Blogging - WiseStamp

How to increase blog traffic: the ultimate guide for 2024

Nitzan Solomon — Tue, 17 Jan 2023 12:45:01 +0000

Are you looking for ways to increase blog traffic, and increase your blog’s reach and engagement?

If you answered yes to any of the above, this detailed guide is for you.

In this article, we’ll discuss the benefits of increasing blog traffic, provide statistics, and give you tips to create a blog post that gets noticed.

We’ll also discuss various blog marketing tools, how to get traffic for free, and how to increase traffic. We’ll also provide some free blog creators that you can use to get your blogging career started.

Before we get started, it’s important to keep in mind

Find topics related to your product or industry that people SEARCH for!

Note:

One of the most important steps for any blogger is to find the right research topics that their audience will care about.

It is essential to understand what your audience is looking for so that you can provide them with the content that they need.

To gain an understanding of my audience’s interests, I always start by conducting research on the type of topics they are interested in.

This research can include surveys, interviews, and reading articles written by people who are part of my target audience. By doing so, I can get an idea of what my audience cares about and the topics that they are curious about.

Additionally, I like to look through my website analytics to see what type of content is being viewed and shared by my audience. This gives me a great indication of the research topics that my audience care about for my blog.

What’s on this page

Benefits of increasing blog traffic
Blog traffic statistics
13 Tips to create a blog post that gets noticed
8 steps for increasing blog traffic quickly
Blog marketing tools
Blog Directories
Email marketing
Conclusion

Benefits of increasing blog traffic

One of the biggest benefits of increasing blog traffic is that it helps you reach more people. As more people visit your blog, you’ll be able to share your message with a wider audience. This can help you build relationships with potential customers, as well as spread awareness about your brand.

Increasing blog traffic also gives you the opportunity to generate income from your blog. As your blog traffic increases, so is the potential for you to monetize. You can start by selling ad space, and eventually move on to affiliate marketing and other forms of monetization.

Another benefit of increasing blog traffic is that it helps to boost your SEO rankings. As more people visit your blog, search engines will recognize it as a valuable source of information and will rank it higher in the search engine results pages (SERPs).

This will help your blog to be more visible and accessible to more people.

Blog traffic statistics

It is estimated that there are more than 600 million blogs existing globally.

The projected amount of bloggers in the United States is 32.7 million.

Almost half of the web is based on WordPress.

77% of people habitually read blogs online.

It usually takes successful bloggers 4 hours to compose a single post.

On a daily basis, about 7 million blog posts are published. 67% of bloggers who post everyday state that they are successful.

Blog pieces that are over 3000 words obtain optimal outcomes.

97% of bloggers make use of social media to enhance their results.

61% of internet users in the US have made a purchase after reading a blog.

Finally, the average blog post is shared on social media around 24 times. This means that if you want to increase blog traffic, you should make sure to share your blog post on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

13 Tips for creating a blog post that gets noticed

1. Come up with an interesting and unique title

The best advice about writing great titles, I got from Josh Avnery – is “write a title that will make you want to rush out and read it.

If you’re not interested in the title, nobody else will be either.”

It’s sage advice because the title is what you should start with – before you write the post. And if you’ve written a compelling title, you’ll be excited to write the post

2. Write a compelling introduction

The most important part of writing a compelling introduction is to capture the reader’s attention.

A good way to do this is to create an intriguing first sentence, which will make the reader want to know more.

You can also use a quote, statistic, or analogy to create a thought-provoking introduction. You should also make sure the introduction is clear and concise, and that it conveys the purpose and main theme of the work.

3. Use visuals like images and videos

Videos are an effective way to grab attention and engage viewers. They can be used to explain complex concepts in a short time or to feature interviews or case studies.

Videos can also be used to showcase products or services, add an entertaining element to your content, or tell a story.

Images are also a great way to add visual appeal to your content. Use visuals like images and videos to illustrate points, show off your product or service, and draw attention to particular sections of your content.

You can also use images to create memorable and eye-catching designs. When used correctly, visuals like images and videos can be a powerful tool to build engagement with your content.

4. Use keywords throughout your blog post

Incorporating keywords is an essential part of successful content marketing. Not only do keywords help search engines determine the relevance of your content to a particular search query, but they also help guide readers to the information they need.

When you incorporate keywords into your content, not only will it improve your search engine optimization, but it will also increase the chances of readers finding and engaging with your content.

Additionally, it’s important to include a variety of different keywords; don’t just focus on the same ones. Incorporating a variety of long-tail keywords and short-tail keywords will help ensure that your content is optimized for the most relevant search queries.

5. Create content that is valuable and engaging

Creating content that is valuable and engaging should be a priority for any business or organization.

It is an essential part of any successful marketing strategy, helping to build relationships with customers, increase website traffic, and boost sales.

It’s important to create content that is valuable and engaging to ensure that your customers are receiving the best experience possible.

The first step in creating content that is valuable and engaging is to understand your target audience and their needs.

Take the time to research and analyze your customer base to determine what type of content they would find valuable and engaging.

This will help you create content that resonates with them and encourages them to keep coming back for more. When creating content, it’s important to keep your audience in mind.

Make sure the content is relevant to their interests and needs, and make sure the content is easy to understand. Choose topics that are interesting and entertaining, and focus on creating content that is informative and helpful.

6. Use stories and examples

Stories and examples are powerful tools for any communicator. They can help to make a point, illustrate a concept, and even inspire action.

By using storytelling marketing, we can make our message more meaningful and impactful. Stories can be used to evoke emotion and illustrate a point.

Examples can also be powerful tools for communication. Examples can help to highlight a concept and make it more concrete. They can also help to make complex ideas more understandable.

7. Link to other blog posts and sources

One of the best ways to drive traffic to your blog and keep readers engaged is to link to other blog posts and sources.

Linking to relevant content can add value to your blog and provide readers with additional information. It also helps to show that you are knowledgeable and up-to-date on the topic you are writing about.

By linking to other blog posts and sources, you can create a network of readers and followers, as people may be more likely to visit your blog if you link to their content.

When linking to other blog posts and sources, it is important to make sure the content you are linking to is relevant and of high quality. This will ensure that readers have a positive experience and are more likely to come back to your blog. Additionally, you should always include a brief summary of the content you are linking to so readers know what to expect.

This will help them decide whether or not to click through and read the content.

8. Make sure to include a call to action

There is no denying the importance of having a call to action in any marketing strategy. A call to action is a statement that encourages a person to take action towards achieving their goal.

It is the one thing that will make a potential customer take the desired action and make a purchase. Thus, businesses must make sure to include a call to action in their marketing campaigns.

A call to action could be anything from a simple phrase like “Sign up now” or a more elaborate statement like “Join us and enjoy the best offers”. It could also be something as simple as a button or a link to a page with more details. Whatever the call to action is, it should be concise and to the point.

9. Use bullet points and numbered lists

Make sure your text is tidy and organized with numbered lists and bullet points.

Using bullet points and numbered lists is a great way to organize information in a way that is easy to read and comprehend.

They are commonly used for blogs, presentations, emails, and other documents, and can help make a document look more professional.

Bullet points and numbered lists can help break up a long text and make it easier for the reader to find what they are looking for.
Numbered lists are used to express a set of related points in an ordered manner. They are commonly used to show the steps in a process or to list items in order of priority.

10. Break up your blog post into smaller paragraphs

Breaking up your blog post into smaller paragraphs is essential to make it easier to read and understandable.

Not only does it make your content better, but also provides your readers with an easy way to navigate through your content.

Breaking up your blog post into smaller paragraphs allows your readers to quickly scan through your content and find the information they are looking for.

It also helps to keep readers engaged and interested in your content. When writing a blog post, make sure to break up your content into smaller, bite-sized pieces that are easy to digest.

This will help to keep readers from getting overwhelmed by long chunks of text. Your blog post should be broken into short, concise paragraphs that focus on one idea at a time. This will make your blog post more readable and also make it easier for readers to find the information they need.

11. Use headings and subheadings

Headings and subheadings are important parts of any document or piece of writing. They provide structure, organization, and clarity to the reader. By using headings and subheadings, one can easily break down a complex topic into more digestible chunks.

This makes the material easier to comprehend and allows the reader to quickly find the information they are looking for. Headings and subheadings also help the reader scan the text quickly to find the main points and then delve deeper into the supporting information.

This is especially useful in long documents as it allows readers to quickly find the information they need without having to read the entire document.

Additionally, headings and subheadings also make the text look more organized and professional. When it comes to writing, it is important to use headings and subheadings to help structure and organize the content. For example, if one is writing an essay, one should use headings and subheadings to divide the essay into different sections.

This helps to keep the different points, arguments, and evidence separate and organized.

12. Make sure to proofread and edit your blog post

Making sure to proofread and edit your blog post is essential to ensure that your content looks professional and polished. As a blogger, you want to make sure to proofread and edit your blog post to be sure that your readers get the most out of your content.

You want to be sure that your blog post is free of errors, and that you are presenting your ideas in the best way possible. This can be done by reading your blog post aloud, as this can help you catch any mistakes that you may have missed. You can also use a spell checker to make sure that you have not made any spelling or grammar mistakes. Another important step in proofreading and editing your blog post is to make sure that your content is well structured.

You want to make sure that your blog post is organized and easy to follow so that your readers can find the information they are looking for. You can also make sure to proofread and edit your blog post for clarity. This means that you should make sure that your writing is concise and that your ideas are easy to understand.

13. Invite readers to leave comments and ask questions

Do you want to be a part of the conversation? We invite readers to leave comments and ask questions to help us form a two-way dialogue.

We believe that comments, questions, and feedback are crucial to making our content more engaging and meaningful.

We believe that inviting readers to leave comments and ask questions is a great way to connect, deepen our understanding of readers’ interests, and tailor content to their needs.

8 steps for increasing blog traffic quickly

If you want to increase blog traffic quickly, one of the best ways to do so is to create content that is valuable and engaging. Also, it is advised to use SEO strategies and leverage influencers and social media.

The following steps will walk you through some quick and easy strategies that will help you increase your blog traffic instantly.

1. Use SEO strategy & tools to optimize your blog posts

SEO stands for “search engine optimization”. To optimize your blog posts for search engines, you’ll need to ensure that your content is easily discoverable for relevant keywords.

There are a few different SEO strategies you can use to optimize your blog posts, including:

Keyword research

You’ll want to start by conducting keyword research to discover what terms your audience is using to search for information. Then, you can use those terms within your blog posts to increase your blog’s discoverability.

There are some great keyword research tools you should be using to make your life easier:

Ubersuggest
Buzzsumo
Google Keyword Planner
Google Trends
Keywordtool.io

Content structure

To optimize your blog posts for SEO, you’ll want to make sure your content has a good structure. Remember, blogging isn’t just about writing posts. It’s about creating engaging content that’s easily shareable and linkable.

Image selection

Another important aspect of optimizing your blog posts for SEO is image selection. Make sure that you’re using relevant images in your blog posts.

2. Leverage social media

Social media is an easy and effective way to gain more blog traffic. It’s important to share your blog posts on social media. You don’t have to promote your blog posts religiously, but you should share them on a semi-regular basis.

You can post your blog posts on:

Facebook

Use Buffer’s guide to create the perfect Facebook post to drive good results. Then post it to your business page and share it on your page. Digital marketing on Facebook can be a bonanza for increasing blog traffic!

Instagram

To promote your blog post on Instagram, start by sharing your featured image. Then over the following days and weeks, share other images from your post to draw attention to it. You can also use Instagram Stories to create teasers, highlight your content, and add pins and unique posts.

Try using themes and hashtags to increase visibility and reach the right audience. Additionally, make sure to network with other bloggers and comment on posts to build your following and drive more traffic to your blog.

Use a smart insights guide to create a memorable Instagram post and promote your blog.

Pinterest is a social network that encourages you to become interested in a visual way. Since you’ve already created a great image for your post (and maybe even more than one), now’s the time to pin it to Pinterest and drive more traffic to your blog.

Learn how to create the perfect Pinterest profile with this guide.

Twitter

With 320 million monthly users, Twitter is a very effective platform on which to share your content. And since Twitter rolled out its tweet performance analytics, you can now track the number of impressions, shares, and mentions your tweets receive.

You can use Wishpond’s guide to help you use Twitter to drive more traffic to your blog.

StumbleUpon

StumbleUpon is the travel-the-web-in-serendipity social platform that finds and recommends content you’ll love, based on your preferences. It’s a great platform to discover new content and can be an excellent source of targeted traffic if you know how to use it correctly.

With over 36 million users and 7.93 million pageviews a month, Reddit is an important platform to be a part of. What’s especially unique about Reddit is its tight community of users who are known to band together for a good cause. Start promoting your blog posts on Reddit!

You can also share your blog posts on LinkedIn if you feel that it fits your target audience.

It’s a good idea to mix other non-blogging-related content with your blog posts. This will help you to diversify your social media posts and avoid seeming like you’re only promoting your blog all the time.

You can also promote your blog posts in groups, on forums, and on other social media platforms.

Other social networking platforms to consider for blog exposure:

In addition to the social media platforms we’ve all heard of, there are many smaller platforms that are attracting more community-based engagement.

Joining these sites and becoming a contributing member (this means listening and engaging with more than just your own content), will also help you drive more content to your blog and increase your readers and subscribers. Assuming of course that the subject you’re writing about is relevant to the community.

BuzzFeed

Sure you’ve heard of BuzzFeed. But did you also know that BuzzFeed has a community you can be a part of? That doesn’t mean that just because you’ve written a blog post you should submit it to BuzzFeed. What it does mean is that if you’ve written a humorous post, shared cool stuff you’ve come across, or written a post in which you share some entertainment or social news, the BuzzFeed community might just be the place for you to post.

GrowthHackers

GrowthHackers is the online community that suits growth hackers and marketers who are writing high-quality articles about growth hacking, marketing channels, user acquisition, engagement, product launches, and more.

Quora

Quora is an incredible platform where you can ask a question and get an answer from the likes of Sheryl Sandberg. Beyond listening to the questions that are being asked (which is important to do on every social platform you’re on) and learning a ton from the answers, you can also be the professional that’s providing valuable insight.

3. Write long-form content

Long-form content is a great way to increase your blog traffic. Long-form content means that your blog posts are at least 2,000 words in length.

Blog posts that are longer than 2,000 words tend to rank higher in search engines in most cases.

Try to cover all aspects and answer all questions related to your blog post title.

4. Post frequently

The most popular opinion on publishing frequency says that posting frequently is better for traffic because the more you post, the more frequently search engines index your content. But that’s not to say that you must post 3-5 times a week.

A blog is like a cake batter – consistency is important. So whether you decide that what’s right for your blog is posting every day, or whether you decide to post only once a week, make sure you’re consistent about the day and time your post goes out. Your readers will begin expecting a post from you at those times, it’s important not to let them down.

One suggestion that will help you stick to your publishing schedule is an editorial calendar. Decide the subject of the posts you’re covering as well as the date and any other information that will help you meet your deadline.

5. Leverage influencers

Influencers are people with thousands (if not millions) of followers on social media.

You can use influencer marketing to promote your blog posts to their followers and drive plenty of traffic to your blog.

How can I get influencers to share my blog posts?

