It doesn’t matter what you blog about—you have the capacity to reach a huge audience if you know what you’re doing. Many bloggers begin with a grandiose idea of fame, but they don’t realize the hard work and marketing prowess it takes to get there.
Bloggers who get used to growth and success begin with an elegant marketing plan.
“Each technique must be evaluated, analyzed, prioritized and then put into action,” says Scott Langdon of the SEO agency Higher Visibility. “Nonetheless, a marketing plan gives direction to the directionless. If you don’t have goals, you then will not put resources into any goals and you won’t achieve those goals. With an online marketing plan, you get a step-by-step guide towards success.”
Unfortunately, most bloggers don’t begin with a full marketing plan, so success isn’t always the result. If you want to be a top-earning blogger, here are a few major marketing steps to take.
1. Target Posts
Who are you writing to? What are their main concerns? How can your blog answer those concerns? Answer a few key questions about your target audience, and then craft your content to attract that demographic.
“Unless you want to throw all of your marketing budget and precious time on people who could care less about your blog, then you must pay attention to determine the preferred audiences to whom you would like to target,” advises Edward Khoo of Hongkiat. “Before posting any piece, determine if it hits the sweet spot of your demographic.”
2. Guest Blog
Guest blogging is one of the most effective ways to further your reach. Start by contacting popular blogs in your niche to see if they accept guest posts. Write a few posts that fit on their websites with a link to your blog, either in the article or in the author bio.
Don’t just limit your writing to your own niche, however. Most readers have varying interests, and you can reach a broader audience by publishing blog posts on well-established blogs in any category. High-value content in any niche is your ticket to getting accepted as a guest blogger to blogs like Huffington Post, Forbes, and other high-profile websites.
3. Social Media Ads
Advertising can be expensive, and it doesn’t always yield the results you hoped for. Social media ads, on the other hand, are a class of their own. They’re currently one of the best ways to reach a broad audience, particularly on Facebook and Instagram.
Crafting great social media ads can be challenging for first-timers, so do your research or consider taking a course to learn how to get the most bang for your buck.
4. Network with Influencers
Bloggers do better when they’re part of a network of other bloggers. You can network in your own niche and in others, read and comment on blog and social posts, and message bloggers privately to form a mutually useful connection.
When you have a successful network of influencers, they’ll mention you, effectively extending your reader reach. It’s one of the fastest and most successful ways to grow your readership.
5. Affiliate Marketing
Online retailers pay bloggers to publish articles containing their links. Affiliate marketing works both ways for bloggers. You’ll make money by promoting other blogs and then use that money to pay other bloggers to promote your links.
Affiliate marketing is one of the fastest growing marketing strategies in blogging and is great for all bloggers. It can be a difficult beast to master, so consider online courses that explain affiliate the process and strategies in depth.
6. Educated Content
One of the best marketing tools in your arsenal is high quality content, so focus on creating more educated content for your readers. Begin by analyzing key problems that your blog can fix. Then, create content that informs them about overcoming those obstacles.
Educated articles tend to be longer in nature, 2,000 words or more. They’ll include facts, statistics, realistic examples, images, and other highly useful content. These articles are not the easiest to create, but they will generate interest and can be useful in other marketing campaigns.
7. Optimization
Optimization is the key to getting your blog in front of people who will benefit most from your content. You’ll optimize for both readers and bots.
To optimize for readers, focus on things like quality content, brief paragraphs, good grammar and technique, basic keywords, and attractive headlines. Think about how you like online articles, and craft your blog posts to match.
To optimize for bots, learn all you can about search engine algorithms. Google and other major search engines use algorithms that help them match search queries with useful articles. Google has published a list of all algorithm musts for your reference. Become familiar with Google’s expectations and cater your content to use organic search queries.
These are the basics for any blogger wanting to expand their reach and hone their marketing skills.