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How to get people to read your blog

posted in: Blogging 42

When it comes to blogging we are all pretty much little fish in a big pond. Our ability to grow our blog depends not on just creating great content but also on how we then promote it so that we are found.

In this article I will be sharing practical solution that will show you how to get people to read your blog and how to increase blog traffic.

How to get people to read your blog

How to get people to read your blog

There are some key ingredients that you need when it comes to starting a blog. If you are already blogging then you may need to just adjust what you are doing to increase your blog traffic.

It all starts with your site layout

Your site needs to look good and appealing to visitors. You need a good-looking, professional theme. I like free so free themes are good but premium themes are better as highlighted in my How to avoid WordPress problems post.

When you create a new blog you need to look good in all formats. Your mobile presence is incredibly important so make sure that your blog has a responsive theme that adjusts to the screen it is shown on. You can also consider going down the AMP route which is very beneficial for SEO.

How to get your blog noticed by Google

Of course, SEO plays a big part in solving the puzzle of how to get your blog noticed on Google along with keyword research.

If you have a good theme then some of the SEO basics are covered just by default settings. For example, each post title will be h1 by default and a good premium theme will be faster than a free theme providing you don’t weigh it down with plugins. But you will need some basic knowledge that covers on and off page SEO. You can check out my SEO Guide 2018, it is all covered there.

Keyword research is something that is also important but not to the degree you are told it is.

There are really no good free keyword research tools apart from Ubersuggest. Of course, there are lots of paid for versions but why would you pay to cover keyword research when it is not keyword research that brings the results. It is just one element to help you get people to read your blog and to get noticed by Google.

I even argue that conventional keyword research is no longer necessary in my Never do keyword research again. Do this instead article. And if you read that post you will know why you don’t need keyword research tools and why you certainly don’t need to spend money on keyword research. That is not how to get people to read your blog. That is just how you waste your time and money.

How to get traffic to your blog

SEO and Keyword Research are just two parts of the puzzle to solving how you get traffic to your blog and how to get your blog noticed by Google. But they don’t guarantee results. SEO and Keyword Research should be a very simple process. There is no need to spend hours and hours optimizing. Because all the optimization under the sun won’t solve the problem of how to get people to read your blog or how to get traffic to your blog.

What counts is how good your content is and how long and how rich it is.

So when I say that spending hours on SEO and Keyword Research is a waste of time all I am saying is that your time is better spent creating content. Yes, of course, you cover your SEO optimizing and your keyword research. You cover your SEO as you write the content so it shouldn’t take very long to optimize and keyword research is as quick as a couple of Google searches.

Spend your time on your content.

How to increase traffic to your blog

So let’s solve the “how to get people to read my blog” problem.

If it’s not SEO and Keyword research that counts then what makes the difference?

Well, your content is key, how good it is and how long it is are major factors.

When you write a blog article how long are your posts on average?

Yoast SEO will guide you and turn green at 300 words. They say that that is the minimum recommended length. When you get that green light do you stop?

There are some topics that can’t be covered in 300 characters. 1000 is still way too short. Your blog posts should be pushing 2000-2500 characters per post.

Brain Dean (BackLinko) analyzed 1 million search results and here is what he learned about post length.

Based on SERP data from SEMRush, we found that longer content tends to rank higher in Google’s search results. 

The average Google first page result contains 1,890 words.

How to get people to read your blog - Content word count averages
Image Source BackLinko

You can read Brians full list of findings in his article here – We Analyzed 1 Million Google Search Results. Here’s What We Learned About SEO

So does this mean that all your articles have to be pushing 2000 characters?

No, because if you have done your keyword research with Google you will know who is ranking for the keywords you are optimizing and if the results ranking are coming in at around 600 words then writing 1000 will be a huge benefit. If the ranking posts are on average 1000 then write 1500.

Just write more than your competitors.

The more you write the more you get noticed. And eventually, you will be seen as a potential authority and be sent some Google Traffic.

