Great article.

If my traffic has dropped it usually appears related to the fact that I have dropped! That is, I’ve missed a couple days of posting. So now I try to be very diligent about it.

As for what generates conversation: I’m surprised more often than not. There have been some lengthy posts that I was afraid might put people to sleep. Instead, they generated a lot of conversation. Recently, one of my shortest posts generated an equal amount of conversation. Go figure!

At the risk of sounding trite, a closer examination shows that the real key appears to be the quality, timeliness, and personal applicability of the content.

One thing is you need to be clear about your blogging goals. Just like in a business, it’s important to know where you want to go before you set out in that direction. Maybe comments aren’t your focus, maybe they are. But try not to focus on comments as important without first deciding if it’s what you want.

Carol,
I wouldn’t worry about one person’s opinion – or even ten. Likely, they’re not in your niche. One of the keys to successful blogging is the same as having a successful business – a clearly defined, highly focused niche.

J.D.,
I hear you. The interesting thing I’ve found is I can never be completely sure what post is going to get that huge splash of comments. Some I have. But others that I thought would draw a big conversation haven’t. Yet most of my posts draw some conversation in general.

I just write what’s on my mind, seen in my business and felt in my heart – and I let ya’ll decide if it has value (there’s a key here).

Then there was another response from someone who didn’t like what the first person wrote.

And it just went on from there. I had tons of Google searches pointing to this post, so people who knew the guy were all coming to my site.

Turns out he was, indeed, convicted of murder.

I try to invoke emotion in my posts. Sometimes I succeed.

On the other hand…the vast majority of email I receive comes from people who love how personal my content is (I relate The Work of Byron Katie, the process I faciliate, to real-life situations, mostly my own…and people resonate with this or not.) When I post a “how to” article, while some people appreciate this, I don’t get nearly as much “fan mail” as when I tell stories on myself.

Having a blog that consists of strictly practical information might increase readership in the short run, but I’m not sure about loyalty. My readers do not even number in the thousands yet, but they are loyal, loyal, loyal.

I am receiving increased traffic almost every single day, but not many people leave comments.

I guess I should do something about my writing. I should probably be more personal and ask more questions.

I have been more concerned with increasing my traffic than “the good conversation”, I guess I am going to start focusing more on the converstation from now on.

With the increased traffic, I see that people are paying attention to my blog, but with about 85% new readers a day, it`s more like the search engines paying attention other than my “loyal” readers.

I guess what I am saying is, I am looking for a way to satisfy my loyal readers and increase the amount of loyal readers.

David,
Great, let me know what happens.

Alexander,
Thanks. Feel free at any time to contact me and let me know how I’m doing.

Susan,
As I mentioned with RT, it seems to be the style of writing that draws comments. Think about it as a conversation.

Dan & Jennifer,
My experience as well. I try to writing useful, quality, engaging content that will add value to people’s lives. And when the traffic slows down, I, too, kick in the social networking.

The one thing that we’ve done in the past that bombed was being too ‘promoty’ (is that a word? – guess it is now:-)) in our posts. We’re all about self promotion. Just look at our blog. No one seems to mind as long as you provide value with the promotion. A few of our posts in the beginning were lacking on that last part…

RT

Don’t you want your blog to be noticed? Sure, we each blog for different reasons. Some of us want to express our views or write about something we love. Others of us want make a buck or promote our business. And some just want to share with others….