DEV Community

Cover image for Top 5 ways to attract readers on DEV

Top 5 ways to attract readers on DEV

Medea on February 22, 2023

This is how my dev.to blog reader stats has changed over the last week: So I’m here to share some tips on how to get this massive increase in rea...
Collapse
 
devmehta profile image
Dev Mehta

Nah bro you just need to add #webdev #javascript #beginners #programming and don't forget to make it a listicle post with top-x-tools-that-sound-good-but-you-are-never-going-to-use

Collapse
 
amykhar profile image
amykhar

And - make it stay on the main page of 'Relevant' posts for days. Lately, I'm just seeing the same stuff over and over again, and most of the new posts are either ChatGPT generated blather or a listicle.

Collapse
 
vulcanwm profile image
Medea

this is why I usually just go through the latest posts instead of relevant

Collapse
 
__masashi__ profile image
Masashi

You have escaped the Matrix.
Jokes apart, yup, it is extremely true. JS and webdev posts get a crazy amount of views. I once wrote a post with #python and #webdev it got a decent amount of views. I wrote one about Linux (Arch to be specific) and it still has <25 views.

Collapse
 
sehgalspandan profile image
Spandan Sehgal

Almost the same

Collapse
 
devmehta profile image
Dev Mehta

Most of my posts have <25 views 😭

Collapse
 
derlin profile image
Lucy Linder

Unfortunately, this is sooo true. Don't forget the "top X advanced git commands you must know" that starts with git pull and git status

Collapse
 
devmehta profile image
Dev Mehta • Edited

I swear I saw atleast 3-5 such posts in top/month section: "10 GitHub Repos I can't live without". I have been dead for years. Finally my soul emerged out of ash, after seeing JavaScript Roadmap github repo.

Collapse
 
vulcanwm profile image
Medea

lmao that’s kinda true

Collapse
 
devmehta profile image
Dev Mehta

Sadly I stopped posting here & moved on to hackernoon. If I am writing to share with community & I don't get no eyeballs, what motivation would be left to write for me.

Thread Thread
 
vulcanwm profile image
Medea

yea, but can't you post the same content on both here and hackernoon?

Thread Thread
 
devmehta profile image
Dev Mehta

Somehow my posts here don't apply in latest section, tags page's latest content or anywhere in any feed. So I just stopped publishing here. I come here in a while to see posts of people I follow and engage with their content so atleast they get better reach.

Thread Thread
 
vulcanwm profile image
Medea

oh damn, good luck with posting on hackernoon!

Collapse
 
derlin profile image
Lucy Linder

God, if this were that easy, my readers should be over the roof right now 😏
I would personally say, if you want attraction, write about webdevs and target beginners

Still, I like your advices and abide to them. The most important: write about what you love, and don't write for the attention, write because you like it!

Collapse
 
proteusiq profile image
Prayson Wilfred Daniel • Edited

I began my writing journey on Dev.to mainly as a personal log, a bit like how I often stumble upon my own answers on StackOverflow. It's a quirky way to keep track of my tips and tricks, especially when I forget them myself – it's quite funny when that happens!

However, I've noticed something interesting along the way. The advanced topics, into which I pour my heart and soul, tend to receive minimal attention. On the other hand, posts like 'X packages/tips for Y' seem to attract more readers.

Realizing this, I've shifted my focus. While I appreciate having readers, I've become less concerned about whether my articles gain widespread readership. I write for the joy of it and for my own reference, and that's enough to keep me content.

Collapse
 
vulcanwm profile image
Medea

Yea that’s really important

Collapse
 
jonrandy profile image
Jon Randy 🎖️ • Edited

It's also pretty frustrating that the analytics section of the dashboard doesn't work with an adblocker switched on, whilst everything else on the site does ☹️

@ben @thepracticaldev @michaeltharrington

Collapse
 
vulcanwm profile image
Medea

oh damn rip :(

Collapse
 
codeofrelevancy profile image
Code of Relevancy

Great article..

Collapse
 
vulcanwm profile image
Medea

Thanks!

Collapse
 
sehgalspandan profile image
Spandan Sehgal

Nice guide 👍
And congrats fir the increase 👏

Collapse
 
vulcanwm profile image
Medea

thanks!

Collapse
 
kumarkalyan profile image
Kumar Kalyan

Nice article @vulcanwm

Collapse
 
vulcanwm profile image
Medea

thanks

Collapse
 
dionarodrigues profile image
Diona Rodrigues

Good tips! But I need to assume that writting once a day with quality is very hard, don't you think? Quick question: why do you use h1 tag for subtitles instead of h2?

Collapse
 
vulcanwm profile image
Medea

thanks! I mean it’s fine as long as you write often and with quality.
Honestly I don’t know, I’ve always just done that lmao