Because watching anime is time consuming, I occasionally publish posts on blogging between more anime centric material. I try to share the whenever I pick up any useful tips that could help other bloggers or when a lot of people seem to have similar worries, I’ll publish something to let them know they are not alone.
And along the way, I’ve been given a lot of advice on increasing my followers and/or views. I’ll let you in on the secret right now: apparently all you need to do is add the words “naked”, “sex” or “boobs” to your tags. I have in fact heard about these tricks in the past. You want views: put salacious tags. Cryptic titles that will make people click just to figure out what you’re talking about. Episode reviews that have the word watch or view somewhere in the post, so they come up when people are trying to watch the show online. Or carefully chosen and also excitingly tagged pictures. All of the above if possible.
For followers, the follow for follow exploit is usually the most commonly recommended. If you’re wondering why a health and wellness blog with thousands of followers is suddenly interested in your anime rants, you may have your answer there. Also creating multiple blogs that essentially do cross promotion can help you reach a wider audience.
All these tricks work quite well. In fact I hesitate to even call them tricks. They’re fairly legitimate marketing techniques. However, they’re not that suited to my needs.
First of all, my blog is only sexy if your definition of sexy is…well… not sexy. Anyone that stumbles onto it hoping to find some suitably “exciting” good times, is probably going to be very disappointed. Even with pretty much zero adult content on my blog, I still regularly seem to get searches for hentai and I feel sorry for these poor folks. I doubt they would ever come back.
As for increasing follower count. I’ve noticed something, generally speaking, people that are great at promoting their own site, aren’t that good at promoting others or reaching out to the community, with some notable exception (and we have no proof black magic isn’t involved). And that makes sense. Searching, discovering and liking new blogs regularly is very time consuming, as is not only writing your own posts but getting them noticed, publicizing them on several platforms, creating and maintaining an active social media presence. That leaves little to no time for reading, commenting and actively interacting with other bloggers. And vice versa.
For most of us, we need to strike a balance. For bloggers that are hoping to use their blog as a tool to further a writing or journalism career, focusing on the actual writing and quality of posts is the logical step. Other who are monetizing, follower count is very important. But I don’t fall into either of those categories.
Personally, I really love the interaction. The main goal of my blog is to discuss anime with others. I don’t particularly want to turn my blogging into a job.
As I write this post I realize it may not be clear what I’m on about (what else is new!). I started out trying to compile a sort of general guideline for how different people go about generating views and followers depending on their priorities, as it’s a question I’ve seen come up time and again. But thinking on my own experience, I realize that that’s not the post I want to write anymore. I’m going to write about us instead. About You and Me.
I’m almost at my 1 year anniversary and I have come to realize that my readers are the best. No I’m not just sucking up to you. I have proof.
I know that my numbers are decent. Not exceptional but nothing to be ashamed of either. I have not put in the same time and effort as other bloggers into making my site grow so I’m extremely grateful to have gotten to this point and I know for a fact that it’s in no small part due to the nurturing care that You, readers and bloggers, have offered me as a community.
My readers have regularly featured my posts on their own blogs without ever even thinking of asking for anything in exchange. They have tagged me in award posts or mentioned my blog to others. You have no idea what that means to me.
But beyond that, you guys are there.
Yeah, that doesn’t sound like the compliment I mean it to be. No matter how many views or likes I may or may not get, I regularly get conversations. Not only superficial comments but actual well thought out arguments, counterpoints, suggestions. You go out of your way to encourage me. You recommend things to me and so far, I’ve always loved them. You fill my comments section with fascinating analysis and constructive comebacks that make most posts I publish much more interesting than they would have been otherwise.
You joke around with me and playfully tease me and sometimes confuse the heck out of me. You regularly bring a smile to my face. You take the time to just stop by and say hello, and just like that the world is a little sunnier.
