How to promote a blog

Yay! you’ve just finished you first blog post, so you sit back and just wait until some readers start visiting your site. You wait and not a peep from them. You think maybe this Internet thing is broken, so you call a friend and get them to check they can see your website.

Yep, it’s there and now you’ve got precisely one-page view. Hmmm!

So you call another friend and ask them to check out your blog and yes you get another page view. And then it clicks. You actually need to promote your blog to get traffic to it.

Congratulations, this puts you ahead of the ‘I’ll post it and wait until they come’ crowd. So what are some ways to promote your blog when your friends list is exhausted?

How To Promote a Blog

Self  Promotion

When you write good content people feel like they want to share it. And it has to be remarkable because there is a barrier to sharing. Yes, nobody wants to be that person that blasts their friends with random shit.

Good content answers people’s questions. Awesome content answers a lot of people questions. Remarkable content has only been answered by you.

Quote Experts

We are all narcissists in some shape or form and love to be the centre of attention, even if you won’t admit it. When you quote an expert in your niche you’ll almost certainly get a site visit, to see how well they were represented in your blog post.

Now you’ve got their attention, make sure you build on that relationship.

Guest Posting

The quickest way to promote a blog is to promote yourself to other audiences. The easiest way to do this is usually via guest posting and you know that relationship you’ve been building with experts, well now is the time to leverage it. Write a blog post first that would resonate with their audience and offer it up as guest post.

Never ask to guest post first and then write something because the odds are stacked against you. Remember these ‘experts’ don’t know you or the quality of your work so it’s best to have the work already completed or at least a solid draft.

If the guest posting gig fails then you can always post it on your own blog.

Be Trendy

If you’re able to stay ahead of the trends in your niche then the articles you write are more likely to be quoted and/or republished. Journalists and news outlets are always looking for quotable material when they are breaking the news and you might just be in the right place at the right time.

Alternatively, poke around on HARO and help a reporter out directly with the content they are looking for.

Do Your Research

Keyword research that is.

You see when you start writing a blog post you should always know if people will be interested in what you are writing. Let’s say you were about to write a piece on Fire Ants but you were unsure if anyone actually knew what you were talking about so you consult a keyword research tool and then find out there are over 15,000 people searching for that term every month in Google. Who would have thought.

Yes  go ahead and write about Fire Ants, because the people want to know. Doing your keyword research is a good way to promote a blog.

As a rule of thumb, you want at least 1000 monthly searches for your topic to make it worth your while. Although if there’s an easy opportunity to reach 200 people quickly then take it.

Find Awesome Images

The Internet is a really visual medium and a great image can attract eyeballs in an otherwise crowded market. Avoid cheap stock photos that are corny and obviously staged. Actually, why use cheap images when there are plenty free stock photo sites out there with exceptional photography, so give one of them a try. Unsplash quickly comes to mind.

The other great thing about using quality stock images is, it’s must easier to promote a blog on shareable social media sites such as Instagram and Pinterest when you have good quality photos.

Promote your blog on Social Media

I shouldn’t have to say this but just in case you’re old skool and haven’t taken the social media plunge yet, you should. Social media is a great place to curate an audience and a place to promote a blog.

Remember those earlier points about writing remarkable content and finding awesome images, well they work best in social media.

Have you ever shared something on social media and someone commented they saw this a few months back? Well, people are screaming out for ORIGINAL shareable content. So take full advantage of it.

Make some Blogging Friends

Let’s face it. Your real-life friends probably don’t get what you’re doing with a blog in the first place. Sure they say they’ll take a look but aren’t as passionate as other bloggers. Build blogging friendships early and you’ll have a good number of eyeballs interested in what you have to say.

Travel to blogging conventions and get out and meet some people. You just never know who you might meet and what sort of reach they have.

Build Your List

Start building your email list early because these are the people that can help you to promote your blog. People talk about the money being in the list but what they really mean is, the trust is in your list. Money is just a by-product of trust.

If you’re sharing your blog posts to your list regularly then you’re more likely to get those email subscribers sharing your content to their friends. It’s a lot easier to forward an email than it is to open a new one, write something and then add a link to your website.

That’s why social sharing really works. It’s just one click and you’re done.

Think Global, Act Local

Ok, I stole that from the sustainability crowd but it also relates to the blogging crowd when your thinking of ways to promote a blog. You see if you’re writing to solve global issues it gives you more credibility with your local newspaper.

Local newspapers are always looking for good news stories that involve locals and how they might be the next global sensation. When you’ve established yourself in your niche, don’t be afraid to let your local newspaper know about it.

Re-Promote Old Content

When you’ve written some good content and it’s become popular, make sure you continue to promote it down the track. Good content never gets old, but it might just get lost.

Pin your good posts to your homepage so it’s easily found. Even most social media now has an option to pin your content to the top of your stream, so take advantage of this feature too and make sure people are finding your best work, every time they visit your profile.

Did I answer the question, How to Promote a Blog?

If you’ve got some other ideas then please share them in the comments below. And please feel free to promote this blog 😉