build blog traffic – Be Well Consulting Group

Thanks to the Your Turn Blog Challenge, I’m on a roll. This is day four of the seven-day challenge. I’ve completed four blog posts, joined two blogging communities, and put an end to my drought in the blog-o-sphere.

Like many people, I’m using the start of the new year as an opportunity to set some goals, reassess what’s important to me, and get down to work. How lucky am I that Winnie Kao and Seth Godin are using the new year to motivate bloggers to put their thoughts in print. Brilliant for them; inspiring for me.

Creating quite a buzz online, this group of hundreds is burning up the interwebs with thoughts that otherwise would not have been shared. I’ve read some amazing posts; take a look at this post by Heather Parady. It by far my favorite: Intense. Real. Thought-Provoking. Head on over to twitter and search #YourTurnChallenge. Set your timer; this is a seemingly endless rabbit hole – all good stuff that will keep you here past your bedtime.

Now take a look at your plans for 2015. Use this challenge to move the needle on your goals. What small steps can you take today to move forward? And then tomorrow? Remember, you’ve got that clean slate. No labels. No negative self-talk. No excuses.

2015 appears to be the year for shipping. I’d love to know what you’re shipping.

January’s Clean Slate: Take Advantage of the Opportunity to Recharge, Restart, and Reboot was last modified: January 22nd, 2015 by Deb Nelson

You’ve made the commitment to blogging. You’ve even put it on your calendar and have become a blog-writing machine. One blog post a day. No topic is off limits. All of a sudden, you lift your head up and wonder why your readership is so low and, holy cow, why no one has commented on one of your posts in weeks.

You’ve got a choice to make here: Get discouraged or regroup. If you choose to regroup (as I hope you will), here are a few tips that might help you increase traffic to your blog and expand your audience:

Learn everything you can about your audience. This will help you understand exactly what the people you’re writing for are interested in learning. Oh, what’s that? Your audience is everyone? Really? Everyone? It’s time to have a brainstorming session with a small group of trusted advisors, narrow your scope, and tailor your message to your audience.
Be relevant. This means you have to ask yourself the tough questions about the content of your blog: Who Cares? So What? If your blog post doesn’t provide value to your audience, it’s back to the drawing board – or blogging board – for you. Delete, and begin anew. Nothing to say? Save your writing for another day. Otherwise, you may very well have a snoozer of a blog post.
Be remarkable. Ho-hum has got to go. When you sit down to write your blog, think about blogs that you look forward to reading. You know the ones I’m talking about, the blogs you immediately read when that email notification arrives in your inbox. Here are a few of my favorites:
Content Marketing Institute
flyte new media
Christopher S. Penn
UnMarketing
Be social. Write your blog in a conversational tone to encourage reader comments and shares. That means it’s okay to use contractions and informal language. After all, you’ve done the research, and you’ve become friends with your audience. Your blog shouldn’t read like a stuffy speech to a group of strangers. (If you’ve got a stuffy speech for a group of strangers, re-write it as though you’ve already made friends with this group.)
Avoid acronyms at all costs. This is a logical next step to being social. Acronyms and corporate speak are exclusive, rather than inclusive. If you want to expand your influence, your words should be welcoming to, and readily understood by, anyone who wanders through your blog’s pages.

Good luck in your blogging adventures. Got any favorites of your own? Post below and we’ll check them out.

You’re Blogging. Anyone Listening? Five Tips to Build Your Blog’s Traffic. was last modified: August 8th, 2012 by Deb Nelson

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