Part of the guide: Blog Traffic
Every day, thousands upon thousands of blogs are created. But a mere few of them actually become popular. The rest slowly wither and die along with their owner’s hopes and dreams. Unfortunately, your blog isn’t going to become an overnight success.
Not unless you’re a celebrity or billionaire. Those guys are able to achieve overnight success. Even I, a very successful online marketer, it took me a very long time. It all started with a bang…
I was up late one night reading some guy’s blog about online marketing. At the time I was really struggling in my business, was generating few leads and didn’t really know what I was doing. Within 14 minutes of reading the guy’s blog, I was inspired to start my own… And so I did…
I started my blog, set up WordPress, and had almost everything configured. Then I worked day and night blogging away. I heard as long as I had keywords that were being searched in my title and throughout my post it would rank in the search engines and I would “GET” traffic…
…What a load of shit that was!
7 days and 7 nights later I thought to myself, “It’s been a whole week and I haven’t generated a single lead, just 8 visitors”. So I searched the web, learned a crap load of marketing stuff, and finally started seeing results. Sure, it took 3 months, but I saw GREAT results. Here’s how:
First, you have to know the beginning will be slow. Unless you magically get to appear on a TV show or get some other crazy exposure, it’s going to be a very slow and gradual process. As the truth is, there aren’t any secrets. Growing a popular blog is about creating amazing content and promoting it.
Before we go into anything else, ask yourself “Is my blog worth reading?”. In all seriousness, is your blog worth reading? Would you get out of bed early to read your blog? Or stay up really late to get a glimpse at your content? If not, then you’re going to fail, period. Your content needs to be second to none, it also needs to be helpful to the reader and be covered with YOUR personality.
Ask yourself these questions:
- Can your content be found elsewhere?
- How is your blog unique to the others in your niche?
- Why will people ever return?
- Are you spending too much time talking about stuff YOU’RE interested in instead of your readers?
Those are some of the key factors why so many blogs fail. They all have the same lame content, no hook or edge over competitors, and most of the time no personality.
Make Sure Your Readers Know Who You Are
Most blogs out there are really generic, and the majority of people will think it’s just “created by the Internet”. Created by the Internet, I think not…
That’s the sad truth. Most people figure all content online is just automatically there, created by the Internet Gods or something. Little do they know that hours of time and effort go into everything they read online. So let your readers know who you are. Do videos, have pictures of you, talk informally, and tell stories about your life. People love that! Don’t be a boring idiot.
1. Create an about page
You’d be surprised how many people don’t bother creating about pages. It’s funny, like 30% of all people who come to this blog click on the about page. If people recognize the personality flowing through your words, they’ll realize there’s a person behind your posts and want to know more about you. Create your about page, talk about yourself A LOT. It’s really the only page where you can go crazy and talk about yourself, everything!
2. Create a contact page
Again, not everyone has a contact page. They are very important as they make people realize that there’s a real person behind your blog. And… it allows your readers to contact you at will. Make sure on the contact page you say, “feel free to contact me, ask me any questions you may have”, etc.
Once you have a nice design and you’ve made sure your personality flows through your blog, it’s time to create amazing content. I touched on this, so just create amazing content… And create it on a weekly basis at a minimum. If you really want to accelerate your blog’s growth, you need to blog daily and even accept guest bloggers.
Market Your Blog
Now, this brings me to the second part of the equation: Marketing your blog and bringing targeted visitors to your posts. There really are a million and one ways to bring life to your blog. But I’m going to talk about the 4 main ones that will help explode any blog:
1. Social Media
Above every other strategy, social media is probably the fastest way to bring souls to your blog. It’s just so easy and fast. By posting a link on Facebook, you may well bring in a few dozen visitors… Job done. To get started with social media, you can start sharing your blog posts on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google Plus. Also, share them on any other social networks you’re a part of. Next, create a dedicated Twitter account, work on building up its followers. Get a Facebook fan page and figure out how to grow that. Grow your networks, and you’ll get more traffic when you share your posts.
This is a super easy strategy that a two-year-old could do. Just read the top 10-20 blogs in your niche and leave comments on them. In your comments, you’re allowed to leave a link to your blog. When the blog’s other readers look at the comments, they’ll see yours and click through to your blog. Blog commenting is great for building backlinks, driving traffic, and getting true exposure in the blogosphere.
