7 Simple Steps For Growing Your Blog From Scratch

Blogging December 14, 2009 29 Comments @niallharbison

I have just started a new blog about football and I am very lucky that I have started a few blogs including this one in the past and know how to build an initial audience. From experience one of the hardest things to do when blogging is to get the blog off the ground and get the first couple of hundred people reading it and lack of traction is often the main reason why people give up blogging completely. With this in mind I wanted to give you a complete guide on some simple steps that I use to get a blog up and running and people reading your posts and hopefully passing them on to friends. You have to remember that your search engine traffic at the start will be very low and you can expect to wait about 3 months for that to kick in properly. As I always say though the most important part of the whole puzzle is the content. Don’t have good content and it won’t matter how many people you send to your blog as they won’t be coming back for more. Here are my tips for building your initial blog audience…

Link It Up

Blog links readers

Social Profiles

Chances are you have a Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter profile so get all those links pointing to your new blog. Think of every single account you have ever had on the web like YouTube and Myspace and get in there and link up to your new blog. It is all about building the credibility of the site in the eyes of the search engines so the more links you have the better.

Websites and Blogs

If you already have any personal websites or blogs use them to link up to the new blog. Don’t just link to the homepage either but send links to various pages including the “About” page and individual blog posts.

Leaning On Friends

Ask some of your friends and contacts online if they could help you out with a link to your new site. They might not all want to do it but chances are you have helped out somebody in the past and they will be more than happy to help you out with a link.

SEO

google SEO Search engine optimization is the art of making sure your blog posts appear in search engines as high as possible so as people find them by searching using tools like Google. The higher your posts appear the more traffic and in return readers you are going to get.

The Free Option

If you are thinking about building your blog on anything other than WordPress..,you shouldn’t be! WordPress has a great basic publishing system that really is completely idiot proof and with some simple pointers you will be set up in minutes. Once set up there are some great SEO plugins that you can add.

The Cheap Option

If you do want to get a little more serious about your blogging then you may want to get a more professional theme like Thesis. It has all the hard SEO work done for you and is as simple as dragging and dropping content around the site. This will give you a massive initial boost in the rankings and help you attract more readers.

The Pro Option

Get somebody who knows about SEO to optimize your site. If you are using your blog for business them you want to give yourself every chance so pay somebody who knows what they are doing to optimize your content perfectly from the start. It may seem a lot of money but to pay somebody for a day’s work but itÂ will save you a lot of hassle in the long run and allow you to concentrate on the content.

Facebook

Facebook Fan Page There are lots of different things that you can do here to get your readership numbers up and running and target readers in your niche..

Ask your friends

Chances are you are going to have a couple of hundred of friends on Facebook so make sure to send the word out to them. Link to your blog. Write them a private message asking them to send it to their friends. Ask them to link it up from their profile. They are your friends so chances are they will want to help you.

Get a Facebook fan page

Depending on the content on your blog you will want to get a Facebook fan page. Treat this as an out post of your blog and share great content from your niche on the Facebook Fan page like good videos you find on Youtube and funny stories. You’ll also want to add a Facebook fan box to your blog as this will increase the amount of interaction and the amount of fans you attract to your page. Make sure to suggest the new fan page to your friends as well so as you have a few fans to start you off.

Competitions

Blogging competitions You need to beg borrow or steal to get yourself a couple of competition prizes to start you off and create a bit of buzz around your blog at the very start.

Offer Your Skills

If you are a business blog or even are trying to push your own personal brand then you should offer some of your own skills as a prize. Are you a designer? The offer up the prize of a logo or website. Have a blog on gardening? Design a garden for somebody as a prize. None of this will cost you a penny but it will attract some initial readers.

Buy A Prize Yourself

If you have a bit of spare cash and are serious about getting your blog off to a good start why not go and buy 500 Euros worth of prizes. Books only cost about 10 Euros so why not buy 30 books and offer them up as a prize each day for a month. At the end of the day your blog needs to be marketed and this is a cheap and effective way to get some initial buzz going around your blog.

