How to Promote Your Blog

So, you've gone to the trouble to set up a blog and now you want some readers to go along with it. This sounds much easier than done, especially on the vast and wide Internet, thus a few tips would definitely come in handy. Here are several things that any blogger blogging about any topic can do to increase the prominence of his or her blog online.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Start your blog and post new content regularly. Contrary to early popular opinion, a blogger doesn't have to publish articles several times a day or everyday at all to boost the blog's prominence. Too many posts can become just as annoying to keep up with as too few posts are irritating to wait around for, and overly frequent posting can also lead to rushed content that's boring, poorly written, or irrelevant. The most important thing is to offer new content at least several times a week and to stick with that level consistently. This lets new visitors know that you're serious about your blog and providing useful content to your audience. Commitment ultimately breeds regular readers.

2. Respond to the comments that readers leave without fail. This practice demonstrates that you care about your audience and appreciate their visits. Readers who feel that you are grateful for their patronage are more likely to pass on good word of mouth to others about you and your blog.

3. Consider including links to your other online ventures, such as additional blogs or a personal website, if you have any. Avoid overkill, however. Make the links discrete and less showy by putting them in a sidebar or at the bottom of posts rather than at the top of the blog or posts. Interested readers will then know where to find more of your work without feeling like they're being hit over the head or begged to do so.

4. Ensure that your blog is listed at Google. Like it or not, Google is presently the top search engine among Web users, which means it's in your blog's best interest to be indexed there. Check to see if your blog is already indexed by visiting Google and searching for your blog's URL address URL.

5. Submit your blog to Google if it's not already indexed. Visit http://www.google.com/addurl.html and enter the requested information in the submission form.

6. Visit other blogs in your field and make informative and intelligent comments whenever applicable. Many blogs allow commenters to include links in their comments or make the name that they provide link to a website. Take advantage of this option to enable other commenters to visit your blog.

7. Offer your blogging services to other blog masters if you have expertise in a subject. Such guest posts can be paid or unpaid, but the main goal is to establish your reputation by affiliating with other respected and accomplished bloggers. Keep your eyes open for guest blogging opportunities in your niche as your read blogs or contact one or more fellow bloggers to see if they'd be interested in a one-time or regular arrangement. Some might even wish to reciprocate and provide guest posts for your blog, too.

8. Research blog carnivals in your blogging specialty and make arrangements to have your work included in one of these virtual magazines. Visit Blog Carnival to learn more about how this type of event operates.

Tips & Warnings

• Keep your expectations in check. There are thousands upon thousands of blogs out there, with the number increasing by the second. Hence, blogging is not a game of instant gratification, simply because there are too many blogs to spread around. Achieving prominence takes a lot of effort, persistence, and time.
• Practice proper blog etiquette. When commenting on a blog that allows readers to include links, don't overdo it. One link back to your blog is enough, so if you link with your name, don't repeat the link in the text of the post. Doing so or including a lot of irrelevant links within the comment can lead to bad feelings about overpromotion, as well as deletion of the comment or banning from the site if the offense is committed often enough.

Resources

• Blog Carnival
• Google

[reachingmydream]

on 3/31/2009 Good idea on the blog carnival and etiquette

[STRAIGHTALK]

on 12/25/2008 I read it could use some more, resource links but still it's well written and makes lots of sense Keep up the Great work there Mr. Williams.

STRAIGHTALk
Norman Flecha