My wordpress popularity really seems to fluctuate somewhere in between that was a fair Idol audition and good God, get off the stage.
And that’s okay. I appreciate that certain posts just don’t resonate, but I’d really like to understand the formula. I know there are probably prime times to publish, not to mention better days of the week. Appealing eye-candy for the more visual and just the right tags can also make all the difference.
I try to post fairly regularly and of course I always attempt to be fresh and witty…can’t you tell? Yes, I have a facebook page (which you are of course, more than free to share and like) and I do boast my posts through various other forms of social media. However, I’ve never topped thirty-five likes on a wordpress post.
I’m pleased with my progress to date, but it confuses me to see bloggers just starting out, that have already garnered thousands of views and the same in followers. I find posts that consist simply of a quote, one photo or a half-cocked thought, with hundreds of likes.
Don’t get me wrong – more power to these fellow floggers. I’m just dying to know err, interested in how this comes about.
On a more personal, specific level – I wrote a short story a few posts back, called Helena. It received twenty-five likes. Clearly, one of my more popular posts. The next, a continuation of Helena, only got thirteen.
Now, Gladys is written in the same style as Helena and continues the storyline from the original. The third installation, Mrs. Statton, is more of the same and hit fifteen likes. A little better, but still nowhere near the first twenty-five for Helena. Eat Crow, the fourth piece…eight whopping likes.
Whonh, whonh, whonh.
What I’d like to know is – did I post at a bad time, on the wrong day? Did my writing change from audition-acceptable to incapable of carrying a tune? Or, is it that you believe Helena should have remained where I left her?
Besides helping motivate continued writing, a writer’s hope is that blogging will bring the crucial feedback needed to sharpen and buff their trusted sword. So, it stands to reason, that in a perfect world, readers will be the worn grit paper and soft polishing cloth at the end of every post.
I have read so many articles on blogging and I’m still learning myself. A few things I have picked up is to not post late Friday, and to also post early in the day if possible during the week. Images also help a lot when included in posts. It’s still a mystery to me.
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Your blog, for example Phil, as far as I can tell, doesn’t even have a like option! Is that right? I know it can be liked on facebook, but not on your actual blog? Still, you get oodles and oodles of comments, so you know people are reading, and well, enjoying.
I try to post early in the day, but sometimes I break the Friday or, ‘weekend’ rule and post whenever I feel like it. Once in a while I get discouraged and say what the hell – it doesn’t matter anyway. And, I always include visual aids. LOL.
Ah, well. Maybe my content just isn’t that popular.
You are very generous on your site, allowing…maybe even requiring…commenters to include a link to their most recent post and twitter handle. That’s awesome. If I knew how to do that, I would.
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I think it’s a bit of trial and error. Do what suits you and your time schedule. You write very well.
I’m not sure why I can’t seem to get a Like button to appear on my posts other than the Facebook one. I’ve looked into it but can’t seem to figure it out. No biggie, as I’d rather have the Facebook and Social Networking buttons foremost so people can share.
I downloaded the Comment Luv plug in and it has worked great! Allows for those commenting to leave links for thier posts which helps drive traffic. Seems to work for me.
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HA! You just spurred me on to fix it. All I needed was an update. Now I have a Likes button. Go see and let me know if it works.
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Hee hee! Now I am the first and only person to like your last several posts…seeing as you just installed the button. Yay!!
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So glad you broke my cherry Hazy!
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LOL!
I’m sad now because I looked into adding “commentluv” and apparently I can’t on wp.com…only wp.org allows plug-ins. Dagnabbit!
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That’s odd. My blog is also there. Are you sure?
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There’s a lot of benefit to hosting your own blog, like being able to use plug-ins. (Everything else about WordPress works the same, so there’s no learning curve apart from setting it up.) The downside is the expense.
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Well, I am super confused. I watched the tutorial on adding it and it seems very simple, except my dashboard doesn’t have a plug-ins option. I have been a self-hosted blog for two years.
http://wordpress.com/help/search/plug-ins
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It’s an enigma for sure. I pretty much have the same problem. I also get a lot of people who follow but don’t “like” anything… and I am thinking… well why did you follow? lol.