But again writing long-form content will not guarantee that you are noticed by Google and if you are not noticed by Google then your struggle with traffic and you will struggle to get people to read your blog.

How to get people to read your blog right now!

If you want to get people to read your blog right now, if you want to increase traffic to your blog then you must actively promote your blog to all your social media channels.

Social media is pretty much instant traffic and a very good indicator as to how good your content is to Google. If it is shared a lot then that is the quickest way for Google to notice your blog.

Here is my social media and Indexing strategy that I use every single time that I create and share new content

1/ I Share my post on my Facebook Page and then to 3 or 4 relevant groups and then also onto my profile.

 

2/ My post is then shared on my Twitter account. But I don’t just make a quick tweet I change the call to action from just the post title to something more interesting and compelling for my followers to engage with. And I, of course, add in my @dexterroona username so that I get notifications and 3 or 4 relevant hashtags to help visibility.

 

3/ Next it is off to Google Plus. Google Plus still hold weight to help your blog get noticed. It is after all Google. Sharing to Google Plus helps your pages to index in search faster.

 

4/ Then we share to our LinkedIn

 

5/ Next up is Pinterest. I use Pinterest a lot and I even go as far to add images to my posts that are more formatted to work well on Pinterest.

There is masses of traffic to be gained from Pinterest if you can build up some authority on Pinterest

 

6/ Onto another favourite of mine, StumbleUpon

 

7/ Next I notify the Reddit platform of my contents existence.

 

8/ Then the article link is shared to Digg.

 

9/ I then pay my Google Search Console and I fetch and render my posts link. Doing this on Infobunny pretty much gets my post indexed instantly. Asking Google to index my new content is the quickest way to get noticed by Google.

 

10/ The following day we share to my Content Curation sites. Scoop.It, Pocket, Pearltrees, Flipboard, Wakelet and Listly. They all receive shares.

 

11/ More social sharing. I send my content to Instapaper, Quora and Klout.

 

12/ Comment on other bloggers content. If you create good quality valuable comments then the owners are sure to pay you a visit.

 

13/ Finally every so often I will make a cutdown version of my new content and go to a few social blogging sites like Steemit, and Medium and share to those platforms

As you can see I do quite a lot just after I have posted a new article. Well, it sounds quite a lot but it actually takes around 15 mins. Now you’re going to have your own favourite sites to share to and how many you share to is really up to you. The big point I’m making is that after you send your new post live, that’s not the end.

Being proactive is how to get people to read your blog. Being proactive is how you get people to your blog and how you build traffic to your blog

The problem with social media

The problem with social media is that social shares have a lifespan and it’s effectiveness diminishes as time passes. That’s why we all want masses of shares, to keep the positive effect that social media has going.

But you can’t just keep sharing and be sharing yourself you need a little help.

Help comes in the form of ViralContentBee. I really can’t say enough good things about ViralContentBee. It is just great and gaining shares for you. If you want to know how ViralContentBee works then I urge you to read my ViralContentBee Guide

Something extra that I often do is make specific graphics to share to Pinterest that never actually appear on my site. This is a great way just to keep the buzz going and if one cates fire of Pinterest then you really will increase traffic to your blog

How to get people to read your blog 

If you want to get people to read your blog. If you want to be noticed by Google and build traffic then there is no quick solution. You really do have to cover all the bases. SEO and Keyword Research are key element in helping you get people to read your blog.

With SEO you optimize your site’s pages in a way that Google likes. With keyword research you layout what your content is actually about.

Should you spend an age on SEO and keyword research. No. If you are writing long, posts and you now know you should be then it will take even longer to SEO optimized if you are fixed in turning all the Yoast lights green because the longer your content the more times you need to get your keywords into the body in order to go green and stay green.

Writing long generates keywords so rather than stuffing your main phrase in just to stay green, instead use variants and just make your article read better.Google still knows what you are saying.

Once you are published then promote. Promoting on social media is fast traffic to your site. It is about as instant as it gets.