Beg For Prizes

Get out there and start hustling. Get a load of competition prizes from people you know. Dinner for 2. DVDs. Phones. Whatever you can get your hands on. Tell people your blog is a big deal and they are lucky to be getting featured. People get excited about prizes and will interact with your blog as a result.

Networking

Networking Blogging Just like when promoting a business or service in the real world one of the best ways to promote your blog online is through networking. The key is connecting with like minded individuals who will possibly be interested in your content.

Twitter

This has to be the easiest way to find people in your niche who might be interested in your blog. Start running a couple of searches that are relevant to your and your blog and follow some people who look interesting. Don’t broadcast your blog URL but simply engage with people and share interesting info. Their curiosity will eventually lead them to your blog.

Connecting With Other Bloggers

Rather than seeing other bloggers in your niche as competition you should be hanging around with them both online and if at all possible in the real world. They will help you out in the long run.

Offline Networking

If you don’t know many other bloggers or people on Twitter then you’ll want to go along to as many meet ups and events as possible. Meeting people who you connect with online will only enhance your relationships and ultimately raise the awareness of your blog.

Commenting

Commenting Blogs Comments are the lubrication that make the blogosphere go around. Used correctly they are not only a great way of raising awareness of your own blog but a highly rewarding reflection on your own blog posts and a way of fostering community on your own blog.

Commenting On Other Blogs

You have probably already heard that you should be commenting on other people’s blogs and that is 100% the case. Not only will it make the author aware of your blog but if your comment is actually adding to the conversation then other readers might see it and click through to your blog. Take your time to read blogs and leave insightful comments rather just commenting for the sake of it.

Commenting On Your Blog

If anybody takes time to read your blog and better still takes time to leave a comment then you should 100% take the time out of your day and comment back and reply to them. There is no better way of engaging with the few readers you have an making sure they hand around in the future.

The Bonus Round

The bonus round There are literally hundreds of things that you could be doing but here are a selection of a few of the things that I have found the most effective…

Guest Blogging

Many of the big blogs around the world will accept guest blog posts so make sure to start making connections and offering up your services. Most people think they should just write a short guest blog post to save time but it should in fact be your best work as you are going to be showing off your writing skills to a whole new audience. If you write well enough readers will find your blog interesting and hopefully subscribe and become regular readers.

Offline Media

Journalists are always looking for stories to cover and your own niche will be no different. You’ll need to let all journalists know that you are the go to guy on tractors or whatever the subject of your blog is. Submit your blog to be featured in columns that have “new blog” features and generally try and get involved with traditional media.

Submit to directories

There are lots of different directories and places that you should be listed. Here is a good comprehensive list. If you don’t have a lot of time on your hands a few good ones to start with would be DMOZ, Google and Yahoo.

Summary

You are going to have to do everything on this list as soon as possible and if yu can get it all working within the first month there is a good chance that your blog will get some early traction. All of this stuff is going to take time but the more you can comment on other blogs and interact with your community the better chance you have of increasing the visibility of your blog. The one thing that I will say is that the first 2 months is the hardest part of getting your blog going and as I said above many people give up completely. Once you see your first few regular readers and have a few people leaving comments you will start to see the rewards of your labor and will hopefully keep on blogging to an even higher level.

Do you have any tips on who to get your blog up and running?

