There are a number of factors you can use to measure the success of a blog. One is the number of people that regularly return to the blog. As if they were on a piece of elastic.
Unless you are well known and have a good reputation in your industry or niche you’ll have to give some thought to why readers would return to your blog. There are several ways you can encourage this.
Post good content
Content that is of good quality and relevant to your audience will encourage your readers to come back for more. If you can provide useful information and practical help for your readers they will value your posts. Blogging a series of related posts will also have people coming back for more. Posts that are controversial in some way can also keep people interested, especially if they spark off some lively debate.
You can also encourage readers to return with a variety of blog posts. Variety means if your last post did not interest a particular reader they are still likely to return to see if the next one does. If a reader notices that of the past few blog posts only two were actually useful, they will be less likely to return.
Post often
Blog at least once a month. Many blog visitors decide whether to subscribe or not based on the frequency of the blog posts. There is no use subscribing to a blog if the last post was nine months ago. Post good content often and your readers will expect to read new and interesting posts from you soon. This will build anticipation and increase the chances your readers will become subscribers and recommend your blog to others.
Posting more often means you will have more blog entries. An abundance of good material will make it more likely that other site owners will find your posts in search engines and link to some of your posts or promote them via social media sites.
Encourage comments
Post about topics that are likely to start a debate or ones that your readers can contribute to. Ask them for feedback, help and their opinions. Make it easy to post their comments, don’t take ages to approve and publish their input and reply to as many comments as you can. If your readers feel they can be a part of the debate they will be more likely to return to your blog.
Make returning easy
Make it easy to subscribe by setting up an RSS feed. If you are operating in a niche that would not be aware of how to use an RSS feed put up a post that explains how your visitors can become subscribers. You can also set up an opt-in form to encourage your readers to subscribe so they can access a resource they will find useful. It would also enable you to inform them when your newest blog post has been published.
A blog needs traffic like any other website. If you can get a proportion of your visitors to regularly return to read your posts you will be building a fan base that will make your blogging more rewarding.