Good for you. You finally got that blog set up, and you are ready to go; or, are you? Imagine you own a brick-
and-mortar business. You've stocked your shelves, painted the walls and put up a sign. All you need now is customers.
Occasionally, a customer finds you, but that won't pay the bills. Why is business slow? It's all about promotion. Nobody would open an offline business without promoting it. It's the same with your blog.
Blog promotion gets visitors to your site. Once you build it, you must promote it. These methods of promoting your blog content are free.
1. On-page SEO
On-page search engine optimization (SEO) is optimizing your blog content so search engines understand it and searchers find it. Your keywords tell the engines about your site. If it is about fishing, that word needs to be in your content; however, so many sites exist about fishing that yours may get lost in search results. Fix this by using related keywords.
For example, have posts focus on deeper words such as saltwater or freshwater fishing. Take it further with bass fishing or fly-fishing. Even deeper words include crankbaits, rods and reels.
2. Content Marketing through Article Directories
This involves writing and submitting articles to popular directories. They allow you to include a resource box with a link back to your blog. It's best to use content related to your blog, but not the same content.
3. Post on Related Blogs
Find blogs that have content similar to yours and become a commenter there. Don't post for the sake of posting, but add valuable information. Your submission can include a link to your website. Additionally, contact the owner and offer to do a guest post. This would be free content for him and a back link for you.
4. Participate in Forums
Join related forums and user groups that allow you to have a link to your site in your signature. Offer useful information and participate so other members will become more interested in your blog content.
5. Social Media
The search engines love social sites such as Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter. Capitalize on that by joining as many as you can find. In your profile, have links to your blog. Offer tips and advice in your posts that entice a reader to visit your blog for more information.
6. Content Syndication
Blogs allow you to syndicate your content. Go through all the social sites you joined and set up your RSS feed with them. Then, when you publish a new post, it automatically posts to those sites. It's not so much about the readers as it is about the search engines finding it.
7. Lead Capture
When you get visitors to your site, you want them to return. Have an email capture feature on your blog that offers the reader useful information for subscribing to your mailing list. Then, whenever you make a new post, email them to let them know about it.
8. Trade Links
Seek out owners of related sites and ask them for a reciprocal link. If the owner mentions your site in a post, you can also mention his. You both come out winners if they're quality sites.
9. Free Classified Advertising
The Internet is full of free classified advertising sites. If you're selling something, these are a great way to spread the word. Even if you are not selling something, many have categories that are not sales related. Use them to invite people to your site.
10. Keep Up with the News
Adding blog content that relates to popular news will draw traffic from those seeking more information about that news. No matter what your blog's subject is, there's bound to be some kind of related news periodically. Capitalize on it by posting a summary of it and adding your comments about it.
If you are an owner who writes your own blog content, applying these tips will start to draw traffic to your site immediately. It's an ongoing process, though, so always keep doing blog promotion. If you're a freelance writer, sharing these skills with your client or doing the work for him will make you look like a genius in his eyes.