A quick quote from Chris Pirillo:
“Your audience is still trying to discover you, but you have to go to where THEY are and not expect them to come to you in any other way.”
Chris is talking here about video blogging and podcasting more than blogging but the same thing applies to blogging.
‘Build it and they will come’ doesn’t apply to blogging – you need to think about where your potential readers are already gathering and go interact with them there. Read more about this process of growing your blog’s readership by targeting readers.
What do you mean go and find them…. that’s Google’s job! HAha
Definitely Agreed. Most people think of they create a site, it will have instant traffic. If only it were that easy! *=)
This was pretty good — your post lead me in a circle which came right back to Problogger. From this post, to Chris’, which in turn linked back to your post on branding. ;)
Oh, and I also read your post on targeting readers…all of it was great info, thanks Darren!
Ideally, this process of finding your readers would be done BEFORE you start you blog as part of deciding what to blog about.
great advice, but i think many already know that. It’s ‘HOW?’ ….. that is the real question.
I suppose mybloglog could be a start, but I think there could be much better infrastructure.
yeah going to find my audience consumes my day, my blog is still fairly new though so you keep giving advice and I’ll keep trying to learn.
Thanks for all your great blog tips.
I recently started subscribing to your newsletter.
You have helped the traffic to my website and
blog. thanks.
If you have time, check out my car magnet
that I made to advertise my website. Also,
a how to make one yourself.
Thanks again,
Elizabeth G.
http://booktestonlinecom.blogspot.com
and my website
http://BookTestOnline.com
This is one of the things that I have been telling people for a long time now. “If you build it then they will come” doesn’t apply here.
You have to define your target market (and like you said) go after them). If you are trying to optimize your blog or website for adsense then the more traffic you bring in the more potential clicks you will get.
I think if you’re going to have adsense on your site then you should treat your site as a business (’cause if you make enough you will have to pay taxes on it anyway). It doesn’t mean that your site has to be all work and no play because you can optimize your site for adsense PLUS remain true to your blog and its contents.
It’s just a matter of doing it right
How about some tips on how to go about it? I think a lot of new web developers don’t know how to find people.
Does anyone know the basic profiling of consumers who tend to visit blog-sites a lot and what kinds of topics they are interested in?
Most of my colleagues in the corporate world have never visited one, and when I tell them that I am going to start a blog-site, they look at me as if I were from Mars. So obviously, they are not the good target consumers?
It’s very important to know the audience you are targeting. Once you have zeroed in on your audience then you can go out and find the places they interact at, join the conversation in a meaningful way and attract visitors to your blog that will become loyal readers.
I agree.Darren i have lot of visitors from c++ programming domain but they are not interested in the author instead they care for content.good for my site but bad for me and my social connections what you think i need to do?
Very very true. I think your post the other day summed this up quite nicely – people will only bother coming to read your blog regularly if you turn up everywhere. So, be everywhere.
A very good point! And sometimes going out of your niche to find them brings a whole new audience.
Exactly.
That’s why you should all pay a visit to my web2.0 film project (film2.0?) – http://www.circumferencefilm.com
It’s the World’s first movie designed to be given away for free, paid for by adverts. And its a cracking story!
Forums dedicated to your niche are a great place to find potential readers. Commenting on related blogs is also effective. You could also try submitting content to big websites dedicated to your niche – tutorials, for example, tend to grow exponentially in popularity (unlike news, they’re always relevant).
OK, they’re not here yet but I wish they’d hurry.
Hi Darren,
Comment #8……..my comment
Comment #10……..Dan Cole writes
Asked for you to give tips on how to find the
right people? A lot of Web developers do not
know how to do that?
If you decide to use this question in a post.
Will you use me as an example? Any help
or ideas would be appreciated.
Elizabeth G – High School Student
Creator of http://BookTestOnline.com
Blogs: http://booktestonlinecom.blogspot.com
http://asktheteenager.blogspot.com
Trying to reach parents of students in the
3rd-12th grades for my Educational Website?
O.K. Need tips to find these people?
Thanks,
Elizabeth G.
As for my art niche for example, I found my readers from art lover and graphic design forum and groups. And sometimes, they’re here too… ;D
You should be spending time where your readers hang out online, not spending time in the echo chamber of the meta-bloggers.
Except here I am…. oh, well! ;)
All good tips. I need to write at least one good article to start….I have a homework to do. Thank you, all.
I think that for me this has been the most difficult aspect of blogging. I am starting to have some success with social sites and forums, and I’ve even tried AdWords. I think the most successful tactic for me was the creation of a blog carnival related to my topic.
I just switched over to self hosting. Yup I did it I left blogger, I’m a big girl now. So now I have to start all over, rebiulding my audience. I hope the readers I had stick with me through this transission.
I will be visiting here even more often for fantabulous money blogging ideas.
Thanks,
http://debohobo.com
its not that deficult to find your reader, for example now you are visiting a problogger.net which have a good traffic and reader so maybe you could start from here by giving a good comment here and just put your backlink to your blog at your signature… make your signature as your trademark, anywhere you give a comment or spread your words don’t forget to leave your trademark…. for example like this….
syiru,
http://onlinejob.motime.com
“can you imagine how much backlink you have eachtime you give a comment or post a forum.”
Found a great statistical study of bloggers.
http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/186/report_display.asp
Probably, useful for everyone to think about who may be passing by your blog.
Thanks for your posts on finding your audience, this is one area that requires some time and effort to determine who your audience is and how to get them to find out about your site/blog.
T.
http://sharemysite.com/blog/
Hi Darren
FYI I quoted this article at http://www.bhatt.id.au/blog/definitive-guide-to-maximise-benefits-of-conference-attendance/
thanks