So you have created a blog and are regularly posting content on it? Your next step is to get people to come to it and read that wonderful content. After all, your ultimate aim is to get traffic to your blog so you can earn some revenue. Each blogger’s objective is to get people to come to their blog on their own; that is, organically. These days, that is a challenging thing to do since there are just too many blogs in each niche. So what can one do to make one’s blog more visible to Internet users?
There are some tried and tested ways to go about this. A majority of these methods still work in 2020, but one has to also keep themselves up-to-date with new technological advances too. It does not help that search engines keep coming up with new updates almost on a daily basis, and that could reduce a blog’s readership as well. However, if you are passionate, you must continue posting good stuff. Be natural, genuine, and original and there’s no reason why your blog won’t be popular. In addition, you can use the following free resources to promote your blog and increase traffic:
1. Submit your blog to blog directories
The first step to ensure that readers can find your blog is by ‘claiming’ your blog with blog aggregators. There are many free Blog catalogs, but some of these sites are not secure and could even harm your computer. You can start your search for free blog catalogs or directories on Task Bullet.
2. Use RSS feed
Some people believe that RSS feeds are not relevant today. In reality, they are; just not as much as social media sites are for getting content updates. For those of you who do not know: RSS is a format that allows readers to subscribe to a blog and read it in an application like the RSS reader or Google Reader. Today, most people read blogs on the site and not on RSS readers but there is a small percentage that still uses RSS readers. So don’t forget to add and promote an RSS feed on your blog with a link or button. If you are using popular blogging platforms, then the RSS feed is created automatically.
3. Use Facebook
Facebook has millions of active subscribers so it is one of the best social media sites to promote your blog on. You can set up a professional page for your blog and promote your latest content there. Like any website, you’d have to update it regularly to have the intended promotional effect.
4. Use Twitter
Twitter is a micro-blogging site so it is only natural that you use it with blogging to promote your content. Use your blog to promote ideas and solutions, and then use Twitter to promote the blog. The more you talk about a topic, people who follow you will know you are the expert and will definitely flock to your blog for solutions. Use the right hashtags on each Twitter post, so that people who are ‘following those hashtags’ will notice your tweet and subsequently, your blog.
5. Use Instagram
Instagram is a visual platform that relies on good photos. So you may want to use very good photographs and then ask people to visit the link in your Instagram bio to drive traffic there. Use the right hashtags that people search in order to get noticed. You can also ‘tag’ people that you feel are relevant to the content you are promoting.
Related content – Easy Ways to Make Money on Instagram
6. Use Pinterest
Pinterest, like Instagram, is a visual platform suitable for promoting photos of a blog. If you use plenty of photos in your blog, then you can ‘pin’ each of them on your blog’s Pinterest. A Pin button can be downloaded on your desktop, so each time you put up a blog, you can pin the photos onto your Pinterest profile page. Search engines can pick up your blog from the image’s Alt text attributes and display the Pinterest site link. This, in turn, can direct traffic to your blog. Pinterest, these days, is being considered as a must-have tool from an SEO or Search Engine Optimization point of view.
Related content – Easy Ways to Make Money on Pinterest
7. Start a YouTube channel
YouTube is an effective platform for bringing traffic to a blog or a website. It is especially beneficial for people who teach or help others create, make, or repair stuff. It is a great DIY tutorial platform and can really grow if done well. You can give your blog’s links in the description of each YouTube video that you post. There may be some investments you need to make such as buying good video recorders or editing software.
Here are some ways to make money on YouTube.
8. Open up discussion on the blog
This method still works to promote a blog. If you have enabled comments on your blog, you can ask a question or talk about a controversial topic in the blog so as to get people to comment. More comments that you receive on your blog, the better would be its visibility. Also, make sure to reply back to each comment. Be polite and keep the content and comments positive.
9. Comment on other blogs
You can also leave comments on related blogs and join a community of bloggers that help promote each other’s blogs. Blog comments allow a link back to your blog too. So it is a great way to get noticed.
10. Use social bookmarking
There are many sites that function as bookmarking sites. These are very useful to drive traffic to your blog. You may have to add a bookmark button to your blog before you can use this feature. Here is a list of social bookmarking sites that are popular among bloggers:
- Digg
- Delicious
- StumbleUpon
- Mixx
- Live Journals
- Simpy
Simply register yourself for free on one or all of these sites. Once you have signed in, you can start bookmarking your content right away. On Reddit, you can answer questions and promote your blog in a relevant field. Quora works the same way as well. The advantage of these sites is that they have their own listings. People who use these sites will definitely come across your content. These sites use specific ways of categorizing different blogs, such as the use of tags, keywords, etc.
11. Do a link exchange
To do a ‘link-exchange’, search for relevant sites. Send an email to the site’s owner and promote their link in one of your blogs. In return, ask them to do the same. This adds ‘SEO juice’ and gives you backlinks that are good from a search engine perspective. You can also submit fresh content to sites that accept guest posts and place a link of your blog in the same.
12. Email the blog to subscribers/friends/family
What better way to promote your blog than start with your immediate circle? Simply email the link to your friends and family. Post about it on your Facebook or other Social media. Encourage them to share it as well.
13. Use the right keywords
SEO or search engine optimization involves using the right keywords that are highly searched for. You can use certain free tools like Soovle or even Google itself to find out what people are searching for in your niche. Try to answer all of the relevant questions asked by people through your blog. Try and post at least 3 blogs per week to stay visible in cyberspace.
14. Keep more than one blog and inter-link them
If you have the time and good content, you can even start another blog. Interlink the two blogs (if relevant) and make sure you keep them both updated. Blogging takes time and patience, but you will be rewarded if you keep at it. It helps if you have something unique to share.
Finally, do not spam, or keep posting 24×7, especially on social media. Nobody likes ‘too much of anything’. Instead, do what feels natural to you. Post good content. Write naturally. Use humor, state facts. Challenge people and make things interactive. But most importantly, be patient. Good things come to those who wait.