Maybe you started a blog and haven’t kept up with regular posts. Or you post regularly, but haven’t been able to build the reader community that you wanted to develop. Or maybe your blog just looks old and tired. As long as your blog is sleeping and not dead (give it a nudge to make sure), there’s hope!
Here are a few fairly painless ways to give your blog an energy boost and get yourself excited about blogging again in the process.
Check Site Analytics for Clues
Your first step should be checking your site analytics (if you don’t have an analytics tool set up, now is the time to do it) and your feed stats to see how people are finding your blog and what they’re reading. This will give you a good idea about what to focus on in terms of content.
Your blog’s awakening may be as simple as writing more on a specific topic, adding a new category or working on using more SEO-friendly keywords.
Change Your Theme
It may seem superficial, but blogs are often judged on their looks. If your blog has confusing navigation, an ugly header or just lacks something to draw readers in, it’s a great candidate for a fresh theme. If you’re using WordPress, there are so many free themes to chose from, and a number of excellent premium themes that can literally change the first impression your blog makes overnight.
You may also want to consider including more images within your posts, and possibly selecting a theme that uses thumbnails throughout the blog. Pictures work!
Line Up a Guest Blogger
If you’re struggling to post consistently, don’t have the knowledge and experience on a specific topic, or just want to add some variety, guest bloggers could be an option. It’s not always easy to find good guests, especially if you’re still trying to shake the cobwebs off your blog. But if you’re successful, the positive results can have a lasting impact.
Put the Focus on Your Readers
If you feel like you’re talking to an empty stadium, it may be because you’re not inviting anyone else to participate. Try relating your posts back to your readers by asking targeted questions when relevant.
Polls, contests and other reader-focused activities are a great way to build engagement, too. A captive audience won’t gather overnight, but with time and consistency, you will see a gradual change.
Post Something Controversial
One way to shake up a quiet blog is to get people fired up. Take a stand on a hot topic, post a rebuttal to a popular blogger’s perspective, talk about alternative ideas, or whatever it takes to generate some traffic and activity around your blog. Be warned that once you do this, the pressure is on to continue the fire with future posts, and you may have a lot of passionate comments to field (not a bad thing!).
Use Social Media
Get your blog set up to feed into your Twitter, Facebook and other social networking accounts, and be open to having dialogue about your posts off your blog. That’s right, all engagement and interaction doesn’t have to take place within your blog comments. It’s a win if you’re able to encourage people to click through and hopefully continue to follow along.
Add Video
Give your readers some great information and a peek at the “live” you. A video blog post here and there can not only make you more relatable and real, but you may be able to pull in the interest of a whole new audience.
There are a lot of ways to rejuvenate a sleeping blog. If you’re willing to go through some trial and error as you test out new ideas, consistently post relevant content and give your readers what they want, you’ll eventually hit your mark and be able to keep your blog awake and alert.
Have you experienced a comatose blog? What have you done to make your blog function more effectively?
Image credit: jaimo
Alyssa GregoryAlyssa Gregory is a digital and content marketer, small business consultant, and the founder of the Small Business Bonfire — a social, educational and collaborative community for entrepreneurs.
