How to Gain GFC Blog Followers who are LOYAL!!

If you have a blog and you want it to be more than just a 'hobby blog' or more than something that's just for you, you probably care about the number of followers you have. Of course, quantity is not the only thing that counts (it does count though, potential advertisers / sponsors want to see that you have a large following), you want readers aka quality followers. You want loyal followers, people that keep coming back to your blog for more.

Here's a few ways to get GFC (Google Friend Connect) Followers:

1.) CONTENT! You need to write quality content. Tell stories. Be personal (but not too personal!). Double check for spelling and grammar. There is something to be said for Giveaways because you can get a lot of followers that way, but your blog should not be limited to products only; make sure you actually write about the topics your blog is supposed to be about.

2.) COMMENT. Become a part of the community. Go to other blogs that are similar to yours and leave meaningful, kind comments on their posts.

3.) TWITTER & other SOCIAL MEDIA. Promote your posts across the board: Facebook, Twitter, Google + etc. Make sure you promote others too. People don't like social media sites that only do self-promotion.

4.) BLOG HOPS / LINK PARTIES. I participate in at least one blog hop per day. How they work is really simple (most have very similar 'rules'): You add your blog link to the collection, grab their button and add it to your post, and go visit other blogs in the collection. Make sure you tell them where you stumbled upon their link and invite them to follow you back. IMPORTANT: You have to leave a meaningful comment - it can't just be 'Hi I'm a new follower from ___. Come follow me back at ____.' That's called "Comment Vomit" in some circles and it is very much frowned upon. Go to my blog and click Daily Reads to see the Blog Hops I visit.

5.) BE NICE AND HELPFUL. I'll say it again: Join the community and actually be the kind. How does the Golden Rule go again? "Follow others as you would like to be followed"? Yeah I think that's it.

6.) BUTTON. Have a Blog Button and a Scroll Box. This will help you get more traffic to your blog, which in turn, will get you more followers.
a. The more links to your site, the better your Search Engine Optimization
b. When people have your button on their site, it reminds them to stop by and interact on your blog!
c. People who see your button on another's Blog Love page might click on it and visit your site as well.

7.) GFC GADGET PLACEMENT. Calls-to-Action (like your Follower Gadget) get the best Click Though Rate when they are Above the Fold. That means the visitor doesn't have to scroll down at all to see it. If you can't put it above the fold, just get it as close to the top as possible.

8.) I'll say it one more time: CONTENT! You have to produce good content!!

See my other Hub: How to Make a Media Kit for Advertisers