A Veteran Blogger’s Advice on Growing Traffic and Finding Community

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Boulder, Colorado-based Susie Lindau recently celebrated six years of blogging on Susie Lindau’s Wild Ride, where she publishes on a wide range of topics — from surviving breast cancer to her travel adventures. To make her blogiversary meaningful for others, Susie posted her 18 best blog tips, providing frank, time-tested ideas. Below, you’ll find three that resonated with us.

Write what you are passionate about.

What excites you? I post about the events in my life that rile me up or touch me in some way. I also enjoy reading great stories. Ones that move me to tears or that make me think differently about a subject. Ones that open my heart or make me laugh. There used to be a lot more laughter here in the blogosphere.

How much are you willing to share? I draw lines when considering other people, but anything that happens to me personally is fair game. Being self-effacing is who I am.

What are your hobbies, interests or activities? What starts your motor? Maybe you’re into cars.

The biggest mistake is copying what others are doing. Being unique is a gift. Reflect that in your blog and stand out from the crowd!

Share your blog on social media.

Join Facebook blog-promotion groups, Pinterest group boards, and Twitter hashtags […] to promote your blog. Make sure you have your social media linked up to share when you post, especially Twitter. That way, when someone shares your hard work, your username is included in the tweet and you can thank them.

Blogging builds a community of real friendships.

I can’t say enough about my blog community. My readers have come through for me big time when my life got tough, but they read about my fun adventures too. I’ve made so many friends here. How? Through commenting. It’s a form of conversation. I read their blogs and comment too. Sometimes it carries over into social media. Check out mine in the sidebar. I’ve met lots of bloggers when traveling. Friends for life!

 

Read all 18 tips from Susie on her blog — including advice on finding quality photos and developing a personal brand.

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138 Comments

  10. So after reading your post I immediately copied and saved the URL of those 18 helpful hints. Let’s see if I remember that I have that URL since my helpful URL list is growing by leaps and bounds. I’m a newbie to blogging also – three weeks with this new blog. I started a different blog but got tired of the subject so I pivoted to what I’m doing now. I’ve set certain goals for myself to achieve, let’s see if I have the where with all to actually accomplish them. I’m flying by the seat of my pants right now… I am hoping this whole thing becomes easier and second nature to me (soon, lol).

    Liked by 5 people

  24. Great post! I wish I had engaged my blog community when my life got tough… I hunkered down in a cave for 4 YEARS before I started writing again. Crazy right? Thankfully I’m back and trying to get reengaged with my community. reading things like this motivates me to stay engaged and not give up. I was getting hundreds of hits a day when I started and now get like 50. Its occasionally depressing. So much work to do. lol Anyways.. Thanks! 🙂

    Liked by 6 people

  32. Starting out as well, thanks for sharing! Just made my first post and trying to get into sharing, any feedback from fellow newbs here would be awesome!

    Liked by 7 people

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