How often do you go out and comment on other blogs? Usually the days I get the most views, comments and likes are the days I am more active on other peoples blogs (funny how that works, lol).
I think some of it’s luck, timing, humor, pictures… and well luck, lol. 😀
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A lot of it has to do with timing and luck, for sure, Green Embers. Even commenting on someone else’s post is all about timing. If you comment after the rush has hit…hours, days or weeks after everyone else…it will do you no good. You have to be one of the first likers/commenters to get much buzz off of that.
Again – I am definitely guilty of not enough interacting. I don’t like to get liked, if you know what I mean, so I suppose I only have myself to blame. I guess I’d just like to think that if you want to keep your head down, focus on your writing and build a loyal audience, you should be able to do that too.
I’m happy you came by and commented. It reminds me you’re out there. As much has been said about familiar bloggers getting smoked by the avalanche. I’ll try and keep an eye out for you!
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If you find the formula, I’d like to know it too! 😀
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Wouldn’t we all, Harliqueen… 😀
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I still don’t understand WP. Sometimes I get heaps of hits and other times it just all falls flat. Usually when I post a picture I get more hits. if I put up a review of one of my books all I hear is crickets 😉
I prefer reading shorter posts (but that’s usually because I don’t have the time to sit and read one blog post for half an hour unless it’s something I’m really interested in).
Those posts you talk about with the pictures with a quote or one photo get a heap of likes because it takes little effort to sit and examine, read, understand what the blogger is trying to say, and then provide a useful comment – all you have to do is look at the picture or read one line and say – hey I like this, or I don’t like this.
I can see at the side of your page you have over 3,000 followers – that’s pretty good, but what gets me is that there aren’t 3,000 likes on your posts – so what happens to these ‘followers’? I have about 1,800 followers, but they must have forgotten me because I’ve never had 1,800 likes.
When you find the formula, please let us know (and if I find it, I’ll let you know) 😉
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Ahh, but Dianne…you draw hundreds of likes and comments! My fingers get sore scrolling past them all so that I can leave mine. Ha ha! As for the book reviews…I think just as many people read them, but as the review wasn’t written by you, that’s probably all they do – read! It’s you they love to like! 😉
This is interesting though. It keeps bringing me back to something that’s been floating around in my head – perhaps blogging isn’t the place for the actual writing of fiction. For example – you don’t really post pieces of your fiction on your blog – you mostly write about your life. People seem to be drawn to that. You have a wonderful blog with a happy, positive, peaceful vibe.
I definitely try and keep my posts quite short. Anywhere from 250-750 words and they always include some sort of visual representation. I know it says I have over 3000 followers, but they are including my fb and twitter feeds. I actually have 605 straight up wp followers….something I’m proud of!
I agree we should share the secret should we ever find it in some mysterious corner of this crazy blogosphere. 🙂
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You’re right about the fiction and now you’ve got me thinking…
I’ve never posted my fiction on my posts – although I do have a separate page where I’ve place the first paragraphs of each story in my book of short stories that have won writing awards. I did this mainly because I’ve been asked a lot about short stories and what the secret is to getting people’s attention (or judges attention) in the first few lines (now that I mention this I’ll have to go back to my pages and see if I can find where that page is – my blog needs a Spring clean!)
Having said that – I try and make each post a ‘story’ within itself. I think if people who read my posts like my writing then they’re actually reading my ‘mini stories’ which is always a good thing to know 😀
Sorry if there’s typos in this, but I left my glasses at my friend’s place last night and can’t see very well 😦
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It makes sense that you don’t. AFter all, you’re an established, published author with an existing platform. It’s very kind of you to post the first paragraph of your stories and books. That’s how I choose my authors…not by the cover, not by the dust jacket blurb…by the first paragraph they’ve written.
I think that’s why your blog is so welcoming. You’re interesting and entertaining, but you’re relaxed. It doesn’t feel like you’re trying too hard and please know – I mean that as a big compliment.