You can:

Ask influencers to share your blog posts
Ask influencers to review your blog posts.
Offer to review the influencer’s content in exchange for a shout-out
Ask the influencer to guest post on your blog.
You can also guest post on the influencer’s blog in exchange for a shout-out

And of course, you can always pay influencers and get a campaign up and running

6. Perform Interviews

Find interesting experts to connect with and speak to about the subject you’re blogging about. By reaching out to experts you can help people gain more insight and understanding about a subject they’re interested in.

In addition, the people you’re interviewing will be happy to share the interview with their fans and followers on social media, which will help you tap into a new source of traffic to your blog.

7. Write Reviews

Whatever it is you write about, there are no doubt products, websites, books, and podcasts that are related. Seek them out. Review them. Whether it’s a positive or negative review, share it. If it’s a positive review, they’ll most likely be excited to share it.

If it’s not so positive, but fair and honest, and provides insight on how it could be made better. They may listen and you could get a respectful dialogue going. If they don’t, you have lost nothing. Your readers will respect and appreciate your insight.

8. Write guest posts

Guest posting works two ways – accepting guest posts to your blog and writing guest posts for other people’s blogs. What should you do? Both.

By reaching out and inviting other talented bloggers to write a post for your blog, you can offer your readers a fresh point of view while providing your guest blogger with exposure to your audience.

It’s a situation where everybody wins, as long as you have clear guidelines about your target audience and the type of post you’re looking for.

By guest blogging on other blogs, you hook up with other writers in your niche, get your name out there, and gain more exposure. When guest blogging, it’s important to make sure you know who the target audience is and what the guidelines are.

Be a good guest poster and share your post with your readers as well as some kind words about the blog you’ve been featured on.

Blog marketing tools

There are a variety of blog marketing tools that can help you increase blog traffic quickly. These tools can help you create content that is optimized for SEO, promote your blog on social media, and measure the success of your blog.

Some of the most popular blog marketing tools include Google Analytics, SEMrush, BuzzSumo, CoSchedule, and Yoast SEO.

Google Analytics is a great tool for tracking the success of your blog.
SEMrush is a great tool for keyword research and SEO optimization.
BuzzSumo is a great tool for finding popular content and influencers.
CoSchedule is a great tool for automating social media posts.
Yoast SEO is a great tool for optimizing your blog post for search engine rankings.

If you’re looking for free blog creators, there are a few options available:

One of the most popular free blog creators is WordPress.

WordPress is a great platform for creating a free blog, as it is easy to use and offers a variety of features and customization options. Additionally, WordPress also offers a variety of free themes and plugins.

Another popular free blog creator is Blogger. Blogger is a great platform for creating a free blog, as it is easy to use and offers a variety of features and customization options.

Finally, there are also a variety of other free blog creators such as Wix, Weebly, and Squarespace. Each of these platforms offers a variety of features and customization options, as well as free themes and plugins.

Blog Directories

Another great way to increase blog traffic is blog directories. For example, if you’re looking for a list of blogs on the subject of home improvement, a blog directory will help you focus on blogs that talk about just that.

Here’s a list of the top directories on which you should register your blog:

Ontoplist is a free directory that lists websites, blogs, and articles in order to make its content more easily searchable.

Blog Catalog is a free directory that’s enticing in both its beauty and registration simplicity. An added bonus is the directory doubles up as a community where you can meet other serious bloggers and engage with their content.

BlogFlux features over 157,000 blogs and is completely free. It’s certainly worth signing up here.

FuelMyBlog is another great free blog directory that also has a spam-free community of bloggers you’ll love to converse with.

Best of the Web is a well-respected directory that’s been around since 1994. Though not free, there are different pricing options that can make sense if you maintain a blog for your small business.

Blog Search Engine offers affordable packages to help you get more eyeballs on your blog. Their easy-to-use setup and helpful tips will entice you to make the most of your subscription.

Bloggapedia is another attractive blog directory that allows readers to easily engage with great blogs and their latest posts. Bloggapedia prides itself on posting information that will excite, entertain, inform, and even make your life easier. So if your site fits into those categories, this could be the blog directory for you.

BloggingFusion is a directory of over 12,000 active blogs in over 60 categories. You can choose to submit either your blog or an article – the price varies accordingly.

Grow blog traffic using email marketing

Email marketing allows you to send newsletters, automated emails, and other forms of marketing to your subscribers, who have opted-in to receive emails from your blog.

It helps to build relationships with your readers and allows you to target them with relevant and interesting content.

With B2C or B2B email marketing, you can increase the visibility of your blog posts, while also providing readers with valuable information they won’t find anywhere else.

When it comes to email marketing for promoting blog posts, the first step is to create an email list of your subscribers.

1. Your Email List

Grow your email list and send out your content in the form of an email or better yet, incorporate it into a fun and info-packed newsletter.

2. Your Email Signature

You may have never thought about it this way, but your email signature is a blogger’s dream come true.

Sure, you send out lots of emails a day, but when your email signature has the power to update itself with your latest blog post in tow, lots more people are going to be reading your latest blog post.

Click for: blogger email signature examples

Conclusion

Increasing blog traffic can provide numerous benefits such as increased reach and engagement, the potential to generate income, and improved SEO rankings.