Don’t wait for Google to discover you. Instead, make a noise so Google takes notice. They will see all the social signals you are generating they will notice the traffic hitting your site.

Your Checklist

1/ Keyword Research

You have an idea for an article so now you know what keywords to use. Just Google search a couple of ideas for phrases that you think searchers might be putting into Google.

Take a note of what comes up, particularly related searches and the People also ask questions. These are the words and phrases your potential visitors are searching for.

Congratulations you just discovered the users intent. You can not only use these words and phrases within your article you can also use them to formulate a great keyword based title. If you are optimized for schema rich snippets then finding the user intent and then appealing to and answering the users intent is absolutely key to getting your rich snippets appearing in the search results.

While you are checking Google for the best user intent keyword phrases to bring people to your blog make sure that you pay attention to the competition.

There are 4 questions to ask

Is the content related to your niche?

Are the search results that show related to your articles niche. Keywords can be related to multiple niches so make sure that your proposed phrases are dominated by your niche

Are the pages ranking authority sites?

Can you compete with authority sites? If you can’t then maybe these phrases are too difficult to rank for. Dig a bit deeper into the results and find phrases that are less competitive.

How long are the articles?

Write long, longer than the competition. Good well, structured relevant Long-form content is what makes a difference. Use the results as an example of what you should be doing and do it better and write longer.

Are Google Ads leading the results?

If Ads dominate the first 3-4 spots before the search results show then these are highly competitive keywords. Competitive enough for advertisers to pay to get ahead of you and everyone else.

2/ SEO

Structure your posts and pages to compliment Google and Bings SEO requirements. A good SEO Plugin like Yoast will guide you as to what you need to do. But as I said earlier don’t fixate on getting everything to turn green. SEO is part of the natural content creation process, optimize as you go so that when you get to the end everything is optimized. Don’t write your content and then spend an age tweaking it.

3/ Long-form content

Your posts need to be long. Certainly over 1500 characters. The longer the better.

4/ Social media

While you wait for Google to give you some love you get active. Social media is as close to instant traffic as there is. Be active, drive traffic to your blog. Get Google to take notice of your site. Bering people in to read your blog.

How to get people to read your blog

How to get people to read your blog – Takeaways

If you want people to read your blog then you have to cover all bases. Keyword Research and SEO do not guarantee success. What good is a carefully optimized post that is 300 characters when on average the length of any posts ranking page 1 will more than likely be 1500-2000 characters?

For Google to send you search traffic you need to be offering good long-form content that answers user intent and you must do so consistently. You have to build up the reputation and authority of your domain and you only do that if you cover all the bases, Keyword Research, SEO, Long-Form content creation and Social Media

Now it’s over to you.

How do you drive traffic to your blog?

Whats your strategy to get Google to notice you?

How do you get people to read your blog?

Let me know in the comments section below.

Regards Dexter

Related Articles

Does Google trust your site – How to build authority with Google

Never do keyword research again. Do this instead

Summary
How to get people to read your blog
Article Name
How to get people to read your blog
Description
When it comes to blogging we are all pretty much little fish in a big pond. Our ability to grow our blog depends not on just creating great content but also on how we then promote it so that we are found. In this article, I will be sharing practical solution that will show you how to get people to read your blog
Author
Publisher Name
Infobunny
Publisher Logo
Follow Dexter Roona:
Social Media Expert and Blogger. I love all elements of social media and my InfoBunny Blog is now really just about providing help for those looking to build their Social Media Authority.

42 Responses

  1. Hazel Jarrett
    | Reply

    Great post, Dexter. So much actionable info and thanks for sharing your social media and indexing strategy. I create a lot of long-form content over on our blog and I optimise and promote them well, but I see I can do more!

    • Dexter Roona
      |

      Hi Hazel. Thanks for stopping by. Yes, we can always do more. I do a lot because after I have written a long post I’m pretty wiped out so just simple promotion is a light relief to creating the content. Then a week or so I will share again but change the call to action and as you know VCB is very useful for keeping the shares ticking over.

