8 Tips to Make Your Blog More Popular This Year

Having an active blog makes it very easy to share ideas. You can publish your articles and blog posts online and spread your thoughts and messages far and wide. However, while writing may come easily to you, making people aware of your blog is an entirely different ball game.

Many bloggers give up after only a few months when they realize that their blog is not attracting as much attention as they expected. Even for great writers, popularity does not come easy; it takes commitment and a few key skills to get your blog out there.

Ways to Draw Attention to Your Blog

In this post, we explore eight sure-fire ways to attract attention to your blog.

1. Use the Right Platform

The first step in attracting people to your blog is using the right platform, as well as the right web hosting service. Very few bloggers understand just how important this is. Your blogging platform has a lot to say about the credibility of your blog. For example, Google will not see your blog as an authoritative resource if you make use of free web hosting packages.

Pro bloggers don’t use free server resources, they own their own domains and server space, and while it is understandable to start with free blogging platforms like WordPress.com, it is essential that you at the very least own your own unique domain name. The internet has advanced to the point where these things are no longer expensive. The likes of Discount Domains and blogger.com have affordable packages for every startup blogger.

2. Post the Right Content

Another important step to make your blog more popular and attract the right kind of visitors is to post the right type of content. “Content is king” has been a recurring theme when it comes to content marketing, so if your content does not answer the questions your target audience is looking for, you will have a hard time attracting the traffic you want.

Do in-depth research about your niche to find out the content your target audience is interested in. There are many resources on the internet you can use to research topics for your blog, or you can simply visit blogs similar to yours to find out the type of topics that attract the most attention.

3. Leverage Social Media

Another great way to make your blog popular is to use social networks like Facebook and Instagram for blog growth. Social media has become an essential part of our everyday lives with people spending as much as 9 hours a day on different social media platforms, connecting with old friends and meeting new people. It has also become a place where people go to get information, find answers to questions and even buy products and services.

Social media provides an easy way to share your blog content with hundreds of visitors. If you are lucky and have content that goes viral, your content will be seen by millions and this will attract tremendous traffic to your blog. It only takes a few clicks to modify your blog so that your posts are immediately shared on all your social media pages.

4. Add Visual Media

Internet users are generally impatient. They are not patient enough to read through dense blocks of text only to the end. So, you need to find ways to keep them engaged with your content. If a picture speaks a thousand words, then surely video speaks even more. Studies have shown that while people may quickly forget what they read, more than 62 percent of internet users are able to recall details of a video they saw within the past month.

As much as possible, ensure your blog post contains relevant media files, such as pictures and videos. Insert an engaging short video and use strategically placed images that are relevant to what your content is about to attract and engage users. Also deliver your message within the first 2 minutes of your video, and try to limit videos to 5 minutes.

5. Guest Blog

If people see you as an authority in your field, it becomes far easier to attract them to your website. A way to increase your credibility quotient is by guest blogging. Guest blogging has been proven to be an effective method of driving traffic to your blog. When you submit quality content to high-traffic blogs and your content happens to answer the questions users are asking or provides the information they are looking for, there is a higher chance these visitors will want to visit your blog to get more information about you and see more of what you have to offer.

Look for high-authority blogs to submit content to, but ensure that the content you submit is original, relevant and engaging.

6. Stay Consistent

First impressions matter. Your users won’t be impressed if they visit your blog and cannot find current content. To succeed as a blogger, you have to be consistent. Ensure that your blog is constantly updated with fresh and relevant content. Apart from satisfying your visitors, search engines know how to detect blogs with up to date material, and they rank these blogs higher for organic search. Of course, there are days when you may not feel like writing or are occupied with other things. That is completely natural. However, if writing is your passion, you will always be able to make time to write something for your blog or other blogs you write for.

7. Give Freebies

I love free stuff, and I know you probably do too. A good way to increase your readership is to share free stuff on your blog. It could be anything: a free eBook, access to premium content on your blog, a free WordPress theme or even branded t-shirts. Studies have shown people would rather go to a blog that provides quality content with value for money, freebies ensure that.

However, if you plan to offer freebies on your blog, make sure they are something worth downloading or something worthwhile. It does not have to be very expensive as long as it serves a purpose for your visitors.

8. Engage Your Visitors

I have come across many blogs where comments are not allowed. In my humble opinion, this is not a good idea. Your visitors need an outlet to express their opinions after reading your content and they expect that you will make the time to respond.

User engagement is a vital element for building traffic. When your users know that you are ready and willing to engage with them, they will spend more time on your blog. At the end of the day, your job is to find different ways to give your visitors the right experience on your blog.