New to blogging? In this article, I’m going to give you the 8 best blogging tips for beginners to grow your blog. These are the blogging tips I wish I had when I first started.
1. Create amazing content
If you want to get noticed online, you need to create something worth noticing. It doesn’t get easier than this.
To get traffic, you need to create content, so good people can’t ignore it!
The best way to get free traffic to your blog is to use content marketing.
With content marketing, you create amazing content as the lure that drives traffic to your website. Your goal then is then to get that visitor into your sales funnel. Typically this would be your email list.
While creating great content does take quite a bit of time, it has so many advantages. Here are some reasons why creating amazing content is the most important thing you can do for your business.
- Naturally acquire more backlinks
Getting other websites to link to your content should be a major goal. This is a huge factor in Google SEO. When you create epic content, other websites may cite your article as a resource, and in turn, you will acquire some quality backlinks over time.
- Improves your dwell time
This is the time that passes between a Google search visit and the users’ return to Google. So when you create epic content, you’ll have a high dwell time. This, in turn, sends a positive signal to Google that your website was helpful to the reader’s search query.
- Grow your tribe faster
You don’t have to be as aggressive with your email signup forms when you write great content. Instead, the user will actually seek out your form to subscribe.
- Build trust with your audience
Solve someone’s problem, and you will gain the reader’s trust, and they will see you as an authority on this topic. Once you have that trust, people are far more likely to buy what you recommend.
For example, if I told you to use ConvertKit to manage your email list, would you sign up? On the other hand, if I have built up enough trust, you would take my recommendation and use them.
And that’s where the money is. It is not found in any drive-by traffic tactics. No, the money is made after you build a tribe of engaged followers. These are the people who will buy anything you create or recommend.
And it all starts by captivating them with amazing content.
2. Master one traffic source
A very common beginner blogging mistake is trying to do too much, too soon. What you end up being is a jack of all trades but a master of none.
When I started, I was everywhere on the map. I thought I had to be on every social media site trying to get noticed.
Where did that get me? Nowhere. When I focused on one traffic source (and mastered it), I began to see my traffic jump.
Stop trying to learn how to get traffic from every platform! Instead, put all of your energy on dominating one platform first.
For me, my ideal audience (make money online and work from home) was on Pinterest.
This is the network I put 100% of my energy on. The result? Hundreds of new users come directly from Pinterest, see my content, and join my email list every day.
I did this by learning how Pinterest works by trial and error. Yes, this is something that takes time. But the results are worth it. Pinterest is something I would have never mastered if I was simultaneously trying to get traffic from Instagram, LinkedIn, Snapchat, and Facebook.
Here is your 3 step action plan.
Step 1. Find where your ideal reader hangs out.
Step 2. See how other marketers are getting traffic there.
Step 3. Learn the algorithm and get your content noticed!
3. Stop looking for shortcuts
There is no elevator to success. There is a long ladder, however.
Every elite athlete who excels in their sport knows that there were hundreds of hours spent in the gym or field honing their craft.
Mastery of your art is the path to success.
It is only when you stop looking for shortcuts and actually put your head down and work on your craft that amazing things begin to happen.
Want to climb the ladder of success? Follow these tips:
- Learn something new every day.
- Create something every single day.
- Share your knowledge with others.
- Stay disciplined and fall in love with the process.
4. Outreach and networking
Outreach is one of the best ways to get more traffic to your website. It is essential to running a successful online business. When you outreach with others, you put your business in front of someone else’s audience.
The most important outreach you can do is to reach out to other bloggers for guest posting opportunities.
When you guest post, you are not only exposing your brand on someone else’s platform but are acquiring a valuable backlink.
Backlinks are the backbone of a solid Google SEO strategy. When very popular websites link to you, they pass “link juice” over to your site, which helps you climb Google’s rankings.
5. Collaborations with other bloggers
Here are some collaboration ideas to try:
- Pinterest networking
Join relevant group boards on Pinterest, and you can share your pins with a whole new audience.
Another way of networking on Pinterest is to use Tailwind Communities. In it, you join a group of bloggers who all share each others’ content.
You can join Tailwind for free here. So connect your Pinterest account, join some communities and start networking right away.
- Email list collaborations
This next idea is a great way to grow your email list fast.
The goal is to send your marketing message to another bloggers’ email list. But rather than pay for advertising, you want to propose a “list swap.”
