Today’s post is a bit of a ‘thinking out loud’ piece, reflecting on the ways I am developing my blog. In the six years since I first created it, this blog has been changed so many times, as I struggled to find a focus for it. Recently, in moving my career concentration over to writing, this, at last, gave me a purpose. In deciding to use this blog as a place to showcase my writing styles and abilities, I felt excited as I began to fill it regularly with content.
However, I am finding myself with a lot of frustrations and questions and am feeling rather unsatisfied and unsure if I am doing things in the best way.
My current questions and frustrations
• Why am I not gaining many followers?
• Why is there is a lack of comments, likes and engagement on my posts?
• Should I change past blog posts that I don’t feel are working?
• Am I over focusing on SEO or not focusing on it enough/in the right way?
• Is the layout of my blog easy to navigate?
Developing a community
One of my main motivations for creating social content, which contains so many intimate details of my life, is to connect with people in similar situations.
However, I am not gaining many followers, and there are very few likes and comments on my posts.
This is the most frustrating aspect so far. I suppose I am guilty of comparing this blog to my YouTube channel. I have a big following and a lively community around my channel, and I would love to develop that sense of community here too.
Why am I struggling to gain followers and get engagement on my posts? What can I do to improve this?
Changing and rearranging past content
In now concentrating on writing as my career focus, this blog is where I am doing most of my ‘practising in public’. I am experimenting with topics and styles and exploring different niche areas.
However, this means I’m starting some projects on here that then later don’t feel like they are working. I want to change them but worry about doing so.
For example, my ‘365 days of self-care series’ is an ongoing frustration. I initially thought they would work as a series, but as time has gone, it’s become harder to write daily posts. I attempted to switch to weekly self-care posts, but this doesn’t feel like it fits with the original idea. I’m now thinking of going through them and changing them, perhaps repurposing them as mental health blogs.
Is it ok to change categories and content in this way or will doing so harm my engagement?
Developing my blog through Optimisation
As I wish to make a career from creating written content, I felt it was important to use my blog to showcase my work, developing my blog in a way that
I switched to self-hosting so that I could have more control over the way my blog looks and utilise the many plugins available. I have been learning about SEO and changed the layout of my blogs to make them appear more professional.
Am I over-thinking SEO and in doing so, making my blog posts feel less personal? Could this be why I am not getting much community engagement?
Where do I go from here?
I am sure that feeling this way is par for the course for bloggers? (Please tell me it is!) Perhaps it is still early days in developing my blog, and I’m still finding my feet and worrying too much (typical for me!).
Initial thoughts of what I might try
- I can perhaps relax my worry about SEO and return more to focusing on connecting with people
- Return to my old style of blog, leaving off the subheadings and so forth or Perhaps use a mix of the two approaches, some more freely written blog posts and some more professionally focused
- Try some new comment plugins to hopefully make more of a community
- Reach out to other bloggers more frequently
- Risk changing past blog posts
Asking for your help!
The most important thing about this blog is you. I want to create content that you like, that you want to respond to and that makes you want to come back. Therefore the best people to ask about developing my blog are you!
- To everyone who already follows, I am grateful you are here, thank you! Am I producing content that you like? What else would you like to see?
- To anyone who follows both here and, on my YouTube, why do you think there isn’t the same engagement here? What would make you engage more? Conversely, what might be stopping you from engaging?
- To new people finding me for the first time, what are
you impressions? What works and what doesn’t?
I really would love your comments and advice, please be gentle with me!
I love your content. I follow your blog, although I am more consistent with your instagram and up and down with your youtube channel. That is a personal thing for me because I have to be in a certain mind set to read more text or watch a video, but I save things for when I have more headspace and then I enjoy reading or watching backwards through your stuff. You are a truly pure person and that comes out in all those ways and that makes it so enjoyable to follow your steps. It is also a big help… Read more »
Thank you so much, for taking the time to give me such valuable feedback. The way you follow different places that I share, is very much why I write and blog and film in so many different ways. We all prefer different mediums and they work for us in different ways. As for mental health, I think it is inevitable and understandable that most trans folks have problems with various mental health challenges. I think this is especially the case when you are older, like you and I. We have spent a lifetime in distress because we didn’t realize we… Read more »
When I was previously blogging regularly on Xanga, I was mainly writing about philosophical type things, the bigger picture, processing thoughts. I found that by reaching out and networking with other bloggers who thought similarly and who thought about the world and life, it helped my following and gaining subscribers in the blogging world to develop naturally. You are a brilliant writer, and you write very well about the bigger picture and developing philosophies and thoughts around personal growth. You made a very good point in your article above that stood out to me the most, which is relaxing your… Read more »
This is really helpful thank you. Its so hard to get the balance right. At one time I didn’t concern myself at all with SEO or promotion, now, in developing a writing career, it is necessary to think about it. I do reach out to other bloggers, but not as much as I should. I am going to focus on doing this more. Your comment about branching out to philosophical niches is something I hadn’t thought about and I will do that, thank you! I think I am being my usual over perfectionist and stressy self and just need to… Read more »
It’s all a part of learning and growing, isn’t it. And yes, networking and making blogger friends is a big key component to expanding your interactive audience. Even if it is by intentionally pencilling it in to your schedule for a few times each week for an hour or two hours to sit and read and comment. That way you can allow time for it to be done and you can make it part of your to do list. Networking is just another form of promoting yourself too. I’m so looking forward to reading some of your philosophical writing and… Read more »
Hi there, I follow your blog and not your utube so much. I like the snippet style of the 365 series and as a fellow trans, mental health and recovery ‘ist’ appreciate your honesty and insight. It’s been very helpful and really well written. It is a welcome sight to see a blog notification from you, and can’t say that about anyone else except Sam Dylan Finch. It’s also interesting to see how you progress in terms of finding your way as a writer. I forwarded your article on the gender recognition act consultation to women’s hour last week, so… Read more »
Thank you so much for your comment!
That is such valuable feedback, thank you. I really enjoyed the snippet style that the 365 day series started as. Perhaps I should return to that, rather than bulking the posts out as I have done?
Thank you for forwarding my article, how wonderful!
Re the passwords, I had wondered about that being a barrier to posting comments. I think I shall do some more research into how I can make it easier for people to comment as that is what I am really missing on here.
Thank you so much!