If You Want More Readers, Consider Seven Things To Focus On When Writing.

Want More Reads? Don't We All...

Surely, with 4.8 billion active internet users in January of 2021, there's something you have to share that could catch a few thousand, few hundred thousand, or even a million people's attention. However, as a content creator, you may be wondering how to gain more readers for your stories on Vocal+. You're not alone. Just today I saw a post about reads being down. I think they've been down for most of us lately. What to do to keep your readers coming back?

This week I struggled to get any writing done. Sure, I had ideas, but none of them were drawing my fingers to my keyboard. Between work and the toll that takes on me some days, some personal struggles, family requirements on my time, and the loss of a friend, motivation escaped me. It's not that I didn't have ideas, I just couldn't force myself to write for the past few days. Looking at my reads, they went down into that lower double-digit range. So, what to do?

Write Daily

Writing every day is the only way to keep what you're offering fresh. It's not easy to see your story that you felt great about not getting the attention you want, and there are probably reasons why it isn't, but you've got to keep something fresh to offer your readers. Fresh, new ideas, written for quality rather than quantity, will help keep people reading your stories, poems, and articles.

Write Focused

Have you ever written something that you felt great about but didn't come out on paper, or on your screen, the way it sounded in your head? All writers will put together a stinker of a piece, eventually. Then there's that piece that people just aren't interested in, no matter how important it may be. Focus your articles and stories to fill the needs of readers and your chances of people clicking on your article are higher.

Write What You Know

Learning to write on Vocal, Medium, or both, is going to take some time to master. Lord knows I'm still learning my way. So, as I write this article, this is something that I've come to know, and am still learning. One of my best articles was written about ditching work. This was something that I came to be familiar with while a supervising officer at a Sheriff's Department. People would ditch work for some of the craziest reasons I ever imagined.

This wasn't a viral article by any means, but it did blow up and give me hope that I could do articles that might get tons of attention. In the first few days it hit 2,000 reads and since then has been read 3423 times. While I would have liked to see it make it to 5,000 reads, it slowed down and I kept writing other pieces and trying them. Occasionally, I'll reshare the story and it'll pick up a few more reads, but I haven't focused on this story in quite a while.

Trending Searches

If you're looking for ideas to write about, consider what's trending. On Tuesday, September 28th, 2021 there were trends for Britney Spears, No Time to Die, Brian Laundrie, Stephanie Grisham, and Rebel Wilson. Venom, the Government Shut Down, Grey's Anatomy, and the Bengals were trending today. Tomorrow, people will be searching for stories about the Bengals and Venom.

Trending searches, or Google Trends, will show you the interest in people around the world. The next time you're looking for ideas, try google trends and see what is interesting.

Promote Your Work

Twitter, Facebook, Quora, Instagram, Redditt, Minds, Tumblr, etc...are all available to promote your work on Vocal and Medium. But, I'm not telling you anything you don't know. Search groups on Facebook and you might be surprised. There are new ones popping up all the time and as of right now I'm signed up for 313 different groups. I can honestly say that 250 of them are places I've posted work.

Engage With Other Creators

Writers always read, and readers always write. Well, not always. But, for the most part, if you read someone else's work you have a 75% greater chance of them reading your work next time you share something. If you're sitting there saying, "I don't have time to read everybody's work," then you're not alone. However, you can make a dent in reading other's work and showing support for the other creators by making a little time.

Choose Catchy Images

Your image is your bait. It's the first thing that people see when they're scrolling their feeds or pages they visit. While the title is extremely important, your eyes will get you to stop scrolling based on an image that is appealing, exciting, intriguing, and yes, even appalling.

The image of a fiery inferno as a firefighter tries to put the blaze out is going to pull people's eyes to the action. The questions-what happened, was anybody hurt, was the home lost, all come to mind as you see the photo pop up in your feed. Human drama, human suffering, and heroism are all displayed in one image.

These tips all should help you to find more readers enjoying the content you have created. The hours you have spent working on your pieces, diligently researching, and finely crafting your story, will pay off in time.

I may not be an expert, but as I rapidly approach 15,000 reads, I'll stick by the fact that using these pointers when writing has gotten me more reads than when I don't.