Blogging was more of a hobby and later it became a great way to make money. Initially, when a person starts blogging, he/she usually worries about how to increase traffic. We all know that more traffic means more money, but many of us don’t realize that more loyal readers means more trust which will help you make more money in the long run. These loyal readers will help you get more readers and act as brand advocates.
In order to get loyal readers, it is very important to build a community around your blog. Now, the most common question is how to form a community ?
Community means everyone is involved and growing together. It is never an individual job, but a collective one. When it comes to blogging, there are many ways to create a community. To form a community, you need to have a niche. The reason is that people with a single interest will have more interactions. The idea is to bring the power of forum communities into blogs. In forums, user comments and replies always add value, and similarly, in blogs, we can create such a community that we end up discussing every topic. This would not be possible without community building and community participation.
Why is it important to build a community around your blog?
Think of the basic definition of community. ***A group of ordinary people who live together or share the same attributes *** .
Think about it from the perspective of an average reader. If he likes your blog, he will definitely be interested in becoming a part of it in various ways. The best way is to let them choose to join your brand's various social channels and become a part of your blog.
What communities can you build within your blog?
The options are endless, and if you were to search for various social media widgets for your blog, you’d probably end up covering every section of your blog with them. The best approach is to target your visitors’ needs and offer them the best options.
I will focus on some widely used options that will help you create a blogging community.
Facebook Fan Page
Facebook is one of the main sites for bloggers after Digg. If you check my monthly traffic report, you will see the traffic I get from Facebook. There are many ways to build a community on Facebook. However, I will only mention two or three of the best options. Facebook pages are a great way to showcase yourself as a community and brand. You can simply invite your fans to join your blog's Facebook fan page. This will also help you with branding later.
Example: How to get fans from Facebook
Your blog's Twitter page
Twitter is one such tool that works very well. Most bloggers use their Twitter profile to update their readers on the latest happenings. While this is a good practice, what about those readers who are more interested in your blog updates than others? It is best to create a Twitter profile for your blog and make RSS feeds to update your Twitter profile. It is also a good idea to create two Twitter profiles, one for official blog updates and announcements and another for personal Twitter profile. You can see an example below:
There are many other options and widgets you can use on your blog. You may not see a ton of followers following it, but in the long run you will form a great community.
Google + Business Page
In 2011, Google launched Google+ Pages, which looks like a replica of Facebook Pages. Now that we all know the role of Google+ in SEO, we can't ignore the community building on the Google+ network. Google+ Pages also provides a widget that you can embed in your blog, and readers can make their own circles.
warn
Try to limit the number of social media widgets you use on your blog as this can cause an increase in your site’s loading time.
Please tell us what tools do you use to build community through blogging? Are you a part of a favorite blogging community?
Further reading:
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