The internet is a crowded place in 2020. It’s definitely possible to have a successful blog these days, but you can’t just write posts here and there and expect to build a loyal following of readers. You need to create consistent, compelling content and learn how to bring traffic to your site if you want to grow your readership.
To stand out and drive more readers to your blog, you have to be strategic about what you write and how you promote your posts. Here are some tips for getting your blog noticed (and read!).
Identify Engaging Content Themes & Topics
Successful blogs have a specific focus. Most of them are geared toward a major topic like personal finance, parenting, etc. People who come to the site are interested in these topics and will expect the content to be related to the theme of the blog. For businesses, choosing a theme is easy—it should be related to your industry!
From there, you can break it down further. Think about what topic “buckets” you want to explore. You can have different kinds of posts, but they should all be related to the goal and major theme of the blog.
Strategize about what kinds of themes and topics you’d like to explore on your blog so you can create consistent content that resonates with readers. Having a series of similar posts, such as interviews with experts or industry news, can be a great way to build readership.
Utilize Different Content Types
Even though people come to a blog with certain expectations and a desire for consistency, that doesn’t mean that they want to read the same kind of post all the time. If you just do a journal-style, text-based post twice a week, people are going to get bored. Switch it up!
You can do list posts, how-tos, infographics, and even videos! As long as your style, topics, and themes are on-brand, it’s a great idea to experiment with different content types. Readers enjoy some variety and different people prefer different types of content. Make it interesting and try out new techniques!
Better Promote Your Posts on Social Media
Because there’s so much great content online, your ideal readers are very unlikely to just stumble upon your content organically. You’re going to have to do some promotion to get more traffic.
Social media is the perfect place to share and promote your blog posts. Sharing on your own page will create some initial reach for your posts and your followers can re-share if they like the content. From there, who knows? If your posts are good enough, they could even go viral.
Write Topics Around Popular Keywords & Topics That People Search For
SEO (search engine optimization) is important for any marketing strategy, including blog promotion. Keyword research should tell you the terms and topics that people are searching for, so use that information in your content creation strategy.
By basing your content around specific keywords, you can tap into the power of SEO and create content that your readers are actively searching for. You’ll be able to keep up with trends and deliver exactly what your readers are looking for. Plus, it will give you more ideas for topics and provide you with strategic guidance!
Last, But Still Important: Engaging Headlines!
Let’s face it: if your headlines don’t pique your readers’ curiosity, they’re not going to bother clicking. In some ways, your headlines are even more important than the posts themselves!
Learning to write engaging headlines is tricky. You have to create enough intrigue without resorting to “click-bait” titles that can make readers feel as though they’ve been tricked into clicking.
Think about your reader’s needs when creating headlines. Are you trying to help them to solve a problem? If so, make that clear in the title. You should also try to present a unique angle on your topic within your headline. People want to see new ideas or read a good story. They want to learn or be inspired, they don’t want to read yet another article with the same tips they’ve been given before.
And remember: when it comes to writing great headlines, keep it simple!
Don’t Give Up
Building your audience takes time, but it’s worth the effort. Be flexible and don’t give up! You may need to try different strategies to figure out what works. Blogs have to be interesting, relevant, and well-promoted to get noticed in 2020, but they can be a great tool in marketing for bringing in new leads.
Maria Akhter is a content strategist at Circa Interactive. She’s passionate about creating the most valuable and optimized content for her clients and improving page rankings through strategic link building.
