The first few months of a new blogs life are rarely a joy for its owner. It’s a time characterised by both doubts about the blogs profitability and very little revenue to ease those doubts.
Most bloggers in this situation are therefore looking to get out of it as soon as possible i.e. they want to turn their new blog into an established and successful one as fast as possible.
While a certain amount of patience is always going to be required (a week old blog is a week old blog regardless of what you do), it is possible to increase the speed at which a new blog grows. Here are ten effective tips for doing just that.
Focus On First Impressions
First impressions matter. First time visitors to your new blog should be greeted by a professional and clean look. Your logo should be both memorable and attention grabbing.
You’re greatest blog posts, perhaps your only blog posts, should be immediately visible. Make them glad they came, make them eager to know more.
Make Your Motives Known
Because your new blog is unlikely to have much content, it’s important for you to define it in other ways. An informative tag line or a short personal statement should do the trick nicely.
You want first time visitors to know what your blog is about. If they don’t, they won’t know what to expect in the future. And if they don’t know what to expect, why would they return? Define your blog and make that definition clear to anyone that visits it.
Focus on Intuitive Navigation
Your navigation system should be intuitive and the definition of simplicity. First time visitors should immediately feel at home using it and they should be able to take a look around in an effortless fashion.
Don’t expect loyalty from those that have never visited your blog before. If they find themselves frustrated with your blogs navigation system, don’t expect them to stick around and definitely don’t expect them to ever return.
Write Ten Killer Posts
Of course, all of your posts should be high quality but special care should be taken with the first ten.
You want to stand out and you want to make a name for your blog as soon as possible. The best way of doing so is to hit the gates running with killer content. Don’t regurgitate what every other blog in your niche is saying. Be unique, take a different view and offer real information and value to your readers.
Be Opinionated
Take a side and take a side early on. Facts are important but opinions are what drive the most traffic.
Blog about the facts in your niche but always couple them with your opinions about them. Don’t underestimate the power of a bit of controversy but don’t use it recklessly. Doing so might gain traffic in the short term but it could cost you in terms of your blogs reputation in the long term.
Focus on Subscribers
An important part of growing any blog is turning first time visitors into repeat readers. Of course, killer content is your number one priority but you should also be looking to get as many subscribers as possible.
RSS feeds are the most popular means of doing so and with good reason. You should include eye catching RSS icons in prominent locations throughout your blog.
Don’t Forget About SEO
It would be nice if killer content was all that was necessary for blogging success but unfortunately there’s simply too much competition in just about every niche. And the majority of that competition is using both on and off page SEO. If you want to compete, you’re going to have to use it too.
If you are not exactly an expert on the subject, don’t let that fact stop you. SEO expertise is not required. The basics of SEO are both easy to understand and easy to implement. And when it comes to SEO basics, a little bit goes a long way.
Spread the Word With Social Media
When it comes to blogging, social media can do one of two things. It can be used as a constant distraction to getting any real work done or it can be used as a useful tool for increasing awareness of your blog and driving significant amounts of traffic to its posts. Obviously, you should be aiming for the latter.
- All of your posts should have social sharing buttons.
- Your blog should have its own account at every major social network.
- Said accounts should be updated automatically whenever you add new content to your blog.
Apply (Exclusively) for High Quality Guest Post Spots
Never underestimate what a great guest post can do for a new blog. If you can get yourself accepted to write a guest post for a high traffic blog in the same niche as your own, you can look forward to a massive spike in traffic. Provided your blogs content is up to scratch, you can expect a lot of that traffic to keep coming back.
Be a Valued Blog Commenter
Finally, don’t waste your time spamming the comment sections of every blog you can find trying to boost your SERP. Focus on quality, not quantity.
Leave well thought out comments on high traffic blogs that are related to your niche. Demonstrate your expertise in your niche and link to specific posts on your blog. Use attention grabbing anchor text and focus on making people curious about you. Curiosity and clicks go hand in hand.
Tom Koh is a published author and a professional marketer. As a bonus he recommends reading his forum marketing post to get targeted traffic for your new blog. Tom has worked with several fortune 500 companies and has a lot of experience with new product/website and blog launches.
Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Rightly said- Time and again we have all testified to the value of quality content and the crucial role it plays in enticing our readers and when coupled with leveraging social networking platforms to generate more traffic any blogger is bound to succeed. Thanks for the enlightening read.
I’ve been blogging for quite some time now but I still find it beneficial to go back to the basics and look into other methods that will enable me to improve. Personally, I believe in the value of consistency and how effective it is in the process of reader engagement.Thanks for sharing these enlightening tips.
SEARCH ENGINE MARKETING in addition to social media are necessary to help accomplishment but then getting excellent content material may be the primary point which are every one of the variation.
Can you explain me about off-page SEO? I have been hearing about it, but have not really come across useful info. I am new to this field and like a sponge am trying to soak up as much as I can regarding these topics. You seem to be an expert here, hence my question. Thanks in advance…
Thanks Dipa for your comment and compliment. It would be my pleasure answering your question. Basically, Off-page SEO means static page optimization. It refers to the factors that have an effect on your web site or web page listing in natural search results. These factors are off-site in that they are not controlled by you or the coding on your page. Off-page SEO generally targets getting as many backlinks as possible to your page. So, the main aim is to generate quality backlinks to your blog/website. By quality I mean, the content should be relevant enough to allure readers to visit your page often. It includes Directory submissions, Social Bookmarking, forum posting, guest posting (aka guest author), classifieds, article submission, Press release and link building. A website is ranked well in search engines only if it has numerous backlinks from trusted sites. In other words, accumulating backlinks from websites other than your own website is called off-page optimization.
Hope this might have helped you. Cheers!
Some really great tips for a new blogger like me…i think SEO and social media are crucial to success but then having very good content is the first point which makes all the difference…
Thanks for this great guide. This post will be of great help for newbies in blogging. SEO and social media are very important for increasing the popularity of a blog. Writing quality content regularly is a must for any new blog.
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