11 Ways to Improve Your Blog Right Now

As a blogger, it’s important to constantly test new things and experiment with what actually works and what doesn’t. The most important thing is to keep testing things to see how you can improve your blog.

11 Ways to Improve Your Blog Right Now

Before we jump into the things you can do to improve your blog, if you still haven’t started your blog, then go here to learn how to start a blog on SiteGround.

If you’re completely new to WordPress and are struggling with learning the basics, I’ve created this page just for you.

Now let’s get into some of the things that you can do to improve your blog and hopefully start getting better results.

#1 Create Better Content

When we start a blog, it’s so easy to get confused on the type of content that we should be creating. Most of us start out creating the type of content that we think our readers want.

Unfortunately, this type of content takes forever to create. Not only that, but chances are that content is not going to be the most productive type of content to create.

Related: 7 Reasons You Need to Find Popular Blog Topics People Love

How Do I Know This?

Well, because I did this on my blog. For the first year, I pumped out content that I thought that my readers would need help with. I created tons of WordPress tutorials that are meant to help new bloggers.

Now, these articles are extremely helpful, but the sad thing is that if I go back and look at my Analytics I notice that those articles have not brought me a lot of traffic.

As a new blogger, the hardest thing is to grow a blog and actually start making money. Most bloggers (myself included) struggle with this and before you know it many of them will throw in the towel because they get frustrated with their lack of results.

Here’s What You Need to Do

Instead of writing the type of content that you think you should create. Instead, head on over to Backlinko’s site and read about the Skyscraper technique.

It’s actually a very interesting read and just to paraphrase, instead of just sitting down and writing amazing content. You have to first find some content that is already popular.

Once you find the content in your niche that is proven to work. You sit down and write something that is more valuable and useful than that particular article. (no you’re not just copying and pasting that article)

It’s going to take work to write this type of content, but this is what I’ve been doing for the past month now. I can definitely tell you that it is a lot better to see my content get more traffic than those first articles I wrote on my blog.

Articles to help you with the Skyscraper Technique:

• How I Increased My Search Traffic By 110% In 14 Days
• Want More Traffic? How I Used the Skyscraper Technique to Drive 70K+ Page Views

#2 Focus On Promotion

It is so easy to fall into the trap that you need to stick to your blogging schedule. After all, Google and Pinterest love fresh content.

So you find yourself pumping out new content on a regular basis. Well, that’s great, but the most important thing is to make sure that you’re actually taking the time to promote your blog posts.

After all, it doesn’t really matter how great your content is. If you’re not taking the time to promote your content, no one is going to find it.

If you already have a bunch of content written in your blog posts. Don’t forget about going back and promoting your old blog posts.

I’ve recently started creating some newer better-looking pins for some of my old blog posts. It’s pretty amazing how easy it can be to bring back some of your old posts back to life.

You might be wondering, what type of blog promotion can I do to breathe life back into old blog posts? Well, here are some great ideas that you can use right now.

Articles to Help You With Blog Promotion:

• Bring Old Blog Posts Back to Life: 5 Strategies That Work
• How to Breathe New Life Into Old Blog Posts
• How to Promote Your Blog The Truth About Blog Growth

One of the easiest things that I’ve been doing is to go back and create new pins for some of my old blog posts. The cool thing is that I already have a template created on Photoshop and I just change out the image and the text.

Once I am done with the image, I stick it in my BoardBooster campaign. It’s not very hard and the cool thing is that the promotion is put on auto-pilot once it’s put into my campaign.

#3 Improve Your Blog Navigation

Believe it or not just by making some quick changes to your navigation, you can quickly improve your blog. Take a look at your navigation, does it lead people where you want them to go?

Maybe it’s cluttered and has way too much on it? If you have absolutely no idea on how to improve your blog navigation, here is a great article that will help you create 4 tips for maximum usability for your navigation.

#4 Ask Questions

Have you ever read an article on a blog that just ends without asking for your feedback or input? If you have, chances are you don’t take the time to share or comment on the blog.

I mean why would you? If no one asks you for your opinion, you’re probably not going to waste your time to leave it.

If you want to improve your blog and get more followers, then start asking questions. When people see that you actually take the time to respond to their comments, they will be more likely to start engaging with your blog.

The best part is that if your content is helpful and amazing, they will take the time to share it as well. Just make sure that you’re using a plugin like Social Warfare that makes it easy for them to share it.

#5 Invest In Yourself and Your Blog

One of the biggest mistakes that so many new bloggers make is trying to do everything for free. It seems like they are so scared to spend money because they don’t believe that their blog will become profitable.

I’m not saying that you have to spend a fortune on your blog. Blogging is not that expensive, but if you’re trying to build a business, you need to treat it like a business.

Related: Blogging Costs A New Blogger Should Not Skimp On

Invest in the right blogging costs when you get started. Just by investing in the right tools and courses, you may be able to see success faster.

The important thing to remember is that it doesn’t matter what you spend your money on. If you’re not willing to do the hard work of working on your blog and treating it like a business.

You won’t achieve the success you want. Growing a successful blog requires you to do certain blogging tasks on a regular basis.

