How to market your blog and make it successful

Courtesy of Fiver

Many of you are currently in the same position as me. You’ve set up a blog on music and advertising, but you are left wondering, ‘why is no one viewing my blog?’ There are millions of blogs worldwide so it is very easy for your blog to remain hidden among others. In order for people to notice your blog, you need to make it stand out. A simple way of doing so is marketing your blog. I have recently discovered new ways to market a blog in the hope of it becoming a success, and I would like to share them all with you.

Before you start marketing your blog you need to ensure that it is something people will want to and will continue to read. Here are a few pointers:

• Update your blog regularly
• Make sure the content is interesting; do not ramble on
• Check the grammar - posts need to be well written and spelt correctly
• The design must be uncluttered and easy to read
• Easy navigation - tabs must be prominent
• Include images and videos to balance out posts

Once you’ve utilised these suggestions it’s time to get some visitors rolling in!

Search engines

Out of all the visitors that you obtain, the majority of them are directed to your blog via search engines; 50% of which comes from the top search engine, Google. Therefore you need to make your content easy for Google to read. As Google is a machine it cannot recognise what your blog is about, it just simply searches for keywords. Also, it places greater value on a keyword depending on where they are located. Google is more likely to place your blog higher up than others if the keywords are placed in the headline or intro of the post. Google also takes into account the tags you place in your posts (know as labels in Blogger) so don’t forget to include tags at the end of your post. Check out Tipsblogger to help you do so.

As search engines are not human they are unable to see images. They can only read, so remember to include alt text. This also makes your blog accessible for blind people who use screen readers. If you are unsure how to include alt text then check out this website.

Courtesy of Jessie Warner

Social Networking

Now it is time to start sharing your blog, and what better way than using the latest trend: Social network sites? I’m sure most of you have a Facebook or Twitter account. With all your friends only a click of a button away, this is the easiest way to get your blog noticed.

• Post your blog URL on your Facebook or Twitter accounts
• Add your blog URL to your twitter profile
• Add a page to your blog which directs users to your Twitter or Facebook account so they can easily keep up to date
• Get your friends to tweet about your blog

One of my friends recently retweeted my tweet to all her followers which publicised my blog; I instantly saw an increase in the number of visitors.

An additional suggestion is to sign up to Stumbleupon. It is a discovery engine that randomly finds and recommends web content to users. You are able to submit your own website so that others can randomly discover it. Although is it not as popular as Stumbleupon, Pinterest is a similar, upcoming site. Unfortunately there is a waiting list to upload your website onto Pinterest, but it is worth looking into, as by time you are able to upload your website Pinterest may have turned into a huge phenomenon.

Communicate with other bloggers

An obvious way to market your blog is to follow other blogs, especially ones that focus on a similar topic. My blog post Some similar blogs provides a list of 5 blogs surrounding music in advertising. Why not comment on their posts or mention them in a post, they may repay the favour.  You can even request to write a guest post on their blog or vice versa. This is a great way to get your blog noticed. There are some blogs out there that are specifically created for users to get their blog mentioned; all they ask in return is a small favour such as referring your followers to their site. Why not go and have a search for some? 

Additional tips

• Find a forum that is debating on music or advertising, discuss your views and pop a little link to your blog

• Get your family to look at and comment on your blog

• If you’re serious about your blog - hand out business cards, posters or put your website address on your car

• Contact advertising companies and ask them to take a quick look at your blog

Gain loyal followers

So you’ve taken all the above tips on board and gained a lot of visitors, but how can you ensure they will return?

RSS Feed logo

Well it is very unlikely that people will remember your web address so it is vital that you include a way for users to subscribe to you blog. The easiest way to do so is via a subscribe button which looks like this.

Blogger enables users to upload gadgets such as the subscribe button. When people subscribe to your blog they will receive emails every time you upload a new post to your blog.

I hope all tips on how to market your blog have helped you on your way to becoming a successful blogger. Leave a comment below if you are struggling with anything or have any queries.

Good luck!