Don’t worry about typos – if I forgot my glasses, the page would be filled with silence! 🙂
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I totally understand what you mean. If I go into a blog and all I hear is ‘you must buy my book’ I feel like I’m getting the ‘hard sell’ and lose interest. I like to now the author ‘as a person’ and this is where blogging is great because you learn more about them and then get interested in their writing 😉
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I’m finding that if you want any kind of traction on posts you usually have to build in reciprocal links and that more often that not means linking to Daily Prompts and pinching all of their links to other blogger posts. I’ve found very few people reading my posts (even with all of my followers) if I don’t provide the links in some way to generate some traffic. Also it is not enough to link to massively popular websites, as you are just feeding their traffic, with little to none of it heading back to you.
I think that it is a good idea to get as many e-mail subscribers as possible but my ratio is 98% bloggers, which is love because there is a lot of quality talent out there but they are probably subscribing to many blogs too. E-mail only subscribers have less competition but are of course harder to get, I’ve had to almost hold friends at metaphorical gunpoint and walk them through the process just to get them on my mailing list, no-one seems to want to finish off the second part of the two stage activation process.
I tend to find I don’t get much at the moment by mentioning stuff on FaceBook and Twitter. However, I am trying a social media experiment where I build lists linking to people I know across FaceBook, LinkedIn, Twitter and WordPress and because I am sharing content with people who are becoming more familiar with me, I am developing deeper relationships with, this is generating more comments.
Finally, I would suggest networking with other bloggers that have thousands of followers, commenting on their pages often and they will often end up repaying the favour.
Hope this helps 🙂
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Hey Too Full…nice to hear from you again!
You are a perfect example of someone I used to read/like/comment on fairly regularly. But as you say, time goes by, news feeds fill, and the ones you first started out with can get buried if a consistent relationship isn’t maintained.
I have about 10 bloggers that I read & interact with faithfully and they do reciprocate. They are among the first few bloggers who formed a bond that stuck through the thick and the thin, so to speak. i know that it’s good to get your gravatar out there for all to see, but I don’t do the “like to be liked” thing. I will only like things that I truly like and yes, that could possibly be to my own detriment. I guess I just figure, if I write well enough, and compose intriguing content, readers will find me no matter what. Sort of an “if you build it, they will come” attitude.
Having said that, it makes sense that if every blogger is following hundreds of other bloggers, most of us will drown in that shuffle unless, and you’re right, we do things like link to their blogs, reblog their posts and comment on their content. I now have 605 followers and like your 667, only 18 of them are email subscribers, as opposed to wp followers.
I really appreciate your comment and the reminder that you’re out there. I will try to, once again, connect to you through our posts.
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Thanks Hazy 🙂 It is probably more difficult for us because we are not famous already, it can take painstakingly long to develop a following. I’ve tried to think of more ways to engage with my audience but it is not easy, all you can keep doing is pressing and guessing, then evolving. Any time you want to write some collaborative poetry or a story then let me know too!
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Sounds like we are all still experimenting to some degree. I wrote one post that to this day (several years later) still gets hits–I just happen to nick a popular topic. But for the most part…crickets. I’ve had varying degrees of traffic escalations when participating on group efforts (blog hops, etc…) but then it goes back down.
I have noticed, though, that the way people interact via blogs has changed in the past year. I see less participation across the board. The “likes” seem to be for short, uplifting posts whereas in previous years people enjoyed reading essays and engaging more. Perhaps we are all “stress high and time short,” or maybe other forms of social media have taken precedence over blogs. In any case, just keep on typing 🙂 And if one of us finds the magic formula we can let each other know.
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Hi Robyn,
I agree with you that stress if high and time is short. People definitely gravitate towards quicker, more positive posts. I definitely try and keep things brief and usually, optimistic, if it fits what I’m writing.
I’m of two minds, really. I want the feedback and of course, accolades are always bolstering, but as I mentioned in someone else’s comment above, I’m not willing to ‘like to be liked’, nor would I compromise my content to garner an audience.
I write for me, yes, but let’s face it – I’m not scribbling in a journal – I’m putting it out there for all to read, because, obviously, readership is important to me. It’s a very confusing and convoluted place to be. I do not, however, have any intention of stopping!
I’m really happy you came by and that you commented. It’s nice to know there are others out there who are perhaps feeling the same way. (And yes, we’ll definitely share!) 😉
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I like the email as a reminder if my Facebook has too many posts for me to look at on busy days…. I am surprised by this post – i never noticed how many likes you get – i just assumed there were hundreds – as there should be!
