Why Your Branded Blog Has Zero Readership

Hey there, blogger, ever feel like you’re whistling into the wind?

If so, take heart, because you’re hardly alone. Attracting a readership is a tough task in any medium, and these days no one “place” is as busy with writers struggling for an attention-deficit addled readership than the blogosphere.

But the ways to attract eyeballs aren’t magic tricks. They’re commons sense. From frequency, to format, to content, here are five reasons your blog might be losing readers:

1. You Don’t Post Regularly

A day without new content is a day readers are likely skip your blog. Granted it can be tough to keep your words flowing, so here are some tips to maximize your efforts:

Divide: If you’ve got a post that tops 700–800 words, think about breaking it into two parts. Presto! You’ve just solved your posting problems for the next couple of days.

Recycle: If you’ve been at it long enough, go back through your older postings. A good idea in 2009 is a good idea today, too. Rewrite the top to freshen it for the present, revisit a challenge in a new context.

2. Your Posts Are Too Long/Dense

If your posts are lengthy dense considerations of your subject, your readers may leave even your best efforts for some other time.

Remember that many online visitors are dropping in during ‘tween times: before work, lunch breaks, etc . . . Use lists and bullets to emphasize the scan-ability of your work. Get the main ideas into low word-count structures.

3. You Present Instead of Discuss Your Subject

Frequency and format are one thing. Content is another. For example, say you’re writing a blog tied to your freelance photographry business:

Explore: Create a conversation around the technique you used in a shot or assignment. Invite reactions and contradictions from your audience.

Invert: A great way to get discussion going is to invert your listeners’ expectations. Our photo-blogger could post a mistake instead of a stellar shot, and then get the ball rolling with readers by inviting analysis of what happened to cause such an epic fail.

4. You’re Putting on a Character

Honesty is the best policy. Be vulnerable and be real. If you’re not the world’s most recognized expert at what you do, trying to pretend that you are isn’t going to work. Instead, make your journey part of the experience. Comfort in company is a compelling reason to read (and to share).

5. Your Readers Can’t Share Your Work

Finally, even if you’re doing all of the above things right, if you don’t give your readers the tools to connect to friends and family — Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, an “e-mail this” button — they can’t share your work and your readership won’t grow.

Work on these five tips and you’re bound to move the numbers you want in the right direction. Keep coming back to The Content Strategist for more how-to’s and case studies in blogging strategies.

Image courtesy of futureshape/flickr, jm3/flickr