  2. Gaurav Kumar
    | Reply

    Hi Dexter,

    Social sharing and social bookmarking is a great way to boost site traffic and grab more eyeballs. I have used most of the sites but I have never thought about Wakelet. It is new for me. I like to learn more places to share my content and boost traffic.

    Thanks for sharing.
    Gaurav Kumar recently posted…Complete Digital Marketing Guide : Everything You Need to KnowMy Profile

  3. cityceilings
    | Reply

    Hi very nice article keep it up the good work Wonderful!! Thank you for posting informative blog. Your posts are more interesting and informative

  4. Vikram Meena
    | Reply

    Impressive post shared by you!!! Your post is very useful not only as the view of SEO, but also view to get attention of viewers and hold them to blog. I will try to implement to my blog next time.

    Thanks for the post…

    • Dexter Roona
      |

      Great let me know if you need any help.

  5. Richard Monssen
    | Reply

    Hi Dexter,

    Awesome article my friend! You do go through quite the process for advertising and promoting your articles. We are on the same page again with how we write our content in relation to SEO – except I still don’t notify Google to crawl my site. I probably should go to the same extent as you do to promote my blog posts – I just simply don’t have that time available. So I rely mostly on SEO and social sharing at this point to generate my website traffic – I am sure you are likely getting more website traffic than myself – wouldn’t mind knowing your traffic stats mate 😉

    Thanks for another great read Dexter!

    • Dexter Roona
      |

      Fetch and Render is the quickest way to get indexed.

  6. Johanna Galyen
    | Reply

    Dexter,

    Very informative post! I had vaguely heard of Instapaper last week but brushed it off with the other places I share my content. But now I’m curious about it, and I will definitely look into it now.

    I have tried to use ViralBee a couple of times, but have had very little success. My niche is too specific for the site it seems. However Triberr and Medium have been gold-mines for me for exposure and even some income. Lastly, I tend to write at the 1000 word count on average, but I guess it’s time to up my game to 1500! To me, the first 200 words are the hardest to write, and then hitting a thousand becomes really easy. Thanks for some great tips! Johanna
    Johanna Galyen recently posted…Sorry, But It’s Nap TimeMy Profile

  7. Sonal Talwar
    | Reply

    Hi Dexter

    Very informative post! Yes you are right that apart from SEO and keyword research there are other things also that needs to be considered. The content has to be rich to attract the audience.

    Thanks for sharing this wonderful post!
    Sonal Talwar recently posted…8 Common Skin Care Myths DemystifiedMy Profile

    • Dexter Roona
      |

      Yes, you need all the ingredients. SEO and Keyword Research only take you so far. If you just use those elements your going to be waiting a long time. You will get results but it will take a very long time. Mix in the other ingredients and it will happen a lot faster.
      Dexter Roona recently posted…How to get people to read your blogMy Profile

  8. Raghav
    | Reply

    Information is given above was important for any S.E.O field Working person and few things really impactful or hooking-up to a visitor that makes them read the blog.
    Catchy Title.
    The way of delivering information in the word.
    Language that makes people comfortable to read the information.

  9. Monna Ellithorpe
    | Reply

    Hi Dexter,

    Whoa, I didn’t realize there were so many more places to notify when you’re done with a blog post. A few I’ve heard of but many I haven’t. I have some work ahead of me, along with the Twitter info you shared with me last week.

    Thanks so much for sharing your great knowledge.

