How to Promote Your Blog: My Personal Journey to Boosting Traffic

Have you ever wondered how to promote your blog as a newbie blogger? Do not worry — I was in the same situation. I was thrilled to share my thoughts when I wrote my first blog post.

But after a few weeks, nobody read my posts, which made me sad because I was too shy to talk about my blog during that phase.

Thus, I realized that writing great content was insufficient; I needed to promote my blog actively.

You must follow a few effective promotion strategies to reach a wider audience. So that your blog will not collect dust being not visible but reaches people who need it.

Hence, I will share my journey and the strategies that worked for me with today’s article.

Why is it Necessary to Promote My Blog?

Before we discuss the strategies, let’s discuss why promotion is crucial. Imagine you have put all your knowledge into a blog post.

I believe it is useless if it does not reach the audience who needs it. We write blogs to help solve our audience’s problems, so our content should have a better reach.

To increase visibility, many bloggers focus on writing blog posts for SEO as a key strategy to boost their reach and drive more traffic.

In my early blogging days, I learned three important lessons:

• The internet is vast, and my blog is just a tiny part.
• Even great content can go unnoticed without proper promotion.
• If I promote consistently, my blog will grow steadily in readership and engagement.

Best Ways to Promote a Blog

I hope my learnings gave you some idea of how crucial it is to reach your audience and connect with them.

Let me share the best blog promotion techniques for beginners that helped my blog grow.

1. Blog Promotion on Social Media

When I started promoting on social media, I just dropped links to my blog posts.

— However, I felt this was not the best way to promote a blog. If I say my new blog is live on my website, who will read it, and why?

Then, I started to

• Figure out my target audience
• Understand them and their pain points
• Understand their wish, their desires

Then, considering all the above aspects, I started creating social media content. Gradually, I gained followers and their trust. So, from then on, whenever I published a blog post, I highlighted their problem.

After that, I gave a gist of a solution to that problem and told the detailed solution in my blog post.

Thus, my audience got their top layer of solutions and then visited my blog for more.

Even now, if you are still wondering how to promote your blog on social media, here’s what I did:

• Choose the right platforms: I focused on LinkedIn and Instagram, where my target audience was most active. I tried using Twitter but could not get more reach there. So, identify the platforms that are right for you and start with 1 or 2 because, in the beginning, you will feel overwhelmed and may decide to quit, too.

• Create platform-specific content: Instead of just sharing links, I created eye-catching graphics for Instagram and shared my personal stories on LinkedIn. Visuals are crucial for Instagram, and personal stories/lessons/experiences/learnings reach more people on LinkedIn.
• Engage with others: I spent 30 minutes daily commenting on and sharing other’s content, which helped build relationships and reach a wider audience.
• Use hashtags strategically: You may see online discussions about using and not using hashtags. I believe hashtags can take your content to the right people in your niche. Hence, I consistently researched and used popular, quality hashtags in my niche.

So, I recommend choosing a social media platform wisely based on where your target audience is active. These platforms will help you reach the right and wider audience so that you and your blog can grow eventually.

2. Tapping into Quora’s Potential

When I was initially worried about how to attract people to my blog, I took one more step away from social media: getting started on Quora.

Till then, I saw Quora as a getting-answers platform. But never thought about another side of the platform where people share answers.

Thus, I created an account on Quora, optimized it according to my niche, and decided on topics I could answer.

Since then, Quora has become an unexpected source of traffic for my blog.

Here’s what I did on Quora:

• Find relevant questions: I searched for topics related to my blog niche.
• Provide valuable answers: I wrote detailed, helpful responses without being overly promotional.
• Not promoting early: I gave a small signature under my answers, e.g., Best, Manogna, and a blogger at designandpen.com. This way, people get to know my blog instead of me repeatedly telling them to check it.
• Include a subtle link: Later, once I got some views for my answers, then I added a line like “For more details, check out my blog post on [topic]” with a link under a few answers.
• Be consistent: I aimed to answer 2-3 questions daily, which allowed me to reach more people.

So, if you are like me, thinking in Quora, you will get only answers; it is wrong, thought my friend. See how I changed my thoughts about answering audience questions and made Quora work for me.

I started Quora in 2023, and I got around 7K views, meaning my content is reaching a wider audience, and people know me and my blog.

Similarly, find the right questions related to your niche and answer them to solve their problems.

3. Engaging with Reddit Communities

After starting with Quora, I found one more similar platform: Reddit. Initially, understanding Reddit was a bit tricky for me.

Because it was not as simple as Quora, I spent quite some time trying to understand the platform’s culture.

Then, I became familiar with Reddit’s options and processes, and it became a great promotion tool for me. Moreover, after this process, I concluded that every platform and algorithm differs.

So, if we spend enough time understanding the platform without quitting, our audience and we can greatly benefit.

Here is what I did on Reddit:

• Find relevant subreddits: I joined communities related to my blog’s niche.
• Contribute value first: I spent time commenting and sharing insights without promoting my blog.
• Share content carefully: Once I built a good reputation, I occasionally shared my blog posts, always following the subreddit’s rules.
• Participate in discussions: I set aside time to engage in conversations, which helped build my credibility and authority in my niche.

Similarly, if Reddit is confusing you, too, just try to spend some time understanding the platform and start slow.

4. Repurposing Content for Medium

In Medium, we need a shorter post, around 400-600 words, to perform well compared to the actual blog post length. Also, the length is longer than social media posts.

In the beginning, I only had my blog and social media. Although I wanted to start on Medium, I was overwhelmed trying to maintain the word count.

