You feel duped.
After creating your blog, writing content nonstop, taking photographs for your website, you wonder if it was all a waste of time. You followed word-by-word the instructions given by your favourite bloggers on how to create your very own corner of the web.
However, none of it seems to be working. Traffic is barely trickling in, visitors arenât sharing your posts, and youâre starting to feel the excitement wear off.
Itâs not that creating a successful blog is impossible nowadays, itâs just the tactics given by others are outdated. These people have had years of success so theyâre busy focusing on their things, rather than teach you their ways of triumph, step by step.
So you no longer feel misguided, letâs take a look at some tactics that are outdated and what you can do in place of them.
Spending All of Your Time Writing
Seems contradicting but itâs the truth. If you spend all of your time writing, whoâs going to see your content? Thatâs not how blogging works.
Itâs best to lose the âbuild it and they will comeâ mentality. Instead, think of it this way: at least 80% of your time blogging should be devoted to promoting it. 20% should be spent writing.
Itâs funny how this works, especially when first starting out. But in the beginning stages, you can apply this tactic. With each new post created, promote it!
Offering No Incentive for Your Newsletter
An inbox is personal to everyone. No one can see whatâs inside it and the last thing you want to fill it up with is spam.
When visitors sign up to your newsletter, itâs like theyâre inviting you into their home. As a guest, you shouldnât show up empty handed.
As a housewarming gift, you might give them a vintage gravy boat. As a blogger, you need to offer some kind of incentive so theyâll let you into their home (in this case, their inbox).
You could offer them a highly-detailed post thatâs not already on your blog but hits one of their pain points.
Leaving Comments to Gain Traffic
This used to be the way for new bloggers to gain exponential amounts of traffic. Theyâd read their favourite blogs, leave a comment along with their URL and watch the visitors roll in.
Today, it just doesnât work the same. Not only is there more competition but half the time, the authors of the posts wonât reply. If they do, itâs not to everyone.
This isnât to say you canât comment, you just need to go another way about it. First, only leave thoughtful comments. Saying, âgreat post, totally agree with #3!â wonât cut it. It sounds generic and like you didnât take the time to really read the article.
Rather than think of commenting as a way to gain more traffic, think of it as a way to connect with the blogger. Once you begin to comment thoughtful things on a regular basis, youâll be on their radar. This then opens the lines of communication to then ask for them to share one of your posts or ask for advice.
Relying on Ads to Make You Rich
After blogging for a while, you begin to think of how you can finally turn your love of writing into an actual business. You then research ways to monetize your blog.
What most of them say is that you need to display ads. Every click or buy from that specific ad lands money in your wallet.
While itâs possible to earn money from ads, it should be avoided. For starters, it cheapens the whole look of your site. Youâve worked so hard to have a good looking blog that it shouldnât be overshadowed by annoying ads.
Not only that but most people donât pay attention to ads anymore. They donât want to be sold to all the time, they only want to read your content!
Instead, opt for affiliate marketing. You can incorporate harmless links or widgets to let readers know what youâre loving or what products will enhance their lives. They arenât in your face like traditional ads.
Focusing on Multiple Social Media Channels
Oh boy, had I known this when I started my first blog, it wouldâve saved me a lot of time developing that blog than useless social media profiles. I got the idea that I needed to be on every platform because thatâs what I saw other bloggers doing and thatâs the advice I saw online.
Do not do what I did. Focusing on multiple social media profiles while running a blog takes a lot of energy. Energy that you donât need to exert. Instead, pick at least three if you must. Knowing your target audience really helps with this because then youâll get a better idea of which ones you should be on.
Are they on Pinterest frequently? Or can they be found double-tapping on Instagram? If they prefer a more content-driven platform, Facebook is it. Bite-sized pieces of information are more well-suited for Twitter.
While itâs good to keep your target audience in mind, know what platforms youâll stick with as well. I created a Twitter for my jewelry business and I ended up deleting it within the same day because it didnât feel right to me. If I wonât stick to it then I wonât use it for my business.
While blogging is fun in the beginning, it can get a little frustrating once youâre established and havenât been seeing the results you hoped for. Rather than follow outdated advice to a T, do what you think is best for you, your readers, and your blog.
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This is some really good advice~
I had my blog for about nine years before eventually deciding to rename it, overhaul it, and actually post regularly. And yeah, viewership was unimpressive – so I knew I had to start promoting. And I did start mostly by talking about my blog (mentioning I had one when it seemed to fit into a conversation), definitely commenting on other posts and having conversations with content creators.
I tried to use Instagram to boost engagement but that’s such a finnicky platform and really not user-friendly unless you have an amazing state-of-the-art phone – which I don’t. So I totally understand your decision to abandon Twitter, though that’s ironically where I’ve found a wonderful community of other bloggers.
Seems like it really depends on the content of one’s blog, why they’re blogging and what they hope to get out of it too!
Thanks so much, Michaela!
Creating a blog is lots of fun but what often gets put to the wayside is the promotion of it. Took me a long time to realize that and Iâm so glad you started to promote yours more often!
And thanks for the tip about Twitter! Iâll have to take it into consideration when I start my new blog. It just didnât fit together for my jewelry business back then.
You might want to consider sites like Quora! Itâs a forum site where users ask and answer questions. Itâs kind of like an alternative to social media because you can create more meaningful connections since the whole purpose of the site is to help others. You can also provide a blog post of yours as an answerâthat gets you more traffic while answering someoneâs question!
Thank you for the advice!
Iâm just now starting a blog that Iâve been thinking about doing for years. There seems to be so much information out there on how to blog, but this was particularly useful. I canât wait to read more tips and tricks of the trade!
Youâre so welcome! Thanks for reading.
Congrats on starting your blog too! To prevent being overwhelmed by all the information out there, I stick to a couple of established blogs
out there like SmartBlogger (and of course the Wonder Forest!).
I really like the part where you talk about commenting useful comments on other posts. I always feel shy to leave my honest opinion, but you’re right: shallow comments won’t spark anyone’s attention.
Thanks, Isabela! Blogging is more than just writing articles onlineâitâs about building a community with others you can relate to. That doesnât happen when others donât leave thought-out comments!
Plus, Iâm shy too but itâs okay to be that way. Commenting becomes more natural the more you do it. đ