Joining the blogging world can be overwhelming at first. Everywhere you turn there are "experts" wanting to give you guidance for a pretty penny. The truth is, there is no right or wrong way to do it. There are so many ways to gain traction online that it doesn't have to be as stressful as they make it out to be. When I started blogging three years ago I felt clueless. I had no idea where to begin, and how to get more traffic. The thing is, I wasn't really focused on the principles of blogging. There are a few things that you should do as you grow your blog, so that you can find success down the road.
Create Content
Assuming you have already went through the steps to creating your blog, creating content is the next thing you have to do before anything else. You don't want to promote your blog or get your name out there if you don't have anything for your readers once they get there. Create good content that will be of value to your ideal readers. If you give them tons of information and entertaining content, this will be the reason for them to come back. One of the main focuses you should have as a new blogger is to gain returning visitors.
Gain Readers
What good is a public blog if no one is reading it? We all know that traffic numbers matter, especially if you are planning to monetize your blog down the road. The higher the traffic, the more you can potentially make from your efforts. Real bloggers don't do it for the money, they do it because they are passionate about it. With that being said, making money from it enables them to keep putting in more efforts and value for the readers.
There are many different ways to promote your blog in order to get people to visit it. The first and obvious way is by promoting it on social media. You should share your posts to Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and whatever other platforms you are using. You should also visit other blogs in your niche and comment on their articles. By doing this you are possibly getting people to come back to your page, and you can establish some great friendships.
Create Your Brand
As you start to gain more traction you should take steps to brand yourself. This means consistency throughout every platform you are on. You can do this by sticking within a "niche," and keeping your content related to that same niche. Assuming you have a logo and color scheme on your blog, be sure to keep that consistent with the content and social media posts as well. You want your readers to see your posts and know without looking that it is your content.
Once you create a brand for yourself you want to stick with it. Like I said earlier, consistency is the most important part of this. If you are inconsistent with your branding, you might just confuse your audience. As you gain a name and authority for your brand, you will start to become a household name for some of your followers. After all, gaining loyal readers who trust you is one of the greatest things you can do for your blog.
Create a Call to Action
You don't want readers to come to your page, read your articles, and then leave without a trace. You should always have a call to action on your posts. It can be as simple as asking a few questions related to the article for your readers to answer in the comments. The more engagement you can get on your posts, the better. Your call to action can also be giving away a freebie for those who join your newsletter. Some experts say that growing your email list should be at the top of your priorities. In order to do this, you have to give a call to action- or a reason to sign up for your newsletter. Most bloggers do this by giving away something for free. It can be a PDF printable, a list of some sort, or a free challenge to help solve a problem for your readers.
As I said earlier, there is no right way to start and grow a blog. Your path may look completely different than others, and it should. Creating your own unique blog is what you need to do in order to stand out from the others. The world does not need any more duplicates. These four tips are things that you should do at some point, in my opinion. This may not be the exact order, and that's ok too. Always keep in mind why you are doing this, and stay focused on the end prize.
For more from Gabrielle, visit Writing on a Whim