BEST TIPS TO GROW YOUR BLOG or Website

You have a blog started. You’ve narrowed down a niche and have a name. You’ve built your blog. You’ve started writing.

But how do you grow a blog or a website? This is an entirely different set of steps!

I spent years learning about websites, blogging and graphic design. I took my time and studied how bloggers write posts. I taught myself simple graphic design and photography but creating a blog doesn’t mean people will read it.

Growing a blog is all about marketing. You can create a fantastic blog or website but you have to FIND your audience. Marketing can seem a little daunting for some of us but I promise you can do it!

Creating a blog and growing an audience require different set of skills, resources, and sometimes learning new things!

Don’t be overwhelmed.

Let’s take it step by step.

KNOW YOUR ONE GOAL

Many new bloggers make a simple mistake. They try to accomplish too many goals at once. In the end, most people will burn out.

Information is everywhere! Experts will tell you what you should be doing NOW and most of us listen. We adopt one new strategy for blog posts, another strategy for Pinterest Marketing, and another strategy for email.

Before you know it, we are buzzing around with a million new things we are trying to implement to grow our blogs and business. If we are not careful, we end up tired and frustrated.

It’s overwhelming for a new blogger!

The good news is you can grow a consistent, lucrative blog, doing ONE thing at time.

WHY DOES FOCUSING ON ONE THING MATTER?

Simply put, we can get more quality work done when we focus on one thing at a time. Multi-tasking is hardly ever productive. I’ve learned this lesson the hard way.

With 3 kids and my own business, I am tempted to multi-task all the time! I always end up tired, burned out, and frustrated.

Grab a notebook and write down all your big goals and dreams for your blog! Do you want to have an online store through your blog? How much money do you want to make? How do you want to make this money? Do you want to create a free resource library? Do you want to create a subscription service through your blog?

Once you have that all written down, PICK ONE THING. Create a road map for your ONE THING.

How will you get there?

For example, maybe your ONE big dream is to make 100K/ year on your blog. You have may have no time line on this, but it is your big goal.

Great! Maybe you’ve decided that having a decent sized email list is one way to grow an income. So your road map may look like this:

  1. Start Blog

  2. Create a free Resource Library

  3. Load my library with 30 files / 1 blog post per file

  4. Share my free file on Pinterest

  5. Grow my list to 8,000 people

Now, let’s be clear. This may take you a long time but you have a map and you are focused on your specific ONE THING. Don’t get distracted, Take ONE thing at a time.

BEST TIPS FOR GROWING YOUR BLOG

TIP 1 - ONE Thing

Think BIG! You many have many things you want to accomplish or goals you want to reach. Write all those things down.

Now, pick ONE thing. This is the hard part. Think BIG. Challenge yourself but don’t try to accomplish everything at once.

Multi-tasking is a lie. It will frustrate you and slow down your progress.

Choose One thing and go for it. Maybe you want to open a shop and sell so many widgets. Or maybe your big goal is to make $25,000/ a year in ads on your blog or website. Whatever your one thing is, write it down and go for it!

For more on choosing ONE thing, I highly recommend The One Thing.

TIP 2 - Create a Free Resource Library.

A free resource library is a quick and fun way to grow a blog. I grew my email list to 1,000 subscribers in a few months time with a free resource library.

The trick to a great resource library is knowing what your niche needs. What tips and trick are they looking for? How can you solve a problem from you reader?

Once you know that, create free printables or patterns and place those inside a password protected free resource library. When someone subscribes to your list they get the password and access to all your incredible freebies!

TIP 3 - Create a simple Pinterest Strategy

I still believe Pinterest is one of the best ways to grow a blog or website. I know Pinterest can be overwhelming to some but I promise the work you put into a good Pinterest strategy will pay off! Don’t give up.

A good Pinterest strategy is not complicated but you must be willing to learn and put in the work. Pinterest is a long game so be prepared.

I recommend knowing key words for your niche, creating eye catching pins for you blog (4 to 5 pins/ post), and pinning your content regularly.

For more on creating a simple Pinterest Strategy, I highly recommend Pinteresting Strategies by Carly Campbell.

TIP 4 - Create a simple Email Marketing Strategy

Email marketing has been one of the steepest learning curves for me. Once I started growing my email list I really struggled with what to write about in my emails!

If you struggle like I did, don’t over think this. Set up a simple plan

  • How many times a month will you email your subscribers?Shoot for a minimum of 1 time per month, work your way up to weekly.

  • Create a email calendar of topics. Your emails could build trust with your readers, share new freebies, share new blog posts or contents, or launch products. Pick one thing from that list and write an email!

  • You subscribers are friends so remember to treat them this way! Ask them how they are doing and create content that helps them each week. Growing your email list is like making new friends (adding subscribers) and then helping your new friends (weekly emails)!

THE LAST THING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT GROWING A BLOG

Growing a blog takes time. You may need to learn a lot of new skills! That is okay! We all do!

Focus on ONE thing at a time. Give your self a project and break it down into little steps.

Don’t get distracted by all the information out there. This is YOUR journey, YOUR business, YOUR goal.

You’ve got this!