How to get people to look at your blog
You do actually want people to look at your blog, right?
There’s a blog on your site because some marketing geezer said you should have one and you’re slowly populating it with highly engaging content but actually you’re not sure what to do next or whether it’s actually serving any purpose.
A blog that just sits there isn’t totally useless of course but if people don’t actually lay eyes on the thing, you’re missing out on a world of benefits.
Assuming you do want all of the juicy benefits that content marketing has to offer, there’s a few things you need to do to make your blog effective.
Time is precious. People are busy. How are you going to disrupt their day and persuade them to spend a tiny segment of it reading your blog?
Here’s 5 ideas:
“If you don’t make your stuff visible in the marketplace of the modern world, how can you expect people to stumble across it?”
Tell people // Share it on social media
Ok, this may seem obvious to some but it’s always worth reminding people of the unavoidable need to share your blog on social media.
And not just the once.
I’m guilty of this. I put my blog up and share it on social media immediately and then never share it again. I’ll get a burst of interest off the back of the first share (perhaps) but nothing more, from there on out.
Things do not last in people’s memory for long. It’s important to keep reminding people.
The main thing holding people back from sharing on multiple occasions is the fear that they’re nagging or that repetitive posting will put people off your business, which I 100% understand.
And there is a limit of course, but trust me, you’re probably far from that point. People aren’t going to get offended if they see your face pop up on their feed every day.
Unless for some reason they particularly dislike you. But who cares, they were hardly going to become an avid reader of your blog anyway.
If you don’t make your stuff visible in the marketplace of the modern world, how can you expect people to stumble across it?
Target the right people
Not everyone is going to be interested in your blog.
It can be tempting to cast the net wide and try and entice as many people as you possibly can. Universal content. However, like anything, if you try and please everyone you end up exciting no one.
By aiming your blog at a particular demographic or area of interest you are more likely to get people clicking on it. If it’s long form content then it’s much more likely to appear in search engine results. (For more on that check out my post on blog length here.)
Don’t be afraid to aim your entire blog or even individual posts at a particular niche. The people in that niche will love you all the more.
“The image is the first thing we see and is going to heavily influence whether or not we click the link and visit the site.”
One great image
The blog is nothing without words but we are visual creatures. The image is the first thing we see and is going to heavily influence whether or not we click the link and visit the site.
When sharing on social media or creating a thumbnail for the site, it’s important to spend some time thinking about what the image should be.
Stock imagery on its own is unlikely to stop someone in their tracks. There’s that much of it out there now that differentiating a potentially interesting blog post from something that isn’t worth anybody’s time is pretty impossible.
You may have a low opinion of your own design skills and feel that your graphic capability is limited. But with free online tools like Canva, it’s never been easier to create something with a bit of personality.
You can use the cool templates they provide, tweak it to suit you or start completely from scratch.
It doesn’t have to be polished either. DIY content is all the rage and will stand out in a sea of pristine, corporate branding.
Any kind of design with the headline in the centre is going to make a greater impact than an image you’ve seen a thousand times before.
‘Laptop and notepad with cool plant.’
‘Laptop and notepad with cool plant and old-fashioned camera.’
‘Board room meeting where everyone in attendance is looking far too happy.’
‘Digital computer IT looking things.’
‘Coffee.’
Seen this before? Guilty as charged. I used this stock image but tried to make it different by slapping a big bold headline on top.
Headline
This section is actually about headlines; I didn’t just forget to come up with a headline.
The headline is so important. The decision about whether or not to view your blog post rests on whether or not they find the headline of interest.
This topic could fill an entire chapter of a book (I mean it has, many times. One great example is in Glenn Fishers book, the Art of the Click) so I’m not going to cover it in any great depth here.
But there are a few things to bear in mind.
A successful content marketing headline should either intrigue, with a promise of treasure within (5 ways to do X…, how to do X…, I managed to do X in X days… etc.) or disrupt someone by providing something controversial, exciting or downright weird.
Even the whole numerical list headline is arguably getting a little tired. It’s everywhere and the chances are a very similar article already exists, in some cases multiple times over.
Spending a significant amount of time on the headline and coming up with something creative is a huge part of the copywriter’s job. So, follow suit with your own.
Keep writing those blogs
It might be tempting to come to the conclusion that if not many people are reading your blog or visiting your site, that it’s not worth carrying on. Depends how good the blog is I suppose.
But one thing is for sure. It takes time to build up an audience.
I don’t know this for certain but I think it’s possible that people are more likely to read something if it’s from a source they’ve visited before. If someone’s read your blog before and enjoyed it, they may read the next one purely out of interest.
If you post regularly enough you will start to build up a reputation and your social following will expect to see something from you come up on their feed. They may begin to look forward to it and actually read it out of habit.
Think of TV shows or podcasts or other forms of content you enjoy. You may not consume every single one of them but you will check in on the vast majority of it, simply because you have an idea of what to expect and you have a certain degree of loyalty to that brand.
Hopefully your readers will feel the same way.
Keep pressing on and you will eventually begin to see results.
Thinking this is all great, but you just don’t have the time?
Well fortunately I can write blogs with attention grabbing headlines, interesting tone of voice and I’ll throw in a cool, unique blog image too!
If that sounds like what you need, drop me a line/connect with me on LinkedIn/do whatever it takes to grab my attention and we’ll go from there!