So forget the beginning of this post. I will stop pretending to know the secret of creating a huge blog. There are people much better suited than me to tell you how to do that. And I don’t even know how I got lucky enough to have you guys read my posts. All I know is that as far as I’m concerned, I’ve stumbled onto a nice spot that’s perfect for me, because I get to share it with some great folks.
Quality is definitely my goal!! (for followers… Not for my actual writing apparently 😕) as you know, I live commenting on everyone’s blogs! I love a good discussion, or just giving kudos for a great post! I wish there was more of that around. There are too many people who follow, just in the hopes of getting you to follow them back with no intentions of ever even looking at any of your stuff, or the people who like things but never read them (you know because they like 5 posts in 20 seconds)… What’s the point of that, and what kind of satisfaction can it really give??
I love that this feels like a community, and I love the actual feedback that I get from people, good or bad (so long as it’s stated in a polite manner! Don’t just comment and say “Nicole, this post sucks”) I don’t care how many “followers” I have. What I really want are READERS.
I think you echo the general sentiment here – but how do we do it???
Well, judging from the amount of comments you have here, I would say that YOU’RE keeping the secret from US!! 😉
I agree with thebookwormdrinketh- you are doing it already here on your blog.
I just stumbled onto your blog rather recently. I was watching Gungrave in the background while I was doing schoolwork (I know, I am one of those people… I rarely make time to just focus on anime since I am rarely not swimming in assignments :P) when a shishi odoshi (or deer scarer) appeared, and it made that “donk” sound before the fighting commenced. Anyway, I did a seach for “bamboo Japanese water thing” and “anime” and somehow it took me to your article about the representations of water and meaning in anime.
Your blog drew me in for a few reasons:
It was interesting and explored a topic I hadn’t considered. Rather than just stay at surface-level, you dove a little deeper- using your own thoughts, and not just spouting second-hand wiki information.
Also, your blog is unique. I haven’t found other blogs spending hours of contemplation on reoccurring themes (outside of ecchi and more superficial common tropes. Not that these are bad, just that after awhile, it gets repetitive). I should clarify… I am not saying that other blogs aren’t as interesting or unique, just that I have never specifically searched for any, so I haven’t found any of them yet.
You express yourself clearly. The layout of your site is easy to navigate and to read, which means I want to spend more time exploring it, and actually reading the content. Also you get to the point… which is rather hypocritical for me to say, since pretty much every time I talk or type, I tend to ramble. XD
Your tone- you are conversational and inviting with your own quirkiness which feels genuinely you. I feel comfortable here, because it feels as if you are totally comfortable.
Lastly, you are an incredible host. Although your blog is totally all your own words, you present your opinions in a way that opens conversation rather than presenting a monologue and closing down any differing opinions. And you actually make time to respond- to every. single. person.
I am not trying to gush or flatter, this is just the reasons why I first read all the way down past the first page the first time I stumbled onto your blog, and also the reason why I am still so interested in checking back now.
Keep posting!
Oh man, I’ve been busy recently…but yeah, blogging is a reward unto itself, regardless of your goals. I do enjoy interacting with people on here, and while I wish sometimes my own blog would grow faster than it is, I really find myself valuing that core group of readers that I know will come and leave an insightful comment, or a few nice words, or even share their own experience! Heck, I’ve been trying harder to make sure I repay the favor in kind to those folks, but almost never feels like there’s enough time in the day…
I’ve enjoyed your work from what I’ve seen, Irina, and I’ve also noticed when you pop over to see my stuff, so it’s well appreciated, from one blogger to another. As for approaches, I tend to go the quality over quantity route, but I say “do what works for you! There’s no ‘one size fits all’ syndrome in writing.” So keep up the good work!
Thank you so much. I know what you mean about trying to repay your readers. Mine are fantastic and I feel like a bum for not being more active too
There are lots of famous idiots in the world, saying stupid things. While Quantity has a quality all its own (yes, I know that quote), I agree with you that quality blogging and quality comments will last longer and be a more meaningful experience. As long as you’re doing this for free, it should be enjoyable for you and the people who read you. I raise my glass of Benison 2014 Zinfandel and toast your happiness, Irina.
