Setting up a blog is as easy as it gets—getting traffic is another proposition altogether. Yes, blogs by their very nature are supposed to be search engine optimization ready but there is a catch: Your blog needs to break free from the millions of blogs jostling with each other for attention. And there is no magic wand to do this for you.
You could, however, seek out Philip Kotler for some inspiration—his 4Ps of marketing can work for your blog, too—without spending a dime or morphing into a nerd.
Product
No matter how sleek a car, it is of no use if it does not run. The same goes for your blog—unless you want to attract only monkeys, no one will care to read about the bowl of nuts you enjoy sitting under a tree. Content is everything; this is your product and the first P.
“Start by asking why you are writing a blog. This will bring clarity on who you are writing for, and this in turn will help you determine what you are writing,” says Rajesh Lalwani, founder of Blogworks, a strategic consulting firm helping brands and corporates with their blog and social media strategy.
Readers will come to you only if you carry something impactful, informative or even humorous for them. Just because so many blogs have little more than incoherent ramblings of the owner does not mean you have to subscribe to such low denominators.
And here’s more to make your product buyer friendly:
Quantity does not beat quality: While frequent postings may help you go up the search rankings, don’t do it for the sake of doing so. Ask yourself if anyone would care to read what you are writing. Post once or twice a week if need be but ensure it is quality writing. You don’t want to turn away readers or bury your good pieces under the debris.
Is it unique? Unless the first blog Rip Van Winkle goes to after waking up is yours, your content is valuable only if it is unique. Search engines such as Google can now catch those who copy content from other sources. Spooky, but true. “A combination of originality and quality works beautifully—it takes you higher up on the search engines,” says Lalwani.
Is your content ‘buzzworthy’? It can be if you offer scoops or write controversial stuff—but be careful and don’t go over the top. A positive buzz will get people talking about you and send links and traffic your way.
Promotion
If every good product sold on its own, David Ogilvy would not have had a job. Even when you have hit the sweet spot with your product, you need to promote it, which brings you to the second P. Try these ideas—based on a mix of conventional thought and the science of how bits and bytes behave in cyberspace: