Even though I’ve been blogging for over a decade, I don’t consider myself an ‘expert’ (because I’m not sure there is such a thing). However, I have learned a lot, and I do get frustrated because 90% of bloggers simply write articles, with no thought of promoting their work. They get next to zero readers. And so they get despondent and give up. So many bloggers will write one or two posts, get disappointed that their work isn’t being read, and so abandon their writing endeavours entirely.
No! This is not good, because so much great writing gets lost. You need to view WordPress as a community. We have an amazing tool called the Reader, which if you weren’t aware is like a search engine for WordPress blogs. You can choose ‘tags’ to follow, in accordance with your interests, and you can read and comment on other people’s blogs. This is what people in the WordPress community should be doing!
I’m not an advocate for ‘aggressive’ blog promotion, even though I have been guilty of doing it sometimes. By ‘aggressive’ I mean liking lots of posts without really reading them properly. What I usually do is follow lots of blogs that look interesting, and then when the new posts from these blogs come into my inbox, I read them and then decide whether to continue following them or unsubscribe. I have to be selective, of course, because no one has the attention to follow hundreds of blogs in an engaged way.
I do try to regularly read blogs carefully and thoughtfully and offer honest reflections and encouragement in the comments. And you should do this too! Because if you build relationships with other bloggers, you will have a deeper level of engagement, make friends, and perhaps your blog following will subsequently grow, which will give you the motivation to keep writing.
Also, just get a few basics in place. Make sure your blog has a profile photo, as this will appear in the emails that go out to your subscribers and when you comment. Otherwise your blogging efforts look half-hearted. Also, spend a bit of time putting together a menu with an ‘About’ page, a ‘Contact’ page, and some other pages perhaps, and learn a bit about how to customise your blog. WordPress support has loads of useful articles about this! So you have no excuse not to.
Don’t just expect to post into the void and for people to discover and read your blog, it doesn’t work like that. Take advantage of the amazing resource that is the WordPress Reader, always be kind in your comments, and see promoting your work as just as important as writing. This is if you take your writing seriously!
*Steps down from soapbox*
Perfect Chaos 
13 responses to “Don’t Just Write into the Void: Read Other Blogs!”
As a relatively new blogger this advice is really useful. Thank you!
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So glad you found it useful! Thank you for reading 😄
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I wish I knew this sooner, I spent so much time feeling frustrated with blogging in the first few months because I didn’t see this platform as the interactive community it is! Great post!
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Glad you persevered, Belen! It’s not always obvious about the Reader and everything. Thank you!
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Steven. I wish there was a way to make this required reading haha… because everything you said is true. One thing I love about your writing is that it is easily digestible, even when super deep. Believe me, your posts have caused some great discussions in my real world.
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That is so encouraging, Tara, thank you! Have a wonderful day ❤️
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Smh I did it the other way around! I started by using WordPress as a community/reader app and then started publishing some stuff.
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Oh wow! That’s intriguing. I’m glad that you discovered the community features early on 🙂
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I have just stated blogging and I have got 32 followers now! :D. I have followed all of them back. I have noticed that most of them aren’t writing daily. So its easier for now to read when they post and leave a comment about telling them what I liked in their post. 🙂 I will now spend some time on the WordPress Reader as well. Thank you for this tip, Steven!
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You’re most welcome, Waqar! Congratulations on 32 followers, you are off to a great start.
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Yes, thank you. 🥰🥰
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Thanks for this post. I am finding the hardest part of WP and blogging not to be the technical part (not a tech person) or the writing (I have things I feel called to say) but discovering the people who care about what I write. Yes, it can be disheartening, but I’m sticking with it.
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Hi Rosemary! Thanks for your comment. Definitely stick at it and take advantage of WP support when you need to, they do have some good advice. It’s hard to get traffic from search engines so I definitely recommend engaging with the community, as you are doing right now! 😊 Wishing you the very best with your blogging journey!
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