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Comments

http://www.markpack.org.uk Mark Pack

Nice list. One query though: doesn’t Google only take entries for its directory from DMOZ? ie once you’ve added your directory to DMOZ there’s nothing else you can or should do in order to get in to the Google directory?

http://www.simplyzesty.com Niall Harbison

Mark. Just been checking that out and it looks like you are right Will get the post changed up to reflect that shortly. Thanks for that!

http://www.smash-marketing.com Sharath

Great content. Really helpful for any newbie like me. Thanks.
http://themanalyst.com Manal Assaad

That’s just what I’ve been looking for, thanks! I was just trying to submit my URL to DMOZ, but here’s the thing: my website/blog is somewhat personal but with professional content. I’m a Marketing Advisor but I’m not looking to make a business out of it online. So I don’t how relevant it is for me to list my website under Marketing and Advertising services, especially since those aren’t the categories I’m sticking to in the posts I write.
I guess I’ll just do the steps that seem most relevant to me. I’ll maybe start with a fan page even though I know that most fan pages don’t get over 1,000 fans and I barely have 50 friends but I’ll surely exploit them =D.
Thanks again.

http://www.simplyzesty.com Niall Harbison

Hi Manal and yes you are right about DMOZ. Sometimes when I am in there adding a new blog I have no idea whatsoever which category to add it to. Feels like they make it hard or something on purpose! Sometimes I end up having to put it somewhere that doesn’t fit and I know it’ll probably be rejected. Guess it just takes a little bit of playing around and you’ll get there in the end!

http://themanalyst.com Manal Assaad

Hey Niall,
Is there any other web directory that allows you to tag your URL with different relevant keywords rather than just stick it under one category?! I mean that would be more efficient since, judging by the millions of blogs out there, bloggers and website owners (unless they represent a company) rarely fall under one category, and to choose only one would really limit your type of visitors. However, I believe that can be solved when you actually combine it by other promotional methods like the ones you’ve mentioned in your post.

http://www.simplyzesty.com Niall Harbison

Yeah Manal but I guess he biggest problem is that they do all of the moderating by hand with a team of volunteers all over the world sorting through the submissions. I suppose it is hard enough as it is without having extra categories! What we need is for Google to come along with a kick ass system of listing all blogs. Sure there is technorati but it has pretty much gone to pot recently!

http://www.uncertainchange.com Tomas Stonkus

Dear Nial:

Thank you for sharing your knowledge! I have been actively blogging for about two months now and I can attest that all of the above thing really work.

The most important things I would say are Facebook, Twitter and Guest Blogging and Commenting. If you are just starting out, those are MUST DO if you want to attract new readers and get exposure.

I also use WordPress and it is magical! I never thought I would be able to have a professional looking site with as low as $5/month. Something worth looking into.

Either way, thanks for a reminder to keep going and doing things that I should be doing

Best,
Tomas

http://www.simplyzesty.com Niall Harbison

Yeah no worries Tomas! Sounds like you are already doing a lot of the right things and no it is just a case of sticking with it!. It does take a massive amount of hard work to just repeat some of these steps over and over again but it also isn’t rocket science so if you do show a bit of persistence you will get there in the end. You are right $5 is nothing to have your voice heard online

http://onlinemarketingmashup.com Zack

Great post. My new blog is about a month old now and I’m learning a ton. It’s nice to have resources like your site to help give us noobs a foundation to work from.
http://www.simplyzesty.com Niall Harbison

Zack. Glad to hear you are enjoying thw world of blogging. The good news is that there are a ton of free resources out there for you to use with nearly every topic under the sun covered.
http://www.wakeupcloud.com/ Henri

Awesome post. I’ve started many niche websites from scratch and these are practically the only things I stick to. They work. It’s hard work, but it is rewarding. Thanks for popping by my blog so I could find those. Never heard of SimplyZesty, but I’m already a fan .

http://www.simplyzesty.com Niall Harbison

Yeah they really are the only things to stick to. The thing that puts most people off is that they take a lot of time and effort to get anywhere! The good news is that if you have a lot of time and are willing to put in the effort you will be rewarded!

http://www.surfvoucher.com surfvoucher

WOW! What a great post, not the same basic few tips but an excellent well written guide. You just earned yourself a new fan!

