We all started blogging for ourselves, didn’t we? We wanted to put ‘something’ out there FOR US. It became fun when we found there are others who share the same excitement about blogging that we have. Then we started receiving a comment or two. And much later someone started to follow your blog and even seemed to like your posts.
Sounds all familiar? Not exaggerating, that is literally what happened to me.
I still get a high to get a new follower. I jump to your blog as soon as I can when I receive a comment or a mention; not just to send you a comment but because I am genuinely interested in knowing who you are and things (read as books) you like. You do that, too? See I knew we will have something in common. But beyond the first visit, what will make me love your blog and to keep returning to it till eternity. Okay just kidding I will have to eventually stop loving you when I get to ‘world domination.‘
I know you don’t care about me, it is okay, but how can you make the other readers love and follow your blog?
1) Dress up your blog
I know I say ‘I don’t judge a book by its cover’, but I do when it comes to a blog. YOUR BLOG DESIGN MATTERS. The visitors decide whether they are gonna like your blog or not even before they read a word out of your post, with just one look at your blog.
I personally prefer white (or whitish background) and the minimal look but I totally appreciate blogs that are pleasing to the eyes and creative. I totally love Dani’s and Simant’s websites in that aspect.
Thankfully we have done away with most of those flashy buttons and crazy color combos that were everywhere in the 2010s, but still, there are one or two of those out there. A clean design with a medium sized font (not cursive pl) is all it takes.
If you are looking for color palette ideas I have two resources that have never failed me:
1) Design seeds
2) Plenty of Color
2) Show ’em where and how?
Okay you have the best design and it looks appealing but where is the search button?
How do I follow you?
What are these random things occupying your sidebars?
The internet is where most of us live. We visit at least 5 to 10 websites in a day – right from booking tickets to ordering grocery (yes I am lazy).
But it is also where I get so distracted by every thing shiny and new. Expecting me to navigate by myself through your website and find posts to love is unrealistic and too complicated. So make it easier for people like us.
Tempt me with a featured image. Ask me to follow you. Show me what to read next. Link up old posts. Ask me a question in your comment section. Remind me to follow you. AGAIN. Make it easier for me to like you and love your blog.
Of course, we are not dumb. Hey look it is Dr House.
Sorry, we are not dumb, we get distracted. That is all.
3) Tell them who you are and more
This kinda goes without saying that I follow blogs only that I can relate to.
But you know what? We all are talking about books. We all are talking writing. We all are blogging. That pretty much covers everything the reader and any blogger can have common with. Yet we all feel relatable when Cait from Paperfury talks about her love for cake even though we don’t love cake (that is a lie, everyone loves cake – not the point though) or when Clo from Book dragon talks about how she carries more than one book whenever she steps out.
You see where I am going with this?
Yes, we need to see your shy, introverted book loving personality (or the outgoing, extroverted, snarky ray of sunshine book lover that you are) through your posts, not just books that are on your Goodreads shelf (though that is a good idea for a post). Let us get to know and understand the real you, and we will definitely.
Bonus points if you reply to all your comments.
4) Tell ’em what you think that *book*
Oh now that we know you already and we got through that wall between us, let us talk about why we are here. (We also got your social security number and the maiden name of your mother. Just kidding. I DO NOT know them.) To talk about books obviously. Or blogging. Or whatever the reason you have got the reader to your blog.
Tell us about why you love them. Give us honest reviews, more or few of them. You see since we already decided we love your blog, your personality we have already invested in you. I am rooting for you to read awesome books, and give me honest thoughts on them. Send them as reviews, discussions or listicles. I don’t care. I wanna read everything about what you read. ‘Cuz BOOKS.
Also if you find the number of responses that you receive on reviews lesser than that on discussions post, who cares? I love telling you all about the emotions and feelings I have about the book. I don’t care even if no one reads it, I will post them. (I am just kidding, I totally care that you read all my posts. Do like them. Please.)
5) Pictures and lots of them
It is a known fact that we all love pictures, imagery, GIFs or whatever. I know y’all are skimming through my post even now but paying attention to the images.
