You might be one of the most talented writers in the world with some of the most innovative ideas for blog posts, but all of it means zilch if you don't have an audience. You need to get your blog noticed if you want to grow your readership base and sometimes that's more easily said than done. Below are some tips to get you moving in the right direction, however, it is not a comprehensive list and there are certainly many other ways to increase traffic. But for now, we thought sharing a few of the basics would be a good place to start.
1. RSS Feed
Real Simple Syndication (RSS) is the format used to deliver changing web content. Prominently feature an RSS button on your blog so that people can subscribe to your posts. Surprisingly, there are many blogs that have buried their RSS buttons among the sidebar clutter and others that have neglected to include a RSS button entirely. Make sure that you've got yours front and center.
2. Index Your Blog
A super important step, but sometimes overlooked one, is indexing. Folks, you do this for your website and your blog is no exception. You deserve to be noticed and read by search engines. Don't cheat yourself from search engine page rankings and the opportunity for people to find you through Google, Yahoo! or what have you. At the risk of sounding like Martha Stewart, indexing is a good thing.
3. Grab 'Em With A Headline
Headlines are important because it's your big chance to hook your readers. Think of headlines as synopsis of your blog post in 10 words or less. No need to get clever or sales pitchy. Just let people know exactly what you've written and what they can expect to read. Since most internet users are looking for info, including blog posts with 'how to' in their titles can pull in readers quite well.
4. Publish Frequently
Far too often, blogs start out with a heap of motivation and drive, but end in neglect. Keeping readers engaged means posting often and routinely. Without regular content, readers lose interest. Blogging takes some commitment and a certain level of care regarding the readers that you're producing for. Treat them well and they'll reward you back as loyal subscribers and promoters of your blog.
5. Shameless Email Promotion
Chances are you probably only update your blog once a day, but you probably email multiple times in an hour. Include a link to your blog in the signature of all your emails. Consider using a service like Wisestamp to create an electronic signature that features a link to your blog. Easy and effective marketing.
6. Link to Other Blogs
The sidebars of most blogs are a mecca of data and details, one in particular is the blogroll. Blogrolls are link collections to other blogs that you find to be inspiring, resourceful or humorous. However you choose to organize your blogroll, featuring links to other related blogs gives your readers additional places to go to for more information. Blogroll etiquette states that when you link someone in your blogroll that they should reciprocate in theirs. A nice way to expand your social circle. It also gets you recognized by other bloggers who track the blogroll universe and that can help you build your social network. Which leads us to tip numero siete.
7. Guest Blogging and Bloggers
Use your social network to invite other well-known bloggers to contribute an exclusive post to your blog site. This is a nice way to generate some buzz about who you are and share some of your guest blogger's vigilant fans. On that same token, volunteer yourself to guest blog for a fellow colleague in your industry. Try not to think of blogging as a competition, but instead as a place to help others by sharing your expertise and empowering them to experiment and implement on their own.
8. Syndication
The power of social media ranks right up their with the Jedi masters (ok, maybe not quite, but it's pretty strong). When you publish fresh content to your blog make sure that you send and share on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and your other social media sites. There are tons of fantastic social media aggregator tools available that can help you syndicate your blog feed with just a simple click of your mouse.
9. Use Share Buttons
Share buttons like the tweetmeme give your readers additional opportunities to share your content with others. There are many different plugins, add-ons and widgets available that you can include in your blog to make it easy for others to spread the good word about your latest publishings.