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So, you finally created a blog, and are feeling happy with it. It’s full of interesting posts, guides, videos and infographics – but you aren’t getting the traffic you think you deserve. What happens next? The chances are you are making some common mistakes with your blog, and need to make a few changes. I’m going to reveal a few fixes for you right now – so read on to find out more!

 

Start networking

 

If your blog is failing to attract a decent amount of visitors, it’s time to start making a name for yourself. But it’s no good just standing up and saying: ”Hey, look at me!” No one will care, and you won’t stand out against the noise. Blogging is about 10% of what you know, and 90% of who you know – so you have to start networking with the top bloggers in your field. Develop key relationships with respected and favorite bloggers, and it opens up a world of opportunity. People will see your interactions and will be more likely to listen to what you have to say. You will soon find you get more traffic, social shares, and a lot more engagement on your blog.

 

Guest blog

 

Start guest blogging for the right blogs or organizations, and your reputation will start to soar. Start by getting to know editors of the online magazines and blogs that you love – follow them on social media, for example. Once you have established a relationship, you can start thinking about pitching an article idea to them. When editors recognize your name, they tend to take the time to consider your pitch. What if your idea is rejected? Don’t panic – and get used to it. Pitching article ideas is as much of a skill as writing, so it is something that you will get to learn the more you do it.

 

Refresh your content

 

Have a long, hard, honest look at the content on your blog. Is it really of a quality high enough to deserve a bigger audience and grow an online business? There are millions of blogs out there, and many of them churn out the same old articles, time and time again. Good blogs focus on quality over quantity – never forget that. And publishing content for content’s sake is going to harm your business dreams rather than make them a reality.

 

Redefine your target audience

 

Is your blog generic, and do you post about generic subjects? If so, you are going to be up against an enormous amount of competition. You should focus on targeting a particular niche, instead. For example, let’s say you are a business blogger – a quick search on Google reveals there are 714,000,000 results for that particular topic. But what if you decide to focus on a niche, such as business blogging for law firms? Google only brings back 1.53 million results. Now, you might think that you are missing out on an enormous market opportunity by going more niche. But the opposite is the case – it gives you a laser-targeted audience, and will help you speak to them in their language.

 

Don’t write for you – write for your audience

 

When you start a blog, you will find you write about anything and everything. That’s OK, as you are just finding your feet. However, it’s time to leave the ego at the door if you want to grow your blog, and start writing for your target audience. How do you get started with this? Well, first of all, you should start tracking your analytics – which blog posts are most popular, and which are attracting no interest whatsoever. Your aim should be to do more of the former, and less of the latter – in fact, you might want to consider removing poor performing posts or repurposing them entirely. You should also keep an eye out for recent trends so you can create newsworthy content – which is perfect for getting visibility and developing a reputation as a ‘go-to’ source for news.

 

Promotion, promotion, promotion

 

Finally, you can’t expect your audience or blogging friends to give you exposure – you have to get out there and promote it yourself. And it’s not enough to just share your content on your social media accounts. The success rates for organic sharing on social media are minuscule – you might get the occasional bit of traction, but returns are poor. Instead, try investing a little money in advertising your work. And here’s the thing – if you feel comfortable enough with your work that you would back it with money, it’s a good sign it is of a sufficiently high quality. Finally, if you don’t’ want to pay for an ad,  you probably aren’t happy with the content – and need to go back to the drawing board.