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Attempting to attract a larger audience through your blog is a challenge most businesses, large and small, must face. Especially if you are a small business owner, it is beneficial to do everything you possibly can to promote new posts. From sharing it to talking about it, every little bit helps. But in the end, enthusiastic promotion is rarely enough to gain a wider audience. In fact, many bloggers find themselves spread too thin and easily lose sight of what’s truly important. Working hard goes a long way, but working smart is just as important. There are a number of things you can do to maximize your blog’s potential without breaking a sweat.
Content Remains King
As is often the case in marketing, your success will rely heavily on the quality of your content. All other considerations are meaningless if the actual content found in the blog is unimpressive. A post with proper grammar and an effective voice will always rank higher with Google than an error riddled piece that fails to establish any sense of purpose. If you focus on writing a well-written, informative blog post, you will end up with a piece that stands a much better chance of being read.
Include Quality Links
After establishing some well-written content of your own, seek out quality posts related to the topic of your piece and include their links. Often overlooked, this step adds an enormous amount of value to your post and can play a massive role in encouraging a wider reach. Look to include articles written by active promoters and those hosted on high-quality blog sites to gain additional credibility. It is certainly worth your time to do so.
Select the Proper Social Media Channels
It is tempting to feel like your blog content must be featured across every major social media platform available. However, this is simply not the case. Instead, focus on a select few platforms and ensure the post is tailored to fit each one. If your blog consistently lacks interesting or unique visuals, there is no need to include it on Pinterest or Instagram. Though you might be tempted to insert an image at the last minute to qualify it for Instagram, it will not be well-received among those on the site if the image is unoriginal. Rather than worry about such issues, focus on what your blog does possess. Whatever its strengths, ensure it is featured only on the sites that complement its essence.
Scheduling Makes a Difference
In addition to recognizing the right channels to use for your blog, it is also important to recognize the appropriate times in which to post. Understanding the behavior of your target audience and when the most opportune times to reach them are is necessary when attempting to grow your readership. Some of the best tools for making these scheduling decisions are Sprout Social, Followerwonk, and Google Analytics.
Share More Than Just a Link
One of the easiest ways to sabotage a quality blog post is failing to include an image or video when sharing the link to Facebook and Twitter. A link lacking an image might as well be nonexistent given the discriminating nature of those scrolling through their busy feeds. Consider creating an original image as well, because an eye-catching visual can make all the difference when trying to attract those elusive readers.
Though no small task, gaining a larger audience for your blog is not impossible. If you don't lose sight of what's important and don't spread yourself too thin, you'll be well on your way to reaching more readers in no time.
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