Most business owners and marketers are always looking forward to that day when their blog will ‘make it’
Making it will differ depending on the goals of the marketer or the business owner. Some will define it as when they reach a certain traffic goals while others look at it as the day their posts will get a certain amount of shares or when the blog gets into a top 10 list of the most influential blogs or blogs to watch. Of course the optimization is also important to make the blog more relevant, but you can hire a company as San Antonio SEO to do it for you
Whichever description you use to define ‘making it’, you can always learn a number of things from blogs that have already made it. Talking to professionals who have blogs that have made it will give you the following tips in growing your blog.
- Consistency is Key
To build and maintain an audience on your blog, you need to set standards and expectations revolving around the frequency and the quality of your posts. Most business blogs will have 2 or 3 posts and nothing else for a number of weeks or months. When they do not see results they hoped they will get, they blame the content in the blog and other factors.
Posting one blog per day is a good start but for a great success rate, you can post between 5 and 7 articles. This way, your audience will know that they will find fresh content each time they visit your business blog. This is what keeps people returning to a particular blog.
- Post Evergreen Content
Evergreen simply means that your posts have a longer shelf life as opposed to simply posting news articles that are only effective in a short period. Evergreen content will provide traffic over a long period and will come with many SEO advantages. If you want to see a review on how your blogging is going and how it looks to others visit contentwiki where you will get your blog analyzed.
For most successful blogs, a good percentage of their traffic comes from articles that were posted months or years back. This just shows you how important it is to create timeless content.
- Stick by your Online Value Proposition
First you need to have an online value proposition to stand out of the crowd. The best approach, according to professionals is a ‘less is more’ kind of approach.
- Have a Sold Promotion Strategy
The most common hurdle for all bloggers is attracting traffic to their posts. The secret is keeping things simple when you are starting out. Take a look at different forums to gather ideas and then go back to your blog and create a blog that will address issues they are concerned about. You can then share the link on these forums to drive a good amount of traffic to your blog. Keep in mind that when your content is good, these people will share the posts and promotion will be easy.
When you are posting your link, spend time creating genuine replies as opposed to just dropping the links everywhere as this might appear as spam.
- Strong Relationships are Crucial
Blogging is built on relationships between the blogger and his/her audience and other bloggers. Keep in mind that links will not build themselves and thus you will need to get links from other high value blogs. It is not a good idea to email other bloggers and request them to link to you, the best way is to show that you are also willing to link to them and share their content. Professionals say that blogs are simply extension of social media platforms and they should be treated as such to build better relationships that will benefit the blogger.
- Know Your Audience
Content only becomes great when it resonates with the targeted audience. Spend some time learning about your audience and their behaviors. When you know what they want and how they want it, you will be in a better position to offer it to them in a way they cannot resist.
- Have A content Schedule, but Be Flexible
A consistent schedule in posting articles ensures that your blog remains fresh. It is important to be flexible especially when it comes to news that needs to be posted immediately. If you are among the first bloggers to cover a big story, your blog will be on its way to stardom.
- Always Put Quality Over Quantity
It is better to post a couple of blog posts per month that will attract more readers and get more shares than a thousand posts that have no value to your audience. Professionals say that blog posts are all about having something valuable to say as opposed to posting because you have to.
- Always Test
It is important to test different aspects in your content writing to gauge what really works with your audience. Once you find a style or a topic that gets more attention capitalize on this opportunity and improve your credibility. Most people would want to get information on a certain topic broadly and will appreciate when you cover that topic extensively. When you notice a point of interest, create high quality content to attract attention.
10 Avoid Promoting or Selling on the Blog
Always remember that your blog is about helping your audience through proving information that assists them deal with situations and solve problems in their daily lives. There is also the element of entertainment that should be considered occasionally. Promotional or sales content will not go down well and you might end up writing for no one. Keep your content fresh, educative and interesting, and running your blog to success will be as easy as ABC.