How To Grow A WordPress Blog And Attract An Audience

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Last updated on July 19th, 2018 at 09:02 am

Growing a blog takes time. There is no magic button that will drive hoards of traffic to your blog. These tips below will help you learn how to grow a blog from zero and attract an audience.

No, I won’t be revealing latest social media strategies to drive hoards of visitors to your blog.

What I will be sharing with you is common sense tips that you should keep in front of you as you work on your blog.

Whenever you start getting depressed because your blog is not getting any traffic (and you will get depressed, we all do), look at these tips.

They will help you remember that it takes time to grow a blog. I’ve written an eBook that will help you write content for your blog that your readers will love. You can check out my JumpStart Blog Traffic eBook to help you grow your blog.

How To Grow A Blog From Zero

Write A Lot

If you ask anyone who has had any success blogging they will tell you that it requires a lot of content. Whether you are using videos or content to build your online business, it’s going to require a lot of content.

I am not just talking about any old plain of content. I am talking about content that your readers are going to want to share.

If you’re just starting out, then you might be wondering, why isn’t anyone reading my blog? No one is going to take you seriously until you start sharing valuable content that helps them change their lives in some way.

Think about the blogs that you visit on a consistent basis. Why do you find yourself going back?

Chances are they provide valuable content that takes you step-by-step on accomplishing a task.

Maybe you enjoy reading their posts because they make you laugh?

Regardless of why you keep visiting those blogs, you have your reasons. Now apply those reasons to your own blog.

If someone lands on your website and you only have 10 blog posts, why would they take you seriously?

Think about when you visit a site. A certain post may have drawn you in, however, when you get there you realize they have tons of juicy content.

You end up grabbing a cup of coffee and spend hours reading their content.

Keep writing tons of valuable content and eventually you will start to see the fruits of your labor.

Narrow Your Blog’s Focus

Does your blog have a clear focus and speak to it’s audience? I struggled with this in my previous blogs. I wrote about everything and anything.

When someone landed on my blog, they had no clue what I did or anything about the services I offered.

This blog is different, when someone lands on my site, they can see that I teach the techie-side of blogging, by sharing tutorials and articles that will help them start, grow & manage their own self-hosted WordPress blog..

When your content is focused it will help you interlink related content and keep people on your blog longer.

So right now is the time to take a step back and evaluate your blog. Does it have a clear focus?

When someone lands on your homepage, will they know what your blog is about?

If you can say yes, then you are well on your way. However, if you are not sure, then you might want to take the time to get clear on your blog’s message.

It may take some time to decide what you want your blog’s focus to be. However, the sooner you can let people know what you’re about, the less of a struggle you will have.

Be Consistent With Your Blog Posts

When you start to get visitors to your blog, it’s important to publish your content on a consistent basis. This will help your readers know when they can expect a blog post from you.

You don’t have to write several blog posts per week, however, you do want to ensure you stay consistent with your writing.

This blog started out with one blog post per week. However, I’ve since decided that I want to publish 2 posts per week.

I post new blog posts every Tuesday and Friday.

I’ve never been concerned about the best days to publish your blog posts. My goal is to create a blog that is filled with valuable content that will help my readers.

I try not to get too hung up on analytics and stats. My blog is still new and checking my stats on a consistent basis would just hurt my goals of producing content.

Not to mention, it may also make me depressed and I might lose the motivation to keep writing my new blog posts.

Once you’ve decided how many blog posts you will be publishing, stick to that schedule, and don’t deviate.

If your blog is still new, then now is the time to change your blogging schedule if you want. Do it before you begin to get loyal followers.

Be Committed Long Term

Ask anyone and they will tell you that it’s going to take time to build a successful blog. Starting a blog is the easy part.

The hard part is continuing to put out great content when you aren’t getting consistent visitors.

It can be discouraging and at times you might feel like quitting.

This is the reason that you need to write down your goals of what you want to achieve with your blog. Keep those goals in front of you.

When times get hard look at them and then keep moving forward.

Blogging to build a successful business can take years. The ones who succeed are the ones who keep working towards their goals each and everyday.

Don’t think that you will be successful in your first year of blogging. Think of blogging like starting an exercise regime.

When you first start exercising, you don’t see any results of muscle growth or fat loss.

Instead, you need to setup an exercise program you will follow.

As you start exercising on a regular basis, eventually you will start to see the results. It doesn’t happen overnight. Some personal trainers will tell you that it can take up to 6 months to see results from your hard work.

The same can be said for blogging. Don’t worry about traffic when you’re first getting started. Instead focus on creating valuable content on a consistent basis, eventually, you will start to see traffic start trickling to your site.

Give it time to work and be willing to stick with it until you get the results you want.

Know Your Audience

Remember when I told you that your blog had to have a focus. You are NOT writing your blog posts for everyone.

Instead you need to know who your audience is so you can create content that speaks to them. Many people will tell you that you need to create an avatar to get a better understanding of who your target audience is.

Here’s a customer avatar worksheet that I found online. I personally haven’t taken the time to do this.

Instead, I am writing content that I think my readers will like. For instance, I know that my content is for new WordPress users who want to start a blog.

So I try to focus all my content around my audience. I still find myself struggling with this at times, I keep reminding myself I can’t help everyone.