I do that.
If you can make your pictures funny or interesting then you are nailing it. A picture of the book you love with your furbaby (or just your baby) sure would make me smile more than a book cover from the Goodreads.
Here is a video of these adorable Huskies for no reasonn whatsoever.
Confession: I do not have a furbaby nor a human one and that is why I make do with not-so-fab pictures. And when I get either of those I am totally winning the internet over with my awesome pictures.
I will be going to Freepik and Canva in the meantime.
We are at the end of my post now and it is a safe time to tell you the truth and insert a pesky disclaimer. “Please do as I tell you, but not do as I do.” I am pretty sure I am guilty of all the above mistakes at one time or the other or always. But hey, I am all with good intentions and that matters, right?
Go rock your book blog and make me proud.
It is your turn. Tell me what makes you love a blog or the blogger. What is your secret weapon to make us follow you? Or tell me what makes you unsubscribe a blog. It is not ME, right? Do share with it us.
I’ve been thinking about how to make my blog design more user friendly too!
I think I’m going to redesign it again (after doing it about four or five times already).
There’s just so many features you want to use but in the end it makes it way too confusing for the user right??
When I moved over to WordPress about a week or two ago, after being on Blogger on and off for 10 years, it was one hell of a learning curve. I did it all myself, and what took the longest amount of time was simply just picking the background. I must have looked at every free image on the internet, trying to find something simple, but was also eye catching, but that also didn’t distract away from the posts. I think I nailed it, but I was searching for over FIVE. HOURS.
Oh that so like my journey too. I used Blogger for a long time and spent years learning to do everything by myself.
Welcome to WordPress and if you have any queries or wanna a patient ear, you know whom to contact right?
[…] the blog engagement. But they fail to let the readers know what is expected of them. Ask them to follow your blog. To share the post. Link up to your other posts. Keep them interested. Always end the post with a […]
Blog designs do indeed matter! I hate a particular design which has no homepage and just rectangular bars with pictures….I think it’s on Blogspot? I almost never follow them. It gives me bad vibes somehow.
Also, following blogs on Blogspot is more work since it gives me updates all together instead of individual updates like WordPress and I end up not checking them? I also don’t like when a blog only ever posts books reviews, I’m weird, don’t ask me why
But I loved this post and thank you so much for the tricks and tips!
I used to have a blogspot blog earlier and I totally understand what you say about difficulty in following them. And that is one of the reasons I moved to WordPress and I have been happy about that.
Ah thanks for the mention 🙂 I got slightly emotional over that mention not sure why…I think it’s lack of caffeine haha. I’m not sure what makes me follow blogs I think it’s perhaps a combo of if they are able to use sarcasm that’s an automatic follow and the whole layout of the blog. However I’m not a huge fan of pictures of GIFs even in general so unless it’s needed in a post I don’t use them, and reading other posts with them I skip the GIFs usually and read the text. I just love words haha
I don’t like filling the posts with GIFs and images either but they lighten up a discussion post when used wisely.
Really love this post and agree with you a lot here! I think a good design really helps! And of course to being yourself and sharing the real you! And pictures really do help!
I love a minimal theme blog and my eyes would thank you. But any blog with good design is all we ask, right?
Loved your post!! I definitely follow blogs for those reasons, and bonus points if they’re funny 😄 Also, huskies! 😍
Yes huskies or dogs for that matter.
This is a great post, and I really wanted to share it, but the picture you have as your sharing image is maybe not the best? It comes across as mocking indigenous peoples.
I actually tweeted it before I realised, and then deleted it – I’m not trying to be harsh (Honest!) but I know there are members of indigenous communities who follow my Twitter, and I wasn’t comfortable either a) sharing that image, or b) potentially harming my followers by posting that image.
I’m not trying to be mean – honestly!
If you change the pic, let me know and I’ll be more than happy to share! 🙂
Ah, I never saw it that way. I will change it, would not wanna offend anyone!
