I’m sorry, but I’m tired of hearing that all you need is good content to get noticed online – it’s a factor, but it’s not all of it, or even the majority of it in my opinion. I do believe that at the end of the day, content IS king (or queen), BUT first you have to get people to your blog to SEE the content (ay, there’s the rub), one of the most difficult parts of blogging in my opinion, unless you know the “right” people (more on that later).
Anyway, all this is in preface to a really interesting post I read about getting your blog noticed, over at the lost jacket. A lot of the suggestions are tongue-in-cheek (which is why this post has now become viral….), kind of, but they totally work. Here are some of my favorite suggestions with my comments in parentheses:
2. Take a contrarian position. (this isn’t necessarily contrarian, but write about smaller designers & boutiques, step outside the box – whatever everyone else is writing about, write about something different. REALLY express your opinion about subjects that are kind of “taboo” in your niche – I take an anti-fashion week stance in my post about supporting Independent Designers)
9. Create an award. (I’m actually thinking of doing this on Green Grechen, like a reader’s choice favorite eco-friendly designer or boutique – check out Fashion, Evolved’s new “Evolved Blogger” award. Brilliant.)
10. Link out to relevant content (this is kind of a no-brainer, but when putting your own posts together, search your favorite blogs and see if they’ve written anything similar, or on the same subject and mention their perspective. Those bloggers will LOVE you for it and they’ll be more likely to do the same in return)
11. Start an argument (sometimes you do this without meaning to, but let’s face it, arguments are good ways to get attention – especially in a “public” venue like the Internet. if you have a strong opinion about something, express it. just don’t be mean – be constructive)
13. Own a niche. (be the very best at independent designer/boutique interviews, outfit styling or avant garde fashion – find a niche and make it your own)
19. Write a How-To. (I’m honestly not a huge fan of these because they can sometimes be “preachy,” but if you write with humor and using your own trials and errors, how-to’s can work.
21. Declare that something is dead (I always fall for these types of posts, and have considered writing one or two myself about fast fashion not being as “dead” as some people like to think it is)
All of this doesn’t mean that you should necessarily “craft” all your posts specifically to do these things, or to “get attention,” (I don’t) but they’re worth thinking about if you’re feeling un-inspired or need post ideas. I don’t think you want to fill your blog up with all how-to or controversial posts, but one every week or so will keep people interested AND coming back to see your other posts, the ones that YOU might be more passionate about. They’re like “gateway” posts – use them to “catch” the visitors you want, then continue to write good, relevant content, to keep them.
Take a look at your most popular posts. What do they all have in common? My most popular posts – across all blogs – are the ones in which I take a position and defend it. Sometimes it’s a controversial position (milk-silk or bamboo) and sometimes it’s just a strong belief I hold (independent designers). I think these are great additions to my blogs, and I love that they attract new readers (posts like this always do), but I’m not going to build my blogs around them; they’re necessary supplements, but I think people would get tired if all the posts were how-to’s, controversial, linkbait, etc., don’t you?
What do you think? do you write “gateway” posts? how do you get your blog noticed?
I’d love it if you’d leave a link to one or more of your most “popular” or “gateway” posts – I want to include them in a follow-up post.
see also:
The Myth of Great Content marketing itself and 9 things to do to make sure your next blog post is read by more than your mom at problogger
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{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
hey im angela lopez from the philippines. and i co-own a fashion blog via tumblr. I run this fashion blog together with my friend nisa yaptinchay. we just started and so far, we've been getting good feedbacks. however, we kind of want to really take it to the next level. most of your suggestions we have actually tried. we focused on upcoming designers and interviewed them as well. we featured other fashion bloggers who are already known and yes, it gave our blog the much needed boost. but like what i said, we want to take it to the next level. hope you can help us… check out our blog too: http://g–ny.tumblr.com/
thank you
Wonderful Post.
Thanks for the info.
Preach GF!! You are so right! Everyone says, "content, content, CONTENT!" I agree that you most certainly have to write about things people want to read.
My question is, how do you get people to leave comments and really engage your blog without giving something away or doing a contest? Everyone does contests!!
LOL, that's an ongoing challenge for all of us i think…i try to ask my readers questions, leave questions in my post unanswered, really invite discussion – those things help to get comments, but sometimes you're just not going to get any…obviously writing controversial posts will get comments – from people who disagree or agree with you – and it's kind of a trial and error thing. experiment with different kinds of posts and see which ones get the most comments…
That's all very interesting, but you, too, didn't give an answer to how to get people to notice a blog. I started a blog about a month ago, and of course, I'm desperately waiting for comments. But until now I'm not sure whether anyone has even seen the blog. Maybe the 76 visitors was only myself 76 times.
Thank you so much for this post, I’m a new blogger and I’m totally perplexed with the whole blogging thing.
But I have a question about #9 – create an award. It’s a great idea and it sounds like it would be totally fun, but how does that work if you don’t have any follows or viewers? You can’t exactly give an award to nobody.
you could create an award for your 10 favorite bloggers – send them an e-mail with a small badge and mention why you chose them, some may not respond or post your badge or link, but some will; they’ll be flattered that you chose them. everyone loves to “win” something, even if it’s frivolous….
please check out my blog http://rtbase.blogspot.com and tell me what you think. I have just started blogging.