The Top Reason Nobody Is Visiting Your Blog

Ahh blog traffic. It's the one thing we're all trying to increase. What's a blog with nobody to read it? Well, a journal I guess. If you want your blog to be more than just a personal creative space, you need the traffic flowing in. Why isn't it?...

They simply don't know it exists!

And by 'they', I mean your target market. The group of people who are so perfectly suited to the content you're creating. The people who will hang on to every word and every picture. You need to find these people and get their attention, ASAP. How? I'll share a few ways...

1. You must be persistent

Blog traffic doesn't take off overnight, unless of course you come up with the most viral of viral content. It can be quite disheartening if you've tried a few ways to get your blog out there and nothing seems to be working. Ever heard of the 'Marketing Rule Of Seven'? It's where customers need to see something seven times before they'll commit to purchasing it. You can relate that concept straight back to your blog promotion. You should be trying to get your blog out to the world at least seven times a week.
This is where social media comes in. Unless people are seeing content from you, on the likes of:  

• Instagram
• Pinterest
• Twitter
• Google Plus
• Snapchat
• Facebook
• Instagram Stories

They're just going to forget your blog exists. Now, I'm not saying you should be pushing seven posts out a week! If you post twice a week, try promoting one of those posts three times that week (pin it, tweet it, facebook group it). Promote the other three times. Do one more Instagram or tweet, mentioning your blog. And there you go! You can easily incorporate the Rule Of Seven into your week. It may take seven social media posts before a follower decides, hey, I need to go check out that blog.

2. Don't be scared of self promotion

If you're scared of promoting yourself and your work, trying to run a successful blog probably isn't for you! I don't enjoy talking myself up or pushing my work out there, I'd like to say I'm more of a humble, quiet achiever. However, I know how important it is for my blog, so I'll just do it anyway.
People have followed you because they want to hear from you. If they didn't, they wouldn't have followed you in the first place! Think of your followers as a group of friends who you catch up with several times a week, to share what's been happening. Don't be scared to use that online voice of yours, be proud of yourself and your achievements and just push it out there. Majority of the time, it will gain you followers rather than lose them.

3. Connect with others

Blogging is hard when you try doing it alone. It's so important to network. Even if you're an introvert, the quiet type who'd prefer to be behind a screen than face-to-face with people you don't know. Networking is easier than you think. It's easy to leave a nice comment for someone, to share an opinion in a Facebook group or to go on a little 'liking' spree. These types of things are what will make people take notice of you.
To be interesting, you have to be interested. Nobody is going to realise you're there, if you don't get involved and share interest in what others are doing. Be generous with your time and make sure you're supporting others. You never know what might come of a friendly comment or a simple 'like'.

4. Promote where your audience is

If you're serious about your blog, you should already know who your target audience is. Think about where you can find them online. This means using the right hashtags on your posts, having relevant boards on your Pinterest, joining the right Facebook groups or having advertising spend on targeted audiences.
Also make sure you're producing content that's specifically for them. If you bounce around too much with your content, some people may lose interest, as they originally came to your blog for a particular topic. Create content for the people you're targeting, and promote those posts where your audience is.

5. Marketing is necessary

I hate to admit it, but I tend to spend more time marketing my blogs than I do creating content! I'd prefer it to be a little more balanced than that, but I'm working on it! If you're not thinking about marketing at some point every single day, you're making a big mistake. No matter how great your content is, it's not going to see the light of day unless you're getting it out there to people who may be interested.
Develop a strategy you can use every time you create a new blog post. That may be to:

• Tweet a link to the post with a few hashtags
• Pin your favourite image from the post to Pinterest
• Re-pin it to a group Pinterest board
• Share a link on a Facebook group post
• Post an Instagram, mentioning there's a new blog post

This type of process should become a routine in your blogging week. If it helps, write it down as a checklist and cross it off as you go. You'll soon remember exactly what to do.

Do you have any great ways to get your blog noticed? Let everyone know in the comments!