No problem – and thanks for being understanding! I will happily share away! XD
I did that 🙂
Lots of easy and clear ideas. I look for a blog where I can leave a quick comment without having to sign in or jump through hoops to do so.
That is so true. I kinda dislike the disqus comment system just for the same reason.
These are all great points! I love a beautiful designed blog and a nice long discussion post. I feel like I’m mostly ranting into the void, so I am always surprised when I get a new follower to my blog, but I’m happy when someone connects with what I’m saying and wants more of it.
I love discussion posts exactly for the same reasons.
This is a fantastic post and it helps lay out a lot of the things that attract people to a blog. Of course, we’re not all alike, and everyone should do their own thing, but it’s always nice to have a set of guidelines to go from!
This is spot on. I can’t agree more.
I appreciated this list. Superhelpful and gave me something to think about and sigh I should do better. If I ever have time…
Thanks for all the tips:)
No pressure at all and do what you can do.
I forget about pictures. I’ve been playing around with the graphics I make so they are a lot more creative and fun. I agree wholeheartedly with font choices. If I can’t read a blog, I won’t.
I used to hate doing the hard work in searching pictures but now I hoard too many of them. And everything. is. GIF now.
This is a great post 🙂 My blog is color heavy but it is me. I have a color obsession so I really couldn’t do with a white blog. But it really works for yours 🙂
Yours is very beautiful. All the colors works well together.
This is a great post, especially for a newbie blogger like me. Ill definitely be taking some of these tips on board.
Gemma @ http://www.gemmasbooknook.blogspot.com
Glad you liked it Gemma.
As someone who always buys a book based on their covers, I couldn’t help cringing when I see ugly blog designs and I just feel less likely to follow. #Iseenocorrelation
I’m not expecting Tumblr aesthetic level kind of blog design, just a simple one that is easy to the eyes. And some bloggers really need to learn a basic web design/typography because
1) font too small
2) article doesn’t even have a paragraph
3) doesn’t have an easy navigation system
4) doesn’t compress pictures used thus results to a heavy site means lower loading.
#doneranting
Lovely post by the way.
x Rasya
Your points are spot on. I have a difficult time taking a blog with non-white-ish background serious at all. Reminds me of my high school Scrapbook.
Fantastic and sound advice for newbie bloggers. Even those who have been around for a while would benefit from reading it as we tend to take these little things for granted.
Yes I agree. It was aimed to be a check list of sorts!
I agree with a lot of your points! And when we have other bloggers visiting us, commenting, and just hanging out with us – it’s really nice!
Following buttons are so important! And it’s not a good thing to have to search for a way to follow people – it is very tedious.
Yes I love the blogging community so much.
Loved this post 🙂 really great. I’ll make sure I share it tomorrow. Won’t be able to leave a very smart comment cause I just woke up, but xD
You know, lately I’ve been hearing all sorts of different things about this (and they’ve been making me down, if you have noticed me being all ‘i should stop blogging’ last week). There is not one kind of audience… I was pretty shocked to find out that there are some, although not many, people who dislike GIFs very much cause they’re move. Especially people with headaches (I love GIFs, but that DOES make sense). Some other people explained why they hate discussion posts and why they think those are always the same (those people have loads of followers to prove they’re right too). So sometimes I just don’t know what is good and what isn’t anymore. And what people will like.
But I absolutely agree about making follow buttons and search bars accessible. That’s really the most basic and important thing. I agree about the theme, although I have seen one of two exceptions where they have like the weirdest hand-written font and I love it, cause it just looks so different and odd when I write a comment 😀
While I love adding GIFs to the posts, I hate when it ends being similar to Buzzfeed (all pictures and a heading). I love words and I am more of ‘write ppl, talk to me’.
What why would they say no discussions? There are so many interesting things to talk about. Well, who cares 🙂
Lovely post Gayathri! Thank you for including me and thinking that it looks good 🙈 It’s the people like you who make all the effort valuable 😊
I do agree with you on all these points. But yes, beauty always wins for me. I do judge books by covers and I do love beautiful blogs. I felt that mostly blogspot blogs have all sort of crazy look woth colorful background and all. I don’t understand how people even like that themselves?