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Email subscribers are awesome because of the personal reminder they get that a new post is out. As I mention above, the wp newsfeed fills fast and a new post can be buried in minutes, meaning a wp follower never sees the alert. That translates into a post never being read.
And yeah…I should have hundreds of likes, shouldn’t I? LOL. Thanks, friend!
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I’m curious to find the formula as well. I have various blogs, post early week day mornings, use links and social media. My blog topics are varied. I see the same thing with newbies and ask the same question. I do like shorter posts and keep my own under 700 words. I follow a lot of blogs and the short ones are better for me. I’m reblogging to see if any of my followers have ideas.
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I don’t know what to tell you, PC. I do the same things and I feel the same way.
But, you are huge promoter of other writers and I really want you to see some return from that. I know that’s know why you do it, but it doesn’t matter. You deserve to feel some of that warm karma glow.
I really appreciate the reblog and hopefully we’ll find some hidden treasures. 😉
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Looking fwd to the next post. Loved them all to date!! 😀
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Thank you very much, Don!
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Certainly not boring reading Hazy. Should be so many more likes. 😊
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Mom – make them like me! LOL. Thanks, as always, for your support! ❤
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HI Hazy–I’m finding being a blogger (I don’t really like the word blog actually–never have) is not at all what I thought it would be. I like the creative opportunity that is presented us and I too tried to ‘follow the bloggers manual’. But when you do you lose what you bring to the table. What is it you want to say? Why do you feel its important to say it? who cares? who do you want to reach? Some of the questions I grappled with until I decided that I would just be me-tell my ‘story’ for that day or week and those who care will find me and those who don’t won’t. If no body does then I’ll know that it is time to move on and do something else. I’m not saying that you feel like this but if I let my ego and my self-worth interfere with what brings me joy and peace then I have lost the purpose of sharing who I am with others. Just be who you are and tell it like you feel it. The rest will sort itself out–all the best–JIm
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Hi Jim…my long-lost buddy,
I have no intention of stopping. As I’ve said before, I write for me, but I’m clearly putting it out there for all to see, so readership must be important, in my mind.
I feel the same way as you, for the most part. If it’s meant to be, I will be found, but at the same time, what is blogging for, but to reach out to others and feel a hand on the other end?
Thank you so much for commenting!
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I’m as perplexed as you. There’s little rhyme or reason (at least, that I can decipher) as to what makes a post more or less popular, or even how to get more followers and more comments. Overall, I think you do really, really well.
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I totally don’t get it, Dex. I’m assuming there’s something to be said for all the commenting, liking, linking…or what I would call schmoozing. I’ve just never been good at that. I want to attract real readers and and am not interested in liking to be liked. But…it is truly hard to be found on wordpress without getting your gravatar out there via other people’s posts. I’m pretty sure wp gears it that way.
You’re a great writer and should definitely be grabbing a larger audience.
I thank you kindly, for your bolstering words. 🙂
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Thank you for your kind words, too. I’m as baffled as you are, but, honestly, I stopped trying to figure it out a while back. I just write. I would really like for more people to read it, but I’m gonna keep writing, regardless. 🙂
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I’m clueless.
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Marilyn! You’re another one that obviously gets buried in my feed. I need to do a Spring clean-up!
Thank you for letting me know you’re clueless. At least I’m not alone. 😉
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I would like to say I love your blog and the wonderful and beautiful things you share as well as the inspiration and smiles you bring in doing so! Thank you for being you and I hope even if you do not accept awards you will accept the sentiment expressed as I honor you with one. There is no prize that comes with the award other than my appreciation and being grateful you are part of our world and making a difference by sharing in such a positive way…
I have posted the award and link to it here I hope you will accept it or at least the sentiment behind it! http://artisticlyxpressedthoughts.wordpress.com/2014/03/27/awards-and-shared-gifts/
With love,
Joe
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Joe!
This actually brought a tear to my eye. What lovely things you’ve said about me. I am very, very grateful for your kindness and I appreciate the honour you’ve bestowed upon me.
In friendship,
Hazy
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