Newbie Blogger Diaries #2

Today I am going to talk about how I first got readers to my blog. I don't mean to be a kill-joy here but you could have the best quality posts on Earth and it is still likely that you will never gain any readers. Because, for readers to read your work, they have to find you first.

Here are my two trustworthy ways of getting people to check out your site.

1. Comment on other blogs! Post a thoughtful comment on someone else's book review and leave a link back to your blog. I gurantee that most people are nice and will comment back on your site. The key to this: Leave a THOUGHTFUL comment. Don't just start spamming people with links because then they will then feel much less obligated to check out your blog.

This is my favorite way to gain readers because it feels more personal. But, on a busy night, it it easier to just:

2. Participate in a meme or feature. Memes (which I recently realized rhymed with streams, much to my disappointment. I had been pronouncing it with a french air, Memais, until someone burst my bubble.) or features are when a whole group of bloggers post about a certain subject. Then, you can add your url to a list and have other participators check it out. Also, you can check out their posts. Win-Win.

Here are my favorite bookish memes:
Top Ten Tuesday
Waiting on Wednesday
Feature and Follow Friday
Stacking the Shelves

Or you can make your own. However this takes a lot of time and work. It does make your posts much more unique though!

The last step it to provide entertaining and memorable content, so readers will want to come back! And, one last tip, don't be follower crazy. Every night you see three new followers don't stress out because you wanted five more than you got that night, instead smile and mentally tell those people that they are awesome, and be glad they thought your blog worth following. BE HAPPY!!!

So, this is how I gained followers and readers in the beginning. What did you do/are doing to bring a little traffic to your blog?