If you are thinking about how to promote your blog, there are a few viable strategies you can start with. You will need to improve your search ranking by connecting with quality websites and, most of all, provide valuable content. With high-quality content, search engines will recognize the importance of the information you provide. As the ranking is one of the primary sources of traffic, you should focus on building backlinks. However, you should not neglect other strategies. When properly applied, it’s possible to obtain a large portion of the search volume for your blog.
The best strategies to promote your blog
The most common thing someone might ask is where to start. Here, we’ll talk about a couple of strategies that will help you get user attention, and keep it. As natural as it can be, organic promotion should be your primary goal. The only downside is that is can be significant hard work that takes a lot of time. Generally, you will need to spend hours making great content and promoting it on different channels. And, of course, analyze and track the results. Nevertheless, in the long-term, it will be worthwhile. You can, however, speed up the process, if you don’t have time or means to do everything on your own. You can find the professional teams to deal with SEO and help you improve your online rankings.
First, you need to set your goals
Before you start spreading the word, you need to set firm goals. And here is an example:
- Increasing credibility and becoming an authority in your niche is the first.
- Second, to be heavily engaged in your niche market.
- Finally, establishing trust and build a large pool of target audiences.
Overall, these goals will help you stay on track and help you keep your focus while promoting your blog.
Check your competitors
Once you set your overall goals, you need to see what your competitors are doing. Sometimes, there is no need to take the “trial and error” path to see what is working. If your competition is doing quite well, they are probably doing it right. Thankfully, there are many SEO tools that can help you “spy” on your competition. With them, you can easily analyze and find the right marketing strategies that bring the best results.
Create high-quality content before you promote your blog
Now that you know what works, it’s time to make content. But, not just a bunch of content to fill out space. You need high-quality content on your blog that will attract readers. Not to mention it has to be useful for them as well. On average, you shouldn’t start without 9 quality articles at least. Those articles need to be comprehensive, easy to understand, and include media other than just text. Also, you will need to continue to add and update the content on a regular basis. And finally, don’t forget to analyze the results from time to time.
To be visual is a necessity today
Humans are visual beings, in general. A “wall” of text is not something we prefer and is easy to forget. But, you can make your content more appealing if you “spice it up” with some visuals. Start with adding some images and video content. You can also make infographics since it’s becoming quite popular recently, with tools like Canva. Another trick is to convert some of the content of your blog into video material. Open a channel on platforms like YouTube, and don’t forget to link back to your blog. Most importantly, make both blog and your channel complement each other.
Optimize your content to be SEO-friendly
Your entire content needs to be SEO-friendly. Tread carefully here, because the wrong strategy can easily affect your blog in a negative way. Either get someone to do optimization for you, either learn all the factors that could possibly influence your ranking. On-page optimization and Off-page optimization will be your first goals. Here is a couple of steps to do before you continue:
- In-depth research of keywords
- Interconnecting the content of your blog to potentially increase traffic
- Implementing a link building strategy with a focus on quality backlinks to increase rating
- Linking to authoritative pages in your niche and build a relationship with them
Leverage social networks to promote your blog
The next step in promoting your blog is to get involved in social media. Here, your main goal is to engage and provide highly shareable content. At the same time, that particular “shareability” will depend on the usefulness of the content itself. When your targeted audience finds your content useful enough, they will pass it further throughout the network.
Meanwhile, increasing your blog traffic. Spreading it around for others to see, will make a perfect expanding circle. However, you need to carefully pick the appropriate media for your niche. Because not all social media channels are convenient for every business category on the market. Or, for all types of interests and information promoted on blogs. Also, don’t forget that you will need to monitor, update, and analyze everything on a regular basis. So, avoid promoting on more platforms than you can handle.
Submit to directories
There are hundreds of useful directories where you could list your blog. The thing is, the majority of them will require payment. Even if you do find those that are free, it takes a lot more time before you are accepted. Yet, you can start first with local directories while you are waiting to be listed on major ones.
Collaborate with, and contribute to, other bloggers
Working with others in your niche can be an excellent way to promote your blog. Just, don’t forget that you will need high-quality content to do that. And, not all blogs bring the same value. In fact, you should mostly choose those similar to yours, or with greater, authority. Get in touch, try to establish a relationship with them, and see if there is enough space for collaboration. Guest posting can also be an effective way to increase the number of backlinks to your blog. Also, if you have any partnership companies, they can share your links as well. If not, there are many community sites you can participate in, forums, or Q&A websites.
With all the steps above, the only thing that can slow you down is time efficiency. When you want to promote your blog, patience will be one of the most important virtues. The results won’t come overnight and you need to make sure you are tracking everything. Analyze your content, analyze your strategy, and figure out what gives the best results. When needed, don’t hesitate to make adjustments.