How to Promote Your Blog

 

So, you’re sitting at your computer reviewing Google Analytics for your blog and you notice it.

15 organic visitors today, WOO! All time high.

You then ask yourself, “Where is that complete guide on how I can promote my blog? – All I’m looking for is that ONE great resource that I could bookmark and use forever”

Small-time traffic – We’ve all been there. But not to worry, we’ll teach how to promote your blog and bring in that sweet… sweet traffic.

It’s actually attainable, but it does require a lot of concentrated focus. If you’re willing to put in the effort, then so am I.

Don’t have a blog up? You may want to check out my comprehensive guide on how to start a blog.

So, I’ll ask you… If you’re looking to blast off your blog like Ed White (first American spacewalker) and learn a thing or two about increasing valuable traffic, then stick around because the show is just about to start.

What You’ll Learn

Alright, so how do we turn an Analytics account from this:

 

to this?

PART ONE: Let’s Just Say, it Start’s with Promoting Your Blog

Hey, congrats, you finally figured out how to make a website, but now you’re like that guy from the beginning who is desperately waiting for people to start flowing in. Hopefully, you already created a perfect blog post.

Unfortunately, it’s not as easy as flipping a switch and suddenly you have a successful blog like magic. However, there are a lot of great methods for promoting your content efficiently and getting your work out there.

Most websites will try to shoehorn promoting your blog and increasing traffic into the same paragraph, but here at On Blast Blog we’re better than them, and we know it. Apparently you do too since you’re here.

While it is true that promoting your blog will increase traffic, there is an entirely different method of creating great, engaging content that we will delve into once we’re finished here.

Without further ado, let’s examine some of the top methods for promoting your blog.

1. Make an Announcement on your Social Media Profiles

Unless you’ve lived under a rock your entire life or you just woke up from a coma, then odds are you have a Facebook, Instagram, Google+, Twitter, and more. (Check out my post on Facebook vs. Instagram.)

Take a look at these profiles that you have and look for the ones that have the largest number of friends, followers, or whatever the kids are calling it these days.

Start here and put together a nice announcement that covers the topic of the blog and industry/niche that you’re writing in.

Make sure to include a few things, a link to the blog is most important of all. Make sure the post is public too. Your friends and family are going to visit, but you want this to reach the masses!

Keep it short and sweet, a couple paragraphs tops so you don’t lose the attention of your potential viewers. Ask for feedback too, you want people to tell you what’s good, and what needs to improve so you can grow as a blogger.

2. Cash in on Some Old Favors from your Close Friends

You’ve worked hard to create a blog, so now you need to bring in traffic like its rush hour in New York City.

Go through your email contacts and find anywhere from 5 to 10 friends to target. Then, throw together a nice email that asks them for some help spreading the word of your blog.

Here, I’ll even go the extra mile and give you a script to use:

“Hello [Close Personal Friend Who Owes me Big Time’s Name Here],

I recently launched a new blog entitled {Ridiculously Awesome Blog Name Here] which covers [Your completely original idea within an established topic or niche]. I am asking several close friends like yourself to help me share the blog. All I ask is that you share this link [Insert Blog URL] on your Facebook and Twitter profile.

Not only will this be quick and easy, but you’ll be helping me promote my blog and get it off the ground. Here’s a script you can use:

My friend [Your amazing name] started a new blog where he covers [your topic]. He is a great writer and very knowledgeable on the subject so check out his blog at: [your blog URL]”

I very much appreciate you helping me by sharing! [Feel free to insert a friendly reminder here about that time you picked them up on a stretch of road in Kentucky when their car broke down and you had to drive for eight hours to find them.]”

Nice and easy. This will net you some great exposure and allow your blog to reach new people beyond your circle of friends very quickly.

You can also reach out to complete strangers which is socially acceptable nowadays if you do it through the internet.

In all seriousness, looking for other popular posts in your topic or checking for like-minded authors in your niche on Twitter grants you opportunities to reach out to them and elicit their help in sharing your new blog.

To do this, simply head to Google or Twitter and type in keywords that are associated with your niche. This will point you in the direction of some potential contacts who can help get blog off the ground and bring in huge spikes of traffic for you.

3. Become Active in the Blogging Community

Listen, you’re not the only one who had the idea to start a blog about [your blog topic here], but that’s not a bad thing at all! In fact, reaching out to others within that same niche will help you promote your own blog and probably inspire new post ideas.

Of course, if you need good blog ideas, I’ve got 151 of them for you right here.

Visiting other blogs gives you the opportunity to provide feedback and comment on posts. Don’t go in there throwing around your blog’s name like a drive-by marketing shooter, build up a report and then casually mention that you have a similar blog.

Posting in blogging forums is also a great way to net yourself a piece of the pie more quickly. There are countless forums filled with people exchanging ideas and looking for the next big blog to follow.

This is an absolute feeding ground of knowledge and potential, so jump on in and swim with the sharks because it turns out you have a lot in common with them.

4. Employ the “Power of 100 Rule”

While this applies especially to business related blogs, it can be changed up to meet the needs of any blogger out there.

One of the most important things you can do, as the previous tip suggested, is network with other people in your niche.

Other writers, bloggers, or experts in your field. Having these connections is the key to promoting your blog. You need to be social, even if you’re like me and the concept of going outside is positively horrifying. Be social online at the very least.

The Power of 100 Rule dictates that you need to make 100 personal contacts per day. Yes it’s going to cut into your free time, but you wanted to build a blog and now you have, so this is the part where you water the seed and make it grow.

Send a personal email, reply to a comment, leave a comment elsewhere, make a phone call, post on a forum, do a combination of these each day totaling 100 personal contacts and you will have a bustling hub of visitors and traffic before you know it. This is the essence of promoting your blog.

5. Use The Power of Influencers

Once you have a post ready to be published, try reaching out to one or more of your competitors (also known as influencers) and ask them for a short piece of input on the subject. How do you get a hold of them you ask? Reach out to them on social media or send them an email. If they respond, place the quote in your post and link to their site.

Another way to do this is to mention specific things that inspired your post and link to them. When you’ve done so, send that person an email or a tweet and let them know that they influenced you in your latest post.

6. Build an Email List

From the moment you start building a blog, you should be collecting emails. There are simple WordPress plugins and services that do this, allowing you to build a list of subscribers that are almost guaranteed to receive anything you send their way. There are some great email services as well, such as Constant Contact. This is a gold mine of potential as you can use these emails to promote each of your posts.

Once you’ve built your email list, you’ll have an entire audience waiting for you to send them new content.

Is Your Blog Self-Hosted? It Should Be, and Here’s How to do it!

If you’re looking to start a blog, you can check out of some the free options, or you can check out my handy comparison chart on the best blogging platforms to use.

We recommend self-hosting with WordPress for the serious bloggers out there.

If you hold yourself in that category, I have a deal for you. The cost of purchasing a domain and self-hosting can be expensive when you choose some of the options out there. Since you’ve decided to come here to On Blast Blog, we want to thank you by offering you a special discount on monthly hosting services.

No, I don’t want your social security number, and no, you don’t have to take a “short” survey.

Thanks to some of my negotiating skills, you can now save big on hosting services through Bluehost. Instead of paying $6.99 a month for your hosting service, you will only have to pay $2.95 because you decided to be awesome today and came here.

Don’t wait though, this is like the solar eclipse of offers, or possibly the lunar eclipse. Whichever one is more rare. Get your blog set up using my guide and then we can talk about how to promote it.

PART TWO: How To Increase Blog Traffic

Most people don’t want to be a doormat because that just means that you let everyone else walk all over you. When it comes to promoting a blog, you want to be the internet’s most loved doormat.

You want people to trample all over it. You want to spend six hours a day cleaning fingerprints off the glass and scuff marks off the floor.

Traffic is the lifeblood of your blog and without it, you’re just some little old website collecting dust on the internet.

Further Reading: How to Write Killer Posts that will Attract Visitors

You don’t want that, and neither do we. Your blog is awesome, you’re awesome, and this whole article is awesome! Start your engines ladies and gentlemen because we’re about to blow wide open the secrets of bringing traffic to your blog.

