This is a guest post by our top contributing author and travel blogger Ryan Biddulph. He is the founder of Blogging From Paradise, his course 11 Fundamentals of Successful Blogging and the author of more than 126 eBooks.
Some bloggers blog for themselves without listening to what their readers want.
Oddly enough, most bloggers make this mistake at times. Some bloggers err in this fashion for the entirety of their blogging career.
One blog I visited 5 minutes ago greeted me with Christmas music and cyber snowflakes falling across the screen. I admire the cute touch but did the blogger poll their readers before making a holiday-themed edit?
I hate being a Grinch but I love being honest. As a rule, adding music to your blog – or any site – is a no-no. Readers tend to enjoy music-free blogging experiences. Being assaulted by unexpected, loud music turns off most readers.
Perhaps the blogger asked their readers before adding holiday-themed music and cyber snowflakes falling from the internet skies. However, most bloggers make dramatic blog edits without asking readers for feedback.
Trust your gut. But be careful about making big blogging edits before asking readers. Blog readers make a blogging community. Turning off most blog readers dissolves most of your community.
I shared a time sensitive holiday edit above. December 25th or January 1st marks the respective days most bloggers ceases adding holiday changes to their blogs. But other bloggers make fundamental edits for the long haul without ever asking readers for their feedback.
Why would you make big blogging changes without asking readers if they want you to make the change? Sans readers, every blogger runs a cyber-diary. Feel free to be the shot caller of your cyber diary. Ask readers for feedback before making significant changes to your blog.
Find the Happy Balance
Find the happy balance between trusting your gut and fielding reader feedback. Never solely become a slaver to reader needs. Why would you blog unless you partially honor your inner feedback?
Readers respect, clear, confident bloggers who make some decisions based on their gut. But listen closely to reader feedback to solve their problems, to inspire them to live their dreams and to set up a seamless user experience.
My blog is essentially free content with my eBooks links and embeds mixed in. I use no pop-ups. I do not even post an opt-in form on my blog sidebar. Blogging From Paradise boasts a lean, mean and clean design. I publish content, promote my eBooks and courses and add nothing else to my blog.
I receive virtually no feedback concerning any aspect of my blog. Receiving no feedback signals my readers enjoy what I have to offer. But if a high volume of readers begged me to add an embed for joining my email list I would add an embed to honor reader needs.
A few bloggers asked me to open blog comments.
I listened closely to desiring commenters with an open mind. But each commenter rarely commented on my blog. I did not open comments because receiving a few comments monthly from legit commenters does not outweigh the huge load thousands of spammers place on my server every single month. I refuse to pay for spamming freeloaders to gobble up server space. I listened to reader feedback with an open mind but trusted my gut.
Listen closely to your readers.
No blogger needs reader feedback to succeed but wise bloggers note reader feedback mirroring patterns. Blogging friends of mine nudged me to self-publish eBooks in 2013. I feared self-publishing up to that point. As more bloggers egged me on to begin self-publishing eBooks I honored their influence and wrote a few eBooks for my old blogs.
A few more trusted blogging buddies asked me to write eBooks for my Blogging From Paradise blog after I trashed my former blogs. I listened closely to their feedback, tuned into my intuition and 120 eBooks later, I never looked back.
Ask readers for feedback. Be cautious about making any significant changes to your blog unless you ask your readers if they desire the change, first.
Listen to your readers while trusting your gut to build a large, loyal blogging community.
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