Top 15 Most Effective Ways to Build a Huge Blog Community (Part 1)

Having a large blog community is something most writers only dream of and having a large Muslim community an prove to be very helpful in many ways.  It is an essential piece of a blog, especially if you write an in order to spread a message or promote a product.  Write as you may, produce quality quality as you may – without a community, you have done little to serve the target market you’re aiming for.

Building a large blog community is also important for people who get paid by pay per click advertising.   PPP advertising means that every time a user clicks onto a link on your blog, you get paid. Or even vice-versa, when you pay everytime someone clicks – you want it to be worth your money.

For those of you that blog for an income, this is the type of post that will help your pay day will be a whole lot higher Insha’Allah.  I’ll be splitting up this post into 2 parts so it will be easier to digest.  This will also help you to focus on one set at a time Insha’Allah.

Here are the first 8 ways to turn your blog community from a tiny seed to a gigantic tree that benefits everyone around it:

1) Write good content

Although this tip may seem obvious, the best way to effectively grow your blog community is by ensuring that you have quality information.  In addition to your writing style, you should make sure that you are writing about something that people are interested in.  Although a topic such as turtle may get you excited, it may not be something readers are willing to sit and learn about.

Another way to improve your content is to spice it up by experimenting with different writing styles.  A blog about something serious, such as medical issues, might be more popular if it is written in an informative, versus an imaginative style.  You can also improve your writing content by taking classes or seminars on writing.  You might have great ideas, yet it doesn’t translate well through your writing.  You might need to work on your ability to write and retain the reader’s attention.
 

2) Make your blog easy to find

In order for people to know about your blog, they need to be able to find it.  Unfortunately, your blog on the internet is like a needle in a haystack (a really, really big haystack).  Even if you have great content – your growth rates will be inhibited by limited exposure.  The first step is to promote your blog on social media sites.  These sites include Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and much more.  Again, it is important to consider your target audience.  If you write a blog about professional business tips, you will probably be better off starting your promotion on LinkedIn than via Facebook

Another way to make your blog easily found is by promoting it on another person’s blog with the same topics, or same targeted demographic as you.  You can exchange promotional space on your blog site, for space on theirs.  Contrary to popular belief, promoting someone else’s blog does not necessarily hurt your business.
 

3) Target a specific community or demographic

In order to target a specific community or demographic, you need to find your niche.  This niche has to be something that you feel confident in writing about.  You can achieve this by promoting your blog to people who are interested in your niche, or creating a new niche based off of what people want.  The choice is yours and will largely depend on the importance of purpose which your blog is meant to serve as well as your knowledge regarding that topic.
 

4) Guest Posting

You can write a guest post on a popular blog in order to increase the traffic in your blog community.  Although this won’t benefit your blog directly, it gets your name and your work out there.  My suggestion with this tip is to write on another blog that correlates or is similar to your own.  As with #2,  writing a guest post on another person’s blog will not decrease the amount of traffic on your own site. This is a great method for someone who knows someone with a popular blog, and wants to get their name or writing style out there.

Have trust in Allah (Subhaanahu wa Ta’aala) that if you do what is best for your readers then it will work out for you Insha’Allah
 

5) Include a comments section (and use it)

By adding a comments section on your blog, you are doing more than just allowing readers to voice their opinions.  You are making the statement that your blog is a place where people can come, read, and discuss.  Creating an interactive community is essential when you are building up a blog community.

It’s a community and you want to let everyone know that their words and opinions are as important to you, as yours are to them.  This adds an additional benefit to readers and this step cannot be ignored.  Even the Huffington Post uses this method in order to increase their popularity.

 

6) Listen to your readers

Another method of growing your community is to listen to your readers.  You can achieve this by asking open-ended questions or by reading their comments.  Providing a comments section is also a great way to promote your blog because it shows that you have followers who are actively reading and being a part of your community.  You can further encourage your readers to write comments by rewarding, or giving recognition to the person who has the most or highest quality of questions.
 

7) Use plugins

Adding additional plug-ins to your blog can increase the size of your community and differentiate your blog from others.  For example, on WordPress there is a plugin which allows you to create a customizable poll question for your readers.  This can be especially important or useful if you are writing about a debate or policy, such as a political issue.  Readers are as interested in seeing what their peers have to say as they are to read one person’s opinion.

Another essential plugin to include in your blog is an SEO plug-in.  SEO is short for search engine optimization and plugins such as All in One SEO or WordPress SEO by Yoast can go a long way in helping your blog get noticed by search engines and, in turn, your future blogging community.
 

8) Take your Advertising to the Streets

Although bloggers will often try to promote their blogs online via social networking sites and other websites, they rarely spend enough time trying to sell their service face to face.  Even if your blog is purely informational and you’re not looking to make any money – it can only help to share it with others who might benefit from your knowledge.

If you really want to get the word out on your blog, you need to tell people about it.  If the thought of this has you scared, you can start off by telling people that you know.  You can also make business cards which include your blogs URL and what you will be writing about.  This is another less intimidating way to promote your blog face to face.

So let me ask you this: what do you do to build a blogging community?  Have you already tried them or do you have your own ways of doing things on your blog?

If you already have an awesome community then I really encourage you to share your experience and/or advice.  As a matter of fact, if you have an active blogging community then perhaps you could contact me to write a guest-post.

 (Photo: Flickr/marcp_dmoz)