“If you don't get noticed, you don't have anything. You just have to be noticed, but the art is in getting noticed naturally, without screaming or without tricks.”
Leo Burnett
Every blog should be unique and target a particular audience.
There are thousands of articles online about blogging tips and to be honest, it’s hard to keep up with them all.
Firstly, instead of getting overwhelmed with all the tools you could use (that claim to get your blog noticed), go through your basics. Get organised, and keep things simple to achieve a solid blogging foundation.
Be realistic
As much as you can hope to quickly build a large, loyal audience it's important to educate yourself on the histories of already popular blogs. You’ll soon see that they didn’t build their success overnight.
For many people, there’s a temptation to immediately throw their marketing budget at the latest cool tool to speed up the process, but stop for a moment and think: How are you actually going to be found unless you’re visible to your audience? Get yourself out to the places where your target audience can find you. Accessibility is as important as setting yourself out from the crowd.
Stick to your plan
This sounds obvious, but in order for your blog to get noticed, it needs to have a structure. Readers like to know where they stand, and they like to know that you’re reliable. As a constant blog reader, I like to be able to know how often bloggers are posting and when to expect updates.
If you’re saying that you post daily, make sure you stand by that commitment. Some of my favorite lifestyle bloggers schedule their posts, so I as a reader know I can visit at 6pm and there will be a new post, which is brilliant. That means you as the blogger must decide on when and how often you’re going to be posting and - and then of course stick to it.
Every reader is different, so cater to them. One may want to just click via a share on Twitter, another via a weekly newsletter and some by visiting your blog directly at a specific time. Make it easy for them to engage your content the way that they want to.
Be real, be social, be valuable
We all know we have to use social media to get noticed.
Even now, there are still some people that are reluctant to join Twitter. But with social platforms being as big as they are now, when I see that a company doesn't have a Twitter account the word FAKE springs to mind. So if that’s going on in my mind, it will most likely seem spammy to others as well.
Use social sites to add value to your name. This can be done through simply being helpful to your potential audience, even before they engage with you.
Become aware of who and what your audience are talking about. This can be done a number of ways, from checking forums to using the “search” feature on Twitter. If someone is asking a question and you can give valuable information, then why not join in? Quora is also a good place to find out what people are asking, and bring your expertise to. Get involved - people love a helpful source and taking a friendly action could contribute to you establishing yourself as an authority in your market, and being overall a good person to know!
Listen to your friends
Take advantage of your surroundings and find out what your friends and family are up to. What social media do they use and how are they using it? Why do they like it? - ask questions.
In order for you to be an astute marketer you need to be able to use the social tools that your friends and potential audience are using, but in a relaxed form. Try to be on the same level as your readers.
Large brands such as ASOS do extremely well on social media, as they are conversational, real and believable. They don’t post like some robot sending out a bunch of shares. You know there is someone behind the screen, they are human and interact with their readers.
If you’re successfully using social media, then people will be driven to your blog.
Be welcoming
Again, when it comes to promoting your content, it’s easy to think about it as just a “work thing” but that’s one of the worst things you can do. If you're not showing passion about your content, why are others going to want to read it?
That goes for the way you describe your content on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. Be sure to take different angles to promote posts, so it’s not just a flow of duplicate copy.
When I write our weekly ‘Stuff we like’ round-up and share it on social media, I make sure that I focus on each subject discussed within the post. That way I get more value to share from that one article and it keeps it fresh and interesting.
An example would be our app of the week - I would tweet about that app specifically with a link to our article rather than just saying “Latest stuff we like 9th July 2014”
Get involved with your industry community
This is a crucial one and it’s easy to neglect.
Once you are aware of your potential audience, go to where they hang out, be that on particular sites or forums, or even real-world meetups. It’s a strategy for attracting those readers who actually want to read your content. You’ll get your name noticed for the right reasons. Once you start getting involved you will start to build an audience, they are the people that will share your work via social sites. But remember - don’t be pushy or spammy!
Guest blogging
Although there is a lot of negativity around guest blogging, it only really comes down to the quality of your content. If you are producing high quality content and you are really getting involved in your industry community, whether that’s online or via events then don’t be afraid to guest blog.
Matt Cutts discusses guest blogging here:
If your content is genuinely valuable and unique then you can use it to your advantage by getting your name out in the social world.
Conclusion
Overall these are just a few simple blogging tips that are constantly overlooked. The main point is to think and act on a human level, because, after all, it’s humans that you’re creating content for. If you don’t like how other companies promote their content, then why are you going to mimic their strategy? Get into reading other people’s blogs, write down what you like and why, that will instantly give you direction and inspiration. Once you get the basics covered and are happy with your foundation, then you’ll be ready to start exploring other methods. Remember, don’t be afraid to self promote, if it’s done tastefully it will work.
