5 Ways to Grow your Blog Naturally
Posted by Beth Hrusch on Mon, Jan 03, 2011
We like organic search engine optimization. Organic in search 
engine marketing is good. In fact, every facet of online marketing can benefit from the organic approach. If you’re looking for ways to make your blog more effective, think about ways to make it grow naturally. It’s like using organic fertilizer—everyone feels a little bit better about the whole thing.
What does this mean? Well, there are all manner of methods you can use to grow your blog. You can imitate. You can inundate. You can try to please everyone. You can spend a lot of time fussing over your posts. You can also randomly tweet and comment on blogs in your niche in hopes that someone will notice and come visit. And, of course, you can always pay for more exposure.
However, organic (i.e. natural) growth for your blog will only come when you focus on a few important things:
Quality over quantity. When you have a blog, you tend to put pressure on yourself to produce on a schedule. While you need to post regularly, there is no rule about how often. Trying to adhere to a strict schedule may make it difficult to create high quality content every time. There really isn’t anything wrong with posting only when you have something valuable or interesting to share. That may happen once a week. It may happen four times a week.
Don’t compare. Other bloggers are more popular and more successful. Yes, it’s true, and you need to get over it and move on. Constantly comparing your blog to others in your niche only causes you to feel inadequate, and it makes you want to start imitating your idols. This is guaranteed to affect your voice, your topics and, ultimately, your quality. Stop worrying so much about rankings and stats and start focusing on doing what you do. Only you can, you know.
Don’t obsess. We’d all like every post to be perfect—perfectly perfect in every way. Sometimes we re-read our posts and cringe, thinking about all the things we’d change if we could. Obsession about perfection leads to paralysis and fear. Your posts don’t have to be perfect every time. They won’t be anyway, so don’t worry about it. Put that energy into making sure that the content is relevant, helpful, interesting, etc.
Speak as you find. A delightful way of saying that you should not write to please; rather, you should speak the truth as you see it. Not everyone will agree, but isn’t that part of why you blog? To invite comment and get other view points? This helps you grow your blog by getting you some attention from interested parties. As we know, nothing does that like a little controversy.
Don’t forget about the reader. It’s easy to get caught up in your own opinions and interests, easy to get off track. Remember, you may be writing in the first person but that doesn’t mean that it’s all about you. If you have some experience from your own life or business that can benefit readers, great. Ideal, in fact. But, if the direction of your blogs is starting to turn inward, if you find yourself ranting, rambling or-- God forbid—trying to sell readers on products or ideas that you think are just fabulous, you should reevaluate your purpose.
Does all this sound easy? It’s not—at least not at first. It may require that you change your habits and even your mindset. But, the payoff comes more quickly then you may think. Natural growth for your blog is the ultimate tribute to its quality. So, do it the hard way. You’ll be glad you did.