This is a guest contribution from Ryan Currie at Spokeo.
Blogging is an art and it takes practice to really get right.
There are few things more frustrating than pouring your blood, sweat, and tears into a masterfully crafted blog post only to see the analytics at a standstill days after posting.
Here are a few tips for bringing more people to your blog, consistently.
1. Find out what people want to read
Social media is a blogger’s best friend. Not only can you use social to share your latest blog post, you can use it to source upcoming blog material too. Check out Twitter’s trending topics and take notes on common themes among your Facebook friends’ status updates.
Don’t pander to an audience, but keep in mind what people want to talk about.
2. Self-promote like you’d network for a job
Image thanks to digitalart on Freedigitaslphotos.net
There’s no shame in promoting your blog! Not only should you have social widgets at the bottom of each blog post, you should be posting your work on every site you’re active on.
Keep a link to your blog in your email signature and feel free to tell people about it in everyday conversation when appropriate.
3. Speak to a more specific audience
It sounds counterintuitive, but getting more specific with your blog posts is a surefire way to build a niche audience. For example, there are millions of food blogs out there, but exactly how many specialising in gluten-free baking?
Find a niche you can really invest in and you’ll naturally build a loyal audience that shares your content for you.
4. Score a guest post
Guest posts are a great way to bring new eyes to your site. Reach out to bloggers who make sense for your area of expertise and write a really awesome post for their site.
One link to your blog in the boilerplate of a terrific post can catapult your numbers.
5. Reform your titling strategy
Like it or not, good titles are important. Consider what you’d want to read online and how people typically interact with web content. Make your title concise, interesting, and sharable and you’ll be surprised how many clicks you can get. Numbers work well as do current topics in the news and never underestimate the power of a superlative like “best,” “most,” or “biggest.”
6. Post more regularly
Very, very regularly! Whether it’s twice a week or twice a month, people have to know when to expect new content on your blog. The more consistent you are with your posts the more of a loyal audience you can attract and the more plugged in you’ll seem.
Once people learn your blog is a resource for a certain topic that’s updated regularly they’ll keep coming back if they like what they read.
7. Write about things you truly feel passionate about
It really is that simple. Readers can tell when you’re phoning it in and when they think you’re baiting them with topical posts that you’re using to hit numbers. The more authentic you are when blogging the better response you’re going to get. Be thoughtful, use research, and know what’s going on in the blogosphere but above all else write about what you know.
Page views aren’t the end-all-be-all of blogging, but they’re important, particularly if you ever hope to monetize your blog. Keeping these seven tips in mind can get you a long way towards your goal of gaining a steady stream of visitors, one at a time.
Ryan Currie is a Product Manager at Spokeo, a leader in people search and reverse phone lookup services. In addition to working on Spokeo, he also enjoys history, pop culture, and following the latest new in the movie industry.
This is a really awesome guest entry, I must say…
….and the writer is so on point! However, I’d love to emphasize promotion as a way of attracting readers to a blog. Nothing beats it pal…in this life or the next!
You also failed to mention blog commenting completely! Commenting (reasonably and sensibly) adds value to the conversation on a blog and a fellow reader may feel strongly towards seeing your blog where he/she hopes to get more of your ‘genius’.
On the whole, a great piece.
– Terungwa
I am agree with all above points . We need to think and prepare the content that our visitors will love to read because there is a saying that if you fail to plan then you actually plan to fail..
Thank you Ryan for sharing this tips. I started blogging for my Africa safari site about two weeks ago and I was wondering if it is too early to start soliciting for guest blogging.
Excellent post. You have given more methods to get traffic on our blog. i think that the best way to get traffic is from Facebook. we can share on Facebook groups and get traffic.
Thanks
Great information Ryan. I am brand spanking new to blogging having just hit “Publish” on www,pingpongnation.net yesterday. I will definitely be keeping your advice in mind as I try my hand at this. Any feedback you have on my blog would be most welcome if you ever have a spare minute!
Cheers and keep up the good work!
Nice read, for me number 7 is the best way. If you are passionate about something you write about, those articles will have more quality and there is no better way of getting traffic than a quality content.
#2 resonated with me. I believe we often forget to promote, promote, promote as if our entire future depends upon it. As indeed it does. Thanks for the reminder.
– Cole
Consistency is must to attract more people to your blog; you are right it is not important how frequently your post, more important is how regularly you do this; as a result people be quite familiar when they will find a new post and will become your loyal readers.
Thank you very much for sharing this article. Now I will implement all the steps that are given in this article on my blog. And hope to get more traffic.
Your seven points are equally important to upgrade the quality of blog. However, the most effective ways to drive more traffic by publishing high quality content with freshness. therefore, we have to cultivate our blogging with organic fertilizer and empower its stamina. Social media optimization is also essential to attract more people to your blog.
I think this is nice article that you have shared. I liked all seven point that you have mentioned here.
Nice information Ryan! i agree with the all points given above. we should make good content that our readers helpful and informative.
Thanks
I totally agree with blogging about something you’re passionate about on a regular basis. I read an article recently that one of the best ways to make a lot of money is to facilitate the online buying process. In other words, match a qualified buyer with a product or service the buyer wants. Blogging about something you’re passionate about is a great way to do that and it’s easy to get started.
Great article. I have just found this site and this is just one of the useful articles. As a photographer, promoting our blog is essential to the success of our business!