My blog posts are between 2500 and 3000 words, and my social media posts are around 100-150. Then, I thought, why should I re-invent the wheel again? I can repurpose my blog posts.

Thus, I decided to break my blog posts meaningfully into two or three subtopics based on their length.

Finally, I used to prepare posts to publish on Medium while writing my main article. This way, I do not need to worry about what I post on every platform.

Eventually, Medium became an excellent platform for me to reach a wider audience.

Here’s what I did on Medium:

• Adapt blog posts: I rewrote and adjusted my existing blog content for Medium’s audience.
• Engage with other writers: I commented on and clapped for other articles in my niche. Also, I got to reach other bloggers to learn and grow more here.

So, I recommend you slowly start on whichever platform you can to promote and reach a wider audience. But remember that you need not always reinvent the wheel; instead, you can repurpose your content according to the platform’s needs.

It will overwhelm you, especially at the beginning of your journey.

5. Guest Posting on Other Blogs

If you had been following me, you would have known that I did not implement everything from my first blog at once, including guest posts.

— Do not worry if you don’t know me yet. Let me tell you now without taking up much of your time. I am a full-time Amazon employee, managing my blog and my little baby.

Initially, I paid my full attention only to writing well-researched blog posts and not to

• Visuals
• Formatting
• Adding FAQs
• Table of Contents
• And guest posting

So, with each article, I was getting better and better. For this reason, I kept guest posting aside, knowing its potential. I was developing and growing my blog at the start.

Once I was comfortable with all the aspects of blogging, I slowly started to bring every point I said above to my blog posts.

Eventually, guest blogging took place in my blogging journey, too. If you are wondering how to promote a blog while writing guest posts, then,

Remember, guest posting is a win-win for bloggers. Here, you help others grow by providing valuable content while gaining backlinks and new audience exposure.

Also, you share your expertise on their site and promote the post on your social media to benefit both parties.

For this reason, guest posting significantly boosted my blog’s visibility.

Here’s what I did in guest blogging:

• Identified target blogs: I made a list of blogs in my niche that accepted guest posts.
• Craft personalized pitches: I wrote unique pitch emails for each blog, showcasing my expertise.
• Deliver high-quality content: When accepted, I put extra effort into guest posts to impress the host blog’s audience.
• Engage with comments: I actively responded to comments on my guest posts, building connections with new readers.

If you are hesitant about guest blogging like I was, don’t be. Start early in your blogging journey. The reach and benefits of guest posting are often underestimated.

It is a powerful way to expand your audience and build connections in the blogging world.

6. Email Newsletter Strategy

Now, let’s talk about something I wish I’d paid more attention to when I first started: building an email list.

— I know, I know — when you are just starting, it feels like there are a million things to focus on. Trust me, I’ve been there, as I told you in the previous section.

Initially, I was so caught up with writing posts, tweaking my site design, and figuring out social media that I completely overlooked the importance of an email list.

Later, I realized how crucial having an email list is for connecting with your audience. It is like having a direct line in your readers’ inboxes.

Finally, I’m launching a newsletter to reach my audience on a more personal level. And let me tell you, I wish I’d started this way earlier.

So, learn from my mistake. Do not delay building your email list. Start now, even if it is small. Your future self will thank you for it. Trust me on this one!

Here is the process I’m planning to follow, which might help you if you are just starting:

• Create a lead magnet: I am working on a free PDF related to my blog’s niche. And it is a great way to encourage signups.
• Strategic form placement: I will add signup forms at the end of my posts and in the sidebar. Make it easy for readers to join!
• Engaging newsletters: I will send bi-weekly emails with blog updates and exclusive content. Keep your subscribers looking forward to your emails.
• List segmentation: I will segment subscribers based on their interests as the list grows. This process allows for more targeted and effective promotion.

Remember, it is never too early to start building your email list. If you are just beginning, you have a head start on where I was. Make the most of it!

7. Participating in Online Communities

Are you still wondering how to promote your blog? Let me tell you, diving into relevant online communities is a game-changer you cannot afford to miss.

Along with creating social media profiles for my blog on Facebook, I started to search for relevant groups for my niche.
Like Quora and Reddit, Facebook groups helped me reach more audiences by engaging with them.

Also, this process drove targeted traffic to my blog.

Here’s what I did with online communities like Facebook Groups:

• Join relevant Facebook groups: I joined groups related to my blog’s topics.
• Contribute to discussions: I shared insights and helped others without immediate self-promotion.
• Share blog posts when relevant: I share my content when appropriate if it genuinely answers someone’s question.
• Hosting a community: Eventually, seeing all these groups and the engagement happening there, I decided to start my own Facebook group, creating a space for deeper engagement with my audience.

Ultimately, I suggest you actively participate in online forums to reach a wider audience so that you and your blog eventually grow.

Final Thoughts

Alright, let us wrap this up. I hope my experience gave you an answer to your question – how to promote your blog.

If there is one thing I have learned on this blogging journey, it is this: promoting your blog is not a one-and-done deal.
Thus, it is an ongoing process that demands patience, consistency, and the flexibility to adapt.

Do not wait for the perfect moment or until you have figured it all out. I am grateful that I at least started with a few strategies initially and did not wait to learn everything.

Pick one or two of these strategies and dive in. Then, pay attention to what works and what doesn’t. Analyze your results, tweak your approach, and keep refining.

So, what are you waiting for? Your audience is out there, eager to discover your awesome content. It is the right time to help them find you!

Remember, every successful blogger started exactly where you are now. The difference? They took that first step. So go on, take yours.

Ready to take your blog promotion to the next level? Comment your favorite strategy below.

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