It can be hard to gain a following for a blog online, particularly when you are just starting out. This is why a lot of bloggers just give up. They can’t quite seem to get the foothold that they need on the market and to be honest, this is understandable. Particularly when you consider the amount of competition that you are facing. Remember, these days, a lot of businesses have their own branded blogs. These are always going to be a more trusted resource. Yet, there are ways to build up your audience online to ensure that your blog finds the audience you want. Here’s how to do it.
Focus On A Local Audience First
It’s quite difficult to gain interest from an international audience for your blog. You might think this is going to be easier because you’re dealing with a larger group. But again, it’s all about the competition. The more competition there is, the greater the struggle will be. That’s why you should be aiming for your local audience. There are big benefits here. First, you might already be known in the local community. That means you could already be trusted and you’ll find it easier to target a local audience too. In terms of local SEO regional search terms are far less competitive and therefore it’s easier to rise to the top of the SERPs. That’s particularly important if you are running your blog in conjunction with a local service business. Once you have a solid local audience, you can expand outwards with your marketing.
Guest Blog
You need credibility and trust to gain an audience when blogging. You’ll have neither when you are just starting out. But that’s okay because there are ways to gain this relatively quickly. One option would be to make sure that you are looking for guest post opportunities. You should be volunteering to create content for other sides and don’t charge money for this. It’s just about link building, which over time, will help you boost your profits anyway. You should also encourage other blogs to write for your website too. If you do this, then you can essentially gain the benefits of a shared audience. You get some of their users, they gain some of yours. It’s a win-win scenario.
Become Trusted
Another option is to answer some questions online. Do you have a degree in a particular subject that could be relevant or related to your blog? If so, then you should think about answering questions in places like Quorra. If you do this, then you will quickly gain a reputation as a trusted resource. This can earn you those crucial backlinks. They are important when you start to think about monetizing your blog. Of course, if you write fantastic, informative and valuable content for your blog, you could also be used as a featured snippet. Once this happens, traffic levels will start to go through the roof.
