Use Goodreads to Drive Traffic to Your Reviews

Goodreads is the go-to web site for book lovers, but even avid users are often discovering new features.  Are you using Goodreads as effectively as possible?

If you’re using Goodreads for anything other than creating a personal record of your reading, you’re probably interested in having other people read your reviews.  But what’s the best way to do that?

make new friends

The more Goodreads friends you have, the more people will see your reviews.  Your reviews will appear in your friends’ home feeds, and when they go to a particular book’s page for a novel you’ve also read, you review will be “featured.”  Even more importantly, friends are more likely to comment on and “like” your reviews, and these signs of popularity will drive your reviews to the top of the list,  so that even more Goodreads users can discover them.  (Of course, you should always friend judiciously and connect with people whose reviews you are actually interested in, rather than friending for the sole purpose of increasing your own popularity.)

Post Your Full Review

Some people advocate posting just an excerpt of your review and linking to your blog so people can read the rest…but stop and think for a moment.  Have you ever clicked through to someone’s blog for a full review, or do you just keep skimming the reviews already available on Goodreads?  If you post full reviews, people will read them.  And if people like your content (because they can easily see your content), they are more likely to friend-request you on Goodreads or to become a follower of your blog.

Link Back to Your Blog

Always link back to your blog!  Make sure you have a link in your Goodreads profile, and provide a link in every review you post.  If people like your reviews, they’ll check out your blog.  The links are also good for your blog SEO.

Use Goodreads So You’ll Never Forget to Write Another Review

Goodreads is the go-to web site for book lovers, but even avid users are often discovering new features.  Are you using Goodreads as effectively as possible?

Have you ever read a book, intended to review it, and then…forgotten about it?  You can prevent that from happening by fully utilizing the features on Goodreads.

Update Your “Currently Reading” Status

Update your reading progress consistently as you read books, and don’t just update with the page you’re on.  Including even short notes about your feelings while you’re reading the book will make it easy for you to go back and reflect on the elements that made the strongest impressions on you.

Leave Yourself Reminders in “Private Notes”

Many Goodreads users don’t know that when you go to the “edit review” screen, there’s an option to add “private notes.”  This is a good place to jot down any thoughts and big impressions that come to you immediately after you finish reading a book.  They don’t have to be organized or sound pretty because no one can see them but you, but they will help you put together a review later.  (One catch: There is a character limit, so you might not be able to write everything you want.)

Post Your “Initial Impressions” before Posting a Full Review

Your Goodreads friends and followers will often be interested in your reaction to a book the moment you finish it. You don’t have to write a full review, but you should consider writing a few sentences of your “initial impressions” in the review space.  This will satisfy your friends’ curiosity and give you a good starting place when you want to write your review.