Since November 2013, I have decided to wholeheartedly commit to the building of my blog. The research I’ve done and the work I’ve put in has been challenging and intense yet very beneficial.
Moreover, I have received a number of emails from some very dear blogging friends asking for blog design ideas, blogging tips, and suggestions for blog building. This made me realize that a number of us are obviously on a similar journey of building our readership. I am by no means an expert but I thought why don’t we do this blog building journey together… publicly.
If this interests you, then please join me as I will occasionally be publishing various ideas, tips, and tools that I’ve found exceptionally beneficial for my blogging journey. If you don’t have a blog (nor have a desire to start one), then please know that these posts will appear on the occasional Saturday.
Where to start?
Back in January, I put out a survey in which I had 8 lovely respondents. I was thankful for every single response. Even though participation was low, your responses were so helpful.
Have you considered what your readers want? How long have they been reading your blog? What keeps them coming back?
I assembled a simple survey through Survey Monkey which consisted of the following questions:
- What type of postings do you like reading at The Deliberate Mom?
- What is your favourite posting from The Deliberate Mom?
- How long have you been reading The Deliberate Mom?
- If The Deliberate Mom hosted a weekly link party, would you participate?
- Would you be interested in reading postings from guest authors?
- Would you be interested in being a guest blogger for The Deliberate Mom?
- What would encourage you to visit The Deliberate Mom more often?
- Do you have any other feedback or suggestions?
Survey says…
This survey made me realize that my readers ARE interested in other voices and so I have opened the door for guest bloggers to appear on my site. By the way, if you ever want to do a guest posting, my guest blogging criteria can be found HERE.
I also discovered that the favourite posts of my readers are: parenting, personal stories, faith, and activity ideas. I have committed to focus on these areas in order to deliver the content that you want.
The least favourite posts included my {this moment} postings. I am still assessing how to proceed with this information, as these posts are how I document memorable moments of our lives. I am considering maybe a weekly photo but a short story to accompany it. Perhaps the monotony of the same wording every week is what’s making it less appealing to my readers.
Also ranking low were reviews. Unfortunately reviews are my income so I need to continue doing them. However, I have made a commitment to keep their presence minimal and make them as interesting and as personal as possible (so that there is a story to them as well). I feel I demonstrated this especially well with my MAJESTA and STAPLES reviews.
Have you considered doing a survey of your readers? I believe this is an essential starting point before initiating your blog building plan. Find out what people love… and give them more of it!
SHARE WITH OTHERS
I just wanted to say that I really appreciate your thoughtful comments on my blog. I don’t get tons of readers, but I have a fantastic little group that reads and follows. I would love it to grow, of course, but I have found that the blogs I am most connected to are real and honest. I appreciate all the work you put out there. Positive energy comes back. It’s a fact!
XO
Thank you so much Cordelia… that means so much to me, as I sincerely love your blog. You have a beautiful space and presence there, so I am both flattered and pleased that you enjoy my visits with you. I wish I could comment more but as you know, we all have lives to lead outside of our blogs, so I do what I can. Thank you once again for your bright words of encouragement. xoxo
I started this journey almost a year ago. It has been a lot more work than I anticipated, but I have made some wonderful connections. I like the survey idea because it is definitely important to know your audience. Good luck on your journey! Look forward to hearing more about what you learn along the way.
Thank you Lisa! It is a lot of work but the relationships I’ve made along the way are also well worth it. I started blogging as a hobby but just recently decided to make a serious “go” at it. I look forward to growing and learning with others through this process. I invite you to share your own ideas and insights as well.
I’ve never thought of doing a survey, what a great way to find out what part of your life people are most interested in. I like your little Friday snapshot posts, but maybe you can just make it an Instagram thing with your own hashtag for it??? I really appreciate your comments and care on my blog too, you have been my first blog friend and I really appreciate your support! xx
Oh Meg, you are so sweet… I love visiting your blog. You always have something so inspiring going on over there! Truly, it’s my pleasure.
