Is Your Blog A Thriving Community?

Blogging is a unique writing medium. For years people read paper publications and then with the advent of the internet, they also had access to electronic ones. The world of information sharing has grown by leaps and bounds, but blogging has presented us with a unique writing platform, one that has the potential to be highly interactive.

It is the interactive nature of the blog that gives us the opportunity to form relationships with our readers. This kind of interpersonal interaction was almost impossible for traditional authors. As bloggers we have the unique opportunity of building communities of readers that not only interact with us the blogger, but with each other through the ability to comment on posts.

By building a strong sense of community with your readers, and by encouraging them to do the same amongst themselves, your blog benefits immensely. How do you ensure that your blog becomes a thriving community and not just a stale publication? There are several things that you can do to make this happen:

1. – Encourage commenting. If you moderate your comments, review and approve them as quickly as possible. Also respond to your commenters, engage them in further conversation. Comments are an opportunity to build relationships that can help your blog to flourish.

2. Maintain a Do Follow blog. One where the links to commenters’ sites will be followed from your blog back to theirs by search engines. Everybody is more likely to respond when they see something extra in it for them.

3. – Create a blog roll. I’m not talking about the the kind that sits in your sidebar and get’s unmanageably large. Create a static post page where your readers can add themselves to the roll by leaving a comment with a brief introduction of who they are and what their own blog is all about. This is like a cross between a guestbook and a blog roll. It’s interactive and provides a permanent backlink for the contributors.

4. – Exchange guest posts with your readers. It gives you both a chance to gain exposure to new audiences. This of course has the potential to broaden the reader base for both of you. Isn’t reciprocity wonderful?

5. – Visit the blogs or sites of those who leave comments on your posts. While you’re there leave a comment yourself and mention that you appreciate that they visited your blog. Simple acknowledgment and appreciation will go a long way to building your blog community.

6. – Visit other blogs in your niche and leave some meaningful comments for them. They may very well return the favor and your community will benefit and grow from your efforts. Don’t approach them as competitors, but rather as potential collaborators. As a bonus, you may also find some good ideas for future topics for your own blog posts.

7. – Install a forum on your site. This is especially effective as your blog grows larger and more active. Forums are a great way to get your readers to interact with each other in broader ways than those provided by commenting alone.

8. – Join and participate in blogging communities and forums yourself. Communities such as Bloghology and Blog Catalog offer you the opportunity to meet other bloggers in your niche. Participating in forums related to your blog topic also gives you an opportunity to introduce yourself and your blog to more potential readers.

You may not have the time to employ all of these tactics in your quest to grow your blog community, but you owe it to yourself and your blog to try at least some of them. Experiment a little, what works for some may not work for you. Find community building activities that fit into your own style and schedule. The important thing is to have some kind of strategy for building your blog community. After all you want a lively and active blog, not a stale and lifeless journal.

Image from Wikipedia

Written by Joella Molson from Blogs With Wings
Posted on November 24th, 2009 and filed under Blogging
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