    • Dexter Roona
      |

      Your welcome. I recommend sharing to Wakelet, StumbleUpon and Pinterest 😉

  10. Lesly Federici
    | Reply

    Overwhelming post … filled with guidance for people to absorb. … excellent and very helpful 🙂

  11. Rachel Lavern
    | Reply

    Oh my. I very rarely write a post of 2000 words (not even close). Also need to check my analytics.
    Rachel Lavern recently posted…Brand Building in 5 StepsMy Profile

  12. Janice Wald
    | Reply

    Hi Dexter,
    I research SEO tips constantly. My research is mixed. Thanks for the confirmation about what is true vs. what isn’t. I appreciate the inspiration to continue to make my posts longer. A Takeaway section is an easy way to do this but I forget. Stumbled!
    Janice

  13. Elise Ho
    | Reply

    I always find the length posts to be interesting. I do not particularly like to read an overly long post. This can be for several reasons but I do want to do more research into google’s thoughts on this.
    Elise Ho recently posted…Lowering Your Cholesterol For Heart HealthMy Profile

  14. MOHD WASIL ANSARI
    | Reply

    Hello Dexter,

    Everybody can start a blog, but the main thing is getting the readers and create an engagement with them.
    Thanks for sharing these tips, keep it up.
    Awesome write-up! Keep up the good work. 🙂
    MOHD WASIL ANSARI recently posted…Best Apps To Hack In-App Purchase in ANDROIDMy Profile

  15. Darleen Prangue
    | Reply

    Hello, Dexter.

    I like your writing style, yes there are many things apart from SEO which needs to be taken into consideration for increasing readership and decreasing bounce rate, I have a doubt do colour scheme also affects and matter in engaging readership?
    Cheers!
    Darleen Prangue

    • Dexter Roona
      |

      Yes a badly thought out colour scheme can put people off.

  16. Paul Towers
    | Reply

    There are some solid recommendations there and I like how you have a process for sharing the link over the first few days.

    I’m going to give this strategy a test and see how it compares to what I have been doing with my blog to date.

    Paul

    • Dexter Roona
      |

      Great let me know if it works for you.

  17. Georgia Aby
    | Reply

    I wanted to thank you for this great writing!! I definitely enjoying every little bit of it and I have you bookmarked to check out new stuff you post.

    • Dexter Roona
      |

      Great you can opt-into the mailing list as well.

  18. vikas
    | Reply

    Hello Mate, You had written and interesting and impressive article mate,

    I am vikas gupta from india and i really like your article and style of writing.

    I would love to receive other articles from you in my email, kindly do add my email id in your subscription list.

    I am sure you will add my email in your mailing list.

    Thanks

    Vikas Gupta

    • Dexter Roona
      |

      Just opt-in in the box on the sidebar.

  19. Ryan Biddulph
    | Reply

    Good stuff Dexter. Big fan of blog commenting here. Doing it to add value and adding a social share or 2 really helps drill the point how, because you make friends through genuine blog commenting, leading to blog traffic and many sweet benefits for both parties. Thanks for commenting on my blog over the years bro 😉

    Ryan
    Ryan Biddulph recently posted…How Can You Really Stand Out During Your Blogger Outreach Campaign?My Profile

    • Dexter Roona
      |

      No problem feel free to tag me if you want me to see anything.

  20. Gary
    | Reply

    Very in depth article, very very informative and makes complete sense. Wonderful job.

  21. Vivek Dubey
    | Reply

    It is a great idea that you’ve shared this important information regarding Blog. It has helped me in ranking my website, as I am an SEO Executive, I am liable to work for the rankings of the website thus it is on us that we work for the website. I am thankful for your blog as it provided me a useful piece of knowledge, it is like a step upwards on a ladder.

  22. juanyelle
    | Reply

    Simply want to say that your article is as surprising as it could get. The neatness in your post is just perfect and I could assume you are an expert on this subject. Thank you so much for such a fine piece of information to keep myself updated, also keep such posts coming in regularly so that they help people like us. Thanks a million and please carry on the commendable work.

  23. jay
    | Reply

    provide contents that work for you or your office friend or family

    so people love to read
    jay recently posted…How to disable chrome auto update 2018My Profile

  24. Deepak Khanduri
    | Reply

    Impressive post shared by you!!! Your post is very useful not only as the view of SEO, but also view to get attention of viewers and hold them to blog. I will try to implement to my blog next time.

    Thanks for the post…

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