3. Guest Blogging
Guest blogging is ridiculously simple again…
You just have to guest post on other blogs in your niche. You basically tap into other blogs’ subscriber bases. Obviously, over time, you’ll build up a bunch of followers and get your own regular readers. For now, you can tap into other blogs’ readers and hopefully steal a percentage of them. All you do is find other blogs in your niche that are already popular, write a post that you think their readers will like, and send it in for review. Read more about guest blogging here.
4. SEO
Oh SEO, how much you’ve changed…. Yeh, SEO has changed a lot over the past couple of months, but it’s still as reliable as ever for blogs and sites which bring real value to the web. SEO is such a complex strategy; it’s like its own thing, hardly “A” marketing strategy. Read about it here, here, and here.
In Prosperity,
You were never meant to do this alone
Reading this changes nothing. Doing it with people who show up changes everything. That is the whole difference between the people who transform and the people who keep starting over.
Start free →David Wood
P.S. Let me know your thoughts, comments, and questions in the box below.
Comments
James Umber
This is great stuff! I keep learning more and more on your blogs. Keep it up!
Ben Summers
It not only refers to marketing on the , but also includes marketing done via e-mail and wireless media.
Mia Kaur
It depends on the blog. Some blogs allow you to delete it while others don’t offer that option. You can try contacting the blogger and ask that he/she remove it for you.
Godwin Okoduwa
Great stuff here. It is important to be seen as a person when visitors get into your blog. Thanks, David!
Jill Sessa
Be you, be unabashedly you, even on your blog! I just wrote about this yesterday on my own blog. Any of the “big guys” got to where they are by writing in their own voice, putting out great content that their readers crave… and consistent action.
Jessica Green, November 2, 2011, 04:45
David, this post is incredibly helpful! Your strategies for starting and maintaining a blog are exactly what I needed. I’ve been hesitant to start, but your step-by-step approach has made it seem so much more manageable. Thank you for sharing your knowledge!
Matthew Johnson, November 2, 2011, 05:30
Your post couldn’t have come at a better time. I’ve been looking to start a blog, but I was overwhelmed by all the technical aspects. This guide breaks it down so well. I’m excited to get started and follow your recommendations. Keep up the great work!
Olivia Brown, November 2, 2011, 06:15
As someone new to blogging, this post is a lifesaver. The way you’ve laid out the steps makes it easy to understand and follow. I appreciate the tips on choosing a domain and hosting provider. I’m looking forward to setting up my first blog using your advice. Thanks, David!
James Lee, November 2, 2011, 07:00
Fantastic article, David! Your advice on starting a blog is spot on. It’s a more sustainable approach that ensures long-term success. I’ve been following your steps, and I’m already seeing progress. Thanks for the clear guidance and valuable insights!
Sophia Martinez, November 2, 2011, 07:45
Thank you for this comprehensive guide on starting a blog. I’ve always found the process daunting, but your tips are incredibly useful. I’m excited to put these strategies into action. Great work!
Alexander White, November 2, 2011, 08:30
This is one of the best articles I’ve read on blogging. The emphasis on using the right tools and avoiding unnecessary expenses is a game-changer. I’m eager to implement these techniques and see the impact on my blog. Thanks, David!
Emily Wilson, November 2, 2011, 09:15
David, your post has given me a fresh perspective on blogging. The practical tips and step-by-step approach make it easy to understand and apply. I’m especially interested in your upcoming posts on more advanced strategies. Keep sharing your knowledge; it’s greatly appreciated!
Michael Anderson, November 2, 2011, 10:00
Excellent guide, David! Your focus on maintaining control over the blogging process to ensure efficiency is very insightful. It’s an approach that many overlook in favor of quick results. I’m confident that implementing your strategies will lead to sustainable success for my blog. Thank you for the valuable advice!
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The advice to ‘talk about yourself A LOT’ on an about page is the opposite of every disclosure policy I worked under for eight years. Different context, fair enough, but the post never distinguishes between being personable and building an unregulated persona, and for anyone in a regulated niche that difference matters.
Renata’s disclosure-policy point stings for a different reason. I’ve spent three weeks ‘crafting my personality’ for an about page instead of publishing anything. The post treats personality-building as the fun part. For some of us it’s just another way to stall.
If blog commenting only works because of the link back to your own site, what happens once blogs stop allowing links in comments, which most now do?
Renata’s right that context matters, but I’d push further: the real question is whether the personality is being built to earn trust, or to make a later pitch land softer. The post doesn’t say why it wants us knowing him, just that we should.
That’s the empirical question underneath Hollis’s point, though. Has anyone measured whether showing personality actually raises trust, or just raises time-on-page? The post’s only number, 30% of visitors clicking the about page, tells us nothing about which one it is.