To increase blog traffic quickly, you should create content that is valuable and engaging, optimize your content for SEO, promote your blog posts on social media, and engage with your readers. Additionally, there are a variety of blog marketing tools and free blog creators that you can use to help you get started.

So what are you waiting for? Start boosting your blog traffic now!

The post How to increase blog traffic: the ultimate guide for 2024 appeared first on WiseStamp.

How to start a blog: 11 actionable steps anyone can do

Simcha Lazarus — Thu, 02 Jun 2016 12:14:01 +0000

Blogging can be a powerful tool for your business. According to research, businesses with a blog get 55 % more website visitors and 97% more links, than those without a blog.

And marketers who use blogs receive 67% more leads than those that don’t.

Benefits of starting a blog

In case you’re still not convinced that your business needs a blog, here are just a few of the benefits blogging will bring to you and your company.

1. Blogging will help you establish yourself as an industry leader

Having a blog gives you a platform for sharing your knowledge and offering advice on topics related to your industry.

People who are interested in these topics will visit your blog, read your articles, and begin to view you as an expert in your field. When your blog readers need the service that your business provides, they will turn to you since you have proven that you are the best person to provide that service.

An example of someone that does this well is Mark Schaefer, a globally-recognized author, educator, and business consultant. Mark has an active blog that has been responsible for many of his book sales and for his growing reputation as an expert marketing strategist.

2. A blog will draw more visitors to your website

The more visitors that come to your website the more opportunities you have to sell your product or service. Writing high-quality articles that get found in Google search results will bring people to your blog who are interested in what you have to offer.

3. A blog will amplify your message

The fantastic blog posts that you write will not only serve as examples of your expertise but will also give people a reason to talk about your brand. Through your articles, you can generate conversations and encourage the sharing of ideas that are in line with your brand’s message.

4. A blog will help you connect with your customers

Your business’s blog will become your voice for connecting with your customers and strengthening your relationship with them. You’ll write blog posts that your visitors may comment on, leading to interesting conversations. You can also use your blog to share videos, photos, and exclusive information, available only to your readers.

How to start a blog

Starting a new blog can seem a bit intimidating if you’ve never done it before. It’s true that there are several steps involved in getting a blog set up, but it’s really a lot easier than you might think.

In fact, I’m going to show you how to do it right now! By the time you finish reading this article, you’re going to know how to set up your own blog, optimize your articles for SEO, decide what to write about, and set up Google Analytics to track your results.

So let’s get started!

Step 1: Choose the right platform for your blog

Before you start creating amazing content you need to have a platform to publish that content on. Therefore, the first decision you’re going to want to make is which blogging platform to use for publishing your blog posts.

There are many options out there but here are three of the most popular: WordPress.org: This is the most widely used blogging platform, powering 26.4% of all the websites online.
Each day over 500 sites are being created on WordPress.

WordPress is free, easy to use, and offers a lot of flexibility, which is why it’s so popular, and why I so frequently recommend it.

If you already have a website then you can add WordPress as a page or subdomain of your site. Otherwise, you will need to find a service to host it, like Hostgator or Bluehost, which offer services specifically for hosted WordPress sites.

Cons: WordPress is a good choice for people who like to be involved in all aspects of their website. There is a bit of a learning curve in getting it set up, and it requires occasional maintenance and updates. If that doesn’t appeal to you, you may want to go with another option. Or you can hire someone to manage your blog for you.

If you want to go the super-easy route then WordPress has another tool that may be a good fit for you, WordPress.com, a free blogging platform hosted by WordPress.

Blogger: I actually started my first blog with Blogger and was very happy with it. It was easy to set up but offered enough options for customization that I was able to make my blog look just the way I wanted it to (though it required learning some HTML). Blogger is also hosted by Google and has built-in tools for Adsense, Adwords, and Google Analytics, making it easy to monetize your blog and track visitors.

If you don’t want your blog to be under the blogger.com domain you can purchase a custom domain through Google or add the blog to your website. You can find more information about how to do this on the Blogger Help site.

Cons: Since Blogger belongs to Google, your blog and all of your content technically belong to them as well. They can shut the service down or block access to your blog and there’s nothing you can do about it (not that this is a common occurrence, just something to be aware of). And while it offers more flexibility compared to WordPress.com, if, at some point down the road, you want more advanced blogging features, you may be disappointed.

Wix: With Wix, you can quickly create for yourself a blog or website in a just a few minutes. Simply pick a template, put in your information and you’re done. There is a large selection of templates to choose from and the website builder is very user-friendly.

Cons: While a basic Wix website or blog is free it does come with quite a few limitations. Your site will have ads on it, you’ll have a wix.com domain and you’ll be limited to 1GB of traffic and 500MB server space. You also won’t be able to add Google Analytics.

To remove the ads, use your own domain, add analytics, or make use of the numerous plugins available in the Wix App Store, you’ll have to upgrade to a paid account.
Paid accounts range from $3 a month to $39.99 a month.

WordPress: If you want a free blogging platform that will be suitable for your business as it grows and comes with a lot of options for customization then WordPress is the one for you.

Blogger: If you have a small business and want a free blog that’s easy to set up and offers monetization options, then Blogger could be a good fit.