1. Create Engaging and well-written Posts

This goes without saying, but your blog posts need to POP. You need to hook the reader from the get-go and never let them leave until you’re finished talking.

Think of it like a filibuster, only they want to stay and listen. Your content needs to address the readers specifically.

Don’t try to go over their heads with fancy vernacular and verbose strings of eloquent diction.

Whoops, see that? Don’t do that. Write in a voice that matches and resonates with your audience.

In addition, provide readers with a takeaway or a call to action if you’re a business. For example, you could provide some useful advice on a subject within your niche, that way readers feel like your blog has value.

If they think they are benefiting from spending their time reading your blog, then they are far more likely to come back in the future. Don’t forget to hook them from the get-go too, try opening your post with a short story or some relevant news that catches their attention.

2. Make your Posts Visually Appealing

If you’re an artist then you’ve got this one in the bag. For those of us who enjoy a more stick-figure oriented approach, there are still plenty of ways to make your content visually appealing. For starters, keep your paragraphs short and organized.

If anything even remotely looks like a wall of text, break it up like it’s the Berlin Wall. Keep paragraphs to several lines before you start a new one so it all flows nicely.

Bullet points and numbered lists are also a great way to make your post more aesthetically pleasing.

Obviously pictures and video are always welcome and encouraged, just be sure you’re not taking anything with copyright restrictions attached to it. Google has a handy method of searching for images without licensing restrictions that you can access in the search settings.

3. Bulk up on SEO knowledge, Use it and Step Three is Profit.

SEO stands for “Search Engine Optimization” and this is essentially the way that you dress up your blog for a night out on the town.

Let’s say you’ve got your eyes on Google, and why wouldn’t you? It has fantastic looks, downright perfect search results, and it can even predict what you want to search before you’re finished typing it. As far as search engines go, it’s the top dog.

You’re new in town though and when people search for blogs in your niche, they may not see your blog on the first page of the result, or the second, or the tenth. Don’t worry, you can get it where it needs to be, you just need to dress it up so that almighty Google finds it to be the best possible result.

Here are some awesome resources for Search Engine Optimization that I HIGHLY RECOMMEND

Moz’s Beginner Guide to SEO

Brian Dean’s Take on Internet Marketing

QuickSprout from Neil Patel

How to Build Links Like the Pros

Best Blog Sites to Start Your Blog

How do you make this happen? Well, at the very least it’s an art, and at the most it’s an absolute enigma of uncertain chaos governed only by the most esoteric of laws that few men and women can even begin to grasp.

Still, you’ve got this. There are plenty of websites out there that will help you understand the concept better, but there are some basic tips I can offer you to help get your foot in the door.

That’s a VERY basic overview of the concept but it’s something to keep in mind and possibly research further as you build up your blog.

That’s all the advice I have for now, but keep us bookmarked here at On Blast Blog because we’re here for the long haul and we’ve got all the best secrets, tips, and strategies to make your blog the best it can be.

4. Spread Your Content on Social Media

While it may seem difficult to promote your content on social media, with a tool like Buffer, it’s actually quite simple. This tool allows you to schedule posts to be published, up to a week in advance. By creating a set schedule, you can promote your content multiple times in set intervals, thereby increasing the number of people who see and share it.

Take a look at those numbers! This is an incredible tool that empowers you to get eyes on your posts and traffic to your site.

5. Group Interviews

Yet another great technique is one known as “group Interviews.” If you want to see what one looks like, I created an expert roundup of my own recently. The idea is to take a list of top influencers in your niche and ask them to weigh in on a central question. Adam Connell from Blogging Wizard explained how these types of posts can be great not only for links, but more importantly for social shares and traffic.

When you bring that many minds together, it’s going to attract attention. The good kind to boot.

Closing Thoughts

Blog content optimization is making the most out of what you have for Search engines. This practice is definitely the best way to drive organic traffic to your blog.

Review the resources I listed above and take a crash course into the basics of SEO.

P.S: If you need more direction or guidance, don’t hesitate to leave a message below. If you have your very own strategies that move the needle for organic traffic, please share with others. We all can appreciate a fresh perspective. Let me hear you loud and clear in the comments below!