3 Ways to Grow Your Blog Audience
Struggling to grow your blog traffic?
Unsure what you should even be doing to grow your blog audience?
Trust me, you’re not the only one.
Gone are the days when you could just post a link on Facebook and get flooded with people reading your blog.
Online marketing has changed a lot over the years and if you want to grow your blog then you need to expand your reach and drive a more targeted audience to your blog.
Your goal is NOT to just get as many people as you can to your website so that you can increase your pageviews.
I wish someone would have told me this years ago when I wasted so much time worrying about my vanity numbers and putting all of my time and energy into getting as much traffic as I possibly could to my blog.
I was successful in increasing my traffic but the people who were coming to my site weren’t staying to read my blog posts, they weren’t signing up for my email list and they definitely weren’t buying the products and offers I had available.
I got so caught up in increasing my monthly views that I wasn’t even considering who I actually wanted to land on my site and read my content.
This increased my blog traffic but didn’t grow my audience.
Below are three ways that you can grow your blog by building a deeper relationship with your readers.
#1 - Content
I can’t stress enough how important your content is to the growth of your blog.
When you publish consistent content for a specific audience that solves a problem they are experiencing, they are going to stick around.
This is how you will grow your online community.
The first step if identifying who you want to attract to your blog.
Who you can help?
How can you specifically help them?
This is the step I missed when I first started my blog. Instead of narrowing down WHO I could help, I thought I could help everyone. I was wrong.
Have you ever read a blog post and felt compelled to share it because it was amazing, or it taught you something new?
That is exactly how you want your audience to feel about your content.
*You’ll also like reading: 3 Lead Magnets to Grow Your Email List
When you create amazing content that speaks directly to your audience they will want to share it which will help you to grow your blog audience.
I don’t want you to run off and start writing as many blog posts as you can.
Your focus needs to be on quality, not quantity.
You need to write more detailed content more often. This is especially important for Google search traffic.
Google likes fresh content. This means that Google likes new fresh content because it wants to display the most up to date content as search results.
Take your time and write meaningful blog posts that are detailed and packed full on value.
If you are struggling with your content check out:
#2 - Network + Collaborate
This is a great way to kickstart your audience growth especially if you are new to the blogging world.
Blogging can feel pretty lonely so I encourage you to find your community and online BFF’s.
Think about how quickly you can grow when you are put in front of someone else’s audience and they are vouching for how amazing you are!
When you network and collaborate with other bloggers in your industry you will see an increase in your traffic and engagement.
Your content would make a bigger impact because it would reach so many more people than if you were just promoting it by yourself.
This was such a scary thing for me when I first started my blog.
I am an introvert, so this was COMPLETELY out of my comfort zone, but I am so thankful I did it because the relationships I have created through my blog have not only helped me to grow much faster but have led me to long-lasting friendships.
The first collaboration I did was a free workshop that increased my email list by more than 500 new subscribers.
If you are like me and are scared to network with other bloggers, here are a few tips to help you get started:
Be genuine and engage with them on social media
Take a real interest in what they are doing
Be generous and share them without expecting anything in return
Start small, and identify a group of bloggers you want in your network and begin building strong connections with them.
Once you start to network and build a genuine relationship, start to think of ways that you could collaborate with one another to grow your audience.
Examples could be joint webinars, free workshops, affiliate partners, guest posting and even giveaways.
#3 - Show up for your audience
To grow your blog audience you must show up and be there for them.
This doesn’t just mean being visible and promoting your content on social media platforms.
Showing up for your audience is building a deeper connection by focusing on their needs and opening up yourself to them by helping and impacting their lives with your personal stories.
It is a reader-focused approach where you are engaging with them instead of it just being one-sided where you are always talking to them.
No one wants to just read all about you.
Listen to their needs and be there to answer questions and provide value without expecting anything in return.
Your audience needs to build a relationship with you and that can’t happen when you’re not showing up.
Your blog will grow exponentially when your readers can create a bond with you.
I used to hide behind my cartoon logo and NEVER shared a single picture or story about myself or my family anywhere online.
No wonder my blog didn’t grow.
My audience couldn’t know, like and trust me when they had NO IDEA who I even was.
When I say I started showing up for my audience I did it in two ways:
Visually visible - I started to share pictures of myself and open up about my life to my audience. This was tough for me, but I started getting emails from women saying they could relate to me and were happy to hear that they had someone to connect with.
Being present - I started showing up live to help answer questions, creating consistent content, opening up a Facebook group, hosting webinars, hopping on 15-minute calls to answer questions and even recording videos.
I no longer sat back waiting for my blog to grow, I became intentional and showed up as much as I could to provide value and solve the issues they were experiencing.
Having a blog audience is like building a friendship. You need to get to know them equally as much as they need to get to know you or the friendship won’t last.
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Think about what you can do today to write better content, network with other bloggers and how you can show up for your audience.
All of the small steps you take will grow your blog audience. Yes, it can take time, but it will pay off in the end.