I’m really struggling with what to do with my {this moment} posts. I love the community that goes with it too (as there are a whole load of people I’ve met purely because of those posts). I just don’t know. I like the idea of starting something on Instagram but that’s not as accessible to my family. So hard. I’ll have to mull it over a bit more. I hope you’re having a lovely weekend. xoxo
I actually have had a survey post in work for a while. I’m just not 100% what I want to ask. I want to make sure I blog about what I love and what’s important to me, but I also want to keep my readers happy. It can be a fine line. I love that you’re sharing this journey with us! I really need to find some time to devote to making changes to my blog, but finding the time has really been difficult lately. I wish I didn’t have to work and could just focus on blogging. :)
Have a lovely week my dear!
xoxo
You’re right! It is a fine line to be writing and posting what you want as well as keeping your readers happy! I’m excited to be sharing this journey with you! I hope that some of my experiments, hurdles, and solutions can be helpful to others as well.
xoxo
I am surprised that “this moment” postings were rated low. They are some of my favorites! Reviews are understandable, but what can you do? I wouldn’t give them up either. I think it’s great you’re sharing tips and how-to’s. Helping others find success is always rewarding!
Thanks! It’s a tough balance but I’m hoping that I can make my posts a little more appealing to my readers. The survey really helped me define myself and my objectives for the blog. I love sharing my ideas and if it helps even one person I feel it is worthwhile. I appreciate your support… truly, your kind words are so uplifting.
This is great Jen! Every blogger has a journey and it’s interesting when they share tips, to help others!
Thanks Remy! I hope that by sharing my journey I can help others and that my fellow bloggers may glean some new ideas on how to build their own blogs. Thanks for visiting!
Jennifer, I love that you’re so intentional (and savvy!) with growing and developing your blog, and I’m so honored to know that you’re one of my blogging buddies. I look forward to learning from you, you ninja master, you.
Oh Robin, you can always make me smile. I’m glad you’re on this journey with me too. I am certain we will learn with and from one another!
I love the survey idea. Never thought about before, but I’m going to look into it. Thank you for the prompt!
I’m so glad you like this idea Mare! It was a wonderful way for me to explore what exactly my readers like. I hope you’ll join us on this blog building journey. It’s always nice to learn with and from each other… and this is a wonderful community for that kind of support!
Wishing you a lovely evening.
{this moment} is my favorite!! But it IS probably something we do for ourselves and close blogger friends. And that is OK too!
You’re right Hannah, it is more for ourselves, family, and close blogger friends. I feel really torn over the results because I love the {this moment} postings as well.
Thank you so much for this! I was looking for ideas to make my blog more appealing to my readers and others.
I’m so happy you found this useful. I know it gave me a wonderful glimpse of what to work on/focus on.
Thanks for visiting Valerie!
I missed your survey, but I look forward to your upcoming blogging posts. As a new blogger, I appreciate your friendship & engagement on my blog as I learn the ropes! Thanks for sharing your tips & tricks in your new series of posts! :)
Thanks Lisa! I’m really excited about this blog building journey and happy to share my discoveries with blogging friends such as yourself!
Hi Jennifer,
I’m just stumbling in for the first time and am really interested in what you are discussing here. My blog is so very new (less than 6 months), but I am encouraged by the amount of traffic I get so far. Nothing huge, but steady. But, I am very interested in growing my audience so, I am wondering specifically, how do you suggest to do the survey? E-mail or a post?
Thanks so much! I’m following all your internal links and there’s just so much good stuff here! I’ve pinned!
Hi Karen! So glad you found me… and this post! I placed the survey in a post. I also created a large link in the top left of my blog (in my sidebar where my profile currently is). I tweeted out that I was looking for people to take the survey and I posted the survey on my Facebook page.
Thanks so much for visiting Karen and thanks for pinning!