Bloggers: how long did it take you to get any comments/ followers?

[ms.shell]

Did it take a while? Is there some secret(s) to getting folks to comment or follow? My blog has been up a little while now, and I am feeling discouraged because every time I go there, I see "there are no followers yet" and I haven't gotten the first comment.
I am trying not to feel discouraged; thinking most blog readers probably do just read and not comment, but I would love to have a little interaction and feedback. Wondering what I can do to encourage readers to follow.
I was thinking about offering to send a packet of seeds to anyone who signs up to follow, but then I realized most folks probably won't want to give out their address.
I would love to hear about your experience with your blog; how long it took to generate comments and followers, and if you have discovered any tricks to encouraging participation.
Please and thank you.

[annamama]

I've had a cooking blog since August 2009 and still have very, very few comments - the comments I do have are pretty much solely from friends. Yes, they've tried my recipe and liked it or drooled over a picture, but they're still mostly already my friends yk?

I have plenty of visits and some of my posts are on the first page of google, if not the first result (leading the interweb! Woohoo!) - many of my hits come from people searching for specific recipes, but as I don't seem to get any feedback, I don't know whether it commands any loyalty.

I've added a star rating on the end of each post/recipe so that people can just rate it with a click as opposed to having to type a comment out, but that hasn't been used much either! There are few things as soul destroying as an announcement that you have a new, easy star rating feature which has zero comments and zero stars

I've seen on some blogs, when you reach the end of the post, it suggests other posts you may like - trying to get people to stay within the blog, I suppose.
So in short (shorter than that lot), I hear you sister! It's like standing on stage talking the audience but because the lights are down, you have no way of knowing whether there are 3000 people in the audience, or just your Mum, Dad and Auntie Joy.

[mattemma04]

I started a blog at blogger.com and after a month or so I got 1 follower.They noticed my link in my forum posts and checked me out.I have noticed that blogger will highlight blogs,so strangers will come across them.Also, if you put tags on your posts,someone doing a search for say chicks or grapes will get linked to you.

[lalaland42]

Can you find a blog carnival that matches your theme? That is where I got most of my comments and followers.

[pear-shaped]

I've been blogging for a few years now, and I'm convinced that what works best for getting comments is commenting on other people's blogs. I used to make lots of comments on other blogs and I used to get many on my own, sometimes pretty surprising numbers given how small my blog has always been. For the past couple of years I haven't had the time to read and comment on lots of other blogs, and the number of comments on mine has significantly decreased. Personally, if someone new leaves a comment on my blog, I make an effort at least to visit theirs. I'm sure there are lots of other bloggers like me.

I've noticed that some bloggers ask questions at their ends of their posts, inviting their readers to comment. I don't know if it works but it feels so awkward to me that I never do it.

[ms.shell]

Thanks so much for your help, mamas. I am looking into "blog carnivals," which I had never heard of. And I have noticed other bloggers ending posts with questions, which I have thought about, but like you, I find it feels a bit awkward. And would be more awkward if no one answered the question....but I think I am going to try this. Ya'll are so sweet to have checked out my blog, too; I really appreciate it! Thanks again.

[ms.shell]

Annamama, I want to see your cooking blog. It is not linked to your username. I was going to pm you for the url, but I am sure others want to see it too. I hope you will link to it, if not linking to it thru your username, then please pm it to me. I would love to see your recipes and pictures.

[annamama]

Originally Posted by ms.shell

Annamama, I want to see your cooking blog. It is not linked to your username. I was going to pm you for the url, but I am sure others want to see it too. I hope you will link to it, if not linking to it thru your username, then please pm it to me. I would love to see your recipes and pictures.

OK, I didn't realise you could link to your homepage from your username. Duh.
Have amended my details to show my homepage now - thanks for drawing it to my attention! That also means I can now check out all your homepages. Marvellous, this technology isn't it?

[Purple*Lotus]

I've been to your blog I did not comment though, I suck at that

[fullofgrace]

Hi there! I'm sending this on over to the WAHM Well where our blogging mamas hang out and discuss building a following, etc.

[dogmom327]

Have you installed that commentluv plug-in? Basically when someone comments, it posts the link to that person's last blog post. That way it's a win for them too.

[sweetpeppers]

I think I've gotten most of my hits from my facebook page and my etsy site. What's a blog carnival?

[MittensKittens]

I tried to comment on your blog but it won't let me . Do you know why?

[ms.shell]

on my blog, mittenskittens?
i just checked over there and tried to comment myself and the comment form seemed to be working fine.

[MittensKittens]

Originally Posted by ms.shell

on my blog, mittenskittens?
i just checked over there and tried to comment myself and the comment form seemed to be working fine.

Perhaps because I am using a Mac? Macs can be funny like that .

Sorry I didn't reply to your message yet, I've been busy! Great your blog is doing well!

[ColwynsMommy]

Great tips! I bet commenting on other people's blogs is a good way to get comments, I noticed that the last time I was blogging regularly.

I just combined three of my blogs in one.. do you think that's a good idea? I got so tired of splitting things up between blogs.. so now I have very general tags for those who used to read my old blogs to filter out what they don't want. I used to have a general parenting blog, a homeschooling blog, and a diet blog. Now I'm focusing on dieting, parenting, and urban homesteading.

I tried doing a give-away of a reusable bowl cover I just made, and nobody's commented that they want it. That's a pretty sucky feeling..

[ms.shell]

well, I LOVE your bowl cover, colwynsmommy. That's a great idea- i get in trouble because i put plates over bowls before putting them in the fridge. I am about to try to get permission for a fabric store trip to buy some nylon ripstop so i can make some.

i still haven't looked into blog carnivals. i am not sure if they are the same thing as "link parties." But I wanted to mention these as something someone might want to look into. I have noticed TONS of these linky parties. I guess someone hosts it and then everyone puts up the link and it gets traffic moving through lots of sites. There are link parties to "show of your stuff" and "fabulous fridays" and all kinds of different things. I am not doing these, unless you count the Iron Crafter Challenge, mostly because it kinda confuses me and I don't want a ton of badges down my sidebars. But it seems like a whole lot of bloggers are doing these link parties. just thought i would mention it here, in case anyone is interested. I first became of aware of these when I visited this blog: http://www.firefliesandjellybeans.blogspot.com They have a lot of them, and then if you follow the links you find lots more.

i hope everyone here is doing well!

[AnnaNova]

i started a few months ago, and was disappointed too when even posting stuff my fb page didnt result in much...
one tip i do have though is registering with a bloggers association by the topic. mine is i guess mostly related to parenting, so i registered with a mommy blogger network, and even though i didnt explore what exactly that registration offers, i already got like 3 followers from there just coz someone saw my name come up in their listings and was interested ... im guessing...
great thread, thanks for posting!

[Kristine233]

Originally Posted by MittensKittens

Perhaps because I am using a Mac? Macs can be funny like that .

Sorry I didn't reply to your message yet, I've been busy! Great your blog is doing well!

I'm on a Mac as well and it seems to be fine for me. Are you clicking in far enough to see the form? It could be browser related too?

[Kristine233]

I've been blogging since 2006 and don't know that I have any followers. I know I get a lot of people reading it but very few comments. I think its mostly because my content is nto somthing that everyone is going to enjoy, its geared towards WAHMs. My goal with the blog is to mainly drive SEO to my site though.

I found that my Twitter and Facebook do better and those are just posts getting pushed from my blog. I get more comments and followers there, even though they have to visit my site to actually read the stuff. I don't get hung up on comments as stuff, although I agree that it is a bit dissapointing when it seams like you are simply answering yourself, lol.