Every new blog post you publish is competing for attention with hundreds of millions of other pieces of content on the Internet. Simply hitting “publish” and waiting for visitors to find the website you created will not work. Realize that the more than two billion Internet users out there will not visit your site if they have no idea that it exists. Does it mean that you should give up on your dream of being a major player in your industry with hundreds of thousands of followers? Absolutely not, but it does mean that you will have to put some work into getting your blog noticed. Below are some of the simplest and most effective blog promotion methods for the modern Internet.
1. Create Exceptional Content to Get Links Back
At first glance, this may seem obvious but there is more to it than first meets the eye. For starters, you will need to create quality content or no one will link to it. Quality content means posts that are useful, entertaining and well made. Every single piece of content that you publish should meet that description. Remember, content reflects on the person sharing it as well. No one wants to be known for spamming their audience with irrelevant statements of the obvious. It is also a good idea to make it long. You want to provide your audience with at least 1,000 words of actionable content that goes into details so that they have something to work with when they go to follow your suggestions. Ideally, you should go for as much as 8,000 words if you can. You should also reference other authorities in your niche and include links to them. If you know your topic and do a good job of explaining it, this is the kind of content that gets linked to and shared on social media.
Along with your own content, you should also get other people involved in your blog and producing content for you; not just any other people, but people who are influential in your niche. Guest posters can bring a new perspective to your blog and can provide exposure to a completely new set of readers.
Whenever you make a positive mention of an individual or company in your posts, share it with them. They may post it on their own blog or Facebook page for their audience to see thus providing you with even more exposure.
2. Use Social Media to Promote Your Content to the Fullest Extent Possible
One of the most basic ways to bring in an audience is to share each piece of content that you publish as much as you can. The most efficient way to do this these days is via Twitter, Facebook and similar sites. Google+ should be first on the list of “similar sites.” If a piece of content is lighter and aimed at a more general audience, Facebook may be the ideal place to share it. If it is more technical in nature, Google+ may be a more appropriate avenue. One way to use social media to promote your content is to pin your posts to the top of your Twitter profile and to your Facebook page.
When people read your awesome content, they will want to share it with others. It is a good idea to make this process as simple as possible. Use plug-ins to give your readers the ability to share with as little effort as possible. Most blogs have social media buttons to enable easy sharing, but it is a good idea to add them directly to the content as well.
3. Publish Your Quality Content Consistently
Consistency means reliability and that is one of the main factors promoting your blog. Google and the people it serves like reliability. You should be publishing on a consistent schedule. This does not mean that you have put something out every single day; however, you should publish on a weekly basis at the very least. You should also publish at the same time every week. If your readers know to expect a new post at the same time every week, this will keep them looking out for it. If you rarely publish or publish inconsistently, they may not return.
Yes, the tips above will involve time and effort; however, they are necessary if you want your blog to grow. The most important fact to remember is that blog promotion is not rocket science; the right promotional methods will usually provide the results that you want. The tips above may not provide instant results in all cases but you should see an increase in traffic.