Is Your Blog on the Right Track?

Starting a blog was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made, and building a community of bloggers, getting featured on the world’s top blogs, etc are the things that show that my blog is on the right track and defines the success of my blog.

But, success in blogging is defined differently by a different person, Isn’t it?

Some bloggers are seeking a path to money while others are more interested in simply connecting and or sharing their voice.

I don’t know how do you define success in blogging, but for me blogging success would be more of a community.

I’d love to see my readers, subscribers, and visitors posting quality comments and discussing the post, sharing their ideas and making a conversation.

My opinion for success will never change, It’s all about the community and the numbers don’t lie, but in many ways, It isn’t an accurate gauge on how much of an impact a blog makes to Its readers.

I’ve said a lot of time before and you should understand that a lot of hard work is needed to get to become a successful blogger; It isn’t an overnight occurrence.

With all the blogs screaming for attention, how are you supposed to know that your blog is on the right track? Well, there are a lot of ways to tell If your blog has what It takes.

So, Is Your Blog on the Right Track?

Here are the five things to tell If your blog has what It takes.

1. Loyal Readers:

If your loyal reader's count is growing then you can consider yourself on the right track.

Loyal readers are the one who visits your blog on a daily basis, read your posts and make a conversation in the comments section. You also have to show some appreciation to them by responding to their comments and answering their questions which in turn will make them love your blog.

It can take months to get some loyal readers for your blog and that is only possible If you’re able to encourage first time visitors to stay through your writing.

All of the popular blogs like ShoutMeLoud, ProBlogger, and CopyBlogger has thousands of loyal readers which makes them successful blogs.

2. Subscribers:

All growth is progress. If you’re building an email list and all of your readers are subscribing to your list then you’re going great.

If not then sorry to say, but you aren’t on the right track and I’d suggest you start today.

Aweber is the best email marketing service. If you can’t afford $19/monthly for Aweber then you can start with MailChimp which is FREE for the first 2000 subscribers. Here are a few tips to increase your subscribers:

• Offer an eBook to your readers in return to opting in because ya know, people love free stuff.
• Create a landing page like this and write about everything that they can get from you through emails.
• Design a beautiful opt-in form with your eBook cover in it and place it in your sidebar or below posts.
• Give more reasons to subscribe.

You can’t consider yourself on the right track If you don’t have an email list or at least a community of people that trust you.

Don't Miss: 10 Ways to Make Your Readers Love Your Blog

3. Comments:

Comments give the feeling that people are reading and liking what you’re writing on your blog.

If your blog is receiving a lot of comments on each post, that’s probably a great sign, but If the majority of those comments ring to the tune of “Great post” or “Thanks for sharing” then even 1000 of those comments are rather meaningless.

Comments that provoke the discussion are far better than the 2 or 3 words comments that are there just for the benefit of a link.

A couple of months ago I wrote an article on 5 things I did to increase my blog comments helping you increase the number of comments on your blog.

4. Blogger Friends:

Having blogging buds is essential in order to become a successful blogger because they’ll help you grow and gain your credibility online.

Do your best to connect with more and more bloggers in your niche because It is good to have friends who can share stuff that is related to your expertise or niche.

My blogging buddies really rock and I love all of them. A couple of months ago when I left a comment on Dr Menka Varma’s blog, that single comment made him one of my good blogging buddy and I got few backlinks from her articles “How do I double my Website Traffic in a Month“.

5. Social shares:

It is a good sign If people like your stuff and thus sharing it with others.

Social media is very crucial to every blog’s success and almost every blog has Facebook like and tweet button.

If you’re not getting social shares for your blog posts then you should try to improve the quality of your posts and get involved in social media sites. Stay active on Twitter and Facebook and interact with others.

If you get a lot of social shares on each post, that means your blog is on the right track.

Now I ask it to you:

According to you what are the things it takes in order to consider If a blog is on the right track? How do you define success in blogging? I would love to hear from you and the comments section is all yours!