Once I start to get consistent visitors to my blog, I will analyze the content they are visiting. Then I will make tweaks to my content strategy.

The great thing is that you can start a tight focused blog and once you start getting visitors, you can add more content that your readers will love.

Or do away with the content that they don’t like.

Network With Other Bloggers

No one can do it alone. Blogging can get lonely, therefore it is important to surround yourself with like-minded individuals who are on the same path as you are.

Take the time to find other bloggers who will help you grow your blog and keep you on the right track. I’ve personally joined a few Facebook groups that allow me to network with other bloggers. Here’s a list of some that you can check out.

I can’t tell you if this has helped my blog grow. I’ve just started joining groups, but I am going to take the time to use them to help me grow this blog.

I’ll keep you updated and let you know whether joining Facebook groups is actually worth your time.

Find What Works For You

If you’ve been blogging for a while, then you know that the Internet is filled with all kinds of advice on growing a blog.

This means that you can spend countless hours trying to find what works for you.

If you’re a one person show and you do everything by yourself, you don’t have time to spend hours researching what works and what doesn’t.

You have to spend time marketing your blog via social media, creating videos for your YouTube channel, live Periscope, webinars and networking with other bloggers and writing content to grow your blog.

The more time you spend browsing the Internet for tips on how to grow your blog, means you’re neglecting your blog.

I suggest that you follow some popular blogs and read what worked for them. Many successful bloggers will share their stories with you.

Some will even go as far as to tell you what they did before they had any type of success. Instead of watching TV, spend time reading their blogs.

Implement the tips that they share with you to grow your blog. I know, no one wants to give up watching Netflix or stop watching television.

You don’t have to give it up for good, just spend time reading other successful blogs for at least 30 minutes a day. Use Feedly to help you keep track of the blogs you want to read.

Start Promoting Your Blog On Social Media

It took me a while to drink the Social Media Kool-Aid. I spent years avoiding it. Instead, on my other blogs, I chose to put my head down and concentrate on writing tons of content.

I thought that if I just kept pumping out keyword rich articles, they would rank.

Well I am here to tell you that there is no way around using Social Media. I am not a social media expert, but I am learning as I grow this blog.

If you’re like me and are putting it off for some reason because you’re scared to start. I am telling you don’t let your fear hold you back.

When I first got started on Twitter, I didn’t even know what a tweet was. However, I jumped in and got started.

To this day, I have built up my following from 0 – 266. I know that may not sound like a lot to some of you.

However, I am ecstatic that I am finally learning how to use Twitter. I still find myself making mistakes, but that doesn’t stop me from learning.

If you need a little hand holding here’s a great beginner’s guide to social media I found online.

The minute you start your setup your blog, install a social sharing plugin. This will make it easy for anyone to share your content.

I’ve recently got involved with Pinterest and picked up this course. I’ve never used Pinterest before and needed a guide to show me the way.

I probably could’ve figured it out, but I have other things to do than spend hours searching for free content online.

Keep Working Towards Your Goals

Do you know what your blog goals are? What action do you want people to take when they arrive at your blog?

If you take a look at my homepage, you can see that I want people to take one action, that is to sign up for my email list.

My home page is designed to collect emails. I use the Thrive Content Builder to create a landing page theme for my homepage.

So ask yourself, what action do you want people to take when they land on your blog. If you don’t know, how will your visitor? Watch this video to watch how to create a high converting homepage.

Don’t worry, it takes time to get a high converting homepage. You can keep testing to see what works and what layout gets people to take the actions you want them to take.

Treat Your Blog Like A Business

A brick and mortar business takes time and money to build. While blogging does not require a lot of money to get started.

It is going to require you to spend some money.

Don’t think that you can get started for absolutely nothing. I always recommend that you start a blog on a self-hosted WordPress site.

It will help your readers take you more seriously and you won’t have to worry about moving your WordPress blog once it starts to get more traffic.

You don’t have to spend a lot of money to start your blog. If you are just getting started with your blog, do it right and learn how to install a self-hosted WordPress blog.

Put Your Personality Into Your Posts

When you’re writing your blog posts, write them like your speaking to a friend. We all want to feel like the blogger is talking to us when we’re reading their posts.

You may need practice to start learning how to write conversational blog posts. As you continue blogging on a consistent basis, your writing will improve.

Hopefully, when your visitors reach your blog, they will feel like you are speaking to them. Let your personality shine throughout your posts.

People will feel like they know you through your writing. If they don’t they will want to keep coming back so they can get to know you better.

Remember, we all want to be with people that we relate to. While you won’t relate to everyone, you are only looking to relate with others just like yourself.

Final Take Away

Blogging takes time, however, if you keep working at improving your goal and producing great content, there is absolutely no reason why you won’t succeed.

Keep working on your blog on a daily basis and that it’s probably going to take you more than a year to succeed.

Learn as much as you can without spending too much time browsing the Internet.

Treat your blog like a business and you will succeed over time.

Hand Picked Articles for You

• Daily Blogging Tasks That Are Responsible for My Growth
• Lessons I’ve Learned In My First Year of Blogging
• A Day In The Life of A Part-Time Blogger

So have you started a blog? How long have you been working on it and what results have you seen? How long did it take you to start seeing results?