Increase blog visitors

A question I got from a reader sums up all the other queries in my inbox. So Rattan says: On May 28, 2010, I started blogging at

www.rattanji.blogspot.com

. However, my blog hasn't been visited even once. It is not searchable in any search engine. I feel discouraged. Please help me attract visitors. Rattan is 74 years old and has been writing on the Internet for some time.

Web Traffic

Now, the problem of how to get traffic to your site is quite a common one. I could dismiss it as just the luck of the draw, some blogs get noticed, some blogs don't, what can you do? On the other hand, there are some basic fixes that can make your blog more readable.

I noticed two of Rattan's problems just in his email. For one thing, he's mentioned that he's written eight posts. That won't do. A good blog, a regular blog has to have more than that to get readers. It doesn't matter if no one is reading it, when someone does read it, they want more than just one page. For another, the title of his blog. It's far too long and boring. I'd simplify that. I understand that you want to make the title of your blog descriptive of your content, but that's what the 'About' section is for. Make it snappy and relevant, make it something I will not want to skip.

Once that's taken care of, address your audience. You want students to read it? Make the posts conversational, less academic. Write like you're talking to young people. Maybe you could get some kind of character for yourself. For instance, if they were your students, what would they call you? Address the students you're talking to directly, and work through the maze of language accessibly.

And when you're done tweaking your content, start emailing people. Do you know anyone who might benefit from your blog? Do you know anyone who likes the English language as much as you do? Send them emails, asking them nicely to take the time out to read and leave a comment.

Word spreads like that. Comment on other similar sites, people will usually click on a commenter's ID to see what their own blog is about. And don't be discouraged. Blogging is like a lottery. Of the millions out there, some win and some don't. Keep trying.

Meenakshi writes a blog at the compulsiveconfessor.blogspot.com. Send her your queries at

meenakshimadhavan@gmail.com