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You’ve got your blog established. You’re blogging every few days. Good! Now, how do potential readers find your brilliant posts? First, make sure you are doing everything technically to make it easy for people to discover your blog. Then add social media and engage your readers. Here are some steps to get you started.
"Whenever you upload a blog post, make sure the tags. . . reflect those topics." —MEIER
Optimize search with tags – Search Engine Optimization (SEO) increases the chance that the big search engines like Google and Yahoo will find your posts and list them whenever someone does a search for your topic. Let’s say you’ve written a book of inspirational stories from cancer survivors, and your blog is focused on cancer survival and encouraging those with the disease. Whenever you upload a blog post, make sure the tags (specific topics, like a specific cancer or treatment, person mentioned in the blog, etc.) and categories (broader areas: cancer, health, alternative medicine, for example) reflect those topics. (Your blog should also incorporate similar meta tags.)
Incorporate an RSS feed – RSS means real simple syndication. It’s essentially a way to push your blog posts out to interested readers whenever you upload a new post. You can find out more about RSS here.
Email address capture – Your blog should provide a way for readers to sign up to be notified by email whenever you post.
"If appropriate, you should link your Twitter and LinkedIn accounts to Facebook." —MEIER
Social media feeds – If appropriate, you should link your Twitter and LinkedIn accounts to Facebook. Then when you write a new blog post, you can tweet it and it will automatically show up on LinkedIn and Facebook.
Explore the value of Pinterest – I’m going to write a detailed column on Pinterest in November. For now, I’ll say it’s worth considering if your blog involves anything that is exceptionally visual, i.e. a home improvement or cooking blog.
Giveaways and contests – Use your blog to engage readers with giveaways (a free copy of your book to the person who posts the most interesting comment on your post) and/or fun contests to win a free copy or download of your book.
Engage your readers – Comment on other blogs and respond to all the comments made on your blog posts.
Offer to guest blog – Write a guest post on similar blogs or blogs that you admire. Most bloggers welcome other, well-expressed voices on their blogs.
Share your URL – Every time you comment on someone else’s blog, include a direct link to your own.
Participate in blog hops – Author Meg Waite Clayton organizes blog hops on SheWrites.com, allowing bloggers to sign up for a weekend of blogging and commenting. It brings lots of people to your blog who might not otherwise find you. And it’s fun.
"Whenever you’re getting ready to post, spend some time thinking about a creative headline . . ." —MEIER
Write great headlines – Whenever you’re getting ready to post, spend some time thinking about a creative headline that will draw people in. A good headline for a blog post is akin to an exquisite piece of jewelry. It attracts attention.
About Marcia Meier
Marcia Meier is an author, award-winning journalist, writing coach and developmental book editor. Her book, Navigating the Rough Waters of Today’s Publishing World: Critical Advice for Writers from Industry Insiders (Quill Driver Books, 2010), was named one of “10 Great Books on Writing from 2010” by The Writer magazine. Learn more about Marcia on her web site.