I’m touched! Thank you so much
You are welcome. I can see you are earnest in your efforts, and consistent about it too. This speaks well of your character, even if you DO like those semicolon shows.
I LOVE the one…. the other 3 I’ve seen are so so
I’m much too nice to like those semicolon shows. I’ve watched many of the colon shows and half of them were similar to the semicolon. I feel nervous about these non-period shows, at this point. Do I risk it? It is worth the danger?
I dunno – then again nothing ventured and all that
The shows with ! have turned out okay. Wagnaria! and its sequel Wagnaria!! and then its prequel http://WWW.Wagnaria!!! were good, but even with Tenchi Muyo! GXP having its good points, its also kinda weak. Its a comedy show with plot, and the plot moves forward well, which is to its credit, but are there other ! point shows we should take seriously and trust for our viewing enjoyment? I ask after 3 glasses of said Zinfandel.
Haikyu!! Durarara!! Sound!!Euphonium…
I actually just have a soft spot for large ensemble casts to be honest. They’re tough to pull off but when the balance is maintained, they tend to have my favorite character dynamics.
I know that this isn’t necessarily the popular view mind you.
I guess you could try Free!! I’m not a huge fan but from what I can tell we don’t have the same tastes.
It’s dramatic and emotional which you seem to have much more patience for.
Good to notice those. I forgot that Durarara was with !!. That show is iffy, but gets better, then gets worse. I liked Interviews with Monster Girls better than Durarara despite the moe-factor of the Dullahan in Durarara. It was all the gang warfare and slaughter which put me off.
slaughter?
Did I watch it wrong? I don’t think there’s a single death that I remember… Violence sure but the exaggerated cartoon type. Not that different from TWHE
You forgot about the bloody ghost massacre girl? With the glasses in 2nd season? She killed 3-4 guys in the first attack, and several more over the course of the season. She was called the Slasher.
I did forget the extras. Still it’s not like Evangelion or Bebop. Old school anime seems to have desensitized me since it use to be so harsh.
Sound Euphonium was a weaker version of Your Lie In April and Great Teacher Onizuka. I couldn’t enjoy it, despite watching a season of that show. I was disappointed. We’re different, certainly, but still, not all the new shows are better than the old ones.
You definitely have way more patience for maudlin. I’m not sensitive enough for those shows.
I like moe better. I suppose you could call Cowboy Bebop maudlin, at its worst. And many shows have their moments where something sad needs to happen. Even Re: Zero has that several times, and its got a colon.
Do you consider your lie not a drama?
Oh, its a drama, certainly. Full of emo, that one. But I liked the music in it best since it had performance variations on Elliot Gould’s work (and others) like Nodame Cantabile did, only moreso. From a classical music standpoint, Lie in April was really good.
How about Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo!
Isn’t that normally known as Konosuba? And yes, I do think that has a ! And !! for the sequel season.
and it’s fun, is it not. And a harem which you mentioned liking – see I pay attention…sometimes…
Konosuba has the unwanted harem, which is much funnier than the wanted one. Like Rune Soldier Louie, which isn’t exactly a harem so much as female coworkers, none of whom want the guy either, though the priestess has been told to sleep with him by her boss, his mom. Louie and Konosuba are somewhat similar, and people who like one will probably like the other.
I too have noticed the followers tally is a little misleading. I didn’t realise until very recently that my number included everyone across my social media platforms (Twitter & FB) and not just via WordPress. And as already pointed out – and as experienced on said social media platforms – not everyone who “follows” you engages with you or your work.
Things like this make me wonder how something “goes viral” when I can’t even get 1 % of my followers to read my posts. Obviously it is always gratifying when someone clicks “like” or leaves a comment which for me is the best way to let me know they’ve read my post and hopefully appreciate it too. I have a couple of regulars who do this which is great as i get to “know” them a little more through discussion and naturally i reciprocate on their blogs too.
