7 Common Sense Steps To Grow a Blog

7-common-sense-ways-to-grow-a-blogThere are many of you who are thinking about blogging as a way to relate to customers and draw in more business. Kudos to you. That’s exactly why a small business should be blogging.

Every once in awhile I talk to small business owners who want to blog not just for their customers’ sake but because they want to establish a popular blog that is known throughout their community for being interesting and popular.

Depending on the community – that can be easier said than done. Most blogging communities are over saturated at this point, and in order to make a mark, you really need to shine.

Obviously, the number one way to do become popular is to publish interesting, thoughtful, valuable, and entertaining content. Not such a tall order, right? That’s definitely the hardest part. But there is more to achieving your goals than just the content.

Today I’m sharing 7 actions you can take to make your blog popular. This is all in addition to that great content I was talking about. If you have the content to publish, make sure to follow these steps in order to keep your readers coming back for more.

Respond to every comment

Not only does this show your readers that you appreciate them taking the time to read your blog and say something thoughtful, but it also fosters discussion and can often bring in more comments.

Be a team player

In order to get the respect you want, you have to give it to others too. Follow other blogs and comment on them. Try to form relationships with other bloggers as a way to think of post ideas and be part of the community.

Be consistent

Making sure to blog on the same day(s) every week is really important. You want people to know when they can come to you for content and not disappoint them. If you don’t have a schedule, you’re likely to lose a lot of readers who would have eventually become constant visitors.

Write interesting headlines

The first step toward growing a blog is to get people to read it. Nobody is going to read your blog if your headline is boring. Use your headline to draw in readers. But it’s also important to deliver on your promise. Don’t write a headline that is super interesting but the body of the work isn’t – that will only anger the masses.

Practice SEO

You’re going to want to be found by the search engines, which takes time. So start from the very beginning by writing SEO friendly content and headlines. Grab Google’s attention by using keyword friendly headlines, keyword rich content, and tag like crazy. Make sure to use an SEO plug-in on your blog as well.

Never leave your blog unattended

There are so many times I have visited a company’s website, seen a link to a blog, gotten excited, only to realize the blog hasn’t been updated in ten months. That to me is worse than no blog at all. Don’t do that.

Be patient

As they say, Rome wasn’t built in a day, and your blog won’t be either. Because you know what else they say? Most bloggers quit within the first 3 months. Coming up with content day after day isn’t easy. But if you stick with it, and be patient, you’ll start to see results. It’s not as easy as, if you build it they will come. But if you’re putting out great content and following these rules, my guess is they will eventually come.

There are more rules, but I’ll leave it at that. What am I missing? What do you think is important for growing a popular blog?

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4 comments

  1. Good advice, I think if you write from your own unique experience ideals that can help people, they will always come back to your blog.

    1. Hi Arlene,

      I totally agree that unique experiences are what make a blog great! Thanks for the comment.

  2. Good Piece of Information. It is must for every new blog. Thanks for sharing.

    1. Hi Pankaj, It’s my pleasure! I’m glad you learned.

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