How to Increase Your Blog Following Organically

Your blog is a powerful tool to build your business, gain new leads, and establish yourself as an expert in your niche. ​

Many bloggers, however, struggle with attracting new followers. Not all new bloggers have the budget to invest in paid advertising. 

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Aside from this, organic growth has its advantages when it comes to credibility and authority. So let's explore some of the best ways to grow your blog following with organic methods.



Choose Topics that Perk Your Audience's Interest
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If you want to attract more readers to your blog, it's important to choose topics that your audience really cares about.  Here are some ways to get ideas for finding relevant topics.

• Amazon - Check out bestselling books in your niche. 
  
  
• YouTube - Find viral videos for ideas on what to cover in your blog.
  
  
• Quora - This and other question & answer sites give you ideas for topics.
  
  
• Authority Blogs - Your competition is another source of inspiration. Search for popular posts and, in particular, the ones that generate the most engagement.
  
  
• Current News or Trends - Cover a topic that's trending. You can even choose a popular topic that's not directly related to your niche and tie it in somehow. For example, "What Pokemon Go Can Teach You About Management Strategy."
  
  
• One of the most important topics is one that is personal to you, that no one else could possibly writer.  Whenever I write those they seriously outperform more 'How to...' and '5 Tips for...'  
  
  Tell your readers your deepest secrets and biggest failures (and lessons) and they'll come back for more.  
  
  
  
  

Choose Engaging Headlines

Your headline is especially important, as this determines whether or not people decide to read your blog post or not. Also, remember to use popular keywords in your headlines. This helps Google index your blog so people searching for these topics easily find them. 

• Lists - Top 10, Top 20 or other lists are always popular.  Be conscious of how much time you have and how many truly valuable resources you know.  Top 3 works well if you plan to go into more depth to each resource.
  
  
• Questions - Ask your audience a provocative question in the headline, such as "Can You Really Lose 15 Pounds Before the Holidays?"
  
  
• Promise an Exciting Result - Entice your audience with a compelling solution. If you have a travel blog, for example, you might promise "How to Save 50% on Your Next Flight." However, if you promise something in the headline, make sure to fulfill.  Ideally with links that are easily actionable.  
  I hate reading a 'How to...' that is conceptual and not actionable, don't you?  Let's talk action.
  
  
• Use Long Tail Keywords - Using long tail keywords in your headline helps you get more traffic from Google. Research keywords and topics that your audience cares about but aren't super competitive. For example, "make money online" is a very broad and popular keyword phrase while "at home businesses for moms" is more specific and gives you a better chance to rank in the search engines. 
  
  
• Write Multiple Headlines - Try to write between 3 and 5 (more, if you're inspired) headlines for each blog post. This stimulates your creativity and reduces the pressure to come up with one perfect headline. Then choose the one that sounds best.  There are also tools you can use to measure what is more 'clickable.'
  
  
• To choose better headlines over time, check your analytics and find out what type of headlines generate the most traffic, engagement, and conversions.  It's unique to your blog, so only your analytics can answer your questions.
  
  
  
  

Generate Traffic With Social Media

Social media provides a way to get a lot more power from your blog posts. Getting the most out of this strategy demands consistency with your blogging as well as your social media activities. Here are a few tips to keep in mind.

• Identify the social media sites that your audience is most likely to use. There are so many options now that it's important to select the ones that work best for you and not spread your efforts too thin.
  
  
• Whenever you write a blog post, share it on social sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. 
  
  
• Add images and videos to your blog posts. This makes it more likely that people will share your posts on social media sites. 
  
  
• Use social media buttons on your blog and invite your readers to share your posts. 
  
  
• Tempt followers to visit your blog with contests, special promotions, or information on interesting events. 
  
  

Get More Traffic With Email Marketing

Another powerful way to get more traffic to your blog is to build an email list. We recommend Mailchimp.  

This strategy can take time, but it's definitely worthwhile. Make sure you place an opt-in form on a highly visible place on your blog.  You can use handshakin.com/free as a template (testimonials, images, and a text overview of what you're going to get). 

Offer people a free gift or subscription to your newsletter. When you have a list, you can email it whenever you want and point your subscribers back to your blog. You can also send people to particular pages and offers.

Jumpstart Your Blog Growth 

While all of the strategies mentioned above are useful, if you want your blog to grow quickly you may need some help. Many of our clients hire us since they struggle with writing consistently, evern if it's just monthly.  Handshakin' offers a variety of services, such as building followings on LinkedIn and Instagram.

To find more about the personal websites and monthly blog posts offered by Handshakin', contact us.

PS not ready to invest money?  Here's my recommended Guide for launching a blog.