Also, I so agree on writing reviews even though you are not getting comments. I feel that writing reviews are the first thing that actually makes you a book blogger.
I totally love the graphics on your blog. Yes, reviews are why I started blogging and we should continue to do whatever we like.
Lovely tips there, G! I totally agree.
For me, I need a hook to get me to the post if it is a blogger who is new to me. The next thing I need is grammatically correct prose. I forgive the typos here and there but if it’s all over the place, I leave. Just means the blogger didn’t care to proofread.
The subject makes a BIG difference.If it’s something I love, I try and read anyway, typos and all. The tone makes another important point. If you are engaging, witty, hitting the right notes, then I read.
Of course if you have a CHRIS HEMSWORH gif YOU DON’T need to do anything else. I will read anyway 😉
Loved this 🙂
I agree with everything you said. Now I have to go look at more of Hemsworth’s pictures.
I couldn’t help nodding along as I read this post. Extremely useful tips for anyone new to blogging (or not).
Glad that you think so.
Actually I quite agree about posting reviews even if you don’t get a ton of click through… It helps me to see what the community is reading (well in reality I click through a lot to reviews because I LOVE them…) and many times that will get me interested! <3 Lovely post Gayathri!
Thanks to the reviews, I have a never ending TBR list. 🙂
such a lovely post! 🙂
i tend to unfollow people ive theyve not blogged in a very long time, its hard to read thier blog, if its ugly (im sorry guys!) or they only read a genre i have no interest in.
until them in ready to give everyone a chance
I hate the ones with cursive and other illegible fonts.
Ohhh faved to look back onto, nice post ! 😁
I just love when posts have a lil personnal touch; and we get to see more of the blogger on the other side. See, I quite like to overshare myself .. 😂🤷🏽♀️
I overshare too! High Five.
I prefer blogs with a minimal theme as it’s so much easier to navigate. I mostly look for their social media links. I find that taking part in memes is also helpful to get around the community. These tips are very helpful!
My weakness is blogs with lots of discussion posts!
I totally agree with all your pointers. I love minimal clean look too!
Great post!
This is such an interesting post, especially since it gives us an outside perspective on blogging. Sometimes, and I speak from personal experience, it is easy to overlook the mistakes of your blog. For the longest time, I was one of those bloggers with not just one crowded sidebar, but TWO CROWDED SIDEBARS. Like, both sidebars are full of crap that extended all the way down the blog. At the time, I didn’t see anything wrong with it. My policy was the more the merrier when it came to buttons, links, and all of the flashy things (except for a search bar, I never thought to put a search bar in). Now, I only have one, minimalist sidebar that works well. Anyway, I guess my point is that blogging is definitely a learning process and it is a lot easier when bloggers like you help people out!
I remember having crazy sidebars. I had shelves displayed – not one but a few shelves and then I would feel bad how long it took to load. I even had a mood display – as if everyone wanted to know what mood I was in.
As long as we learn, it doesn’t how long it took, right?
You did cover all the points. Great Post
This is timely for me as I’m starting mine over! Love your posts!
Omg, Sorry to hear about your website. Hope the new one is better and bigger.
Your reasons are spot on! Especially no cursive. If a blog has too much undecipherable cursive then I leave. I also love when others comment on my posts and I’m quick to check out their website. It’s fun finding new blogs to follow!
I have found so many cool blogs by commenting.
I love cursive in real life; on paper. But on screen to read those fonts is a terrible experience.
This is a great idea… Thanks for this post it was really helpful. Hope i can fix up my blog in the meantime to get it to where i want it. Would title headers count in this if so i have that down
All the best for the changes in your blog, Libby. Hope it works out better.
This is so helpful! Thank you SO much. Hopefully my site is not too distracting as I try to keep it simple (wish I could work out the space issue between widgets and such but my template was created by wordpress and I am not that technologically advanced to figure out how to manipulate).
I am glad you liked it Nikki. I will be happy to try to help you out if you need.