But it is difficult not to take it as a blow to the ego when something you create is met with apathy which is why I seldom check my stats for fear of feeling like a failure, especially after 6 years of blogging. Conversely though, one reason why my blog is diverse (anime, films and wrestling) is that I hope to attract people with these different tastes and in the case of the obscure films I review, give them something few other sites do if it does happen to fly under the radar.
Ultimately if I can engage one person with a post then I’ve achieved something. A small and simple gesture such as hitting the “Like” button can mean a lot and encourage us all to continue doing what we do. 😉 😛
People often tell me that it takes longer for more diversified blogs to build up an audiance but then again you do have a larger pool to choose from
6 years would be long enough U would have thought… :-/
Sorry so many of my comments on your blog seem to be negative laments about my blog. Hopefully your next post will allow me to be more positive! 🙂
I’m afraid they are a little blogcentric over the weekend…But net week will be back to anime nonsense!
I was starting to believe that blogger were actually octopuses in disguise; writing, reading (in the case of bookbloggers like me), watching (in the case of anibloggers), commenting, eating and doing other stuff at the same time.. eww… I leave it to your imagination. It seriously amazes me everything you do. A lot of great tips (tho I don’t care about stats, I don’t even know what is a healthy number, above 0? maybe I should review books about boobs or something like that, hahaha! ). I used to follow back every blog that followed me (like an act of courtesy) until I found myself reading about beauty tips, baby pictures, blabla stuff I am not interested about and decided I will just be grateful for their follow and stick with the blogs I like to read. Btw, when is your Blogversary?
I hit my one year on Sunday.
I follow any blog that posts something about Natsume – hasn’t steered me wrong yet!
My internet self was raised on forums, I’ve by-passed the social media (such as Facebook or twitter), and now you can sometimes find me in blog comment sections. The thought of having a blog myself is something I can’t quite grasp: it looks like all work and little reward. The promise of followers looks like a stress factor, and the threat of lack of followers looks like a threat to self-worth, which leaves a very narrow balance zone that’s definitely there but I can’t quite see. I’m a numbers-nut, so I’d be all over the statistics, but at the same time I don’t trust numbers, so I wouldn’t think they mean much. That still would leave lingering and half-acknowledged emotional effects, though. The comments section would be the life of me, but even then having to handle spam doesn’t sound fun. Basically, what it amounts to is that I’m lazy and let other people do all the work.
that does sound stressful. It’s too bad though – I’ve always wanted to read a post from you. And of course my desires are what matters….
Realistically you get to a point where you realise at least half the people following your blog aren’t really following. They clicked follow, they may have liked a post or two, but they’ve never come back.
That said, I’m really grateful to the number of followers I have who do visit my blog regularly and take the time to read my posts and leave comments or interact with me. It is exactly why I started a blog in the first place; to meet people who love anime and want to talk about it.
You certainly do engage in the community – I’ve said it before but your quite the pillar
Well first time that I hear about these triscks even if it does not surprise me! I love playing with words in my titles but it’s who I am a little naughty, a little provoking and a lot jokester. Now your post is really broaching an interesting topic! When I began I expected people to flock to my blog (naively) but then I realised I was rather “shouting in the desert” than being Kim K LOL. I tried to increase my follower base because nobody likes talking alone but I soon realized that it was better to have less followers and more interaction. I try to follow people who follow me but if I had to follow 1000 of blogs I would never be able to interact and chat properly. Not on a regular basis. So maybe I’ll never be big but I am pleased with my “turd” and the people who are chatting with me. So yes quality over quantity!
So far everybody seems to agree (though I suspect most huge bloggers don’t have time to comment on this ;))
And you do have saucy titles and a GREAT blog name!
