Gaining a following for your blog starts with considering the variety of communication avenues at your disposal and the reader you are targeting. If you are writing about a topic that is already talked about by many others online, you will want to seek out ways to give you the edge over the competition. After all, what is the point of having a blog if no one reads it? The following tips will guide you as you seek to become well known as a credible source of information in your industry.

  1.    Share Your Articles on other Social Networks

Distribute your blog content across all of your social media platforms. Keeping your social media sites current by publishing new content will make them a great resource for guiding internet users to your blog. Don’t be afraid to share the same posts multiple times. You may publish an article right after you complete it, but reposting it the next day and even the next week will increase your visibility online. Not everyone pays attention to your every move so this ensures your content is received by the maximum amount of people. However, as you publish the same content make sure you change the message attached. For example, if you are posting to Twitter pose a question to gain viewership. In another post with the same article link, write a sentence stating how the reader stands to benefit from clicking on the link to your blog. To gain more blog followers, it is smart to use hashtags on Twitter and to search for posts pertaining to your topic. Once you have found conversations online pertaining to your industry, jump in to draw attention to your blog content.

  1.    Reach Out to Influencers in Your Industry

Contact influencers in your industry to see if they would be interested in contributing to your blog. Your credibility increases as viewers see well-known experts writing for your blog. Offer the influencer perks as an incentive for them to write for you. Tell them you will place links within their article which will lead readers back to the influencer’s site. Offer them free products or services. It is also beneficial to reference influencers in your own writings linking to their sites. They may share your content if they see your article is relevant to the industry and promotes their brand. In addition, your audience will see you are well-versed on the latest developments in your field as you keep up with the leaders in your industry.

  1.    Utilize a Variety of Content Formats

Instead of constantly writing long articles about your subject, instill variety into your content. If you change the format by which you communicate information, it can be shared through different channels generating more traffic. For example, publish a podcast with you reading your post or create a slide presentation that highlights the main points of your article and upload it to SlideShare. Readers engage more with images, info graphics, and videos so make sure to utilize these formats when creating content for your blog. Remember you want your content to be sharable so make it something that audience members will want to tell their friends about.

  1. Know Your Target Audience

Install Google Analytics to watch where your audience originates. Find out which source drives the most people to your site. Once you identify how your audience finds you, you can figure out which marketing paths you should focus on. For example, if you see most people are driven to your site via Facebook, you can make sure you are constantly updating your page to attract more followers. In addition, analytics tools give you insight into the type of person drawn to your site. This can help in your creative process as you try to develop content that is tailored to fit your audience’s needs. You can’t afford to ignore analytics. It is a tool that should be at the heart of your marketing plan as you work to seek out areas of opportunity.

  1.    Use Keywords in Your Writing

In order to make finding your blog easier for readers, you will want to repeat keywords throughout your articles. Even finding a domain with your keywords in it could help improve your SEO value. In order to determine what your audience is typing into search engines, use Google’s AdWords Keyword Planner. If you type in some words associated with your industry into the planner, it will show you more phrases that match your topic. Implementing keywords that are likely to be searched for in the titles and headlines of your post will help bring in more traffic.

  1.    Contribute Guest Posts

Finding Guest posting opportunities is a great way for you to introduce your content to a new audience. When you are considering contributing a post to another blog, make sure the audience has an interest in the topic you address. A post has to provide something the reader deems interesting in order for it to gain more views. In order to receive the go ahead for posting on others sites, makes use of your professional and personal connections. Seek out those who know you and are more likely to accept your post. After contributing to their site, offer to let them post on your site.

  1.    Send Out Your Latest Article to Your Email Contacts

Send out the content you are writing to your email contacts. Subscribers have already showed an interest in what you produce so give them a way to revisit your blog. Work to encourage users to subscribe to your blog so you can reach them via email. Design your site with visible buttons where readers can opt to receive email notifications when you post additional content.