http://www.simplyzesty.com Niall Harbison

A new fan is always good Glad you enjoyed it. am really jealous of your website BTW! Big surfing fanatic!

http://www.metaspring.com Case Ernsting

Great starters guide right there Niall. I have a few more ideas to run past you…
I do the relationship building for my blog at MetaSpring.com and about a week before each post goes up, I do some heavy lifting and target very specific keywords on Twitter. With these hyper-focused keywords, I make connections for 3-4 days and then recommend our blog post directly. This way, they trust me and don’t see it as a spam tactic. The conversations that occur can even be used as an additional research tool or sounding board for ideas that are used directly in the post. I think of our blog as a a means to an end in terms of connecting with others, so I stay true to that mantra throughout the process.

http://www.simplyzesty.com Niall Harbison

Wow that really is a new one to me but sounds as if it is working for you! As you say the most important thing to do is to connect with your readers and form long term bonds which seems to be what you are doing so keep it up

http://www.theinfopreneur.net TheInfoPreneur

Really good post, this raises some interesting and vital points. You are obviously a big fan of offline media, or normal life as some call it! lol, anyone yeah your use of newspapers etc obviously really helps you, have you done a post about using off line media?
Great posy Niall

http://www.simplyzesty.com Niall Harbison

Yeah have done a couple of posts about offline media and it is quite imortant and gve you a boost naturally. Here is a handy one I wrote a while ago about getting media coverage. Just need to get your angle right and make a good story out of your blog for the traditional media… http://www.simplyzesty.com/category/traditional-media/

http://www.canzei.com Canzei

Hi Niall, good info there. I’m in the process of setting up a blog myself so this kind of stuff is helpful. Would be interested in hearing tips more about writing content in specific. Thanks

http://www.simplyzesty.com Niall Harbison

Will defo try and write some more posts about content and how to write content that gets you attention and your users engaged. Best of luck with starting the blog, it’s an exciting journey!

http://www.lionslinger.com Walter

I guess you have covered it all here. I did not realize that I have much to do to get my blog going like having Facebook account and guest posting. I should focus on this aspect. Thanks for providing me here a comprehensive info.

http://www.simplyzesty.com Niall Harbison

No worries at all Walter. Facebook is not going to send you massive amounts of traffic from the start but what it will do is help you build a bit of audience at the start and really get your content in front of a core group of people to get you started anyway

Pauline Sargent

Great info again…..thanks. Perhaps surfing could be added to Lauren’s list of “Stuff people in new media like” Also, would like to know more about the pro option as in how to choose? prices? Is it best to do courses and learn yourself or if not a techie at all or just don’t have an interest in that side of social media, are you better getting someone to work with to do that end of things.Pauline

http://www.simplyzesty.com Niall Harbison

Pauline there is a good amount of stuff that you can learn online, all of it actually. There are 100s of resources and tutorials that will teach you every single element of blogging but I guess it all comes down to time. If I am advising people doing it fo business I usually tell them to get the basics from a pro and get a nicely designed simple blog and they can then manage it themselves going forward and spend their time writing and creating great content. The last thing you want to be doing is spending hours on the technical elements of your website.

http://experimentsinpassiveincome.com Moon Hussain

Great post, Niall. I am doing a couple of things on the list like networking with similar blogs and promoting my blog on Facebook.

I have to ramp up my Twitter followers somehow, but not sure how to do it. I’ll be subscribing to your feed and thanks for checking out my blog.
http://www.residualbacon.com ResidualBacon

Niall,
I will be honest, your 7 steps for growing a blog is nothing new floating around the net, but they way you lay them out and the ease of reading truly made the difference. Nice work! I like what you said about commenting, I actually found this page from a comment you left over at the Passive Income Experiments page, so this comment is proof that it works!
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http://kirba.wordpress.com David Kirba

Hi Niall,

This is a very useful blog you have here. Thanks for the tips. I’m going to start going through them one by one.

Cheers,
David K