You all never disappoint!! Thanks for all of the great suggestions on the dryer and your thoughts on a new one! I have tried a few more things with our dryer and so far no luck. Boo hiss! In the meantime I’ll probably call the repairman, just to get us through. :)
So I get questions all of the time from so many of you who are getting ready to start a blog, have just started one, or have had one going for a while and aren’t seeing many visitors. The big question is how you can get more visitors to your site.
I have been doing the bloggy thing for just over two years now and I still do not consider myself an expert in any stretch of the imagination. Serious. I’m flying by the seat of my pants half the time. I don’t have any magic answer for you. It’s a NUMBER of things really.
But there is one thing I always recommend if you want to get more visitors, hits, whatever. This is big time peeps. Lean in real close and I’ll tell you…
COMMENT.
Be nice. Be sincere. And do it as much as you can.
I swear there’s no better way to get your site out there in the blog world!
I have another little secret. A couple of years ago when TDC was starting to get more popular, I would spend hours just reading the comments on blogs that I loved. I would click on the commenters, go to their site, comment. Over and over.
The results were two-fold – I found some fantastic blogs that way. :) And the fact that I was commenting so much brought a ton of readers to my site. AND because those folks had commented on another blog, I ended up finding them – it’s a lovely cycle.
See how it works? Ahhh yes…brilliant! That’s how the big beautiful bloggy world rolls my dears!
Here’s a few other tips I’ve learned over the years:
Your name:
I’ve mentioned before that I found it helpful to put the name of my blog on my name that shows up when I comment – so it’s not just “Sarah” – it’s Sarah @ “Thrifty Decor Chick.” If someone sees my comment on another blog and likes decorating they’ll click on over and find my site. If I just had my first name, there’s nothing to entice readers of comments to click on me.
If you don’t have a blog, why comment?:
Well, (if you’re going to say something nice), it's just a nice pat on the back. Your comments make. my. day. Not kidding. They make us bloggers feel like we are reaching you, you are enjoying it, you are out there.
And you like us. You really like us.
:)
I do read every comment! Every single one! When you take the time to leave me a little note, it makes me feel great. And so many of you are SO freaking funny. Seriously. I laugh out loud pretty much every day. :) It makes my heart full that there are so many talented, funny, sweet, brilliant women out there!
Got a blog? Want more comments?:
Make it easy for readers to do so! I cannot stress enough how worthwhile it is to try out your your comment form on your own (especially if you are on Blogger because they have so many options.) Log out of Blogger, then go and try to comment on your own site.
You might be surprised at how difficult it is to do so! :) There are some comment forms that I swear take four clicks to get a comment to go through when I’m not logged in. I personally like when the comment box/page pops up in a new tab or it’s own box -- that way I can refer back to the post easily if needed.
And when word verification is not set up right when you comment (and pops up after you comment instead) – I can guarantee you are losing comments. MANY times I have commented, clicked “publish your comment” and then go off to another page, only to come back and realize there’s the word verification staring at me and my message has not gone through. I can’t even imagine how many times I’ve closed out of a comment before it’s gone through because of this.
Speaking of word verification:
I will go out on a limb here and say most folks don’t care for word verification. Don’t hate! :) It’s not my favorite thing. BUT I totally get why some bloggers use it. It does add one more step for folks who are trying to comment, so keep that in mind.
Every once and a while I will write a post that will trigger words spam, and I’ll have to turn on WV for a bit. For the most part I avoid it and rarely have any issues.
A little trick I use is to turn on comment moderation for posts older than five days. (You can set it to any number of days that you want!) That way I don’t have to use word verification and I catch spam before it’s published, instead of having to go back and delete the goofy stuff. (What is UP with some of those?!)
Who should you let comment?:
I leave it open to all:
There are some who choose not to allow anonymous commenters, and on the days that I get a nasty anon comment, I totally get that. :) But most of the time I leave it open to anyone. It definitely encourages more interaction.
If you don’t have a blog, you can comment by clicking on the Name/URL option and just putting your first name. You don’t have to enter a URL or web address.
If you want a response from a comment:
The days of me being able to respond to each of you or visit each of your blogs is long gone, but there was a time way back when when I would do just that. If you commented, I would visit your site, and do my best to comment back. Early on that was manageable. :) Doing so creates relationships with your readers – and that’s always a GREAT thing.
OH how I WISH I could still respond to each of you! There’s just not enough time in the day! But if you have an email attached to your blogger account, the chances I will respond go WAY up. :) If you have it set up, I can just click reply when I get your comment in my email, and then I can write you back. I love it! And I do it often!
To set up an email account in your Blogger account, go through these steps:
1. Go to your dashboard and click on Edit profile next to your profile picture.
2. Under Privacy, click “show my email.”
3. Under Identity, put your email address in the box indicated. (This is also where you can change your display name to add the name of your blog if you want!)
4. Click Save profile at the bottom and you are done!
Don’t want the world to see your personal email? I didn’t either. :) I set up a separate one in gmail and it took about three minutes. Easy peasy Squeezies!!
I hope this helps! I really think commenting helps to raise awareness of your blog, especially when you are starting out. There are many other options for getting out there as well (blog parties, submitting projects to be highlighted by other blogs, etc.), but this is an easy way to get involved with the world that is blogging – and you’ll “meet” some great people in the process. ;)
For more of my blogging tips, click here.
In other bloggy news, I am SO EXCITED to tell you all about a super awesome fantastic HUGE contest over at Holiday with Matthew Mead. I am incredibly honored to be a part of this upcoming publication and I when I found out about this contest, I couldn’t wait to tell you all about it!!
Basically, one of YOU will win the chance to have your home photographed by Matthew and featured as a story in the upcoming magazine. The team at Holiday with Matthew Mead is looking for a great home with style to feature in a three-spread layout in the upcoming issue (to be launched in October 2010).
Could you DIE?!
Here are the details:
Submit photos of your home and you could win a three spread layout of your home, decorated for the holidays, to be styled and photographed by Matthew Mead.
They will work at your home for two to three days – propping and photographing aspects of your lifestyle, including food, people, decorations, ALL of it!
They are looking for “clean, fresh, light-filled modern sensibility with interesting collections” as well as a description of some of your holiday traditions.
There are a few details and rules you’ll need to check out before you enter. Check out more information by clicking here:
Swoon!! OH, how exciting!! I can’t wait to see who the big winner is!
Sooo…this is the part where I act like I’m not looking forward to the holidays.
*Cough.*
And here’s the part where I pretend like I wasn’t a teensy giddy to see pumpkins at Hobby Lobby the other day.
I swear I wasn’t.
I’m totally lying. Sue me. :)
Thanks to this week’s sponsor!:
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