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If you have a blog with no readers, let’s just call it what it is: a passion project. If you want your blog to become an actual monetizable business – or at least a lead generation tool for an existing business – you need readers on the site. The question is, how do you drive more clicks to your blog.
Whether you’re new to blogging or you have yet to get started, marketing is the key to increasing your readership. If your goal is to turn your blog into a business or generate a loyal following, keep reading to learn how to make that happen.
Start collecting email addresses from the beginning
If you can help it, don’t let a day go by where you don’t collect email addresses from your visitors. The day you launch your blog, you should already have either a lead magnet or a simple subscribe option in place. Collecting emails is by far the easiest way to expand your readership and maintain a loyal audience.
The Blog Starter explains it perfectly. “By collecting the email addresses of your visitors (with their permission of course), you can then notify them when you post new content on your blog. This keeps people coming back to your blog, which not only gives you more readers over time, it also allows you to build a closer relationship with your visitors.”
If you plan to use your blog commercially, then email marketing is a must. You can nurture your leads until they buy from you and develop rapport and loyalty along the way. If you do it right, they’ll want to continue reading your blog even if they don’t buy anything from you.
Understand why people read blogs
Everyone has a favorite blog, whether it’s a news outlet, a personal blog, or an industry publication. When you can identify why people continue to read their favorite blogs, you’ll have a head start in building yours. For example, most people are drawn to blogs for the following reasons:
- They want or need to read the information.
- The content makes them laugh.
- They’re looking for advice.
- A certain blog is an authority in their industry.
- The information published is highly valuable.
Consider how you can provide the same type of value to people through your blog. It will help you come up with an angle for your content, too. For instance, instead of just blogging randomly about your topic, you can create a plan to publish actionable advice in every piece.
Optimize your content for SEO
If you want to attract more readers, you need to get your content found in the search engines, and this requires a little SEO. At the base level, make sure all your images have alt tags, your page titles are relevant, and if you’re using a content management system, like WordPress, use a plugin to create unique meta descriptions for each post. Your meta descriptions will appear under each page title in search results and can help you get more clicks.
Write catchy headlines
It’s one thing to get someone to find your blog articles in a search engine, but you’ll need enticing titles to get them to click. The same goes for people already browsing your blog. Try to come up with headlines that people can’t resist clicking, but don’t go as far as using clickbait.
Titles like, “Everything You Need to Know About (Your Topic),” and “The Top 5 Ways to (Your Topic)” are highly effective, but headlines with specificity are more likely to get clicks that convert. For example, “How I Turned Getting Fired Into a $30 Million Business in Eight Years” might get fewer clicks, but it’s more targeted.
Write headlines that:
- Trigger curiosity
- Use numbered lists
- Make some kind of promise
- Reveal something shocking or unexpected
However, don’t go overboard and make your titles too dramatic, as that will turn people away.
Promote your content on social media
Social media can be a good way to promote your blog, but only when you use the right platforms. Twitter, for example, will suppress posts with external links, and people aren’t usually looking for reading material on Instagram. However, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Reddit are all excellent platforms for sharing links to your content.
With a little marketing, you’ll reach a wider audience
Getting more readers on your blog takes traffic and interesting, useful content. If you can nail both of these factors and get your articles to rank in the search engines, with time, you’ll gain a larger, more loyal readership.