Follow these tips to boost your blog success from the start!
Whether you create a blog as a hobby or to make money, one thing we all want is for it to be a success.
Success doesn’t just happen. It takes time, hard work, patience, and a few tweaks here and there. No matter how long you’ve been running your blog, don’t let it sit idle. The world of blogging is continually changing, and so are the needs of your readers, so you need to adapt.
In this post, we touch on foolproof ways to boost your blog success. Whether you are a newbie or someone who needs that extra ‘oomph,’ our tips will help your blog strive.
Top-quality content
Creating top-quality content is one of the most important things you can do when blogging. People may come to your blog for various reasons, but it is your content that will keep them there and convert them into subscribed readers.
When it comes to writing any kind of content, whether you are an educator or an entertainer, you should always focus on your audience and focus on solving their problems first.
Your content should always be engaging, informative, and satisfy your audience’s needs, and this will encourage them to subscribe.
If you are a newbie on the blogging scene and don’t have much experience writing, then don’t worry. Like many new bloggers out there, it can take time to get into a rhythm of writing, and the more you do it, the better you will become.
Just scroll back and take a look at any successful bloggers’ first ever post (if it’s still available) and prepare to cringe! We’ve all been there, and we all have a few first posts that are absolutely shameful.
If your blog is established, but certain posts are taking a drop in views, consider looking into your most popular blog posts. Why is this post so popular? Is it because of the subject, because of the layout or because of the way you wrote it?
If you find that your most popular post is written with far better quality than your least popular, then consider updating this post by focusing solely on content and fluidity.
Post regularly
Posting regularly to your blog is one of the best things you can do for growing subscribers and traffic for multiple reasons!
Boost SEO and Page Rankings
SEO or Search engine optimization relies heavily on consistent content with smart keywords. It is known that Google (and other search engines) give more emphasis and boosts to blogs that are freshly updated rather than blogs that sit idle.
For example, Google uses Googlebots (algorithm based web crawlers) to crawl through websites and gather fresh posts and pages to add to their search engine index.
Every time your new content is crawled, you increase the chance of ranking up on Google as you have more relevant information for people to search for.
Posting regular content also allows you to focus on creating posts that specialize in relevant specific keywords, which allows you to increase where you rank on google with that keyword.
Relationship building
One of the most important factors for running and keeping a successful blog is the relationship you share with your audience. Your audience is everything to your blog without an audience who would read all of your top-notch content?
Listening to your audience, answering any questions or queries they have, and responding to their needs by creating relevant content will help you become an authority in the eyes of your readers.
Social Media Cross-over
It’s a well-known fact that the most popular posts are the ones that have higher social shares, so new content posted on your blog can be repackaged and reposted on your social media.
This is a great idea as you can capture attention from your social media followers and direct them to your blog.
How to blog consistently
A great tool to have in your blogging toolbox is a content marketing program such as Coschedule. Coschedule allows you to organize your team and deadlines, and many top bloggers use this professional platform around the globe.
Coschedule also offers plenty of:
- guides
- podcasts
- books
- tools
- a great support system to help keep you on track and get the most out of your schedule.
With different packaging options to choose from based on different needs, Coschedule is worth investing in based on your requirements.
If you are a bigger business looking to invest in a full marketing suite, prices start at $150 per month.
Today we are talking about a content schedule program starting at $60 per month. This is used by many bloggers ‘to drive strategy, consistency and growth’.
Alternatively, if you’re not quite looking to invest any money into a program and want to simply see if you can stick to a basic schedule and do it yourself, take a look at our post on our content schedule and download our free template.
Stick to your niche – don’t drift too far.
At the very start of your journey, when you were figuring out the basis of your blog, you would have decided on a niche. The reason for choosing a niche is to keep your content targeted and specific to your ideal audience.
Having a niche allows you to successfully share your message with a select group of people rather than trying to please everybody.
If you notice a decrease in your blog traffic and subscribers, it could be because you’ve slowly started to drift away from your niche subject.
This could mean the content you are writing is no longer relevant to the audience you already have, and they are no longer interested.
If you have been diverting off track, then figure out if you are still happy with the niche you are in. If not then it’s time for a rehaul.
However, some blogs and niches can benefit from being combined with other niches; for example, a lifestyle blog can delve into fashion, travel, and home decor without becoming too broad.
Just remember to work hard on promoting all aspects of your blog.
Self promote
So you’ve created your blog, delved into a bit of SEO, and wrote some content – now what?
Rather than sitting and hoping for the traffic to roll in, the next step you need to take is to tackle a bit of self-promotion.
See our article for an in-depth view on self-promoting your blog.
Self-promotion is a key player in the amount of blog traffic you’re going to get, and it shouldn’t be ignored. All you have to do is put in some time (everything takes time) and try to build your traffic organically.
Don’t fall into the trap of paying for views or engagement.
