Blogging is more of a interest and later on it become a good way to make money. Initially when a person start to blog , the main thing which worries him is traffic.
Though Traffic is something which takes time to build if you are new to blogging, because with time you need to learn about SEO, traffic building tips. One such post which might be helpful for you is
Importance of SEO for blogging and bloggers
Another important thing which is very important is forming a community out of your blog. Though forming a community means increasing your member. This can be done with the help of social media gadgets or making your blog comments open only for registered users.
The second option is not very helpful at the beginning, users might find it time consuming to register and start commenting.
Why is it Important to form a community out of your blog?
Think of basic definition of community. A group of common people living together or share the same attributes.
Think from a regular reader perspective, if he likes your blog. He must be interested to be a part of it by various ways. Best way is give them option to be a part of your blog by joining various communities.
What are the communities you can form within your blog?
The options are endless and if you will search for various social media gadgets for your blog, you might end up covering every single part of your blog with those gadgets. The best way is by targeting your visitors need and give them the best options.
I will highlight few options which are widely used and which will help you to create a community of your blog.
Google Friend connect :
Google friend connect is the best option because user can join it using many options. They can use their existing Gmail, yahoo, open ID to login and become a member of your blog. For more information on it, you can refer to my previous post on
Mybloglog :
This is another cool gadget which you can use on your blog. You can sign up for Mybloglog with your existing yahoo ID. Another great part of this Gadget is , if any my blog log visitor, visit your blog for more then 10 times he will automatically added to your Mybloglog community. Apart from blogger, this gadget is very useful for readers and for social media expert to own their online identity.
Facebook Pages:
Facebook is one of the key websites for blogger after Digg. If you will see my monthly traffic report, you can see the traffic which I get from Facebook. There are various ways you can form a community in facebook. Though I will mention only two three best options. Facebook pages are such great way to show yourself as community along with branding. You can simply ask your fans to join Facebook fan page of your blog . This will also help you in branding later on.
Ex: Shoutmeloud Facebook fan page
Facebook networked blog application :
This one application is dedicated for bloggers and you will find almost every popular blog under this application. Along with forming a community , this will also help you to directly publish update on your profile page, which can be use to get extra traffic from Facebook. For more information on it, you may refer to my previous post on :
Twitter page for your blog :
Twitter is one such tool which can be killer. Most of the blogger use their Twitter profile to update their reader about updates. Though it’s a good practice, but what about those readers who are more interested in your blog updates rather then other updates. It’s better to make a twitter profile for your blog and make RSS to update your Twitter profile. It’s always better to make two twitter profile, one for formal blog updates and announcements and one personal twitter profile. You can see an example of this :
- Shoutmeloud official Twitter page : @shoutmeloud.
- My Personal Twitter page : @denharsh.
There are many other options and gadgets which, you can use on your blog. You might not see a great number of followers following it, but in long run, you will be forming a great community.
Word of caution :
Try to limit the number of social media gadgets you use on your blog, because it will lead to increase in your website load time.
Do let us know which all tools you use to form a community out of your blog? And do you join your favorite blog communities?
Related posts:
- Join mybloglog to increase your online presence
- Use Google Friend Connect to Send Newsletter To Members
- Why you should write about social widget you use on your blog?
- 8 Important Tools to Make your Blog Rockstar
- Are you a Google Friend Connect user?
- Facebook Fan page VS Google Friend Connect
- How to Add Twitter Tweets to your Facebook Fan Page
- Fan Box : Facebook pages widget for your blog
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{ 28 comments… read them below or add one }
By far the most exhaustive post I have read on your blog.
I already have Google friends connect on my site. (Though I removed it yesterday since I am making a few changes in the layout, will put it back on in a few days)..Facebook page seems like a nice idea, but since my site is not very popular, wont be creating one any time soon. Will install bloglog soon and already have a twitter account for tech2gether.
The only thing that’s left is the Facebook networked blog application. Will give it a try.
Nice writeup.
Zubin™s last blog post..#8: Acer Aspire One: Portable and Affordable
Thanks Zubin and I’m glad you find the post informative.
I tried all these tools in early days of my blogging but now I don’t like them at all.
Harshad™s last blog post..GoDaddy Discount Coupon Codes – June 2009
I’ve same opinion. I tried Google Friend Connect, but now removed it.
Veera™s last blog post..Google Squared, just turned those lists into tables
If you would have been using it till now, I’m sure..You could have formed a big community by now.
Currenltly i am using Google friend connect on my blog, as most of the people have Google account so they can join my site community, while for other you need to create special account.
BTW , you provided awesome list here.
Chetan™s last blog post..Download Microsoft Bing ringtones – Free ! (Official Microsoft)
Thanks and I’m sure you can feel the difference and importance of forming a community.
Awesome list – need to refer this post when i do this soon! it’s bookmarked
Cheers
Sandeep
Thanks for your comment and bookmarking the post.
I didn’t bother putting Google Connect because I just don’t know what to use it for
Michael Aulia™s last blog post..Hostgator review
One simple answer, First thing First : You can form a community out of it.
I totally agree with this post
Need to form a community. which i didn’t
Nihar™s last blog post..How to Highlight Special Paragraphs or Sentences in the post or article
Nihar, I will recommend do it, it might take some time but worth putting up any of these.
Indeed building a community for yuor blog is very important because members can help each other and share valuable information.
Very true.. Another way this can be achieve by creating a forum.
It is really nice to see this blog , very neat and clean composition
Another important aspect, also to do with community building, is not to sit and wait for people to come to you, but to go out leaving good quality comments on other blogs so that those who see them are intrigued and will in return visit your blog. Once there, if your content is of a high quality, then they may join your community.
Sire™s last blog post..May Statistics Down But Time Moves On
lovely pic
.-= Chethan T ´s last blog ..Vodafone advertisement Rakhi Special- Magic Box =-.
This post was really helpful.I would like to come back again and see the useful information in this page.
Thanks ,
Regards ,
Sourish
(Admin)
OneTrickADay
But In Google Friendconnect no one is adding me!
.-= Chethan T ´s last blog ..Vodafone advertisement Rakhi Special- Magic Box =-.
Chethan It takes time to form a community. You can also use Google Friend connect import function to invite your friends.
Great start to what will be a great series… I will be spreading the goodies. changed your design on your blog? I like it. I read so many most of the time do not even notice if they change if you didn’t this time I did notice it..
Hi,
I m just new to these traffic building tactics.
Actually, I want to increase traffic on a website which is about pillows and duvets.
I needed your help how I should start with?
Kindly, reply me
Best Regards
It is really true, most bloggers dont even consider this and its something we cant do without, our blogs are meant to bring people together from all walks of life.
you’ll right.. community of blog is very important for increasing our blog traffic… that’s make our posts fast to index by google or another search engine.. thanks 4 ur info bro
Actually this is something I have been neglecting on my blog for so long that I think it is time to remedy it. I totally agree that there should be an easier way to engage with fellow blogger and a gadget of some sort would be beneficial to achieve this. I had Friend Connect before and decided to remove it because it was taking too much time to load. If I were to choose only one between all of the above, what do you think should be given priority? Also, is there a plugin that you recommend us using to avoid page load time?
Nice list of ways you can build up a community. I especially like your tip concerning Facebook. It will probably be rather easy to create a community on Facebook as you can promote it to your friends and family.
Also another way to build up a community is to create a forum. That way people can share their thoughts and help each other out.
Thanks for dropping by Julius and no doubt Facebook and forum are nice way to build community. Though I never tried Forum because it needs lots of time and I advocate Facebook because it can become viral