I’m skipping my Writers’ Roundup this week and next because part of focusing on my book at Hambidge is getting away from my Google Reader and Twitter.
Instead, I’d love to see suggestions from you on a specific topic: fostering community and conversation on your blog.
If you comment here regularly, you may have noticed that I added a feature called CommentLuv during my blog re-design. The WordPress plug-in links to your most recent blog post when you comment.
Why would I do that? For one, because it helps you, drives traffic to your blog. I like to help my readers.
Secondly, it helps all of us get to know each other better. Outbound links are one of the best ways to offer more value on a blog, and that includes links to readers’ blogs. If someone leaves an insightful comment, I might click over to their blog to learn more about them. But if someone leaves an insightful comment *and* their most recent blog post looks super interesting, I’ll for sure click over to their blog. It’s a great way to share ideas, learn from one another and continue the conversation, which is what I want this blog to be about.
Adding CommentLuv is just one small step toward making that happen. I’m interested — and I’m sure others are, too — in hearing about what you do to foster community and conversation on your blog. What small steps have you taken that made a difference? What works for your blog community?
Coming Monday: The most important thing I did to prepare for my writer’s residency.
I saw a great post on why to blog today. I thought of you!
http://www.tribalwriter.com/2010/09/23/why-you-should-blog-to-build-your-writing-career-even-if-you-dont-think-you-need-to/
Good link! THANKS!
I’ve seen that plugin and thought it’s great. Let’s see what I can do about getting something neat like that for my blog.
Your being so generous with your readers is one reason why yours is one of my favorite blogs. When I get my own blog together, I will definitely return the favor & drive traffic your way. Thanks!
Thanks, Lanham! I need readers just as much as readers need me 🙂
Hi Alexis,
That’s a wonderful thing – I’ll have to look and see if Blogger has something like that. I try to end my posts with questions, which hopefully encourages comments. This is an area I can sure improve upon. Quoting other bloggers is something else I try to do, but not nearly enough. Thanks.
Karen
Great tip!
Interesting, had no idea you could do that!
Building a community is something I’ve been thinking a lot about lately. So far the thing that’s worked best for me is being part of other communities! I’m still in the building stage, and just reworked my blog to make it more attractive and inviting, so I’ll see how that works as well. And keep trying to learn from the things that other successful bloggers do…
CommentLuv is a great idea! I’d like to know if blogger offers this as well, but haven’t seen if before. I could use all the tips I can to foster community on my blog. At the moment I’m doing a handmade jewelry giveaway to raise money for my good friend’s international adoption process. I’m always interested in fun ways to bring awareness to important topics.
Hope the retreat is going well!
Btw, it’s strange but my latest blog post never comes up on Comment Luv for some reason. Not sure if I’m doing something wrong?
Hm. Did you check the box when you left your comment?
Yeah, I have. I’ve noticed it hasn’t caught my links since you started comment love, so maybe it’s something with my blog. I wonder if other people with blogger find the same thing.
Make sure you’ve created a CommentLuv account and more importantly that you’re logged in before you try and post a comment. This always seems to be the problem for me if I forget.
Thanks Karie, I’ll try registering with CommentLuv!
I started a community post on Thursdays. I mention people who are in my genre and are passionate about the same things, I’m passionate about. This seems to increase traffic and get some cross-pollination going without me having to ask, which is gauche!
This is a GREAT idea. Giving blog love to others is one great way to get it in return.
Great idea, SR. I’ve done stuff like that before but never been structured about it. I think setting aside a specific day is smart. Like it!
Like Karen above, I also try and ask questions. And, when people send me an email raving about my blog, I ask them to participate via commenting on the blog. I also plan to send an email to subscribers thanking them for their support.
I “luv” the button. Must figure out to how to add it to my site too. Since I write about simplicity/environmentalism/home life and many of my readers do to, it’d be a great way to help us keep track of what everyone’s chatting about.
I read recently that using CommentLuv is actually beneficial for blog owners these days because Google now uses the amount of activity your site generates in order to determine where it ranks in the search engines. Seems like installing CommentLuv would attract comments, increase activity and really help blog owners out!