7 Tips to Create a Blog Following

There are millions of blogs on the Internet that your blog must compete with. Although that may sound discouraging, there are certain things you can do to get your blog noticed and read.

• Your title. If the name of your blog is catchy and memorable, it helps people remember. It helps if words have their normal spelling, there are no hyphens or numbers, and it’s a dot com suffix. Also, try to include keywords that are relevant to your business to make it easier for the search engines to find you.
• Name your posts. If you give a great title to every post with relevant keywords, it will be easier for people and search engines to find it. When you’re choosing a title, think of the typical words a person would type into the search engine to find what he or she is looking for. These are the words you want to target.
• Post as often as possible. A blog is dynamic, so the content must change often. Some blogs have guest posts so they post new content every day, sometimes even more than once per day. These blogs get noticed because they are getting new pages on a regular basis. It’s definitely a good idea to post to your blog every single day until your blog is established. Then you can scale down and only post two or three times per week.
• Choose topics that people are interested in. It only makes sense to write blogs that people will read. One way you can find topics of interest to your readership is to invite people to comment on your blogs and ask questions. If there are a string of comments on the same topic, write about that. If someone asks a question, answer it in a blog post. You can also put together a series on a specific topic. An effective way to do this is to start with the basics before getting more advanced and in-depth in future posts.
• Find people to follow your blog. Check to see if your blog host allows RSS feeds or a way to subscribe so people will automatically be notified when you post new content. Again, encourage comments on your blog site, and check the comments regularly so you can stay involved in the threads. If you belong to social media groups, be sure to let them know when you post new content and give a link for them to click to take them to your blog.
• Write for your audience. If your blog is meant for the general public to read, keep it simple so nonexperts don’t get bogged down. If your blog is meant for professionals in your field to read, you can speak in the language of the profession so they don’t feel like you’re talking down to them. It’s a good idea to know if you want to write for beginners, people with intermediate knowledge, or those with advanced skills. You can’t write for everyone, so narrow your target audience down and cater to their needs.
• Read, follow, and link to other good blogs. Search for other blogs in your field and read them. When you find some that you think are good, bookmark them and follow the blog. You’ll get new ideas and perspectives on your topic. This will also help you stay current on your subject matter. Post relevant comments on those blogs, and if you find a particularly good post, link to it from your blog. You might even want to contact the blog owner and see if he or she would be interested in being a guest blogger on your site. These kinds of tools will get you noticed and direct people to your blog. Then when people start linking to your blog, you’ll see an increase in your readership.

Having a blog is time consuming. If you don’t feel that you have the time to create and maintain your own, try to find as many opportunities as possible to be a guest blogger on other people’s sites. This will get your name out there, and when you have time, you’ll know how to write an effective, reader-worthy blog.