06 Jan 22 Untapped Ways to Promote Your Blog

Creating a blog is quite easy to do.

However, getting traffic and keeping blog followers is much more of a challenge.

And with constant changes in search engine optimization rules, it’s a wonder any blogger is successful.

Despite the many obstacles, there are many successful bloggers on the net today. Some of these bloggers have millions of faithful followers. How have they garnered such a large following? Several common techniques have been adopted by every one of these popular bloggers. Here are a few of their secrets:

Networking

New bloggers often make the mistake of spending lots of time writing their blog but give very little effort to promoting their blog. They also overlook one of the most successful ways of getting traffic to their blog, and that is networking. Perhaps viewed as “old-fashioned”, networking has been used for centuries to help secure jobs or promotions, as well as sell products. With the use of the internet, many have lost the skill of networking. But if you want your blog to be “hot”, you’ll need to master this skill. Following are some networking tips that are useful for both the novice and experienced blogger.

• Blogger outreach – Garner the attention of other bloggers that are already successful. Visit their sites often and leave comments. This should be comments that show your knowledge of the topic, not just a generic statement. Do this often and you’ll be surprised how quickly you’ll get noticed. Seek to become a guest blogger on their site, or ask them to post on your blog. Link to their blog and they will eventually begin to provide links back to you.
• Join groups or create circles on Facebook, LinkedIn or Google Plus – Find groups on social media related to your blog topic. Again, get involved in discussions on the forum. Be sure to provide a link to your blog. Choose articles or posts specifically related to the topic being discussed.
• Professional associations – If your blog is industry related, become active in professional associations that will put you in contact with industry leaders. Join committees, attend local meetings and get to know your peers. Whenever you post something that can be helpful to your peers, be sure to share it via email or within group forums for their viewing.

Interviewing

Interviews provide an excellent way to get new readers for your blog. Not only do they spark interest, but those being interviewed will often invite their family, friends, coworkers and clients to visit the blog.

• Interview industry leaders – Find people in your field who are knowledgeable and will provide an engaging interview for your followers to enjoy.
• Future leaders – Up and coming leaders in your industry will often be eager to share their expertise with your readership. Seek out newbies with a special knowledge or skill. Be sure to ask them to invite others to read your blog and their interview.
• Become the interviewee – Flip the script and you become the interviewee. Find publications that can benefit from your knowledge and expertise. One way to do this is to post advice and instruction within forums related to your blog.
• Upcoming events – Interview participants involved in upcoming events related to your blog. This can include educational activities such as conferences or seminars, as well as social outings like fundraising dinners.

Forums and Other Sites

Internet forums are used for a variety of purposes. Some answer questions or provide feedback on industry subjects or specific illnesses, while others may be related to world issues such as education, politics or health care. Promoting your blog in these forums must be done strategically. Some bloggers will simply post a link which can be bothersome to many in the forum. However, if you do it correctly, forums can provide a great way to promote your blog.

• Be the expert – Forums often provide a way for individuals to ask pertinent questions. These questions will likely relate directly to the forum topic. Answering questions in a forum can earn you numerous followers. Nonetheless, make sure your answers are correct and presented in a clear and concise manner. Remember, you are not only representing yourself as an expert in your field, but also a writer. Be sure always to include a link back to your blog. If possible, this should be a post that further expounds on the topic and provides added information.

• Convert your blog – One of the newest ways to promote your site is through document sharing. Simply convert your blog into a PDF or other easily viewable file and upload it to document sharing sites. You can also make it into an audio file or podcast to share on presentation sites such as LinkedIn SlideShare.
• Ask questions of others – Engage others by seeking out their expertise. For example, say there is a new software program becoming popular in your line of work. It would be wise to solicit feedback from IT professionals on its use and benefits and share this information with your readers. When posting your questions, be sure to offer a link to your blog explaining how you would share this new found knowledge with your audience. You can also use their personal contact information to share future posts, photos and more with them. Asking questions within forums or discussion groups is also a good way to find guest bloggers for future posts.

Contests, Giveaways and Questionnaires

One of the easiest ways to draw traffic is by offering something FREE on your blog. Nothing draws crowds more than the word FREE. Consequently, bloggers will often have contests or giveaways to get new readers. These contests further provide an easy way to collect and build an email list for future mailings.

• Offer a unique item for FREE on your blog. Find a product that may be of interest in your field. This can be a link to free software or an eBook for download.
• Contest – You can also consider having a contest in which you give away a valuable item related to your blog. For example, if your blog is about restoring old furniture, give away a handy tool that can be used in furniture restoration.
• Questionnaires – Promote your blog by initiating a questionnaire or survey. This should be on a topic that your targeted audience is interested in. Once you’ve drafted the questions, next encourage your readers to share a link to the questionnaire with others.

Drive Traffic With Images and Video

• Images greatly enhance any posts. However, in addition to adding excitement, it can also be a unique way to drive traffic to your site. This is because many readers enjoy reposting pictures on sites like Facebook or Pinterest.
• Creating a vlog or video blog will also increase traffic. Along with providing a creative way to share your thoughts with your audience, having a video on your blog provides an easy way for your readers to share your posts with others. They can also be shared on media sites such as YouTube and Vimeo.
• Instagram and Pinterest – Use images to share your blog with popular sites like Instagram and Pinterest. Simply post your photo along with a caption that creates interest and will draw the viewer to your blog.

E-mail

• Personalized email – Create an email list and send a notice to this list each time you post something new. This will hopefully get you new readers, but will also keep your current readers interested. Be sure to personalize your email whenever possible. Statistics has shown that personalized emails have a better chance of being read than generic ones.
• Provide an obvious link – Select a button or graphic that encourages your readers to click it. This button should link directly to your blog or a specific post that you are announcing. Using something other than text is a proven way to get a larger number of hits.
• Create eye-catching subjects/headlines – Get the attention of your readers by drafting quality, attention getting headlines in your subject line. Make it interesting and creative, but it should also be accurate and descriptive.
• Time-sensitive material – Readers may also put off visiting your blog until another time. Unfortunately, more often than not, a delayed visit almost never happens. So to avoid missing out on a potential subscriber, send emails that tell them your post includes time sensitive information. For example, if promoting a questionnaire post, include a deadline for collection. This will show a sense of urgency and will avoid the dreaded “delay”.

Other Promotion

• Blogger listings – Take the time to share your blog on popular blogging directories such as Blogcatalog or EatonWeb. Although some may view this as archaic, it is still a proven method for attracting new readers. When registering your blog, however, be sure you are placed in the right category. Remember, readers often go directly to the topic they are interested in to find blogs on these directories. So, if you are in the wrong place, this will be a wasted effort. Blog directories further are a great tool for improving your rankings in search engines.
• Paid advertising – When looking to advance or really grow your blog, paid advertising should always be a consideration. Using this method, you can target a specific audience that you know will be interested in your topics. Some ideas include ads on Facebook or Google, as well as ads on more popular blogs related to your subject.

Putting forth the effort to promote your blog is a must if you want to be successful. However, you will also need to ensure that all of your blog content is engaging and worthy of sharing with others. This is perhaps one of the surest ways to become a top notch blogger.

Also, when you write quality posts, you can be assured of building solid relationships and loyal followers that will be inspired to share your blog with others. As with any business, referred customers make the best customers. Additionally, it will cost you nothing for referrals to your blog. Therefore, this is absolutely the best and easiest way to get new readers.