In the early days of blogging, "if you build it, they will come" was a phrase that worked. Back then, showing up every day and writing something was enough of a commitment that you would eventually build up an audience--it just took time.
Unfortunately, that adage no longer holds water. Today, there are thousands of blogs online, and more are started daily. There's so much content fighting for attention that simply creating words isn't enough to get you seen any more: You have to know how to advertise.
How to Advertise Your Blog
In this guide, we'll explain how to advertise your blog and increase both organic and paid traffic streams.
1. Content is Still King
Bill Gates is cited as having said "Content is King," and it's as accurate now as it was in 1996. Showing up isn't enough of a commitment by itself anymore, but you still do have to show up, and you have to show up regularly. Also Check: To create killer content for your blog, you have to be sure you have something worth saying. Most bloggers find success when they pick a specific In addition to having something to say, you also want to pay attention to how you say it. Organic, unpaid traffic relies heavily on a process called search engine optimization.
Increase Your Google Ranking With These Tips
niche, or topic, to talk about every single day. That niche can be particular, like "hunting knives," or it can be general, like "parenting," but once you pick it, you have to stick to it.
That builds audience trust over time. It allows your subscribers to know what they're getting into when they read your content, which will keep them coming back for more.
Click here to learn more about what search engine optimization is and how you can implement it on your website.
2. Pinterest is the King of Social Media
When you're trying to build an audience, you want to go to them. This has been a known aspect of marketing since the day of brick and mortar businesses, and it still rings true. That's why you'll see so many companies advertising on social media, through Twitter or Facebook.
But when it comes to the best social media platforms for bloggers to advertise on, Pinterest comes out on top every time. Why? Pinterest works based on people sharing information from one board to another. When people are on Pinterest, they're not generally looking to catch up with friends: They're looking for content. That means that content does a lot better on Pinterest than on any other platform.
Also Check: Steps You Can Take Towards Social Media Stardom
If you want your blog to play well on Pinterest, you have to optimize it to do so. One of the best ways you can do this is to create an eye-catching image for your blog that has a title in it. Just think of the type of content you see on Pinterest.
Usually, it's an image with a catchy statement on it like "5 Parenting Hacks You Need to See" or "Best Gluten Cake Recipe Ever." By creating these types of images, you'll not only make your blog Pin-able, but you'll also make it Share-able.
3. Consider Guest Posting
Guest posting is one of the best ways to advertise your blog. Guest posting is where you offer to write a blog post for someone else's blog. This win-win situation offers them free content, allowing them to take a day off to focus on something else while giving you access to a pre-existing audience. For guest posting to be successful, you have to write high-quality guest posts. You want to drive traffic to those
guest posts. You want the guest post to be so good that the blogger who runs the blog you're posting on feels compelled to share your guest post with their social media audiences.
By consistently writing high-quality guest posts, you not only drive their traffic to your website, but you also may rank higher in Google by showing that you're the type of site other bloggers feel compelled to link back to.
4. Forums and More
A final place to advertise your blog, once you've exhausted the usual avenues of word of mouth and social media, is to go onto forums about your niche. For example, if you write a parenting blog, go onto parenting forums.
The key to advertising on forums correctly is to not be too spammy with your content. You don't just want to link to your blog all the time. Instead, become a member of the community. Then, if someone asks a question and a blog post you've written is relevant, you can offer a link to your blog post as part of a larger answer.
This is a great way to show people in your niche that you're an expert on their questions--so much so that you've anticipated their questions and wrote answers to them before they even asked them.
Advertising your blog doesn't have to be a scary thing to do. With a little time and commitment, it's possible to increase your blog's organic traffic without breaking the bank. You have to be sure to reach out to multiple advertising streams every time you write a blog post. As always, consistency is the key to success.