Wix:If you’re looking for the fastest and easiest option for setting up your blog, and don’t mind spending a little bit of money, then Wix would be a good choice for you.

Step 2: Choose your blog template

Once you’ve picked your blogging platform and signed up, it’s time to choose a template and customize it to meet your needs.

Your blog template provides all of the styling elements for your blog, including the colors, the fonts, the page layout, and any other additional design details.

This template has a specific layout that includes two columns, one in the middle and one on the right, along with a navigation bar on top and a few featured posts on the front page.

Many templates offer you the option to customize some parts of the design like maybe changing the colors or picking a different font. You’ll also most likely be able to change the picture at the top of the page.

At first, picking a template might seem a bit overwhelming because there are so many options to choose from. But keep in mind that you’re going to want a template that matches your website and brand, which should help narrow down your choices.

Common types of blog template layout

You’ll want to decide how many columns your blog should have, one, two, or three, and that should narrow down your options even further. Let’s see what this all means.

One-column layout

If your blog has one column that means that all of your content will be in the center and you won’t have any sidebars. This keeps the blog clean and distraction-free.

This could be a good option for a blog in which the articles are the only attraction, but might not meet your needs if you want to have a navigation bar or ads on the sides.
Canva’s blog is an example of a one-column layout.

Their content is all in the middle and at the top are the same navigation bars that are present in the rest of the website.

There is also a social sharing bar on the left side. Which follows you as you scroll down the page, but which isn’t part of the template.
The Help Scout blog also has a template with one column and a social sharing button on the side.

Two-column layout

A blog with a two-column layout will include the main column of content along with a sidebar, which can be on either the left or right side of the page.

This is the most common format used by bloggers since the sidebar offers the space to include navigation links, a search button, subscription links, and an RSS feed. For your business blog, you will want to include your most important elements at the top.

If your goal is to get visitors to sign up for your email list then your email list opt-in box should be at the top.

At WiseStamp blog, we use a two-column layout for our blog. Our blog posts are located in the middle column and in the sidebar we have a search button, social sharing buttons, a call to action and a navigation bar.

Three-column layout

The three-column layouts are for businesses and websites that have a lot of information to display.in the sidebars, probably mostly advertisements. This layout has the risk of distracting visitors from the blog’s main content, though it may also give you more opportunities to promote yourself or your affiliates.

Mashable’s template is a three-column layout, with each column presenting different articles on the website.

So how many columns should your blog include?

One-column: If the sole purpose of your blog is to encourage visitors to read your articles then a one-column template should do the trick. This will keep your blog distraction-free and your visitors focused on your content.
Two-columns: If you want to include more elements on your blog than just blog posts and a basic navigation bar, then you may want to go with a two-column template. This will allow you to add a sidebar with archives, polls, a logo, a newsletter sign-up, and many other elements that wouldn’t fit into a one-column template.
Three-columns: If you have a lot of information that you want to share with your blog visitors, such as various navigation options and categories, as well as advertisements, then you might need a three-column template to fit it all in. Three columns are most frequently used for large websites with many pages or online magazines.

Once you’ve chosen your preferred layout you can begin browsing through the templates to pick one that you like.

Step 3: Choose your website colors

When deciding on the colors that you want for your blog, try to choose colors that match your website or logo, to keep your blog inline with your brand.

Step 4: Make sure your blog is mobile-friendly

Statistics suggest that in 2017 more than 63.4 percent of mobile phone users will access the Internet through their devices. This means that most people visiting your website will be using their phone or tablet, so you need to make sure that your blog looks good no matter what device it’s being viewed on.

Once you create your blog you can use quickly check if it’s mobile-friendly by putting the URL into Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test site.

Another helpful tool is Google’s PageSpeed Insights which will analyze the speed of your site and the user experience, offering suggestions for improvement.

To ensure that your blog is mobile-friendly Google recommends using a responsive design for your template, in which the layout will look the same no matter what device is being used to view your content.

WordPress has a nice selection of responsive themes on its website, as does Wix, and a quick search for “responsive Blogger templates” will also turn up some great options.

Make your website mobile-friendly with plugins

You can also make your WordPress theme mobile-friendly with a plugin like WPtouch Mobile.

Plugins are pieces of software that can be added to your blog to give it more functionality.

For example, if you want to have more options for editing pictures in your WordPress blog posts, simply download the Edik plugin and you’ll soon be able to flip your pictures around and even add filters.

One of the biggest advantages of creating a blog with WordPress or Wix is that there are hundreds of plugins available to enhance your site.

Most popular WordPress plugins:

Yoast SEO: Improves your site’s SEO.
Akismet: Blocks spam in your comments.
WP Smush – Image Optimization: Reduce image file sizes, improve performance and boost your SEO.
Contact Form 7: create customized contact forms.
Wordfence Security: Protects your blog from hacks and malware.

After your blog is set up you’re going to start writing articles that are so fantastic that everyone who visits your blog is going to want to share them with their friends. So you have to make it as easy as possible for them to do that, which is what social sharing buttons are for.

