and regular traffic on your blog would keep you motivated to keep writing?
If you are a book blogger who wants to know what are the benchmarks for a good traffic, take a look at Kal from Reader Voracious post on transparent statistics. You will know what you are up against.
Number of followers
Talking about my dream of publishers and authors knocking at my door (not literally, though) with ARCs and book mails, one of the main criteria they look for is the number of followers on your blog and social media.
The more you have, the more successful you appear to be on their radar, and thus on everyone else’s view. If book blogging is a number’s game to you, the follower count is one of the stats that you should definitely be following.
Here is a shameless self promotion plug in: If you like my posts, do follow me here or on any of the social media. And sure, you can buy me a coffee!
Earnings from blog
Many of us dream of earning money from our blogs, even if it means a few cents from the affiliate links. Definitely book blogging is one of those niches that has fewer scope for monetization. Nonetheless, we are working around it.
So it is a good idea to consider the earnings from a blog as a measure to success. And earning doesn’t have to be just in terms of money, freebies and products to review are all some of form earning for the effort and time we spend on the blog.
Generating leads for business
This is something I spoke of on my recent post on how book blogging is not just for fun but a good way to build a portfolio for yourself. And several bloggers, including myself, use it generate queries and leads for our business.
Being asked to contribute to a website or review some product/book related to your niche is definitely one of the telltale signs of a successful blog. It means people trust that you do a great job and maybe willing to pay for it.
Learning a new skill
As the adage goes, there is nothing permanent in life, except change, right? A successful blog is constantly evolving and a good blogger has to keep learning new tricks and techniques.
Do you know more than what you knew last year? Do you strive to keep learning things that might help you and your readers? Now that is a thing successful bloggers would keep doing. Keep it up.
Being a successful blogger is not one number or factor. It can be combination of these factors. We will see more about each of these measures in detail in the following weeks.
While I have mentioned all the different methods to measure success as a blogger, what is it that ticks you? What gets you excited and motivated is your way to success.
Previously on blogging tips for book bloggers
- Why Book Blogging Is Different From Other Niches?
- Book Blogging Is More Than ‘Just For Fun’
- SEO For A Book Blogger – Things You Can Do Today!
- Blogging Terms You Have To Know As A Book Blogger
- How To Write Book Reviews – A Guide
- Adding WordPress Follow Button To Your Self Hosted Sites
Pin me!
Let’s talk
So tell me what is success to you? Which of these factors matter to you most? And do you consider yourself a successful blogger? Let us talk.
[…] What’s a successful blog to you? […]
My goals and definition of success have evolved over the years. I worked a long time to become a “successful” blogger, but even that success has had its ups and downs. Right now, I’m a lot less consistent with my blogging and therefore my numbers, comments, etc, have all gone down. But I have to be okay with that or I’d drive myself crazy. 🙂 Oh, and by the way, thanks for mentioning me as a go-to for discussions—I love the Discussion Challenge so much, and I love that that’s what people think of when they think of Feed Your Fiction Addiction!
I think the definition should keep evolving as we grow. I love your discussion challenges!
There was a time when I was obsessed with my numbers and I did manage to raise them somewhat. Now I’m more interested in authentic engagement and conversation. I really feel I have made friends through my blog and that means so much to me. I count it as a success.
Yes, just getting genuine and interesting comments on my blog make my day. Like yours did now! Thank you.
Great post! I’ve been blogging for so long that my goals have changed. At first, I just wanted to learn a new skill. Once I learned how to blog, I wanted to make blogger friends. When I got those, I wanted more followers and comments. Now I have those. My next goals are to make money and to be more creative. I’m getting sick of posting reviews/memes/wrap ups/hauls. I want to challenge myself to write something new. I don’t know what that is, though!
I loved reading your growth/success idea. I agree about the boredom of routine content.
[…] What’s a successful blog to you? […]
Thanks for posting this! It is hard to know how well you are doing as a book blogger since it’s such a tough niche. Posts like this help everyone know what to expect. Followed your blog as Bossy Librarian!
Thank you for the kinds comment and for following.
Ohh this is such a good question! Up until recently I was associating my blog’s success with numbers which made me a bit disappointed honestly but I’ve been doing some reflecting. On all platforms I see people having such a huge following but a very small part of those people actually engage with their content so yeah, like you said, I feel engagement is much more rewarding.
I’m also in a very happy place right now because I’m able to consistently present quality content on my blog about topics that really excite me. Aww, I love that my whole blog can be summarised by YA xD
I am sure you made a huge mark in the community, with your blog.