I remember you were one of the first blogs I followed because I was hoping reading your stuff would finally make me give in and start watching anime because it’s something I just know I’d love like Star Trek or Supernatural, but I just haven’t had the time to start it yet. That and the awesome amount of cool GIFs you use. That’s what sold me. I really like your posts about blogging and discussion posts, it’s great knowing someone feels the same way you do. I’m a book blogger and I don’t have many bookish friends so I blog for the community as otherwise I’d have no one to talk to about books and that would suck because talking like, one of my top 3 skills. I agree with the quality over quantity comment, my little brother asked why I didn’t just buy followers on twitter/instagram for the blog pages the other day and I was like ‘because they’re not real’ and he was all ‘so?’ and I just explained to him how it was cool knowing real people had read something you wrote and then liked it enough to give you their contact information to spam their inboxes with more, that I had interacted with pretty much everyone who followed me and they were all cool like-minded individuals. He just grunted and carried on playing fortnite as 17 year olds do apparently these days. I weep for the future of humanity. Wait, what was I saying? Oh yeah, thanks for the great post! Keep it up 🙂
Man you guys have been proving my point all – I definitely have the best readers. (true story – I started my blog 70% to collect anime gifs…)
I believe the book blogging community is absolutely lovely on wordpress -I really want to make more time to explore it as all the book bloggers I have gotten to know are pure awesome!
No wonder- your Gif choices are superb!!
Thank you!!! My priorities may be suspect but at least they’re passionate
Yay!!! I just found another blog to follow!
I think the fact that you don’t actually watch anime yet follow this blog says volumes about this site. That is so awesome!
I miss reading for pleasure sooo much- one of the curses of classes. In my fantasy world, I could have my very own time-warp tunnel used purely for sleeping, studying and reading.
Hmm…. there were quite a few dystopian novels and fantasy fictions that looked amazing on your Pinterest list.
I would think that reading blogs may be a little more difficult to continue at times.
On behalf of your blog readers, it takes time to read a book, also it is a lot more difficult to immerse oneself in reading. If I have a film or anime playing, it rarely needs any explanation (unless if there is some sort of unfortunate timing… 😛 ) People can join in, or not.
But for some reason, when a book is involved, it seems to open strange conversation, or statements… like your’e not really doing anything. Except for at a restaurant. Books are usually the best shields when dining alone in public.
But as far as reading blogs, the main reason why I would avoid it is due to pure jealousy. I end up thinking about all the books that I have waiting me, and I am reading about someone else’s escapades…. thinking I could be using this same amount of time reading their blog when I could be reading myself. But let’s be honest here, if I pick up that book, I can kiss my assignments goodbye. It will starts with a single book, and then it becomes an all-out binge.
Annnnd, I have rambled again. A lot of quantity trying to say that yes, indeed, I too agree that quality is more important- hah!
Sadly Jordanne is on hiatus but the archives are definetly worth your time
I have a relatively small following and it doesn’t bother me in the least. I do get a thrill when I break monthly records for views and stuff like that though. It’s just to cool to see people reading my stuff. I am pretty much in the camp of blogging just to interact with people and discuss anime. It is a great way to meet new people.
It really is. I’m surprised by how social the expérience has been
Thank you fir this amazing post. I feel much better and I am not worry about followers anymore. You have made my day.
Awww. That’s really winderful to hear and the most I could ask for.
Well…what can I say that has not already been said. One of the main things that I love about blogging is the interaction. I do appreciate every one that takes the time to read a post of mine, or places a comment. I love the discussions and the real friendships that I have gained because of this (and yes duh…you are one of those friends). As much as I like gaining new followers, and the ones that also take the time to place a comment I have reached the limit to how many blogs I can follow.
As you know I love reading posts and commenting on them…but I just can’t follow everyone. Which sometimes sucks and I even feel a bit guilty about it, but then again, I would feel even more guilty if I would simply follow for the follow and leave only likes without even reading a post. That would kind of miss the point. I make an occasional exception, but right now I have stopped following new blogs. I know I might miss out on some great new people and articles because of that.
