The blogosphere is like a swirling snowstorm. The chances of your blog being noticed are close to zero. Your blog is like a snowflake drifting aimlessly, unknown, unrecognized and unread.
So, how do you change things? One approach is to continue posting your blog articles, not caring whether the rest of the world notices them or not. The second is to win the attention of fellow bloggers, and get accepted in the blogging community.
The second approach is the better approach. It wins you acceptance, and reciprocal links. But how do you make other bloggers look at your posts, and give you reciprocal links?
Here are seven tips to make fellow bloggers link to you:
Tip 1
Visit Google search and search for blogs written on your subject. Make a list of the top 100 blogs that the Google Blog Search throws up. Now visit each blog one by one, and make your own list of what you consider are the top 25 blogs.
Tip 2
Subscribe to the email feed of all the top 25 blogs. The feed will keep you informed of the latest postings. More important, the bloggers will take note of your arrival, from the fact that you have started subscribing to their feed.
Tip 3
Your next step should be to visit five of these blogs every day by rotation. Go through their latest post, and leave a comment. Make sure that the comment is substantial, and not superfluous like “It’s a great post.” Give your name, and the url of your blog at the end of the comment. The chances are the bloggers will follow the link to your blog, especially if they consider the comment noteworthy.
Tip 4
When commenting on blogs, you should also react to comments made by fellow blog readers. These readers share the same interests as you, and are your target audience too. It is quite possible they may be motivated to visit your blog after going through your comments.
Tip 5
Review the list of the 25 bloggers after a month. Remove the ones whose posts do not interest you. List the remaining blogs on your blogroll. Also, send a mail to the bloggers informing them of their inclusion in your list of favourite blogs.
Tip 6
Simultaneously, you should create posts on major points made by these bloggers. Enter the trackback url for the bloggers to know that their posts have been noticed. The chances are that eight out of ten bloggers will visit your blog – out of sheer curiosity. They may even start visiting your blog regularly, if they find your posts interesting.
Tip 7
You must gracefully acknowledge any comments made by your fellow bloggers, but do not ask for reciprocal links for the first six months. Use that time to build acceptance for yourself. After six months, test the waters by asking for a reciprocal link from the bloggers who have shown the greatest interest in your writings. If they do so, the you can be sure that you have arrived.
Read: 12 mistakes that most newbie bloggers make and you should not
(This article was first written on June 26, 2013 and has been updated.)
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