Knowing how to get your blog noticed is about more than having a great blog. There are plenty of great blogs out there that nobody knows about. Some have only a modest following while others wait years to be discovered. Trying to promote your new blog in a way that is efficient and effective is a frustrating experience for many. You need an informative, entertaining, and attractive blog, but even with that magic formula and great content, there’s still a chance your blog will go unnoticed.
It’s important to understand that promoting your blogging platform requires a number of active and passive steps. There are things you should be doing now as a blogger that might not pay off for a few years, but they are still a necessary part of the formula for building a successful blog with good content. There are also things you should be doing now for your blog content that will have instant results. The key is striking a balance between what you’re doing today for tomorrow and what you’re doing today that will pay off down the road.
The most success comes from combining your efforts across multiple platforms. You can pay for advertising, but that’s usually not enough to get the biggest results. You can be active on social media, but that usually requires you to supplement your plan with some paid advertising and referral traffic. A comprehensive content marketing plan tends to yield the best results when it comes to getting noticed as a new blogger.
What can you do to change this and learn once and for all how to get your blog noticed?
Here are 11 great tips on successful blog promotion:
1. Take Smart Action with Social Media
A presence on social media is essential to your blog’s success, but you need to be smart about what you’re doing on social media. This includes where you’re doing it and for how long you do it each day. Too many brands and influencers waste far too much time on social media and they are investing time in something that isn’t paying off.
Instead of creating social media accounts on every platform, find out which platforms your target audience spends the most time on. This is where you should be focusing your effort. If you learn most of your audience is on Instagram or Twitter, but you’re investing all of your time and budget on Facebook, it’s time to tweak what you’re doing. Target the top three social media sites where your audience spends the most time for the best results and focus on a great post rather than a bunch of posts on an unnecessary social media platform.
2. Don’t Forget About Content and Information Focused Sites
Sites like Quora and Reddit are great places to find your target audience. By spending time on these sites answering questions and sharing information, you’ll drive referral traffic to your blog. These sites help you establish yourself as an authoritative voice in your industry.
3. Consider Vlogging
The idea of using video might seem overwhelming to you, but it’s a great tool for getting your blog noticed. If you aren’t ready for a sit-down, in-depth video or you feel you aren’t qualified for something like this, vlogging is a great option. You don’t need to be qualified to do anything other than be who you are in a vlog. These types of videos offer a behind-the-scenes look into your industry. Consider making a series of videos that are “Day in the Life” themed.
4. Turn to the Most Powerful Player in the Industry
If you haven’t tried it already, it might be time to give Google advertising a try. Google Ads are powerful and are a tried-and-true way to grow your audience by using a search engine to boost blog traffic. The great thing is you can run a campaign that is only temporary. Instead of viewing Google as a long-term and repeated commitment, try a specific ad that targets your ideal audience member.
5. Try a Newsletter
It might seem old fashioned to send out a newsletter, but it’s still one of the most effective ways toget your blog noticed. Email marketing is still an important part of growing an audience of loyal followers. If you’ve neglected your email list or you’re looking for a way to be creative, a weekly or monthly newsletter is an excellent option. You can include a direct invitation to visit your blog or simply include a link to your blog in your email signature.
6. Don’t Forget About Other Blogs
Another great way to get your voice heard outside of your usual environment is by guest blogging. As a blogger, you know how tough it is to fill your blog with quality content on a regular basis. Other bloggers feel the same! Offer to write a post for a few blogs in your industry with the agreement they’ll link back to your blog. You can guest post for each other or blog about your guest post on your blog and link to the other site. It’s a win-win for everyone involved.
7. Get Out There and Speak
As intimidating as public speaking might be, it’s a great way for how to get your blog noticed. Speaking at events that are in your industry helps you make contacts that wouldn’t find you otherwise. Just make sure you include invitations to your blog for those in attendance.
8. Spruce Up Your Blog’s Style
Much of your focus is likely on content, but it’s also important to make sure your blog is just as functional as it was when you last evaluated it. Make sure you feature social sharing buttons so other people can get the word out on your behalf and make sure when people arrive they’re comfortable and want to stick around for a while.
9. Write an eBook
Another great way for how to get your blog noticed is to offer a product for free to your readers. eBooks are the most common option. This allows you to take a deep dive into a topic that’s of interest to your audience. It establishes you as an authority in your industry and also lets people know about your blog.
10. Keywords are King
It’s no secret that you need to fill your blog with plenty of great content, but for it to be really effective, you must do your keyword research using SEO tips. Understand what you should be targeting in each blog post, and how to make keywords help you get noticed.
11. Look to You Competition
Last but not least, don’t forget about your competition. It’s important to know what others in your industry are doing. You don’t want to copy what they’re doing, but you do want to keep up. Ideally, you’ll be at the forefront setting the tone, but everyone needs to start somewhere.