Do you want to learn how to grow your new blog?
If so, you’re in the right place!
Blogging is one of the best ways to grow your small business or start a side project where you can freely express yourself and make a little passive income with affiliate marketing.
Surveys and research shows that we, as consumers, love reading blog posts. In fact, over 77% of people read blog posts regularly. It’s no wonder that over 60% of marketers say content marketing helps them build brand loyalty and awareness while boosting sales.
The thing is, it’s tough to build a blog audience yourself in 2022. New content creators and businesses are constantly popping up and competing. You also have to keep an eye on Google’s ever-changing algorithm and user feedback while finding ways to engage with your existing audience.
To grow your brand, you have to take your content and user experience to the next level. I’m going to share eight actionable ways you can get started today.
Let’s begin!
Note: Need more help setting up your blog? Check out our Free WordPress Installation Service today!
Focus on Speed, Performance, and Accessibility
If your website is slow, looks cluttered, and doesn’t work on mobile, you will have a hard time building your audience. People expect websites to load quickly (Google suggests 2 seconds or less) and to work on multiple devices.
So, if a user starts reading a post on their laptop, make sure they can enjoy the same experience if they want to finish the article later on a smartphone.
Here are a few quick tips for improving your loading times and making your site more accessible:
-Use mobile-responsive plugins and templates
-Install a caching plugin to cut down on loading times
-Host videos on YouTube to reduce bandwidth
-Test your speed and performance monthly using Google’s free tool PageSpeed Insights
Build Detailed Audience Profiles
The next step is to figure out who you want to reach. As you can imagine, creating exciting and engaging content is not easy if you don’t know who you’re talking to.
Imagine being told that you need to give a speech but knowing nothing about the audience or venue and only vaguely understanding the topic. If you’re like most people, you would struggle to pull off a persuasive speech.
Now, imagine you’re asking to give a speech, but you know everything there is to know about the audience, location, and talking points. Suddenly it seems much easier to connect with the listeners and win them over.
This same concept applies to your website. I recommend building detailed buyer personas highlighting your intended readers’ goals, pain points, demographics, interests, and habits. Use this data to understand your readers better so you can meet and exceed expectations, and you’ll see a surge of consistent traffic.
Offer Value to Your Readers
Once you understand who you want to enjoy your website, it’s time to create some content. The key to creating clickable, compelling blog posts is to focus on the personas I mentioned earlier.
For instance, an online pet supply store would likely create targeted posts based on specific interests for their readers. Cat owners care about the top ten cat foods of 2022 just as much as new dog owners care about training a new puppy. Both of these ideas would offer value to two different subsets of readers.
When creating blog content, ask yourself who will benefit from your post and why. Ideally, your article should offer value to multiple segments and give users a reason to trust and respect your brand.
You also shouldn’t underestimate the power of visual content. Many marketers have started creating video versions on YouTube and embedding them in their blog posts at the top of each page. This is an excellent way to offer a different type of value and accessibility to your audience, which is bound to boost traffic and conversions.
Invite Visitors to Join Your Email List
Inviting visitors to join your email list is a great way to keep traffic flowing to your website. As you gain email subscribers, you should segment them into personalized lists, so they get content and offers that are relevant to their needs.
There are a few easy ways to convince visitors to sign up for your list. First, I suggest including a simple signup form on your website. You can put the form on your sidebar and invite visitors to sign up for hand-picked content and offers.
Alternatively, you can offer a lead magnet, which is a piece of content exclusively made for email subscribers. Typically, this content is more valuable than your standard blog post. Common lead magnet examples include eBooks, infographics, and discounts.
If you ask readers to sign up in exchange for a lead magnet using an on-site popup, some will take you up on your offer.
Use your email list to send newsletters, engage with your audience, ask for feedback, and improve your brand.
Follow a Consistent Schedule
A consistent schedule can also help you grow your new blog. People have habits and usually follow the same routine every day. If you post to your blog four times a week, you can expect many of the same readers to show up each time.
Consistency shows users that you are in it for the long haul and want to help them solve a problem and generally improve their lives.
Frequency is also essential for building a popular blog. Research shows businesses that publish 16 or more blog posts each month generate 4.5x more leads than brands that publish 0-4.
With that in mind, set a schedule and stick to it!
Choose Searchable Keywords
The keywords you write about on your website strongly determine your organic traffic. The key player to look at here is Google. Believe it or not, 92% of all search traffic worldwide goes through Google. If they like your site, you have a good chance of being discovered.
I suggest signing up for Google’s free Keyword Planner so you can check the search volume and competition of industry words and phrases. I like looking for keywords with medium search volume and low competition, but you can start where you feel most comfortable.
Research shows that all of this hard work will pay off. Businesses that blog and do proper keyword research get 524% more pages indexed by Google than those that don’t.
Spend some time working on your search engine optimization strategy, and you can expect more steady, organic traffic.
Connect with Users on Social Media
Social media is a great way to connect with your audience and grow your blog. Over 4.55 billion people use social media around the world, and that number is growing each year.
I like social sites like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and TikTok because they give you unique opportunities to engage with your audience and share your content.
For example, you can turn a blog post into a list of fun video tips on TikTok. You can then take that same post and make a TLDR thread for LinkedIn and Twitter for those who want to get the gist. Finally, you can grab that post and make a full-length video version for YouTube.
These different platforms should lead back to your blog in one way or another. As you expand your reach and grow your following across the most popular social media platforms, more people will start to notice your website.
Track Your Analytics
Finally, if you want to grow your blog, you should keep a close eye on your website analytics. I prefer to set up Google Analytics, so it’s accessible from my WordPress dashboard. Again, choose a style and layout that works for you.
I check our analytics weekly so I can discover our top blog posts, look for articles with unusually high bounce rates, and check for other anomalies. For instance, if your mobile traffic is down dramatically week-over-week, you may need to update a template or make additional adjustments.
You’ll eventually get comfortable enough with your analytics that it will be obvious when something isn’t right. Use the data from these sessions to drive your blogging and business decisions, and good things will follow.
Final Thoughts
It’s clear that building a blog from scratch isn’t easy. However, with time, patience, and effort, you, too, can grow a new blog into an online sensation. The tips offered today have helped us find success throughout the years, and I hope they help you too.
—
Syed Balkhi is an award-winning entrepreneur and online marketing expert. He is the co-founder of OptinMonster, WPBeginner, MonsterInsights, and WPForms.