How to Gain Blog Traffic from Writing Communities

Please welcome Nicole Pyles my first guest blogger in the month long "Guest Post win a Kindle" event. Nicole describes herself as "
I am a writer social networker bookworm and blogger that loves spending her time with family books the bookstore and the beach." She shares some great info on blogging and some basic do's and don'ts. Find out more about Nicole here. Enjoy.

Photo Copyright by Nam Nguyen

Since June of 2011, I have been blogging about the writing process and everything that has inspired me to write along the way. I have blogged about things that I have learned and I also have reached out to several writing communities to help me out with some posts. But what I have noticed the most about those communities is that if you treat them right your blog can actually benefit and see some growth from those communities. But if you don't...you may find that you are all alone in a desert

Photo Copyright by Flickr User Sporst

So, how do you do it? How do you figure out all those unspoken rules and etiquettes in place in any community? Well, I can't make a blanket statement for all communities, but these tips can help you to engage better and see more of a following to your blog.

1) Don't just post links to your blog.

Whether you are using Twitter, GooglePlus, or like me, Reddit.com, and Writer's Digest Communities, take a look at the last few posts and comments you made. What were they? Were they just links to your blog? If that's all you do, I can guarantee with almost 100% certainty that you will never see very much blog traffic. When all you see from someone is links to their content, than it's obvious the only person they care about is themselves.

2) Engage with other people.

I had a friend once who seemed shocked and repulsed that people she didn't know were following her on Twitter. If this sounds like you and you are timid and alarmed at the idea of talking back to the people in your online community, you aren't benefiting from the very best part of these social networks. My advice? Talk back occasionally. Respond to questions people ask. Encourage others. People will pay attention to you more and those links you do post won't be ignored.

3) Don't be antagonistic.

Having an occasional debate online can be a good thing - informative, exciting, and a great way of seeing another point of view. But are you attacking other people personally? Try not to. Remember one cardinal debate rule- don't attack the person, attack the idea. If you become that person who always picks fights with people, few people will be drawn to you or your blog.

4) Promote other people.

Everyone likes being promoted. Whether its a retweet, a share, or clicking the link of a post shared within an online community, it's a good feeling to know other people are paying attention to you. So, make sure you are giving some love to your fellow writer kind by promoting what they have to say. Why? Well, if you do you are more likely to see them giving you the same appreciation.

5) Do non-promotional/non-blog related stuff.

Remember these are writing communities, and even if all you are on is Twitter and GooglePlus, you are probably engaging with a great deal of writers. So, what these people need to see is that you are serious about writing. That means that it's a good idea to do writing related activity that has nothing to do with your blog. For example, I am part of an flash fiction contest group on Writer's Digest (which you can join here!). I never post blog links there and all I do is engage with my community. Whether or not I see traffic from the people in that group doesn't matter. What does matter is that they see I'm serious about writing and my writing communities. I'm not just a self-promoter.

So, this list is not an exhaustive of everything you should do to promote your blog, but it's a good start and a great way of learning how to engage with the people around you.

Now, go out and make some friends.

Photo Copyright by Nina Matthews

Thank you so much Nicole for your do's and don't. While I find myself already knowing this I hav ea tendency to forget. It's always good to remember the basics.