Other than that…..amazing that you have already been at this for almost a year now. And look at what you have achieved. You have become one hell of a blogger, and truly one of the most amazing individuals that I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. So…happy anniversary in advance, and I hope you will keep doing this for a very, very long time 😊😊
I’d like to check out your blog, from my app I can’t seem to click your name 😁
Haha, that’s very kind of you that you want to check out my blog, thanks so mucg: you can find it at raistlin0903.wordpress.com 😊
You know – meeting the wonderful people I have (and I meet more every day) has been such a wonderful experience and guess wich moraly compromised red mage has been a big part of that – go on – guess!
Hmmmm….🤔🤔🤔🤔 Do you hear that sound? That’s my brain working overtime to come up with the right answer…erm…Yes I think I have found it: Fistandantilus! I’m right? Am I not? Am I not? 😂😂😂
Crap…pressed enter too fast: and of course: I also meant to say thank you as it really has been wonderful: here’s too many more years of friendship 🎉🎉
I’m not even on word press right now. I’m not supposed to be here or write this, but I’ll make an exception and I’ll keep it short. For a simple reason. Rin-san , i wholeheartedly agree with everything you said.
I also urge you to include yourself in that never ending list of wonderful people.
Because honestly, if we had just the gang and no other follower more, it would still be the best thing to return to.
Happy bloggiversary in advance.
A toast from my side.
To Rin san and to just as wonderful bloggers.
AWWWW this MADE MY DAY!!!
I miss and of course am so so proud of you!
Great post! I was smiling at the reference to being found through hentai related searches. The unexpected searches are the best! Have you had any favourites? I think my personal favourite has been ‘Japanese pee’. I don’t know what they were looking for, but I can guarantee that they didn’t find it with me.
actually my favorite may be: “let me do this!”
there’s just so much possibilities in that search!
LOL. There is that! I wonder what they were looking for?
Right!?!
I wholeheartedly agree with the quality over quantity attitude when it comes to followers. My primary reasons for blogging are very much like yours as I value discussion and appreciating anime with others over anything else.
Getting a steady stream of followers helps in one sense though. Early followers can drop off and unless you’re getting more people you will eventually lose core readership and the discussion that comes with it. You have at least one good skill in that the what you write encourages people to discuss. Steady traffic + engaging posts = greater potential for discussion.
I’ve never been particularly successful with either one. My traffic is meager after 2 years and what limited output I do manage gets ignored. The comment rate on my blog has dropped dramatically over the last year as a result. Most of the people that do follow me have come through follow for follow etiquette, which I no longer really believe in due to the reasons you already pointed out in your post. Aside from that, my efforts to discuss anime on some other blogs (names have been omitted to protect the innocent) don’t really result in the level or quality of discussion I’m looking for. I’m stuck in this weird limbo where neither trying to get more followers or trying to better engage the ones I have achieve the results I want.
So I guess what I’m saying is that both are kind of important? If you don’t pay sufficient attention you turn into me.
Hmm…that is a real shame though…Let’s see if I can do something about that soon. Keep your eyes open (mysterious grin….😊😊).
Haha, no, don’t feel pressured my friend. You have been such a fixture on my blog (and everyone’s) for so long that I could never say you were lacking. I have a lot of issues with blogging now but you’re definitely not one of them.
No pressure at all….I honestly have never really understood why you blog hasn’t been discovered by more people yet. As your reviews and posts have always been so incredibly cool to read, and are really expertly written (not to mention the fun I had during the Your Lie in April watchalong). So…no pressure at all, but I am going to do something that I hope will help a bit 😊 Hopefully if all goes well, this weekend 😀😀
It’s true that a comment section isn’t always the best format for deep engagin discussion but occasionally you can get some great ones going.
I’m not sure it means much but I discovered your blog less than a year ago and I really like it. Your the only person that’s ever made my care about YLIA and I’ve picked up the manga entirely on your word..
