The Number One Thing to do to Grow Your Blog
plus a few other tips
This post may seem super simple, but in my quest for simplicity this year, I decided it was worth writing anyway. I’ve seen many small business owners struggle with blogging over the past couple of years (myself included) and although some people think blogging is dying, there are still some benefits to blogging for your business. But that’s not what this post is about so let’s get back on track.
When I see new business owners starting out they are always asking:
“how many blog posts should I have on my site when I launch?”
“how many days a week should I post a new blog?”
“what days of the week should I post my blog on?”
There is nothing wrong with these questions - they are actually great ones to ask as they help build out your content plan and calendar.
Consistency is the answer
You’ll hear varying answers from everyone and I said, it is good to answer those questions in order to set your content plan, but the main thing you want to determine for your business is “can I maintain this plan?”. When I’m working with a client through their Boss Babe Mentorship, I always ask them if the plan they’ve set for themselves feels truly doable. A lot of the times, it isn’t. We take a step back and work through their personal and business life to determine what type of content plan works best for them and not everyone else.
Some of my clients feel comfortable releasing 3 posts a week, and some only once each week. There is no right answer to this, except what is right for you. Don’t overdo it when you first launch and then run out of blog ideas. Personally, I like just writing once a week, and then adding in a second blog if I do a video that week. One blog a week may not seem like enough when you need content to share on social media, but you can share your blog content in various ways throughout the week (that blog post is coming soon!)
I told you it would be a simple answer - set a plan and stay consistent.
Other tips for growing your blog
I’ll go through these a bit quicker but wanted you to have
Sharing consistently - You can’t just post a blog on your site and hope it gains traction. I also don’t think you can just rely on Instagram. With a limited place for clickable links, it isn’t a great solo-strategy plan. My suggestion is to post on your Facebook page and your Pinterest account as well. Heck, share it on Twitter too! There’s nothing wrong with getting it out everywhere, in my opinion. You also need to have a plan for re-sharing. I’ll be honest and admit I’m not as great at this piece. I do it with my clients a lot, but not for my own stuff. *making a note on my Daily Business Checklist to reload my Pinterest and Twitter queues*.
Having guest posts - I’ve seen this replaced recently with podcast guests, but if you struggle with coming up with 4 blogs each month, turn one into a client project showcase and ask for guest posts! *making another DBH note*. They will most likely share it too, but even if they don’t, having their name on your site will help when others are searching for them on Google. It really is a win-win for all.
Do a mini-series - Writing a 3-part series will keep people coming back to see what you’re talking about next. Make sure to leave a cliff hanger and then go back and add the links to “keep reading”. Google LOVES when you can naturally have backlinks to your own site and it keeps people on your site longer. Don’t do one mini-series after another all the time, but maybe one each quarter (pro-tip: and 3 isn’t a magic number, but definitely more than 2).
Smarter not harder - I used to care about not using stock photos and being a bit prideful in coming up with my own images for each post and creating my own graphics (I think I count at least 3 types of graphics needed for each post). But I realized it stressed me out each time I wrote a post to come up with something. So I stopped blogging for a while. I recently invested in Nicholette’s Canva Templates and Jana’s Stock Collection, and while I don’t have a way to exactly measure my Return On Investment for these, I do know it is making coming back to blogging a lot easier. Oh, and these aren’t affiliate links, I just love them!
Okay, that’s it for now! I’ve got some ideas for a whole blogging checklist, but I think this is the best place to start.