We’re going to give you 3 basic steps that will get you results right now –
Reach out often
So one thing you can do right now to start bringing some eyeballs to your blog? Reach out to people you know.
Tell your mum, your dad, your siblings, your friends and that weird guy across the road (ok, maybe not him). Let the people closest to you know about this amazing blog you’re working on.
Even if your parents or friends don’t fall into your niche, it’s guaranteed that someone they know is nuts about the topic you’re writing about. Ask them to share a specific post on their social media and go from there.
Don’t worry if the first readers you have are five close friends. They might become some of your most loyal readers, and you can be sure to secure some great testimonials from them.
Get out there and guest post
Guest posting (when you write content for another blog) can be out of many peoples comfort zone. But if you just bite the bullet and apply then you’re either going to get a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ and a no isn’t the end of the world! You just brush it off and move on.
Also, don’t be fearful of not having a great readership or following when considering guest posting. Numbers aren’t the be-all of writing a guest post. You just need to be relevant to the blog you’re applying for and write great, actionable content.
Give it a try and trust when we say amazing things can come from guest posting.
Don’t be afraid of self-promoting
Self-promoting isn’t just something you do at the start of your blogging journey. You need to keep it up throughout the whole life of your blog.
A huge mistake some bloggers make is becoming complacent, but if you want to make breakthroughs, then you need to keep on top of self-promoting.
A great way to keep on top of your content, tasks, and publishing dates/times is to invest in a content schedule program.
Here are a few ridiculously simple ways to self promote daily:
- Read other blogs and comment on them along with leaving a link to your own blog
- Advertise your content on your social media platforms
- Get involved in twitter conversations and follow relevant people
- Link to your blog on all of your social media bios
Take advantage of social media
Social media and blogging kind of go hand in hand, and when balanced properly, it can work well for bringing traffic to your blog.
Think about this, almost every human being in the world is on at least one social media platform, and you could be getting a great percentage heading to your blog (with some effort, of course).
Although we recommend social media as a way of bringing traffic to your blog, don’t put social media before the most important aspects of your blog – SEO, link building, and great content.
Social media algorithms can change often, and if you focus solely on placing all your eggs in one basket, this could be really detrimental to your blog health.
Keep an eye on what is working (and what isn’t!)
We have analytics for a reason, people! Use tools like Google analytics and Ubersuggest to keep a track on your blog traffic and post popularity.
Ubersuggest can show you what your most popular posts are based on different countries, along with estimated visits, backlinks, and social media shares.
This is a brilliant way to see at a glance what kind of posts work best for audiences in different countries and what people want to read or what they don’t.
Knowing this information can help you create blog posts that are going to benefit your readers rather than wasting time creating content that no one wants to read.
Listen to your audience
This goes with what you’ve just read above. If you listen to your audience, read their comments, and speak with them, you will understand what they need and want more of meaning your content is always going to relevant and desirable.
We’ve mentioned this many times, but your audience is the heart of your blog, and without a loyal, happy, and devoted readership, you’re not going to get anywhere.
Keep on top of newsletters
Keeping on top of your email newsletter is a simple way of keeping your subscribed readers engaged. In your newsletter, you can offer:
- New content (which will link them back to your blog)
- Behind the scene content which lets them into your life and journey
- A sneak peek at what’s coming up
- Discount codes and freebies
Remember, no matter what you offer in your newsletter, make sure you link them back to your blog.
Branch out with your content
The content you create doesn’t have to be solely for your blog or your social media. There are many other ways you can branch out.
A common example of this is ebooks. Many bloggers and sites repurpose certain content and package them into ebooks for readers to download from Amazon or their own blog. This content is of higher value, so there can be a small purchase charge, but many are available for free.
Another example of branching out with your content is by producing podcasts. Podcasts are also an interesting way of reaching more potential readers as sometimes people happen to ‘stumble’ upon random podcasts in the hope of hearing something different, refreshing, or knowledgable and if they are impressed will become a fan.
Along with bringing and keeping traffic on your blog, branching out your content can also be an ideal way to make money from your blog. We cover ebooks and digital products in our ‘How to Make Money From Your Blog & How Top Bloggers are Doing it too’ article.
Get involved in other blogs
We touched on this in our self-promoting section, but getting involved in other blogs is certainly something worth putting time and effort into. It can be from as little as leaving a comment and a link to writing a guest post and even being interviewed for a blog – which is epic publicity.
Reading other bloggers’ posts and leaving comments will only take up a small part of your daily time. If that’s too much, then consider working a few hours a couple of times a week into your content schedule for this task.
Although writing a guest post or doing a video interview is a job in itself, finding the time to do these things will bring incredible credibility and authority to your blog.
Conclusion
As you can see there is a selection of things you can do from the start to boost your blogging success. From using a content scheduling tool such as Coschedule to guest posting on other blogs, you can easily put yourself ahead of other bloggers by being strategic and investing in the tools that will help to propel you to the top.
