Ask Me Anything v.1

A few weeks ago I let you all know that I'm going to start an Ask Me Anything series, and a few people sent in questions, mainly about wedding planning and blogging. Since I addressed the former in a fairly lengthy post a couple weeks ago, I thought maybe I would talk about blogging today! I do have a series called On Blogging, but I figured this would be a little bit of a different format. 

Photo by Anna Delores Photography

My very first question was sent to me by Sarah from 702 Park Project. She asked...

My question is how, as a new blogger, should I generate traffic to my blog? I use social media, and try to comment on other blogs regularly, but I was just wondering if you had any other ideas to throw out.

I think, for me, one of the most important qualities when blogging and interacting with other bloggers is sincerity. I think that commenting on other blogs is great, but it should never be used as a tool just to get traffic back to your own blog. That being said, if you expect other people to read your blog, you should probably take time out to read other blogs too, but never feel guilty because you can't read all the blogs in the world. There are a lot out there, and you can't expect everyone to read yours either. Instead, find ones that you really do love, leave genuine comments, and people will realize what a real and kind person you are. Maybe it's me being idealist, but that's my favorite way of networking in the blogging community.

I'm a firm believer in sponsoring other, not necessarily bigger, blogs as well. There are button swaps and giveaways that you can participate in, and I really think that it's just a matter of finding what works for you and your blog. As someone who does make a little money from her blog, I have to say, don't feel weird about giving a blogger money if you really like their work. We've spent years on our blogs and I think most of us love promoting other people and discovering new up and coming blogs. Definitely evaluate why you would want to sponsor a particular blog - does it match your values? Would your blog attract a similar readership?

But beyond all of that, the number one most important thing when trying to build your readership is CONTENT. Makes sense, right? You'd be surprised. But it's always going to come back to content. Do you have something valuable to say? It doesn't matter if it's about your life or your house or tutorials or recipes or whatever, YOU have to value the content of your blog in order for others to value it too. Is your content compelling? Do you have photos to back up your writing? Does your voice come through, and do readers have a reason to come back? If you put out good, valuable, interesting content, people will notice. I promise.

Okay, so that's that! My very first Ask Me Anything post! If you have a question, about anything of course, feel free to email me or leave a comment with your question and I'll be sure to answer it in an upcoming post.