This is a guest post by Mellisa Tamura from ZenCollegeLife.
The saying goes that Content is King – but even if you’re a great author with amazing things to say, it still takes work to get people to read your blog.
How do you differentiate yourself amongst a million voices who are all striving to get the same attention and readership that you are? How do you reach out to an audience that is already drowning in noise?
Good content alone will not do the trick – there has to be something more then just hoping that people will read your blog entries.
With that in mind, here are 10 proven ways to get more readers, more attention and more traffic to your blog:
1. Pick a Sweet Title – Picking a great title is one of the most basic ways to attract more readers to your blog. Even though it is only a few words, the title can entice viewers to continue reading and ultimately subscribe! Remember, pick a title that is catchy. This is extremely important for drawing traffic from sites like Digg.com or del.icio.us.
2. Improve SEO – Improving your blog’s search engine friendliness is vital for attracting more readers. In order to do this, one should change their permalink structure and even tailor their title to Google’s needs.With a few simple steps, search engines can vastly increase the audience who views your blog.
3. Marketing – Word of mouth is one of the most basic but useful ways to increase the number of readers for your blog. Have a facebook? Create a fan page encouraging your friends to read your blog. They might just pass it on to more people if they find something they like. Have a Twitter? Post your blog’s link. Any type of advertisement will be helpful!
4. Write Original Content – When you write content that has already been blogged about, the chances are readers won’t come back for more because they’ve already encountered something similar. The solution – put a new spin on whatever subject you’re writing about! Quality blogs all have subject matter that is new and inspiring. Readers will always keep checking your blog if this is skillfully done.
5. Comment On Other Blogs Posting – Giving feedback on other writer’s blogs is an extremely easy way to get the attention of other bloggers and their readers. It’s very important, however, that you don’t look like you’re spamming. Make sure you read the article, and then simply advertise your own blog in a discrete way.
6. Guest Blog – Guest blogging on a similar blog is an effective way to get even more traffic to your site. Some bloggers have greatly increased their own amount of viewers by simply writing one entry for a very popular site. Even though it is hard to get your guest entry posted, it is certainly not impossible. If you succeed, your traffic will surely increase greatly.
7. Run a Contest – Running a contest is a great way to generate buzz in the online community. With a type of sweepstakes, readers will regularly check your blog for an update on the winner, while also telling their friends about their hopes of winning. Find something that is related to your blog that readers would enjoy winning. After your contest is over, publicize the winner. Participants will continue to read your blog even after the contest is over!
8. Link To Other Blogs – Don’t worry, you won’t lose traffic! Bloggers who link to other blogs usually see their efforts reciprocated. This friendly relationship allows writers to share a common audience. By networking with other writers, your blog’s traffic will inevitably increase.
9. Be Controversial, It’s Okay! – There are many bloggers all over the world. Not many bloggers, however, will write about a controversial subject. Don’t be offensive, but distance yourself from those other ordinary blogs. The online community will definitely take notice if you continue to push the envelope.
10. Just Wait! – While all of these tips can help you attract more readers to your blog, it still takes time! Do not become frustrated! The longer your blog is thriving, the sooner you will see a heavy increase in traffic. Don’t be upset if you only have a few readers! In time you’ll have a popular site that everyone is reading!
At the end of the day, you need to put in the effort, but if you do, you will certainly be able to reap fruit from your efforts in promoting your blog and getting more readers.
If your article becomes controversial then congratulate yourself. You are going to attract a lot of commentators and lots of readers from both sides 🙂
.-= imran@earn online money´s last blog ..Want To Earn Online Money? Promote Your Website =-.
That’s a great post you have there.
I think the advice that I like more is the idea of unique and interesting content.
It’s essential for both blogs and website, its something that will surely help everyone when it comes to ranking and traffic.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts and also for giving a clear article like this.
I’m a new blogger and have been afraid of being controversial. I have a lot of opinions, but don’t want to offend anyone. I guess it also take time to find your own voice. Thanks for the great tips.
CHris
Certainly good points in your article, for those of us who are not born writers who just want to boost their blog’s traffic is SEO and even potentially SEM a good idea to drive traffic to a blog, especially initially to get increase readership?
Hi Melissa,
I loved your tips and I know the one I need to master more is a catchy title. I will have to work harder at that. You didn’t metion adding video something I’ve started doing to see if that helps traffic or stickiness. One thing I agee most with, is stick with it,don’t quite, keep blogging.
.-= Nick Grimshawe´s last blog ..How Important is Inspiration to You? =-.
Hi Melissa:
Glad you put #10 on the list. It can get frustrating waiting for traffic, but eventually if you are doing all the things on the list your blog will get noticed. It just doesn’t happen overnight.
~Terry
Hey Melissa, just wanted to give you a shout out about your ten tips article, it was well written and very concise. All of those things are really do able without making you feel overwelmed by the process as well as the reminder to just keep working at it, sometimes that becomes one of the hardest things to do, to keep on going in the face of discouragement. Great practical advice, thanks for writing it. Much regards. J Money.
.-= john milton´s last blog ..Day the laughter died =-.
Great Article Melissa.
Points 4-8 really help in increasing the traffic.
Comments by all readers are also great.
Thanks
.-= Krishna@3point4´s last blog ..Standardization Vs Innovation =-.
There is a lot of advice available on line about how to get more traffic and it is actually fairly consistent. All the tips you have placed here are relevant and I think you have covered the aspect of keeping traffic once it has arrived on your blog as well, not everyone does.
I used the words being able to stand out from the crowd and suggested that people develop their own style of writing that will appeal where others perhaps don’t; easy to say but not so easy to do.
Hi Melissa
“an audience that is already drowning in noise?” is a great way to describe the internet.
Read your top ten list and I already do some of them – need to work on the ones I’m missing out on.
5. Comment On Other Blogs Posting – this has helped me tremendously. Many bloggers give you a comment in return, there is a great community spirit within blogging.
I’ll check out the other suggestions.
.-= Keith Davis@Public Speaking and Presentation Skills´s last blog ..Laugh and the world… =-.