New Blog, No Readers

Whatnuclearsub

Hi there, Im new to this whole blogging business, I have been blogging pub reviews every day for three weeks now and still have no readers. Its also a micro social networking site and a site were people can submit reviews and I was hoping once I got a few members it would get the ball rolling. But no readers so far, anybody have any tips on what I can do to attract my first few members/readers?

biko

Put a small link in your signature.
I see you've already posted in "Look at my stuff" thread.

Whatnuclearsub

biko wrote: »

Put a small link in your signature.
I see you've already posted in "Look at my stuff" thread.

I have a link in my signature, I think? Is it not showing up to other users?

biko

Ha, I had sigs turned off
Yeah, that's it but you need to add a little blurb about what goes on behind the link. I'm not going to click a random link in someone's sig unless I and curious.
Change it to "My pub blog for the Irish East Coast" or something that will make people curious.

Three weeks is just a start, you'll have to give it time.
Just a note, don't point to your own material when posting on boards, it'll just come across as spammy.

Mrs OBumble

Figure out what pubs people might be searching for on Google, but which don't have social media profiles themselves. (Hint: think grotty old-man venues ... :-) ), and write about them. [You might think that everything is already there, but trust me, it's not.]

Email the link to your mum and all your friends. They'll probably read it even if they don't care about the reviews. In the early days, any readers are good.

Write something controversial, that will get people sharing it 'cos they disagree.

Figure out how to link in with Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest (pubs are great for pictures). I know you've got "login with Facebook" - but it's likes/shares you need to take off, not logins.

Find an angle to get a press release into your local news paper (eg "Bally-bogville man launchs innovative pub price comparion tool").

Find a forum that's specifically about pubs/hospitality venues, or maybe about the country and start to contribute there. Don't advertise your blog to start with, just quietly build up a reputation there, so that you can drop in a link when them moment is right. I'd recommend TripAdvisor (start giving advice about your town) - but there are many others.

But before you do anything else ... find some way to show what country these pubs are in! It's a .com site, so most people will assume the USA ...

Whatnuclearsub

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Figure out what pubs people might be searching for on Google, but which don't have social media profiles themselves. (Hint: think grotty old-man venues ... :-) ), and write about them. [You might think that everything is already there, but trust me, it's not.]

Email the link to your mum and all your friends. They'll probably read it even if they don't care about the reviews. In the early days, any readers are good.

Write something controversial, that will get people sharing it 'cos they disagree.

Figure out how to link in with Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest (pubs are great for pictures). I know you've got "login with Facebook" - but it's likes/shares you need to take off, not logins.

Find an angle to get a press release into your local news paper (eg "Bally-bogville man launchs innovative pub price comparion tool").

Find a forum that's specifically about pubs/hospitality venues, or maybe about the country and start to contribute there. Don't advertise your blog to start with, just quietly build up a reputation there, so that you can drop in a link when them moment is right. I'd recommend TripAdvisor (start giving advice about your town) - but there are many others.

But before you do anything else ... find some way to show what country these pubs are in! It's a .com site, so most people will assume the USA ...

Thank you for taking your time to have a look at my blog and helping me out. That is all great advice and I will give them tips a go!

Domain

Just a reminder as you probably already know - Backlinks.

They are not only the cornerstone of SEO but they get clicks to, I would devote a portion of your day to studying backlinking techniques.

PM me the blog link if you want a quick review also.

Mrs OBumble

Domain wrote: »

Just a reminder as you probably already know - Backlinks.

They are not only the cornerstone of SEO but they get clicks to, I would devote a portion of your day to studying backlinking techniques.

PM me the blog link if you want a quick review also.

Yawn. Backlinks are sooo pre-striped-animal(*).

Forget about cultivating backlinks, the only ones that are any good are naturally occurring ones, and the one in your signature on boards.ie.




(*) OP, if you don't understand that comment ... "Panda" and "Penguin" were the names given to Google changes last year which changed the rules of the game regarding how effective backlinks are.

Domain

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Yawn. Backlinks are sooo pre-striped-animal(*).

Forget about cultivating backlinks, the only ones that are any good are naturally occurring ones, and the one in your signature on boards.ie.




(*) OP, if you don't understand that comment ... "Panda" and "Penguin" were the names given to Google changes last year which changed the rules of the game regarding how effective backlinks are.

That's what I'm advocating - Good backlinking techniques, not spamming them everywhere, they are still very very important, I mean in quality over quantity of course.

RobGJ

It can take a long time to build up a readership for a blog and you have to stay at it, grinding it out until the readers/comments/followers/likers start to come.. Don't get disheartened and keep at it. If some or your reviews are positive for particular pubs why not ask if you can stick a poster/stickers in pub/toilets - show the publican the review you did and if it's positive they'll hopefully allow you to promote. Also, check to see if any of the pubs you've reviewed are on FB/Twitter/etc and, if the review is positive, send it to them to share. Often times community managers are looking for good stuff to share and if you can provide it for them then happy days.. Good luck with it..