Part 4 of 5: The Foundation of a Successful Blog & How to Get Viewers + Followers

Hello jammers! Panda here, continuing on with the blogging series: How to Build An Epic Animal Jam Blog From Scratch. 

Today (in Part 4 of 5) we will be discussing the elements and foundation of a successful Animal Jam blog and how to get viewers and followers. This part can also be helpful for bloggers who already have a blog, and would like to get some new followers or improve their blog posts/pages.

Here's a brief overview of the series: (click on Part 1 through Part 3 to view the existing posts in this series)

Part 1: Choosing a Platform & Creating a Blog

Part 2: Creating a Post & Choosing a Commenting System

Part 3: Choosing a Theme & Customizing It

Part 4: The Foundation of a Successful Blog & How to Get Viewers + Followers

Part 5: Final Tips to Building + Maintaining a Successful Animal Jam Blog

Let's get started!

Now that you have your blog looking shipshape after what we covered in Part 3, you'll need to build a solid blog foundation and find your first viewers and followers.

Just like when building a house, a good, sturdy foundation is needed to maintain a successful blog.

Below is a list of the elements of a successful blog, each of which will be fleshed out in more detail later in the post:

• A strong author "voice" or personality
• Frequent, interesting blog posts
• Something "in it for the reader"
• An attractive, eye-pleasing design
• A user-friendly layout
• Helpful and interesting widgets
• An author who takes the well-being and comfort of their readers seriously

A strong author "voice" is your own unique personality. Anyone can slap together a mindless rambling of a post, but only you can make it special. Add hints of humor if you're the kind of person who laughs, is often happy and is trying to convey a joyful atmosphere throughout your blog. Make your posts serious and mature if you're the kind of person who wants to be taken seriously and well thought of. Add pieces of your own personality and "voice" throughout your posts and pages so that 1) your content is instantly recognizable; 2) you keep people coming back for more. By adding your "voice" into posts, you give them a special touch that people will continue to come back for. Don't try and smother your unique "voice" by using wimpy language. State your opinions proudly and carry yourself with splendor. If you don't take yourself and your opinions seriously, nobody else will.

Blogging frequently will boost your SEO (Search Engine Optimization is basically how high you rank in a search engine query) and keep viewers coming back. If you post frequent and entertaining posts, you will 1) show up higher in a search on Google; 2) keep people coming back to read your latest posts. 3-7 (give or take) posts a week is ideal. If you really want to have a successful blog, you'll need to put in the extra work. It isn't as easy as waving a magic wand, you have to work for it.

People are self-centered. I say this in the nicest possible way I can. They go to your blog wondering: "If I view this blog, share it with my friends and comment, what's in it for me?" Most people will often only support your blog if there's some sort of incentive for them. You can encourage people to support you and your blog by: 

• Offering a free eBook or other free download for sharing your blog
• Personally thanking each and every person who shares your blog on social media
• Responding to every comment and question via email or in your comments section
• Post high-quality content frequently 
• Offer commissions or free-to-use graphics/backgrounds

Just be a nice, generous person, and people will want to support you and your blog.

If your blog design screams "amateur" or is crowded, confusing or hard to navigate, potential viewers will leave. You have something called a "bounce rate," which is the percentage of your viewers that leaves (or "bounces") away from your blog immediately. In order to decrease your bounce rate, having an eye-pleasing design is essential. Be minimal and don't use a crowded or busy background, overcrowd your blog sidebars with gadgets or use more than 3 colors or fonts to define your brand. Look back on your blog design that we created in Part 3 of this series, and look it over. Remember:

• White space is your friend: Don't feel as though you have to crowd every corner of your blog with gadgets or images. You can use white/empty space to give your viewers' eyes a rest.
• Use no more than 3 colors or fonts on your blog: Having more than 3 brand colors or fonts will be confusing to your viewer and will make your blog less recognizable. I suggest using an accent color, body text color (preferably a dark gray or other dark color) and a heading color. An accent font, body text font and heading font is also recommended.
• Don't use a confusing/busy background: Use a background that doesn't distract from your content and blog design. If you can't find a non-crowded background, try using a solid, light color like white or a pale/pastel version of one of your brand colors.
• Only use gadgets that help your viewer: If a gadget doesn't contribute to your viewers' experience on your blog, then get rid of it. Some essential gadgets include: a search bar, an "About Me" or "About This Blog" bio and a way to contact you, whether it be through email or social media. You can also include sidebar links/images and buttons linking to other blogs (though only link to blogs that you think highly of, not just any old blog).

A user-friendly layout is essential to making your viewers feel comfortable while viewing your blog. An easy-to-find navigation, well-formatted information, (use of bold text, italic text, headings, subheadings, bulleted lists and other text features) fast blog load times (monitor the size of your image files as large files slow down your site load time) and a contrasting color scheme (dark text on a white background is the easiest to read) are all essentials aspects of a user-friendly layout.

Helpful and interesting widgets are also extremely important. Do an audit of your blog gadgets right now and make sure that they all serve a valid purpose and help your viewer browse your site. A search bar, for example, is essential because it enables your viewer to quickly find the information they need. If your site does not yet have a search bar, I strongly recommend putting one in (near the top of your sidebar). If you have ads on your site, make sure that they are placed near the bottom of your blog/sidebar. Social media icons or a text gadget listing ways to contact you is also important. 

As your blog's main author/admin, you must take the well-being and concerns of your viewers seriously. There's nothing worse for a potential supporter/fan than commenting on a blog post or sending an email to a blogger, only to be ignored completely. By responding to comments/emails, you express to your viewers: "I am here for you. I take your questions and concerns seriously. You are important to me." 


Now that we've covered what goes into a successful blog, it's time to discuss how to find your first supporters, viewers, followers and fans.

Below are some quick ways to get followers and viewers when you're first starting out:

• Create a "Grab My Button!" or blog badge (So that people can place these badges in their own blog sidebars to advertise your blog)
• Comment on other blogs (By commenting on other blogs, people can click on your Blogger profile and potentially view your blog. Do this in a non-icky way though, meaning no skimpy, lame comments with your blog URL slapped onto the end. Leave a thorough, thoughtful comment after reading the entire post and don't leave your blog URL at the end.)
• Request to be added to "Other Blogs" pages on other Animal Jam blogs
• Use the tips discussed earlier in the post to create a solid "foundation" for your blog

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Stay tuned to this series to learn some final tips to maintaining a successful blog. To be notified immediately when the final Part 5 of this series is published, follow AJGC using the Followers widget in the right sidebar.

I hope this was helpful for all of you who are starting a blog! I look forward to seeing your new, beautified blogs at the end of this series!

-Panda