I get lots of questions from folks who are interested in starting a blog or growing their existing blog. Let’s take a look at some strategies that I’ve used with great results.
Homerun Tips
These are imperative. Read these before you start any project online.
Nobody cares what you think. Seriously. Unless you’re, like, Prince George or Angelina Jolie, nobody’s just going to read your blog simply because you wrote it. (Well, maybe your mom will, but, trust me, that’ll stop once her bowling league starts back up again and she gets busy.) Think about it — why do YOU read the blogs you read? Because they give you something you need — answers to questions you have, details on how to do something you’ve always wanted to do, the assurance that it’s OK if your baby poops 5 times a day, whatever. They give you VALUE. So, don’t just assume that your opinions are interesting or worth reading. Think about what offers your potential readers value, and then write about that.
Always produce good quality, valuable content. Blogging is hard. Unless you’re doing it as a hobby and don’t care whether or not anyone reads your posts, you’re on the hook to create entertaining and valuable content. That’s not easy to do day after day, and there will be days when you just want to phone it in. Try not to do that. What makes you valuable is what you have to say. If you’re not giving your readers what they’re looking for, they won’t be your readers for long. Plus, it’s always our thinking that good quality, valuable content will often find their way to the top of the search engines.
Be consistent in posting, and give it time. Posting consistently fills your readers expectations, so create a posting calendar and stick to it. Doing so provides you with a wealth of material to link to, and also provides more content for you to promote across social media. Make posting a priority and get into the habit of planning posts ahead, instead of just “writing what you feel.” Believe me, when it’s 2AM and you want nothing more than to just crawl into bed, you certainly won’t “feel” like writing a blog post. And don’t give up! Building a blog and a readership doesn’t happen overnight. But it will happen if you write engaging content, promote it intelligently, and just keep at it.
Use Social Media. There are pros and cons to social media, but the bottom line is…ya gotta do it. It exposes your brand to a new audience and gives you the most reliable way to reach out to new readers and customers. The key is to post frequently, showcasing your personality versus just posting links to your blogs (though promoting your content is, of course, part of the deal). Also, be responsive to readers who engage you via social media. There’s nothing worse than trying to communicate with a bot.
Create evergreen,”link-able” content. There is a place for time-sensitive content, but you will get a lot of reader mileage when you mix it up with “evergreen” posts that stand the test of time. Some things never change. Try to think of compelling, useful subject matter within your area of expertise, and make sure to post about these things. Write authoritative posts that showcase your expertise, then promote them.
Build your email list. Readers are great, but they have to come to you. At any given time, they may be busy, or otherwise occupied, and suddenly – they aren’t visiting your blog as much. Put at least as much effort into building your email list as you do into building your readership. Doing so allows you to promote content effortlessly, because they have invited you to send them information. Treat your email list like your core audience and make sure that your best efforts go to serve them. Build the list by sending consistent emails (newsletters with bonus content are great here), offering giveaways (if that’s your thing), regularly promoting your newsletters in posts, and mentioning your newsletter on social media.
Mechanics
Here are a few tips about how to literally write your blog posts. While Google keeps changing up their algorithm for who pops up first for search terms, some of these things may help you technically. But they’ll also help you produce an organized, readable blog.
Be sure to use categories, tags, and strong headlines. Categories, tags, and strong headlines allow for your posts to be found quickly and easily by readers searching for content on search engines. They also make it easy to read your blog once they get there. It may be tempting to go for a clever headline, but not including key words from your post means that readers may never find you. Save the clever writing for the body. Including categories, tags, and strong headlines is easy – just pull out the main ideas of your post, and then include words that you would use if you were searching for that post online.
Stick with the ideal length for most posts. It’s a fact that’s here to stay: we have short attention spans. As a rule, try and stick to a post length of around 500 words, plus or minus 200 words. If your post is much longer than this, consider breaking it up into a series. You’ll keep your readers’ attention from wandering, and they’ll want to come back for more. Moreover, by keeping your posts focused, you will tend to produce more authoritative content that will appeal to readers, other bloggers, and search engines.
Embed as many internal links as possible into posts, and be sure that the link opens in a new window. It’s time consuming, but it’s simple and effective. Linking to your own content accomplishes a few things: it establishes you as an authority; it increases a reader’s time on your site by giving them another interesting page to look at; and it ensures that readers are viewing multiple pages. And really, who can resist clicking on a hyperlink?
Make Friends and Influence People
Working with other bloggers and website owners — and engaging potential new readers — can be helpful in getting your content out there.
Offer to write guest posts for sites that have readers you’d like to court. Bloggers need to take a break now and then! And they are always looking for content. Find blogs in your subject matter area that have a larger readership than yours, and offer your services as a guest blogger. Request that your post includes a bio at the beginning or end, which includes a link to your blog.
Offer free giveaways for something your audience values. Giveaways, in my opinion, should be used sparingly, but they can really get a new blog off the ground. Giving away a gift card or a product won’t set you back much money, but it can showcase your site to potential readers. Set up the giveaway with a blog post and use it to gain what you’re looking to build — newsletter sign ups, Facebook or Twitter followers, Facebook shares, Post comments, etc. Be sure that you have a fair way to determine the winner, and follow through with a public announcement of the winner to cement credibility. Note, however, that people who come to your site through giveaways will often fall away quickly. It’s a good tactic to expose your site to new potential readers, but don’t be surprised if that initial burst of traffic wanes dramatically after the giveaway is over. Plan to use this tactic as a splashy flash in the pan to promote a new aspect of your site or a new product — not necessarily to gain consistent and reliable readers.
Good luck!