It’s an obvious question.
It’s a question I get all the time.
So I figured it was time to write about it.
How does one get more readers for a new blog?
The question is something folks have asked me over the years. It’s a smart question and one that new bloggers ask often. Even experienced bloggers look for ways to increase their incoming traffic.
This is the best way I’ve found to be able to increase blogging traffic, subscribers and even profit for a blog.
Guest Posting to Increase Blog Traffic
Since my first blog, Hunting Business Marketing, I’ve been using guest blog posting as a way to increase blog traffic.
To promote HBM, I would connect with folks in the hunting community. I found a lot of these folks on Twitter. Over time, relationships were developed and guest posting opportunities would arise. Sometimes I would be the one to ask. Other times people would ask me.
The thing with bloggers is that they are usually looking for ways to publish more content on their site. In most cases you’ll find this to be true. The difficult part is there are only so many minutes in a day and bloggers typically don’t blog full time. So the only way to increase blog post frequency is to have others contribute.
Guest posting is a true win-win for both parties involved. The owner of a blog gets content for their site. The guest writer usually gets a byline with their name and information. Sometimes there is even a link included back to the guest author’s website or blog.
The best way to start guest posting is to analyze blogs with similar target readers. You want to makes sure you’re writing to the same audience as your own blog. The idea with guest blogging, from the guest’s perspective, is to attract the attention of someone else’s audience. You kind of give a preview of your own personality and insight and they might venture over to your blog to check things out.
Think of it like the movie stars that go on The Late Show with David Letterman. The movie star is there to promote themselves and the movie. Dave has a built-in audience from the years of hard work in building his own community. Dave needs things to discuss, though, so he brings in stars. The star gets access to Dave’s audience and vice versa. Sometimes the stars will bring an audience to Dave as well.
Both sides benefit.
That’s the key and the reason guest posting works.
To recap on how to find places to guest post:
- Find a blog with a similar target audience
- Form a relationship with the blog owner (honest relationship)
- Offer something of value to them. Don’t assume that they will want you or think you’re awesome.
That brings up one last important point. You have to be genuine with guest posting. You can just go around asking for guest posting opportunities and demanding links back to your blog. You have to genuinely want to make the blog of the person you’re writing for better. This often requires you to share your absolute best content for their site.
Some people get hung up on this fact.
You likely need to write better content for your guest posting articles.
I’ll close out with a few examples of places where I have written guest posts.
It’s still something I look to do today.
Sarah Lynn Design
I write regular posts for Sarah and have started writing a weekly column every Thursday. I write about the intersection of content and design.
Favorite Guest Post: Important Elements of Blog Design
TwiTip
Darren tweeted out for guest authors when he first started this site. I submitted an idea to his editor and got accepted.
Favorite Guest Post: The #1 Secrete to Follow Friday Success
The Future Buzz
Adam was one of the first people I met in the blogging world and still read his blog almost daily. You can spend days in the archives at The Future Buzz.
Favorite Guest Post: Niche Blogging Case Study
Empty Audience courtesy of jrvetson