Great post! Here’s another tip: create and engage an Instagram account for your blog. Use hashtags to draw users to interesting visuals that correspond with blog posts, and include a link to the post in the comment section. The audience on Instagram is hungry for content, which is why they’re drawn to the insta-appeal of images in the first place. Use Instagram as the bridge for those users to cross to your blog!
Guest posts on high authority blog and social media promotion considered as best methods to bring new visitors and readers towards our blog. You have mention useful tips that can help us to bring more traffic towards our blogs.
Great advise. I always skip the self promotion. Maybe I should reconsider it :)
Any guidelines we should follow to know what type of self promotion is acceptable?
Thanks!
Point No7 is debatable. It is possible you are passionate about a topic but it does not have any highly searched keyword. Similarly you may be passionate about a topic that does not relate to the niche of your blog. For example I watched yesterday Lady Gaga on top of Google hot trends but could not have adjust this keyword in any topic related to my green blog.
Frequently updating your blog with useful content is the first step to building blog’s audience . Make sure you have something meaningful to say to them and say it often to maintain their interest and keep them loyal.
Hey nice points you made there.
Posting regularly is a great way to attract more people and also targeting a specific group of audience can work wonders for a blog.
Thanks for sharing :)
Very good information. I never thought to look at trending topics on Twitter. I am going to implement this strategy into my blog planning.
Excellent post! A little research goes a long way to a successful blog. And marketing your posts will help capture the audience. Remind people that you have a blog: on your website, email signature, facebook posts, linked in stories, etc. Thanks for the great points.
I think guest posting is a very good idea! But when you do get to guest post for another blog, think of that blog as one of your own blogs. Give the kind of quality content to that blog as you would your own blog. A guest post isn’t just about helping yourself, its also about helping the other fella’s blog as well. :) Great post!
Nice post! But I think the combination of step 1 and 7 is really crusial because sure write about what people like but u should also be fond on that subject! Great post, thanks!!
Thanks for these tips, Ryan. I have yet to do any guest-posting – just difficult finding the time, but it’s certainly on my do list. When it comes to posting more regularly, I think that’s only helpful if you don’t let the quality of your content drop. We had a lot of discussion on my blog recently about how often you should publish a post, and there was a wide range of opinion about this. There are too many blogs out there, in my view, with tons of mediocre or poor posts – and, in the long run, that can’t be good for your traffic, or your reputation.
Crap advice Ryan.
Actually this is not a good article. It states the obvious such as find out what people want to read, then write about that topic …and then promote it. This is tired old advice that’s been told over and over and over. Everyone knows this.
If people are talking about it on social media, then it is old news and probably has been covered elsewhere.
What bloggers want to really know is specific advice…
Give specific examples and screen shots of how to do research and becoming an authority figure plus best of all…have an opinon.
I agree posting and updating regularly is good for my blogg but even with that I seem to have difficulties. Moving up in goggle search, any ideas on how to improve will be helpful thank you. You can read my articles. If you want
That is nice post for fellow bloggers, as much as all points are valid and help contributing making a blog success, number 7 point is by far the most important one to consider. If you are passionate about whatever that you are writing will eventually grab attention. If you are trying to write something you don’t know much about, chances are that all 6 points will not leave much of impact.
Thanks for the post. I like the ‘Guest Post’ idea.
Thinking to made it soon.
I disagree with point 1. Wouldn’t it be better to do your thing and then find your audience? You do say not to pander to the audience, but I’m sure if you have something valuable to say, you’ll find an audience for it.
What about, if there are dofollow links :)
Self-promote like you’d network for a job – Yes, one way(or the easiest way:)) is to use the empire avenue for sharing your blog on social networks.
I think something that gets overlooked is comparing target keywords/phrases with what you are writing about.
You should ask yourself “if I type this into a search engine, what am I looking for?” When you come up with an answer, write the best possible answer for that question.
If you have the best answer, then they’ll more likely go to you for their next question.
A great post about something that doesn’t answer the question is as useless as a keyword stuffed post.
Although these tips might seem simple, they are effective!!!
thank you very much for a long explanation on this blog, bringing penguhjung is important in a blog, I hope this blog will always be better.
Some great tips here! I think #2 is an important point. People often feel uncomfortable being too pushy about self-promotion, but it truly is the best way to introduce new readers to your blog. With the plethora of information available on the Internet, you must be your biggest promoter to get your content read. Another great way to get more traffic to your blog is by interacting with the blogging community. For example, find other blogs in your niche and comment on what you like about them. This opens up an opportunity for conversation and also allows you to promote your own blog to new potential readers.
Nothing new. The ideas are too common. Hope new ideas can flow in this blog. It seems that the info are recycled.
I agree with Jawbone… These ideas are way to common.
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I agree with post and I also suggest “Post more regularly” this will help you to maintain your readers updated. You must also keep the engagement by replying to their comments, answering their questions, most especially when you receive a direct message.
Great post. I especially like the tip on promoting your own blog on social media. Many people feel guilty when it comes to self promotion and I’m sure it will be a relief for many to know that it’s not wrong to promote yourself.
I am going to try these things out. Thank you so much for the tips! Self-promotion can be very challenging for me though. But I always see those bloggers whom I’m following to be doing it all the time. And sometimes, being controversial helps! ;)
Thank you Ryan for explaining the steps to follow for blogging. I am in the initial phase of blogging and want to do guest blogging soon.