The Race for Readers: Attract New Audiences to Your Blog

A blog can help draw new customers, build a brand and earn advertising dollars, but only if it has an audience. The trick is attracting an audience against thousands of competing blogs. A number of tactics can deliver new readers, but if you rely on just one or two, you’ll struggle to grow. Put them together, on the other hand, and you’ll see your blog flourish. Search engine optimization (SEO) delivers organic readers, and while it may take some time to optimize your blog, you’ll reap ongoing rewards. Combine a modern and traditional marketing strategy to expand your reach and gain new readers. So how do you get started?

Through Content

With attention spans dwindling and the Internet growing, blogs are tasked with creating compelling content on a regular basis. Content should be centered around a single focus. Few readers are interested in scatterbrained writers who ramble about whatever they please. Readers should know what to expect when they visit a website. One example of a narrowly focused blog is Top 10 Cloud Storage, which just like the name suggests, features only cloud advice articles.

Through Marketing

Few readers will just stumble across your blog. You need to advertise your blog like any other publication in order to gain new audiences. Start with free outlets that can generate earned media. Social networks are a perfect complement to blogs. They offer bloggers a chance to share links and connect with readers. Research firm BIA Kelsey reports that social ad spending will grow to $11 billion by 2017. If your blog isn’t on social media, start by signing up for Twitter and Facebook. Social media runs on relationships. Connect with blogs and thought leaders in your industry to lay the foundation for valuable relationships. Link to new blog posts and offer incentives to draw readers to your site. If you have an advertising budget, banner ads are an effective tactic to draw readers to your site. In the pay-per-click model, advertisers pay only when visitors click on the ad.

Through SEO

Many bloggers don’t have an advertising budget to reach out to new readers. Search engine optimization offers bloggers the chance to earn page views organically from Google searches. Successful SEO revolves around keywords. You can give your blog an instant boost by filling the title tag and metatags with relevant keywords. And Google values reliable websites that stay live, so a secure host can raise your rankings. Remember, as you write content, include key words and trending topics whenever possible. Don’t sacrifice quality, but this attention to technical detail with garner new readers.

Tags: Digital Marketing • Search Engine Optimization