FIVE GREAT WAYS TO GET EXPOSURE FOR YOUR BLOG
As a new blogger, I have come to the harsh reality that absolutely no one outside of close family and friends is going to care for your latest brilliant blog entry…that is, unless they know about it. However, it takes much more than simply capturing people's attention. It would help if you gave them compelling reasons to read your blog entries continuously. Through a continuing process of trial and error, I have identified five ways that you can use to help you find success in garnering attention for your blog, retaining your followers, and growing your audience.
Interesting Content
First things first, your blog must have interesting content. Ideally, the topic is attractive, as well as your spin on the issue. However, even if you have an occasional subject matter that is relatively bland, you can always spice it up by approaching it from a fresh new angle that allows you to explore a specific niche within that topic. Doing so will allow you to add your flair that highlights your personality and knowledge of the subject matter. Try it until you can find your unique voice. And when you do that, refine that voice. Your readers will appreciate that you are allowing them into your head a bit. They will reward you with a deeper connection to you (as a blogger) that grows organically with each blog entry. From there, the sky is the limit as you develop your skill approaching each blog entry from a unique angle, whether the topic itself is inherently exciting or not. But with that being said, try to limit the inherently non-interesting issues to occasional occurrences sprinkled among an ocean of great topics. The last thing that I'll say on this is that it is also essential to choose titles for your blog entries that grab the reader's attention. If the media has taught us anything, it's that fascinating headlines hook in the readers. Whether or not they're compelled to read the entire story is up to you.
Social Media
As I am sure you are well aware, we are living in the age of social media. The internet did" shrinking the world" by connecting the world in ways that were never even possible beforehand, social media has done that to the umpteenth degree. To not use social media to expose your blog to exponentially more people would be a foolish endeavor at this point. No one is saying that you have to dive headfirst into every social media platform out there. Just feel free to dabble in whichever one that you think with which you may feel comfortable. Take your pick: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, Clubhouse, Pinterest, etc. The best approach is to find one or two platforms that you feel most comfortable venturing into to promote your blog and quickly get as familiar with all of the pertinent features that will help you. After exploring a bit, you will find that a large blogging community out there will act as an excellent support group as long as you are willing to engage with them regularly actively. From there, it becomes a matter of developing relationships with your fellow writers, which brings us to the following manner of getting more exposure for your blogs.
Networking with Other Bloggers
Establishing your presence in social media goes a long way in setting you to network with other bloggers and other writers, in general. Of course, social media isn't the only way to network. You could go the old-school route by actually meeting with people in person. There are plenty of meet-up groups and organizations for that purpose. Access to them may depend on whether or not you live in or near an urban metropolitan. Understandably, you may not be close enough to a metro area where such opportunities are abundant, or you still aren't comfortable meeting with people (especially strangers) in public yet. However, you're in luck since many of these organizations and meet-up make video conferencing easily accessible. Whether it be via Zoom, Skype, Webex, BlueJeans, SignalWire Work, etc., there are plenty of platforms out there to allow people to network on a global scale. Once you're able to charm your way into some of these meetings, feel free to take advantage of the many opportunities that either present themselves or that you create yourself—cross-promotions, podcast interviews, brainstorming sessions, and so on. Of course, do your due diligence in establishing relationships with people/entities out there. It is always essential to make sure that you know what you are getting into when entering into these partnerships.
Learning How to Utilize SEO to Your Advantage
When engaging in the act of drawing attention to your blog on the internet and social media will pay dividends if you learn how to take advantage of search engine optimization, otherwise known as SEO. SEO is a process to help improve websites and web pages' ranking in search engine search results. With respect to your blog, the biggest steConcerningSEO is to incorporate content in your blog that captures viewers' attention and compels them to read further. For instance, one of the better tactics many bloggers use to maximize traffic influx with SEO is improving the user experience on their website. How visitors behave when on your website is one of the factors that search engines pay attention to when their algorithm determines the rankings. The frequency and length of time visitors spend on your website, particularly your blog page, should be maximized to give your blog entries their best chance to rank high in the search engine results. To achieve this, bloggers usually do things like make their websites very user-friendly and very graphically appealing, in addition to creating fascinating content. For any blogger serious about expanding viewership, it is vital to study the wealth of internet resources on SEO and put together a plan to achieve long-term growth.
Word of Mouth
Last but not least, you can always count on great word of mouth to do wonders for creating buzz around your blog. The method of getting good reviews of your work to spread out to the masses exponentially is a great way to grow your audience. Granted, this best works when it comes from people who have actually read your work and genuinely appreciate it. It helps persuade people you know to read through your blog entries and talk about them with others they know may be interested in the topic covered. Another tactic that you can use is your network of bloggers and other social media contacts. With bloggers, specifically, you can enter into partnerships where you read each other's blog entries and help spread the word about them within each of your circles of influence. With the non-bloggers in your social media network, you can ask if they'd be interested in reading some of your blogging material. You may not always get a' yes' in response, but it's always better to increase your chances of getting more' yes' answers by asking more people. I have found that social media folks within the writing community are very supportive of each other and are willing to spend time reading and, in some cases, critiquing each other's work. Even if the feedback is critical of your blog, use that as an opportunity to be tolerant and improve your writing if you find the criticisms to be valid. That way, others can feel more invested in your success, knowing that you incorporated some of their advice. In turn, this may motivate them to pass along your work to their circles of influence and so on.
Conclusion
To grow your blog's viewership takes meticulous planning and persistent execution. The five types of strategies referenced above are, by no means, the only ways to achieve your goals as a blogger, but they can serve as the perfect tools you need to get started on your path to success. Good luck and keep writing.