There is a lot of great content out there, and companies are looking to attract visitors and build a following for their blogs. Here are some tips for getting people to find yours, read it and come back again and again to read your latest blog posts:
Determine the blog’s main categories and stay focused.
Blog regularly on a manageable schedule to build your following and keep readers engaged. Whether it is once a week or once a month, the goal is to be consistent.
Regularly incorporate images, charts, infographics, pull quotes, etc. Mix up the use of visuals. But make sure you provide the proper attribution or credit for the photo or graphic. Otherwise, source your images from a free site or through a paid monthly subscription.
Focus on cultivating an engaged community. At the end of each post, include a question or two to give people something specific to respond to or act upon. When they do comment, take time to respond.
Show the human behind the blog. Add personality to your blog posts.
Offer a regular feature (on say, the first Monday of the month) that you can build a following around and people come to expect. This could be Monday reader mail, a monthly news roundup, a Q&A with a prominent expert, or “alphabet soup” (where you decipher industry jargon), etc. You simply need to remain committed to delivering.
Make posts search engine friendly. For example, Google headlines should be 60 characters or less; subheads, 165 characters or less, and posts can range from 300 to 800 words.
Offer to guest post on complementary blogs to generate visibility among new audiences.
Add your blog url to your email signature. Also add the blog link to other communiqués utilized by your company (e.g. website, enewsletters, presentations, email campaigns, etc.).
Post details about new blog posts to your social networks. For added mileage, turn each entry into a series of Tweets and LinkedIn posts. Send out an email blast announcing updates to the blog.
Our next blog will focus on ways to make blog content development easier. Stay tuned.