So you’ve started a blog. Now what? Now the real work begins – you have to attract readers. Here are ten tips to help build your readership and turn your blog into a must-read.
• Write well and edit better. It’s no secret that good writing is key to getting readers. But you must also be able to edit your entries to make sure they are mistake-free and that make sense to the reader, not just to you.
• Back up your brand. Writing a blog does you no good if no one knows what company (or person) is blogging. Back up all your marketing and publicity efforts with a blog design that reflects your company’s brand – visual identity, core values, tone, etc.
• Content is King. Write content that your target audience will want to read. They must learn something to want to keep reading.
• Don’t Get Stale. If content is king, fresh content is queen. You have to produce fresh information to encourage readers to come back, and come back often. If you don’t care enough to update your blog, why should a reader care to read it?
• Keep Is Simple. Make it easy for readers to subscribe to your blog by including a RSS (Really Simple Syndication) subscription button. With one click they can get your content to come to them as soon as you update it.
• Be Direct. Don’t simply ask readers to subscribe, offer the RSS feed as e-mail so your posts go directly to their inbox. Use your email database to drive traffic to your blog, then use your RSS feed to capture additional emails to drive your e-marketing campaign.
• Harness the power of e-marketing. If you already have an e-newsletter, link those articles to your blog. If you don’t have an e-newsletter, start one! Then promote it on your blog and link the articles back to your blog.
• Tag You’re It. Use tags and categories to help boost your SEO (Search Engine Optimization). The more relevant your tags are, the better chance your blog has of coming up on a Google search.
• Be vocal. It’s not enough to simply write your blog. You must interact with other bloggers in your industry and community. Become a reader and commenter on others’ blogs to build a reputation for being knowledgeable and social.
• Don’t be an island. Make your blog part of the online community. Link to blogs similar to yours in both your posts and through a blog roll on your site. If you promote other worthy sites hopefully they will link back to you, encouraging their readers to become your readers too.
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Tags: blogging, Graphic Design, Marketing, Social media