Here are a few popular tools that offer social sharing buttons to help you grow your blog traffic:

Shareaholic: This works with most blogging platforms, including Blogger, Wix and WordPress. It allows you to create share buttons for over 80 social networks and to customize the buttons and their layout.
You can also add Follow Me buttons to encourage visitors to follow you on social media.
Sumo: SumoMe offers several free tools to help you grow your website traffic, one of which is their social sharing bar. It’s supported by all major blogging platforms and works well on mobile devices.

To encourage your blog visitors to come back again and again, it’s a good idea to add a subscription box and RSS feed to your sidebar. In WordPress and Blogger, this can be easily done by adding the appropriate widgets.

Directions for adding an RSS feed to Blogger
Directions for adding an RSS feed to WordPress.com
Directions for adding an RSS feed to WordPress.org
Directions for adding an RSS feed to Wix

Step 6: Add your blog to your website

As I mentioned in the introduction to this article, two benefits of having a blog are that a blog can help bring more traffic to a website and it can help a website rank higher in Google search results through SEO.

But for a website to experience these benefits, the blog has to be attached to the website as a page or subdomain. So if your website is www.mywebsite.com your blog could be www.mywebsite.com/blog or blog.mywebsite.com.

The process for doing this may be a little complicated so if you have someone managing your website you might want to ask them to add your blog for you.

Step 7: Add Google Analytics to track activity

This step is an especially important one, and unfortunately, it’s often overlooked by many new bloggers. After you go through the effort of setting up a blog, writing articles, and then sending those articles out to the internet, you’ll want to know the results of all this hard work.

Are people visiting your blog? Are they reading your articles? How much time are they spending on your blog? Are they visiting your website afterward? How are people finding your blog?

These are just a few of the questions that you’re going to want answers to and those answers are going to be collected through your analytics. Without analytics you’ll be marketing your business blindly, not knowing if all your effort has been paying off or not.

There a many different analytic tools but I’m going to concentrate on the one that’s most widely used Google Analytics.

Getting Started with Google Analytics

If you have a Google account that you use for Gmail then you should set up your analytics with that account. If you don’t have a Google account then open one up.

To set up your analytics go to Google Analytics and click on the link that says Sign In, in the top right-hand corner.

Select Google Analytics from the drop-down menu and when you get to the next screen (as seen below) click on the Sign-Up button.

The next page will ask you to fill in some information about your account and your blog as well as some security questions about who Google can share your data with.

Once you are finished filling out the page you will get a tracking number to install on your blog.

Adding the code to your blog is pretty simple. If you’re using WordPress.org then you can do it with a plugin like Yoast. If you’re on Blogger then you just add your analytics code to your settings.

To add Google Analytics to Wix or WordPress.com you will have to upgrade your account.

Step 8: Define your niche and target audience

Now that you have your blog all set up you’re almost ready to start writing blog posts. But first, you need to define your niche.

Why should you define your blog’s niche?

Defining your niche will help you decide what kind of topics you will be writing about and who your audience is that will be reading your blog posts.

It will also prevent you from straying into other topics that fall outside of your niche and which may confuse people who visit your blog and expect to read about a particular topic.

How do you decide on your blog’s niche?

Since you created your blog to help grow your business then presumably you will be writing about topics related to your business.

For example, if you’re a plumber then these are some subjects that you might write about:

Common plumbing emergencies and how to deal with them.
Frequently asked questions about plumbing.
Tips for saving money in the home.
Preparing your home for winter weather.

It’s important to remember that your blog posts should provide value to your readers. No one is going to want to visit your blog just to read about you and your business. But if you are providing helpful tips and information that your audience can use then they will keep coming back to read more.

And not only that but when your reader’s toilet explodes and they need a plumber to fix it, you are the one that will come to mind because you have regularly proven yourself to be knowledgeable about plumbing.

Who’s your audience?

Knowing who you want to read your blog is also important because you will be writing your articles with these people in mind.

If you already have a clear picture of your business’s customers then you can extend that profile to your blog readers, because that’s who you want to attract to your blog.

You will also want to consider very carefully what these specific people want to read about so that you can write about those topics.

It can be helpful to sit down and write out a profile for your target audience.

Are they men or women, or both?
How old are they?
Where do they live?
What’s their income?
What are their interests?

Compiling this information will make it easy for you to clearly imagine who you want to reach with your articles, and will also help you later on when you are deciding how to promote the articles on social media.

Step 9: Research keywords

The next step in your preparation for writing blog posts is learning to research keywords. Keywords are those words that people use when searching Google, or another search engine, that brings them to your blog or website.

Some keywords get searched thousands of times a day while others may just get searched a few hundred times.

Your goal, when writing a blog post, is that when someone searches on Google for the topic that you are writing about, your article is one of the first ones they will find. You want to be the person whose article about moving antique furniture shows up as one of the very first results.

In order to make that happen, you have to research popular keywords related to your business and write articles using those words or phrases.

Here are three tools that you can use for researching keywords:

Keyword Planner
Google Trends
Wordtracker

You can also research what keywords your competitors are using and try to rank on Google for those same keywords, using a tool like SEMRush. Take a look at this article for more information on researching keywords and using them in your blog posts.

Step 10: Create a content calendar

Not having a publishing schedule can be the downfall of a blog, even a successful one. A content calendar ensures that you’re always prepared for the next week’s posts and that you aren’t fumbling at the last minute to think of something to write.

