RPG Blogging 101: Attracting Readers

So you’ve started your RPG blog but for some reason nobody is actually reading your stuff. Especially if you want people to read your posts and give some feedback this can be a very disheartening experience and it’s probably one of the main reasons why new blogs die after just a few weeks. So what can we do about this?

Regular content is the key
Having good and regular content is the most important thing in blogging. You can try all the tricks in the book but without content everything else is futile. Try to find a schedule you can work with and try to stick to it. If you have decided to post three times a week, try to do so, even if you don’t feel like blogging. Especially if you go on extended hiatus, people might lose interest in your blog. On the other hand, provide your readers with regular posts and they’ll come back for more.

Quality over quantity
Of course quality is far more important than quantity here. If you feel like you could write better posts if you reduce your posting schedule, do so. Your post’s quality should never suffer because you want to keep a daily schedule. Finding a good compromise between quality and posting schedule is very important, albeit not as easily done as said. While people appreciate a well-written posts, sometimes editing a post to death may not bring the intended result. Sometimes even a fire-and-forget post may be the way to go.

Be friendly and polite
Sure, there are bloggers out there who made a name by writing rants all the time. It might work for some people, but it definitely doesn’t work for all of us. I have found out that maintaining a friendly tone and being polite helps a lot when trying to attract readers. Being nice also goes a long way when it comes to be taken seriously. If your blog posts sound as if you were foaming at the mouth while writing them, people might actually get driven away.

Be part of the community
Things get much easier if you stop hiding in your closet and go out there – figuratively – and become part of the RPG internet community. There are RPG fans on Twitter, Reddit, Facebook (with RPG-related groups), RPG forums, chat rooms etc. If people know you they might actually be more interested in visiting your blog. Most importantly, read other people’s blogs and make use of the comment function.

And if you’re already using several social networks, why not use them to promote your blog? There might be several of your friends and followers who actually didn’t know about your blog and might be interested. Your readers can also use these services to share that update with their friends, and who knows, perhaps some of their followers might actually be your future readers.

Join a RPG Blog Network
That’s actually the easiest way to get some new readers when you start blogging. Joining the RPGBN back in the day helped me a lot. Nowadays it’s far from being my #1 source of traffic, but for new blogs joining a blog network always works wonders.

Participate in Blog carnivals
Participating in blog carnivals has many advantages. A lot of people find it easier to write something when they have a subject proposed by someone else. Usually the host of a blog carnival writes a wrap-up post at the end of the carnival with links to all participating blogs which helps readers to find your posts. Participating in these carnivals also helps you to get in touch with other bloggers who are often more than willing to give you some help or advice.

Link back to other blogs
When ever you write about someone’s else post, don’t forget to provide a link. Not only does the reader know where he can read more about the topic, it’s also the polite thing to do. The other RPG blogger might actually return the favor or perhaps even leave some feedback in form of a comment.

Don’t give up too early!
Even if you follow all the tips mentioned above you might not get the feedback you hoped for. The RPG blogosphere is pretty saturated right now and it’s hard for new blogs to get noticed. Even if you are an extremely talented writer it might take some time to get noticed. The most important advice I can give is: “Don’t give up too early!”

The tips given here are of course only the tip of the iceberg. There are still hundreds of things that could be said, but this post is getting a bit too long already. I actually wanted to talk about how to distinguish yourself in this saturated environment, but this will have to wait until the next episode. Stay tuned!