7 Benefits Of Reading Other People’s Blogs

The whole experience of blogging is not about you churning out posts after posts for people to read, to like, to comment on and to share. It is also about you reading other people’s blogs and interacting with them as much as you can.

There are many benefits you will derive by reading other people’s logs. In this post, I will highlight seven of such benefits.

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1. You learn from other people

People share ideas, experiences and insights on their blogs. They do so not for self-amusement but for you to read them. You will learn as you read those sites.

As one of my readers once stated, “What I love about blogging is taking the time to read other people’s thoughts about faith stuff as its important to get perspectives different from my own.”

Every opportunity you have to read is an opportunity to learn something new or remind you of something’s you have forgotten.

Be honest with yourself for once: you don’t know everything. That’s why you should read what other people have written on their blogs so that you can know what they know.

2. You discover new blogs to follow.

People follow your blog and you should follow other people’s blogs too. Reading other blogs will help you determine whether or not to  follow such blogs.

There are many reasons I may not have followed some blogs. But reading other people’s blogs helps me to discover suitable ones to follow.

Although there were some blogs I followed at first sight (especially the ones recommended to me), my guiding principle is that I would need to read two or three posts on any blog before I make the affirmative decision to hit the follow-button.

3. You sharpen your writing skills.

Writers do not only write, they read a lot as well. By extension, as a blogger, in addition to updating your own blog, you should also read blogs other than yours and learn from the writing styles employed by the authors of such blogs.

Personally, I learn a lot from reading other people’s posts. Just like many WordPress users, I did not attend any training on blogging before I got started. Everything I know, I have learnt from reading what other people have written and putting them into practice.

4. You attract more followers to your blog.

“One good turn deserves another” they say. If you want people to read your posts, you too should read other people’s posts.

There is a great chance that if you add value to a blog as you read it – by leaving a comment for instance – you are likely to attract more followers to your own blog.

5. Opportunity to interact with fellow bloggers.

For you to comment on a post, you have to read it first. I would expect that you don’t want to comment on a post you haven’t read.

Essentially, a post is someone’s idea or opinion about something, somebody or some place. Your comment on the post will be your own response to it.

You could also respond to other people’s comments on the post, thereby expanding the sphere of interactions.

6. Community, fellowship and friendship.

As you interact with other bloggers, you form a kind of bond and friendship that might prove valuable to you. Some of your online or blogging friends may eventually turn into your friends in real life.

And when someone becomes your real life friend, the opportunities become limitless. I shared my little experience in this regard when I published From a blog friend to a real life friend.

7. Source of blog ideas

Apart from the new things you learn by reading other blogs, you might also receive inspiration for new posts on your blog. I have experienced this several times.

As I read other people’s blogs, there seems to be a spark of inspiration that comes from it. And I have developed many of such thoughts into full-fledged posts on this blog.

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What other benefits do you get from reading blogs other than yours? Leave a comment.

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© Copyright 2018| Victor Uyanwanne

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Sad Truth: Many People Who Should Be Reading Your Blog Don’t Even Know It Exists

Why do you have a blog? Do you want to be read far and wide?

How visible is your blog?

I’m sorry to tell you that many people who should be reading your blog are not even aware that it exists in the the first place!

Well, let me clarify that this post is not for those who claim that they don’t care whether someone reads their blogs or not.

If that includes you, I think you should move on to another post right now, because there is no use you continue reading this piece.

But if you think the world should read your blog, because you have something valuable to share, I think it is worth it for you to find out how more and more people can discover yourself blog to read it.

A few times I have stumbled on some blogs with great contents (by my own reckoning that is) but with very few readers or followers.

Why is that so? I believe many people are not yet aware that such a fantastic blog exists.

Granted, some of those blogs are new on the block hence I concede that it will take some time for them to gain due popularity.

What about those blogs that have been existing for a while, have great content but not much viewership? I would say there must be something missing…

It is one thing to have a blog that publishes great contents and another thing to have people visiting the blog consistently. The good part is that the two are not mutually exclusive.

Good content should attract great readership. I wish it’s that simple!

If your blog’s content is great, then readers should be swarming in. But is that your reality?

Let’s face it, your blog is just a tiny part of the hundreds of millions of blogs existing on the blogosphere and many more millions of posts churned out week in week out.

In fact, within the next 24 hours after you have read this post, another fifty thousand new blogs would have been created around the world and over two million new posts published.

So my friend, you see, it will take some efforts on your part for your blog to be discovered, read and followed. Like me, I believe you would want your blog to have visibility.

Or don’t you want your blog to be noticed?

Four ways to make your blog noticeable

1. Is your blog private or public?

The first advice I would give you here is for you to index your blog as “public.” By so doing, it will be discoverable when people do word searches on search engines such as Google.

Only those people who don’t want their blogs to be read by just anyone should be indexed “private.” That way, their blogs will not show up in Google searches, but will be available to only those they choose to invite in.

2. Write great contents

I have heard it said over and over again that when it comes to gaining traction for your blog, content is king. The argument is that if your posts are relevant and helpful to your readers, they will keep coming back for more.

I am not saying it is foolproof but it helps to have great contents on your blog.

Generally, people are searching for solutions to something. Your post might as well be the ‘miracle meal’ that satisfies their hunger.

Don’t forget that people desire to live happier. They want to live healthier. And they want to live wealthier…

Chances are that if your content consistently provides answers in any of the three areas, more and more people will be interested in your blog.

3. Promote your posts on social media

After you have published that fantastic post on your blog, don’t call it a day yet; spread the word around about your new post.

We are in the age of social media. Take a good advantage of it to promote (I don’t want to say ‘advertise’) your posts.

Just “Share your work with the world through Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks” is the best advice in this regard.

That way you will make your article available to a wider audience. Sooner or later those who so reads your article on social networks will follow you home to your blog.

You don’t have to employ all of the social media platforms out there to be able to achieve this. One or two is enough.

In my own case, Facebook and Twitter have been useful in helping people discover this blog.

With the help of Publicize, I have linked my WordPress blog to my Facebook and Twitter Accounts.

Any post I publish on the blog is automatically publicised through the two social media handles for my followers to see, read and possibly share with their own followers. You can do the same if you have not already done so.

4. Reach out to other blogs

This is about getting out of your comfort zone and connecting with other bloggers; engaging with the blogging community.

If you want your blog to be noticed, you cannot afford to stay in your cozy corner of WordPress and expect it to happen just like that. You have to deliberately interact with other blogs.

There are many ways you can achieve that: visit and read other blogs, like the posts, share a comment, link to other posts, follow other blogs you like, join a blogging community. Guest post.

When you do any or all of the above, you leave a link-trail through which people may be ‘lured’ to your blog.

If you do not make any deliberate effort to promote the posts on your blog, chances are that not everyone who should be reading your blog would be able to find it.

How do you get your blog noticed? Leave a comment.

 
©Copyright 2018 | Victor Uyanwanne