Your schedule will also determine how frequently you post on your blog, which will give both you and your readers a sense of consistency.

Here’s how to create a content calendar:

Decide how many times a week, and on which days, you want to publish on your blog
Using the keywords that you researched, create a list of topics to write about.
Open a spreadsheet and list the dates for the upcoming month. Assign a topic to each of the days that you will be publishing a blog post. If you want to get even more organized you can brainstorm specific article ideas for each topic and assign those to each day that you will be publishing.
Determine how long it will take you to write each article and make notes for yourself on the calendar when to start working on them.

And there you have it! Your content calendar is ready and you can now begin writing.

Step 11: Write a blog post and publish it

Use a catchy headline that will grab your readers’ attention.
After writing your headline put it into the CoSchedule Headline Analyzer to see how effective it will be.
Create an eye-catching image for your blog post. Use Canva to easily design fantastic images
Add the Eye Dropper extension to your browser to help you pick just the right colors for your images.
Find gorgeous free photos for your blog post at Unsplash and Pexels.

Congratulations! You just took your first step toward generating more traffic and leads. But your work is not over. Your blog is here but no one knows about it yet – now, you’re going to have to start promoting it!

Blogger outreach tips for beginners – How to make a name and grow your traffic

When you are a blogger, building quality relationships with other bloggers is a lot more important than you think. As my mentor, Jon Morrow likes to say… “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know online that matters”.

So, optimizing your outreach to create new connections should have a significant spot in your content marketing strategy.

Outreach is an incredibly effective method for increasing your blog traffic. It is the prime way I bring new readers to my blog. And it can be a first-rate approach for you, also.

Here are the 3 lessons you can benefit from today on blogger outreach.

1) Forge genuine relationships with other bloggers

Don’t befriend another blogger because they are famous. Instead, connect with them because you like their work, respect them, and believe that they can truly help you broaden your connections in a mutually advantageous manner.

Before you even ask another blogger to help you, make the first move. Find appropriate posts of theirs to link to by subscribing to their blog. If you find a post that you particularly like, write your own post sharing your opinion about the same topic and provide a link to the other blogger’s post.

Remember, quality links, and relevant posts will help your readers and your ranking. It’s wrong to assume that linking will ruin your Google PageRank or traffic.

On the contrary, your readers will surely love you for pointing them to other valuable articles through a quality external link. Aside from linking to them, you can also help your future BBF (best blogger friend) by:

Referring other people to their blog
Nominating them for an award
Recommending them for an interview or podcast
And sharing their posts on social media (and via your blogger email signature)

These actions will prove you want to get to know them better, leading to the beginning of an excellent relationship.

2) Use comments and guest posts to get your name out there as an authority

It’s not enough that you write great content. You need to promote that content to increase your exposure to new readers and to gain more subscribers.

Here are my favorite two ways to promote my posts.

Write Blog Comments

I wish I knew early in my blogging career about promoting your blog through blog commenting. I would have grown my blog faster by using this brilliant method of blogger outreach.

The key? Choose blogs that are relevant to yours and leave helpful, funny, or even (somewhat) controversial comments to pique the interest of the audience of that blog.

These readers will likely be interested in your content too since they found you after reading a blog relevant to yours in the first place.

To ensure that you will hook readers in following your comment over to your site, start by posting comments on as many similarly niched blogs as possible, creating at least 2 blog comments per day.

And remember, each of your comments must add information or raise a question about the topic being discussed. Don’t write a useless comment, like “Great post!”.

Guest Post Blogging

This is a popular practice in the blogging world, where you offer to write an article for another blogger. The other blogger gets a free article, while you, the guest blogger, get more exposure.

You can also gain traffic for your blog by including your link in the byline of your guest blog posts. I also indulge in “reverse” guest blogging. That’s where you have other bloggers write a post for your blog.

This is great for 2 reasons: 1) it gives you some time off and 2) it helps during stressful times or even vacations. Plus, your audience gets a different point of view on a subject near and dear to their hearts.

3) Promote your killer content

You can capitalize on your very best articles to further promote the post. This is how I show my clients how to do blogger outreach:

Inform other bloggers about your new post by email (but only after commenting on their posts for at least 3-4 weeks).
Post your articles in your social media accounts and ask for retweets and reposts.
Ask your friends to vote for your articles on social bookmarking sites.
Create a round-up post where you ask influential bloggers the same question, like a group interview

I know you are thinking, “I just can’t write an email asking an influential blogger to share my post!” Yes, you can.

Just casually mention in your email that you just wrote an article that they might like and if they do like it, would they mind sharing it. With a straightforward message like that, the other blogger just might read your article and, if they like it, they won’t hesitate to share it.

But if they don’t, it means that you need to put in some more work to create compelling articles that will easily earn the links and shares of the other bloggers in your network.

Takeaways

Taking part in blogger outreach is important if you want to grow your readership.
Having blogger friends helps you get more traffic and subscribers.
Guest posting and commenting help you build authority in your niche, generating both income and amassing a huge following of super fans.

The post How to start a blog: 11 actionable steps anyone can do appeared first on WiseStamp.