So don’t think that just because you buy a blogging course like Billionaire Blog Club that you’ll be guaranteed to build a successful blog.

#6 Improve Your Monetization Strategies

As I mentioned above, one of the hardest things for a blogger is to keep blogging when they are NOT seeing any money coming in. They find themselves struggling with the idea of whether or not to call it quits.

If you’re getting a decent amount of traffic, then it’s time to start monetizing your blog. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with monetizing your blog right out of the gate like I did.

Once you start noticing that your blog is getting traffic, it’s time to start paying close attention to the different monetization strategies you’re using.

Are you using the right one? If you’re getting traffic, is your website converting?

Are your expectations realistic? We would all love for every visitor to buy through our affiliate links, but the truth is that you need to take into account realistic rates.

It’s important to learn how to calculate your conversion rates. Once you have an idea of what to expect, it’s time to start experimenting with where to place your affiliate links on your blog.

The best article I found online about this is Pat Flynn from Smart Passive Income.

 

He explains exactly how to make the most of affiliate link conversion by providing massive value and embracing honesty, you can read it here.

#7 Focus On 1-2 Social Media Platforms

When you get started blogging, it’s so easy to try to be everywhere. After all, we hear so many people saying that you need to be everywhere if you want to grow your blog.

While it’s true that the more places you can be the faster you will grow. But the truth is that most of us who start blogging come from an employee mentality.

Most of us don’t have any type of promotional or marketing skills. Heck, I know when I started my blog, I had never used social media for anything.

When I started my blog, I heard so many people saying that you need to be on social media. So I created my Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest accounts.

I had new clue what I was doing and the first year was a complete waste.

I’m not saying that you shouldn’t have social media accounts on more than one platform. I’m just saying that you need to find out which platform you want to focus on and do everything that you can to learn that platform.

I’ve chosen Pinterest as my platform of choice. Yours might be Twitter or Facebook.

Either way, don’t try to focus on too many platforms, otherwise, you’ll look back a year from now and notice you didn’t achieve any of your blogging goals.

Pinterest Related Articles:

• 5 Unknown Pinterest Tips for Bloggers
• How to Use Keywords On Pinterest to Explode Your Traffic
• 13 Pinterest Tips and Tricks You Should Know by Now

#8 Check Your Popular Posts On Google Analytics

Hopefully, you’ve installed Google Analytics on your blog. If not then here’s a great tutorial to help you get it set up.

Once you’ve been blogging for a while, it’s so easy to go into your Analytics and start paying attention to which content people are loving.

All you have to do is log into your account and go to Behavior >> Site Content >> All Pages

What you’re going to realize is that just a handful of articles are the ones that are bringing you traffic. Trust me, it’s depressing to see all those articles that don’t bring a lot of traffic.

I recommend that you focus on the articles that are bringing you at least 100 – 500 visitors per month. If you don’t have any articles that are bringing you that much traffic, it’s time to scroll back up the #1 tip in this article.

Start focusing on content that is already popular in your niche. Stop writing content that just isn’t working and isn’t bringing you traffic.

#9 Add a Gravatar

It still surprises me when I go to a blog and they are not using a gravatar. If you’re trying to build a profitable blog and want people to trust you and buy your products and services then it’s time to create a gravatar.

I don’t know about you, but I would never buy from a blog that just has the mystery man gravatar. Well, I might if I knew the blogger well enough.

It’s so easy to set up a gravatar and it’s one of the easiest ways to let your visitors get to know you. Start building trust with your readers by letting them see you on your gravatar.

Related: How to Set Up A WordPress Gravatar and Why You Need One

#10 Be Consistent and Post Regularly

One of the easiest ways to improve your blog is to post content on a regular basis. As your blog starts to grow, people will know when they can expect new content from you.

Over time they will become regular readers of your blog and will visit whenever you publish new blog content.

While it’s important to post on a regular basis. You can make sure that you’re posting content that your readers want.

Make sure that you’re taking the time to do your research before just publishing any type of content.

#11 Update Plugins

If you’ve had your blog for awhile, chances are you might have installed some plugins that you are no longer using. Take the time to delete old plugins or add new plugins that add new functionality.

Our blogs change over time and so do our blogging goals. If you’ve been using an outdated plugin that does something you no longer need it to do.

Remove it from your blog. There’s absolutely no reason to leave a plugin on your blog if you’re not using it anymore.

Final Take Away

I’d love to tell you that growing a blog is so easy. But the truth is that it takes a lot of testing and tweaking. As long as you’re working on your blog on a daily basis, you will start to see some results.

Of course, you need to make sure that you’re working on the right things. If you’re just spending time tweaking your theme or your logo, then you’re never going to reach your goals.

So make sure that you’re focusing on the right things on a daily basis to see growth.

Hand Picked Articles for You

• Blog Post Checklist: 12 Things You Need to Do After Publishing A Post
• 15 Habits of Successful Bloggers You Need to Follow
• 5 Blogging Tools That Are Worth Your Time and Money

These are some simple things that you can do to start improving your blog. If you do implement any of these changes, just make sure that you give it some time. Remember, blogging doesn’t grow overnight.

Let me know if you plan on implementing any of these tips and which one you’re going to work on. I’d love to hear about it.