In it, you get to send a message to their subscribers – and vice versa.
The message you want to send is a freebie you’re offering to their audience. But of course, to get the freebie, they need to enter their email address. And thus, that’s how you can get their subscribers onto your list.
Here’s how to make it happen.
Step 1. Join ConvertKit for free if you haven’t already.
Step 2. Get a list of other bloggers who are at your stage or a bit bigger than you.
Step 3. Write each one with your idea of a list-swap.
Step 4. Create and send over the message you want them to email to their list. It should link to a landing page designed to capture emails.
You can join ConvertKit for free here to use as your email marketing provider. In it, you can see detailed stats on your open rate and click-through rate. These are valuable metrics that other partners are going to want to know about your list.
- Joint ventures
A joint venture is where you partner with another business to create a new product. I’m not against this at all, but there’s a better way to do joint ventures.
Let’s say you have a “build muscle fast” product. Someone else has a “30-day exercise challenge,” and another has a “7-day meal plan guide”.
In this type of JV, multiple high-earning bloggers combine their existing products into one mega-product – offered to everyone’s audience at one low price.
You should only do this once your sales have plateaued and you’re essentially trying to squeeze the last bit of juice out of that orange.
Here’s how to make this work.
Step 1. Look at other “build muscle” websites that offer similar (yet different) products than yours.
Step 2. Write to each website owner with your collaboration idea.
Step 3. Everyone promotes this mega-product to their audiences at one low price.
Step 4. You split the profits amongst each other.
While it takes time to set this up, it is a win-win for all parties involved.
6. Create new shit consistently
I’m not a fan of writing a lot of blog posts on your website. However, it is far better to create less (but amazing) content than to turn your website into a content farm of mediocrity.
While you shouldn’t be cranking out content too often, you do want to be consistent.
For some, that might mean 2 posts per week. For others 2 posts per month. Whatever it is, stay consistent and don’t stop creating.
When you consistently create great content, Google, YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram, and more will reward your account with better content distribution.
Each of these platforms we use as traffic sources has its own algorithm. But each one prefers to send traffic to content creators who create great content consistently.
7. Become a time management boss
Here’s how to produce great content without wasting all day on it.
- Batch working
I’m not too good at following a schedule. For example, I can’t imagine being forced to create content on a Tuesday, just because it’s a Tuesday!
I work in batches. Batch-work is where you put all of your focus on one task for an extended period of time.
For example, all I’ll be doing is creating content that I plan to schedule for the coming weeks ahead for a few days.
This lets me laser focus on content creation for a few days straight before switching gears to another part of my business.
- Use a content manager/calendar
I use Meistertask to plan out my entire content schedule.
Here’s how I use it.
Step 1. Go to my Article Ideas list. When I want to create content, I choose an idea I like from the list and start working on it. I add any useful information in each item, such as what keyword phrase I want to target or some helpful resources.
Step 2. Move it to the Currently Doing list. Here I add more information such as a working headline, the blog category, and a scheduled completion date.
Step 3. Move it to the Done list. Finally, I add information such as the final headline, URL, featured image, and scheduled publish date.
The beauty comes when I view this board in Calendar view. This lets me see the big picture of how consistent I’m being with my posting.
8. Invest in yourself
I saved the best for last. The best investment you can make isn’t in some program that promises lots of traffic.
The best investment you can make is in your education.
Just the fact that you’re reading this means you are investing your time into learning how to get traffic. That’s great, but if you are bouncing from post to post looking for clues, you’re not efficient with your time.
It is better to take a specialized blog course that teaches you how to go from A->B or M->N.
It’s when you start treating your “blog” like a real business that things begin to change for the better. On the other hand, if you keep treating your blog as a hobby, it will always stay a hobby.
Thanks for reading, see you next time! Oh, and if you found this helpful, please click below to share this post.
Until next time,
Edwin, DoSixFigures.com
I love how this is easy to read, which helped me digest the information quicker. Also, the tips are useful & I’ll definitely be applying it to my blog, thank you so much for sharing Edwin!
Love these tips!! I will have to take them into consideration as my blog is well on it’s way to success.
/Stop looking for shortcut/ everyone wants quick results but all in all we just need to put heads down and work from the root, nice post edwin…
Have you had any success with traffic? Let me know which traffic source has been your best driver of traffic.