How To Gain A Genuine Following

Hello everybody! For some reason, I haven't written a blog tips post in literally forever; so I decided to write one again! I love reading and writing blogging related posts - you long time readers may have noticed - and whenever I post one you seem to like them too. I thought I would focus a bit more on followers, and how to build a genuine following.

For some of you, this may seem a bit of a odd post for me to write, I haven't got a massive following - and not everyone who follows me leaves a comment, but I wanted to share this post as these are the current things I am doing to increase my genuine followers and improve my readership.

I thought I would start off with my definition of a genuine follower. To me, a genuine follower is somebody who follows your blog with the intention of keeping up with your posts and providing interaction with you and your blog. This could be anything from liking your post (if you have that feature installed on your blog) to leaving a lovely comment, but they make themselves noticed to you by interacting with your blog. Of course, this changes from blog to blog - and before you make any changes, you might want to consider what your ideal genuine follower is.

Comment back on readers blogs.
I would love to do this to every single one of you whenever you comment on my posts - it honestly means so much to me that you like my posts enough to comment, and it gives me a fuzzy warm feeling inside. However, due to school commitments and time issues I can't comment back on every reader's blogs and I feel so bad for not doing so. The occasions I have returned a comment on your blogs, you all seem to like it so it is certainly something I want to do more of!

I always find that when somebody returns a comment on your blog, it instantly improves the bond between blogger and reader - something I find really important and something you need to treasure. Yes, it is easy to take your readers for granted but in reality - they are the most important part about your blog!

Write thoughtful posts.

With all of the professional bloggers out there, it's nice for readers to come across a thoughtful, unique blog that they can enjoy reading. Personal touches on a blog always are very popular, and it is always a good idea to be more personal on your blog than be business like. For a while, I was very professional and almost cold in the way I 'spoke' in my posts, and after reading back the posts now, I wonder why people even read them - I sounded so distant and unfeeling! Since going more personal, I have found myself becoming much happier with the way I run my blog, and I am more pleased with my posts in general. My blog has a sense of personality to it (well, I think so - please let me know in the comments!) which I hope draw readers in.

I recommend steering clear of the posts most people do, as they are mostly unoriginal - however, take inspiration from them instead to create a whole new post!

Add your favourite readers on social media.
I love adding my readers on social media, as I find it opens up a new aspect to blogging and getting to know your audience. Emily from Ahem It's Emme is a classic example of this, I love seeing what she has been getting up to and catching up with her from time to time despite us living on opposite sides of the world!

Why not give this a try, I have found it to be a great experience and way to catch up with my readers - if you are on Twitter, why not leave your username down below and I will follow you? It will be a great way to catch up and talk a bit, if you would like to that is!

I hope you found these tips helpful - would you like to see more tip posts like this?