Don't get lost in Blogland

Hello. Virginia asked a question a few posts back, so I'll answer it now. She is thinking of starting a blog and asks how do people find me. Well Virginia, it is a bit of a mystery isn't it, when I started no one knew me, and now I get 6,000 page views a day. Where do they all come from? I never expected this when I started my online diary.

I'll start by asking you a question, how did you find me? There's a clue in your answer. I started looking at other people's blogs, and if I felt I could add anything to the topic I left a comment. That then left my footprint (link) which other people could click on to have a nosy about me on my blog. They in turn left me a comment and put me on their sidebar reading list. It's like a snowball getting bigger and bigger and gathering momentum as you roll it down a hill. The more you read other peoples blogs and leave comments the more you get back.

Blog hopping from one to the next is normal, everyone does it. I do it, I see a post title on someone's side bar which catches my eye I think, I'll go and have a look at that. I might make a comment, or I might not. If you click on any of the followers little pictures it will take you to their profile so you can see if they have a blog or not. When you follow a blog your picture will appear on their sidebar.

It used to be that some bloggers asked for an exchange in links, you read mine and I'll read yours. They don't do that so much now. Those that asked were usually those who were starting a blog as a business and wanted to increase their page views, thus enabling them to get sponsorship.

Some bloggers do make a lot of money, but they spend a lot of time promoting their blog on other social networking sites. They need people to follow them and ask them to sign up, it makes the numbers look good. Someone could sign up to follow and never read the blog again, or on the other hand a blog can be open for anyone to read without them having to join anything.

Of course, you could ask all your friends and family to read your blog if you start one. I did at first, and they did read, but now most of them don't bother. My sister and my best friend very rarely read unless I tell them of a post they might be interested in.

If you do start one, Virginia, do it for you. Don't write for an audience because that is a different style of writing. I would much rather read a chatty, humorous blog than one from someone who has spent time writing a word perfect, grammatically correct, with perfect punctuation, article. I think it''s easy to tell the difference. I can read a magazine or newspaper if I want to read an article.

Are you going to give it a go, let me know and I'll have a read.

Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip