How To Start a Book Blog That Actually Gets Views

How to Start A Book Blog That Actually gets views

By: Preston Simmons

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The Pros and Cons of Starting a Book Blog

So, you want to start a book blog. Congratulations, you’ve already taken the hardest step. Coming up with the idea to start a blog and then choosing what type of blog you want it to be is one of the most challenging and time-consuming parts of creating a website.

If you have made it this far, you have already taken the initiative by either searching “how to start a book blog,” or your curiosity made you click on this article. Either way, you have taken the first step in your book blogging journey. So, again, congratulations.

I’m going to be brutally honest in this article because I believe before you put a ton of time into anything, you should know exactly what you are getting into. There are a few pros and cons to starting a book blog (truthfully, more cons than pros). Let’s get the cons out of the way first.

The Cons of Starting a Book Blog

The first and biggest con concerning book blogging is that out of all types of blogs on the internet, book blogs are one of the least viewed blogs on the web. An ironic but true statement considering book blogs are also one of the most popular types of blogs.

The next con is that although there might seem like an endless supply of content to write about, in reality, the type of content that people want to read is limited with book blogs.

Another con is that books blogs are hard to monetize (which may or may not be your goal, but it should be something you think about).

These three cons are the most important ones to think about, though they are not the only ones. However, none of these cons should stop you from doing what you want to do. If those cons aren’t enough to stop you, that’s great. You’ve come to the right place. Let’s go over the pros of starting a book blog.

The Pros of Starting a book Blog

The first pro and the main reason why starting a book blog is worth it, is that it is so much fun to write. There’s nothing better than writing about all the amazing books you’ve read over the years or the books you want to read in the future. It truly feels fulfilling working on a fun blog, rather than feeling like extra work to do.

The second pro is that the sky is the limit on the type of content you can write about with book blogs. As there are hundreds of different genres of books available to read, there are even more subgenres of those genres of books as well. Each genre and subgenre can be their own book blog niche, meaning there is a place for anybody to start a book blog, including you.

The third pro is that there are already audiences out there interested in the types of books you are writing about; you just have to find them. In some cases, a single book series alone has millions of fans that might be interested in what you have to say about their favorite book! In other words, the audience for your book blog is already there; you just need to go to them first so that one day, they might come to you.

The First Step To start a book blog:

Discover your Niche

The goal of this post isn’t just to teach you how to start a book blog. The primary purpose is to show you how to make a book blog that actually gets viewership.

It all begins with discovering your niche. What type of book blog do you want to be? Do you want to write reviews on the books you have read? Do you want to recommend books to readers? Do you want to share fanart of your favorite series? Do you want to write a blog dedicated to romance novels or young adult vampire dramas?

Whatever the case, discovering what type of book blog you want to write is the first step for any book blogger.

Viewership is earned in many ways, but one of the best ways to gain views organically is through search engines. Appearing on search engines like Google, Bing, or Duckduckgo is key to achieving page views. But how does discovering your niche translate to getting more views?

When you focus on a niche and stick to the niche, the search engines are more likely to place your blog (or specific article you’ve written) on the front page when people search for a keyword that is relevant to your topic. Why? Because those search engines will begin to trust your blog as a relevant source for information that is useful to their users. The more relevant the search engines find your blog, the more viewers they send to you.

The Second Step To Start a Successful Book Blog:

Learn Proper SEO

SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is a critical skill all bloggers should learn to utilize. The most crucial factor in gaining organic viewers for your website is appearing on the first page of Google and every other search engine for the keyword related to your topic.

What are keywords? Keywords are what people type in the search box of search engines to find articles or websites of interest. Utilizing proper SEO techniques makes an article more attractive to the various search engines. For example, if you found this article by googling the question “how to start a book blog,” the keyword you used would be “how to start a book blog.”

The best way to learn SEO is hands-on experience by writing articles for your blog while utilizing free SEO plug-ins like Yoast or Rank Math. Both of those plug-ins tell you precisely what you should have in your article to make the most of your chosen focus keyword.

The next best way to learn SEO is to take a free online certificate course. I recommend the Google Digital Garage “Fundamentals of Digital Marketing” class. With this certificate program, you will learn all the basics of SEO and digital marketing that will help make your book blog successful.

RELATED: Why Is SEO Important To Book Blogs?

The Third Step To Start A Book Blog That Actually Gets Views:

Write Content That Helps Readers

Content is king.

If you haven’t heard this phrase before as an up-and-coming book blogger, you will now.

Let me reiterate: Content is king.

What you write about is essential in attracting viewers to your book blog. One of the biggest hurdles book bloggers face is figuring out exactly what to write about. In that struggle, what usually happens is that book bloggers tend to take the easy and safe route out and end up writing a bunch of book reviews and ONLY book reviews.

If that’s what you want to do, more power to you. However, don’t expect to attract many (if any) readers to your book blog if you ONLY write book reviews.

