Image via ~C4Chaos
This is a guest post by Dain Lewis from The Smart College Grad. A very cool blogger with some big ideas.
There seems to be a common frustration that occurs with many bloggers just starting out. Bloggers are saddened and sometimes frustrated that they don’t have people commenting or following their blogs. One of the hardest things online is simply getting traffic. Now although I’m pretty new to the blogging community (My first blog post ‘After Graduating College’ was posted on November 5th) I have some tips that may help you to generate more followers and more traffic. So you know I’m not just blowing smoke I’ll mention some cool things that I’ve accomplished since I just launched my blog back in November 2010.
- My website has over 2000 page views as tracked by Google analytics.
- Created a 121 page eBook called ‘The Ultimate Guide to Your 20s’ which featured over 15 authors and websites. Some of these websites had twitter followings of over 77,000 people. The eBook since its release date on January 3rd has been downloaded 148 times as of today (January 28th).
- Been invited to be a consistent guest blogger on bigger job search sites with over 100,000 page views per month.
- Offered to become a potential international partner with another online company.
Now, I know that some of you out there have had greater successes than these and some of those ‘accomplishments’ are by no means mind blowing; 2000 page views is nothing compared to some blogs which are getting 10 to 100k page views a day. But, I also know that getting started blogging can be a frustrating process. Let me offer some tips that I’ve learned through my recent journey. And hopefully we’ll both make our way into becoming blogging rock stars!
- Provide relevant and interesting content.
I’m still working on what content my readers would like to see. I’ve been developing content that is mostly informational. But, by tracking the visits on my site I’ve found people don’t stay very long. So I’ve learned that I have relevant information, but not always the most interesting. So I may have to upload a few funny YouTube vids J
- Provide something of value.
Are you offering anything of value for your readers? I developed the eBook so that I would have something that my readers could get tons of value from. It is also something which I will use to keep in touch with my readers. As any internet marketer will tell you… start building your list. So come up with a clever way to provide value. This could be an eBook, a newsletter series, a video series, etc. Something that your audience will value and something they will find compelling; use aweber, mailchimp, or icontact if you’re looking for an easy way to deliver your eBook or newsletter. Mailchimp is free for your first 1000 subscribers.
- Track everything.
I’ve mentioned Google analytics a few times in this article. It allows me to see which articles of mine are getting the most page views and where I am getting my traffic. This allows me to tweak my site in order to get more followers. I once was heavily involved in an online community that was around my niche. But, through Google analytics I discovered that I was hardly getting any traffic from it. I then stopped investing so much time there and diverted my efforts elsewhere. So get a Google analytics account, and a bit.ly account. Keep track of your traffic and tweak when necessary. These will both save you time and effort.
- Be present in social media.
Do you have a twitter account, a Facebook page, or a YouTube account? Social media is booming. Make sure you have a presence there. It can be overwhelming keeping track of all of them. Automate and sync them all as best as possible. Then figure out what social media site gets you the best results and then focus most of your efforts there.
- Persevere.
Building a blog and an online presence takes time and tons of perseverance. Be creative and consistent. Think of ways outside of the box that can gain you some exposure. It may take you out of your comfort zone, but it will be well worth it. Also, be consistent in doing one thing a day for your blog. Write one article a day, post one video on YouTube, do one of something. Just maintain consistency.
Follow those 5 tips and you should be well on your way to being a blogging rock star!
The writer of this article is Dain Lewis from http://thesmartcollegegrad.com/ You can follow him there and even download his free eBook: ‘The Ultimate Guide to Your 20s.’ Here: http://thesmartcollegegrad.com/the-ultimate-guide-to-your-20s/
These are some awesome (and encouraging) tips. I started my blog back in December through WordPress (though I’ll consider a domain if it takes off) and I’ve done a lot of SEO. Though it has helped somewhat, and from December to January I saw pronounced growth, I’m afraid it will level off. I have considered writing an eBook, I just need to develop a pertinent idea for it first. Only time will tell where this blog takes me, but congrats on your success! Just a few months old and you’re really on your way! =)