At least my YLIA coverage gets somewhere. I should reach out to Naoshi Arakawa for some referral credit. 😅
I have definitely had some really great discussions – not at all trying to say that I haven’t. Just that the frequency is low because my blog performance and/or content is poor, and my preferences don’t seem to match up with the aniblogging zeitgeist.
I also didnt mean to sound overly complainy. I’m very happy to see that you are getting what you want out of this and only used myself as an example of someone who hasn’t gotten there.
I really like your content. I hope you don’t get too discouraged cause Id miss it
What is this warm feeling…
No! I won’t give in! I’m staying edgy!
*slaps cheeks* *ehem*
“You regularly bring a smile to my face. You take the time to just stop by and say hello, and just like that the world is a little sunnier”
Are you sure it’s not the other way around?
awwww – now we’re both walking talking greeting cards…
Y’know, sometimes it feels good to be a supporting character. While I obviously crave commentary and even debate on my own posts, at the end of the day good discussion is satisfying regardless of whose blog it’s on. I’m happy to take part in it.
Well that’s a great way to look at it. You guys do podcasts which I know is a little different in my experience. I listen to them at work so it’s a bit more difficult to comment
I really like reading these posts about other blogging experiences, because at this point I enjoy talking about/reading about the whole blogging process as much as I do talking/reading about anime itself.
I mostly just came into your comments section to share that, a few months ago, I was writing these “reviews” of some YouTube ecchi series because I thought it was so-bad-its-good and funny. Well, apparently it got removed from YouTube and ever since then I’ve gotten a DUMB amount of people coming to my site, desperately trying to find/watch this show. My stats have almost doubled and on one hand, it’s like, hell yeah, but on the other hand I know that they’re all kinda fake. I just hope that they get bored of their search and decide to read about gay anime instead?????
we can only hope!!! That’s actually a great story – for some reason it made me happy!
I’ve been blogging for years and I’m always surprised when I get a like, let alone a follower increase. That being said, I always told myself I didn’t do for followers or popularity, I did it for me. But since I started writing on a more regular schedule at the start of this year, I can’t help but look at analytics when I type wordpress into my search engine (because if there’s anything I love, it’s cold hard data.) and wonder why my number stopped going up.
I feel like part of the reason is my blog it far too broad, I just write about anything that interests me, and I’d guess I’d get more attention if I was a lot more focused on a particular format/genre/medium. Again though, that’s a guess.
It’s also probably because I don’t interact with the community on here anywhere near enough. Which is something I am trying to be better about. But It’s difficult when I sometimes struggle to find time to write my two posts in a week and work my job.
That’s just my take though, it’s actually really interesting to read someone else’s view on the whole thing. I’ve always been terrible at self promotion, so I guess that holds me back to an extent too.
Well as I openly admited – I’m in no way the best person to advise on this but in my experience – community interaction goes a long way – and is fun!
This said I really enjoy your anime reviews and I have a feeling they’ll catch on.
Just dropping a comment, commenting how great your commentators are 😁
They really are!! 🙂
I’ve checked other comments in other posts they all are awesome, showing how great your content 😊
Well now you’re just proving my point. Having another fantastic commenter on here!
This was a great post Irina! Again you seem to read my thoughts since I’m actually trying to work in a post about quality versus quantity LOL Again, you beat me and posted it earlier than me ahah
I think that anything that I could comment is already in my “Blogging is Hard” post. However, as you said I don’t really find it difficult to get more followers in your blog. Just do the “I follow you and you follow me” and that’s it! Although I do want to be able to do this as a job I don’t really think that I want to go to that route. Only because getting followers will end being this awesome and thrilling experience to a thoughtfull and strategy process which will just take the joy out of getting those followers milestones 😛
You work so hard – I’m sure you’ll get there!