The Problem with Book Reviews

But wait. Didn’t I say earlier that sticking to your niche will make Google and other search engines put you on the front page? If book reviews are your niche, why would only writing book reviews hurt you rather than help you, especially if book reviews ARE your niche?

The unfortunate truth is that only book reviews are not enough. In the early days of the internet, it’s possible that you could have a successful book blog focused on only book reviews. On today’s internet, it’s virtually impossible.

Book reviews are a dime a dozen with websites like Amazon and Goodreads. For example, let’s look at A Court of Silver Roses by Sarah J. Maas. This is the fourth book in the series called A Court of Thorns and Roses. On the Goodreads page for the book, there are over 30,282 written reviews. On Amazon, there are over 2,600 global written reviews of the book.

When it comes to book reviews, the problem is that there are just too many out there for each book. Even if your review was the most well-written, insightful, and helpful article ever written for that book, Google and other search engines won’t find it. Because of this, book blogs are one of the least read types of blogs on the internet. Unfortunately, most book bloggers don’t understand that simple fact and fall into the trap of dedicating their book blog to book reviews.

When they do so, eventually, they notice that no one is reading their blog, and inevitably they stop writing and give up. At first glance, book blogging may seem the most accessible type of blog to write. It’s why there are so many out there. However, the truth is that book blogging is one of the most challenging types of blogs. That’s why there are so many dead book blogs on the web.

I’m trying to prevent that from happening to you with this article. So, what should you do?

Get Creative

Once again: Content is king.

Write content that people want to read. The best content answers some type of question the reader may have. As a blogger, your first goal should be to provide answers to your reader’s questions, even if they didn’t know they had the question in the first place. Therefore, your content needs to answer questions creatively.

Ask yourself, what are some questions readers often have? If you can come up with ten different questions about any book-related topic, and you can answer them, there you go. You now have ten various topics to write about on your blog.

For example, one of the biggest questions readers often have is “what should I read next?” You should answer that question by giving the reader recommendations for books to read.

Search engines love informative articles. If your articles answer specific questions that readers might have, Google and other search engines will begin to recognize you as an authority and place your website on the front page more often, resulting in higher page views for you.

The Fourth Step To Start A Book Blog That People Want to Read:

Use Social Media to Find Your Audience

Another way to get people to read your blog is by going to them first. The way to do this is through social media. Through social media, you can find your audience interested in the niche that you decided to focus on.

Social media platforms like Twitter, Reddit, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, and Pinterest are excellent sources for finding people interested in reading what you have written.

On Twitter, use #BookTwt to find people interested in reading who might click on your article if you share your post with that hashtag. Or if you write an article on a specific book, use #”Book Name” to find fans of that particular book that want to read an article you wrote about the book.

On Reddit, follow specific subreddits dedicated to your niche. If you write about romance books, follow the wide variety of romance subreddits and answer questions people might have with links to your book blog.

On Tik Tok, make short videos using the hashtag #BookTok to advertise your blog to a broader audience.

With YouTube, turn your written posts into video format and join the BookTube community to find like-minded people who would be interesting in reading your content.

On Instagram, take pictures of different books you like or recommend to people, making sure to use relevant hashtags in the description.

With Pinterest, turn your posts into pins and link your website within them. If you make your Pinterest posts eye-catching by utilizing multiple bright book covers and having exciting titles, it’s possible to gain thousands of extra readers every day to your website.

All of that being said, social media in itself is a lot of work to understand and make the most out of. It is best to pick one or two to focus on rather than going all-in with the different platforms. Once you have established yourself on one or two, it’s much easier to gain a following quickly on others.

The Fifth, and most important Step, To Start a Successful Book blog:

Be Consistent. Don’t Give Up!

Gaining an audience is a slow and complex process. It could take months, or even multiple years, before you start seeing constant, reliable traffic on your website.

Often you may feel like you’re writing to an audience of one, with that one being you. Mentally it’s tough feeling like what you are doing is a waste of time. The truth is, it isn’t. If you ever feel this way, don’t give up!

Consistency is key to gaining an audience. The more you write, the more active you are, the more articles you publish, the more likely Google and other search engines will find you. If they discover you, readers will likely come to you as well.

If you stay consistent and utilize the above tips, your audience will come.

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In Summary on How to Start a Book Blog That Actually Gets Views:

• Discover your niche:
  • become an authority on that niche
  • consistently write about that niche
• Learn SEO (Search Engine Optimization):
  • take the Google Digital Garage “Fundamentals of Digital Marketing” online certificate course
  • utilize plug-ins like Yoast or Rank Math while writing your articles
• Write content that is useful to readers:
  • Don’t fall into the Book Review trap
  • Answer questions readers may have
  • Get creative
• Use social media to find your audience:
  • Pick one or two platforms to master (Twitter, Reddit, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest)
• Be consistent:
  • Don’t give up!