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You have a blog. You have social media accounts. You have a mailing list (hopefully).
But I get how difficult it can be. A couple of years ago, I had months where my pageviews and engagement didn’t increase at all.
But then at the start of last year, I managed to double my pageviews in four months. And at the end of last year, I doubled them in just two months.
I was able to do that because my blog already had a solid foundation that I created using the nine strategies in this post.
This guide will help you make a blog better, faster than you ever thought possible, with tips that you can start implementing right now.
These are nine habits that I’ve used to help make a blog better and they will work for you, too.
And if you want to make a blog even better than that, make sure you download my free workbook of advice from some of the top bloggers around!
9 STEPS FOR MAKING A BLOG BETTER
#1 | HAVE A PLAN
Do you have a plan for your blog? Do you have a plan for knowing how you’re going to increase your traffic and engagement? Remember the famous quote: “fail to plan, plan to fail.”
What do you want to achieve with your blog? Write down everything you want your blog to do, including:
How often you’re going to publish content
What that content is going to be about
How you’re going to communicate to your readers
What you want to communicate through your posts to your readers
Then you can create weekly goals and daily steps to help you reach those goals. List everything (I use Asana for this!)
If you take the time to put a plan together, it’ll help you stay on track and make sure you’re doing the most important tasks to help you get to where you want to be. Seeing your progress will also encourage you to keep going, even when hurdles appear.
Your action: Make a plan for your blog and use it to help you move forward.
#2 | MAKE YOUR CONTENT A PRIORITY
Content forms the foundation of your blog and if there’s one surefire way to make a blog better it’s this. Without good content, nothing else matters.
The best way to stand out amongst a sea of other bloggers is to produce valuable content over and over again. Content that encourages your readers to make positive changes in their lives. Content that solves a problem or answers a question.
You want to be creating content that people want to read. There are a couple of ways you can do this effectively:
Go into Google Analytics and look at your most popular content – you can then create more content like this!
Keep an eye on what people are saying in your blog post comments – if they’re asking questions, use these as prompts for future blog posts.
Always be researching on social media, looking at the conversations people are having and what they’re struggling with.
Putting in time to do the research will help you become really intentional with your content.
For a different, entertaining take on this, be sure to watch the video that accompanies this post!
You should also be really clear on what you want to blog about. We can’t all be knowledgeable about everything. And a blog that focuses on specific topics or a specific audience will perform a lot better than a blog that has content on everything from being a vegan to affiliate marketing.
If people know what to expect from your blog, they’ll keep coming back. Trust me – it’s worked for me.
Your action: Create valuable content for your readers. Download this free checklist to use for each blog post you create.
#3 | LEARN ABOUT SEO
Adding SEO to your content will really help you to make a blog better. Choosing a keyword and internal linking are just two aspects you can start adding to your blog posts immediately.
Google’s Keyword Planner is a great tool to help you find keywords people are actually searching for to include in your posts.
Your action: Use the above checklist I just mentioned and follow the SEO steps in there.
#4 | FORMAT YOUR CONTENT WELL
There’s nothing worse than reading a blog post that’s just a wall of centralised text. People have short attention spans and can’t cope with reading too much at once.
Notice how this post is really spread out? There’s no more than five sentences per paragraph and that’s what you should aim for too. Break your blog post up with bullet points, screenshots, click to tweets – the point is you’re making it interactive and interesting for your reader.
Your action: Don’t lose your readers due to badly formatted posts. Add it to your blogging process.
#5 | SHARE NEW IDEAS
Some people say that every idea has been taken, but I disagree. When it’s portrayed in your voice, then it’s a new idea.
Generating new blog post ideas should be a key part of your routine. This is something I do at least once a month. Don’t just take ideas from what everyone else is doing. Instead ask yourself how you can make them better.
Push yourself out of your comfort zone to find great ideas and push yourself even more when you’re writing. Once you find your voice, you’ll be on your way.
Your action: Set time aside to come up with new blog post ideas so you never have a shortage of things to write about.
#6 | DEVELOP YOUR EXPERTISE
Nobody takes advice from people who don’t know what they’re talking about.
Develop your expertise, hone in on your skills and learn to speak with confidence. You want to become the go-to person in your industry. Show your readers that you take what you do seriously by putting your time into research.
This is something I pride myself on, because I want to teach you the best strategies that are going to help you get a breakthrough with your online presence. If I don’t know what they are, then I can’t provide valuable content to you. So I work to develop my expertise on a daily basis.
Your action: Be familiar with the topics you write about and always push yourself to learn more. This is what will help you be seen as an authority.
#7 | BE CAREFUL WITH YOUR DESIGN
Your content might be good, but how’s your blog design? If it’s outdated, hard on the eyes or difficult to read, your audience won’t stick around. Especially if they can’t find what they’re looking for.
Your design is key and it’s important to get that right from the start. Ask for feedback from friends or even invest in someone to help you design it professionally. Changes early on will benefit you so much in the long run.
Your action: Reflect on your current design and if it needs updating…get to work!
#8 | DON’T NEGLECT YOUR MARKETING
Marketing. It’s essential for retaining readers and attracting new ones. I know a lot of bloggers have a problem with self-promotion but seriously – how will people know about you if you don’t tell them?
Promote your latest posts on all your social media channels. Encourage readers to subscribe to your mailing list by offering them something for free in return. In my case, I offer all subscribers the latest issue of the Blogging Breakthrough magazine and every issue after that. There are so many things you can create, relating to what you blog about.
This is a great way to capture reader’s email addresses and allows you to start building loyal relationships.
Your action: Put a marketing plan in place for your blog. Create free, valuable information and keep doing that.
#9 | BUILD A COMMUNITY
Build relationships. Be active. Help others. Network. Join in conversations. People don’t just find out about you – you have to make them notice you.
If you write valuable content and promote that content, people will begin to recognise you for your helpful content. Your community will naturally start to develop by your readers wanting to come back for more.
Your action: Word of mouth is the most powerful marketing tool. Find a core group of followers and encourage them to share your best posts with others.
It doesn’t matter what topics you write about on your blog. These nine steps will help you make a blog better, develop your strategy and help you on your way to getting your next breakthrough.
But most importantly? Find what works well for you and take notice of the what helps you grow. When this happens once, it can be repeated again and again.
What steps have you used to get a great reaction from your community with your blog?
P.S. Don’t forget to download the free workbook of even more top tips from the most successful bloggers!