It’s interesting, because “followers” can mean lots of things due to how widely you can spread your content over the Internet. I don’t have a ton of WordPress followers compared to some (though that has been growing pleasingly over time) but I do have over 2,000 followers on Twitter, another 250+ on Facebook despite the fact I only ever do automated posts on there, and a bunch following my blog via email. I also am a member of several Discords (come back and say hi on mine, by the way!) where I’ll share my stuff and get some readers that way too.
I try not to focus too much on numbers. I’ve always said to myself ever since I started MoeGamer that it’s primarily for myself. That may sound self-indulgent, but what I’ve tended to find throughout my time writing both personally and professionally, is that if you write for yourself you tend to simply and naturally attract the sort of audience you’d be keen to court anyway. And that’s certainly been true for me so far. My numbers have grown pretty solidly over the last year in particular thanks to a combination of my getting more involved with the community on WordPress, and also collaborating with developers and publishers on Twitter with things like review copies and them sharing my articles when I’ve written them. Any time I get a RT from eroge publisher Denpasoft my pageviews go through the roof!
I say it quite regularly, but I’m super-grateful anyone is reading my site at all… and even more so that people are good enough to leave likes and comments and, in some cases, even throw me a dollar or two each month via Patreon. I have no real grand designs on making my blog a full-time job or anything (though I certainly wouldn’t object to that being a possibility!) but it’s wonderful to have a bit of extra pocket money each month… that I inevitably throw straight back into purchasing things to write about for the site, because in my case — as in yours, I feel — blogging is not only a hobby unto itself, it’s also a natural extension of another hobby; another way to extend your enjoyment and appreciation of anime, manga, games, whatever.
Also you’re totally right that salacious content draws the most viewers. My most consistently popular articles are about a sex simulator and a game where you shoot the clothes off anime-style girls. I don’t even feel bad about that, because I haven’t seen anywhere else cover those games — I enjoy both of them, and posted those articles BECAUSE I was enjoying them, not as clickbait — and because people are sticking around to read my other stuff, too.
Which is nice.
I will stop filling up your comment section now. Have a pleasant day.
oh noes – I love when you fill my comment section
True absolutely random story – when I was really really small (like 4 or something) and they asked us at school what we wanted to be when we grow up – I said “cult leader”… The word followers always makes me think of that.
You’d make a great cult leader. You’d make the best punch and all you’d really make us do is give a daily act of worship to Integra before we all retire to our respective keyboards to bang out the day’s posts. 🙂
Dang…now I regret not having followed through on that
For the record, I actually enjoy your content and follow along whether I comment or like or just read. There is a blog I’ve been following for over 10 years that I rarely comment on anymore, but I still enjoy the content.
We started a backpacking blog for our trips and tips, but we have multiple other hobbies that we enjoy as well, with anime being one of them. We’ve decided that it’s better to post when we want and what we want, rather than posting for the sake of likes or followers or not saying what we really want to say.
If that doesn’t acquire more readers or followers, so be it, but it’s ours and we appreciate those who do follow along out of a want rather than a necessity. 🙂
Cheers.
Thank you Matt and or Bailey.
Your blog has such great pictures it always makes me jealous when I see it. And I really appreciate you stopping by. It’s always so great to hear that people enjoy your stuff. (I’m horrible about commenting too – I get weirdly shy and don’t know what to say…)
This is the most “pretends-to-know-things” post you’ve done yet!
Not that that matters, it’s still a lovely post.
My take on it is a bit of both helps a lot. The quantity of your followers directly helps attract quality followers, because a lot of people tend to follow those with followers already because it makes it seem like they’re content is “proven.”
So I write my stuff as quality as I can, but I also shill it super hard for views and followers, and exploit tags. For every 10 “fake” followers and likes, I get at least 2 real followers and a dozen comments for it. It’s slow and steady, but it works!
That’s actually a pretty great average.
I honestly find it difficult to do both. I know that when I go into promotion mode, I’m not writing as many posts as I like or giving them as much love. I also don’t have as much time to really appreciate what my fellow bloggers are doing which is a big loss.