How To Find More Readers For Your Blog (and 52 Blog Post Prompts)
Updated 8/27/24
After you’ve spent hours crafting the perfect blog posts, finding the right photos, and promoting the blog post to your social media followers and email list friends, it can be devastating to check your analytics and see that your blog traffic still hasn’t increased.
If you’ve been posting regular, valuable content and still struggle to find more readers for your blog, these four ideas can help you boost your website traffic and get your blog noticed.
Write A Review and Send It To The Company
One of the best ways to get your blog noticed is to review a product or service you use and send the published article to the company. Then, you can either directly ask them to share it with their followers or be more subtle and let them decide if or how to share it.
I recently wrote a blog post about Visme, a new design program I love and currently prefer over Canva. I sent the blog post to the Visme team, and they ended up sharing it on their social media site, which has over 16,000 followers. It was a win-win for both of us, and I am sure I picked up new blog readers because of it.
Ask Industry or Niche Friends To Be A Guest Blogger
If you have close colleagues or friends in your industry, ask them to write a blog post as a guest writer. Their perspectives will offer your readers something new and valuable, and almost everyone who writes an article for someone else will want to share it with their followers.
It’s best to let the guest poster have the freedom to write about what they are comfortable sharing but be sure to let them know you’ll want complete editorial control before the post is published. The advance notice will eliminate any awkwardness if you need to cut the blog post down in length or add any text to increase the post’s value.
Improve Your Blog Thumbnails and Photography
The best and most-read blog posts typically feature interesting photos or helpful infographics. However, it’s a lot to ask a reader to read 1,000 or more words with no break in the text. By adding relevant and exciting photographs, infographics that expand on your topic, or similar visual elements, you’ll give the reader a break and make the content appear more valuable.
If photography is not your thing, I highly recommend using DepositPhotos to source your stock photos. Their membership is an incredible bargain, and you’ll have a constant rotation of stock photos at your fingertips. I especially love that you can download an entire collection so that your pictures all look cohesive.
Choose Blog Topics That Have A High Search Volume
If your blog’s niche is fashion and you are constantly blogging about finding the best red pants to wear to a party, the chances are good that your blog isn’t seeing much action. This lack of readers is because the topic you’ve chosen to focus on isn’t something people often search for on Google.
Identifying your target audience is critical when it comes to deciding on your regular blog content. At a minimum, you’ll need to know what your target audience wants to learn more about and where your readers usually go to get the information. Then, you can begin to take some creative blog prompts and adapt your content to meet their needs.
Ideally, you’ll discover that your audience wants to know more about work-from-home outfit ideas, and that’s information you can tailor your blog to feature. Then, when you’re mixing in your lead magnet or email list opt-in box, you can use a similar approach in making that sound like their best next step.
You can use tools like Ahref or Moz to find the search volume for any string of keywords. I also recommend talking to your audience often through sending useful emails and starting a dialogue, asking them to reply, and give you feedback.
Starting a community platform might be a good option for larger audiences to streamline the feedback process and offer even more value.
If you’re new to blogging or looking to grow your existing blog, my Business Blog Workbook and Prompts Guide might be a good next step for you. It includes 52 blog prompts you probably have never heard of before.
Here’s what else this guide includes:
An eight-page workbook to help walk you through the blogging process (including a post checklist)
52 prompts to help you decide what to post about
20 Subject line ideas to use when you email your post link to your people
Understanding which metrics matter and how to measure them.
Download it here - no email required
When your blog posts are relevant, shared often, and written in a manner that readers find valuable, your readers will grow organically. Remember that it takes time to build a loyal following, and results from consistently blogging do not come quickly. It can take months or years of consistent outreach to see the results in new email subscribers or customers.
Until next time,
Andrea
Related Resources and Other Posts
7 simple ways to improve your small business’ online presence without breaking the budget