I recently reconnected with a former colleague who has a relatively new blog, and after visiting my site and looking at some of my stats, he asked how I had grown the blog to where it is now. I thought I’d share my response to him as I am heading towards my 2 year “blogaversary” on January 30, 2009. (by the way, I’m looking for prizes for a 2 Year Blogstravaganza Contest- anyone want to donate?)
First, let me say that one of my main goals for this blog is that it would build my authority and therefore drive my design business, and it has achieved that goal beyond all my expectations. I certainly could be posting more often if my main focus were traffic, ad revenue, subscribers, etc., but I choose not to put too much pressure on myself about posting frequency because I think it’s importance is rather overrated.
As I looked back over the last two years I found three categories of things that had a big impact on the growth of this site:
1. Find a void, then fill it
One way I’ve done this is by creating some free graphics that I thought people would enjoy using. Creating the little “I Follow Movement” badge brought me from a Technorati ranking of over 100,000 to into the top 500 blogs because of all the links on other blogs into my site. Another recent example is these free Twitter graphics. Finding these kinds of “voids” was just a matter of keeping my eyes open and then jumping on them as soon as possible before someone else did. Of course, creating graphics isn’t going to be everyone’s thing. More often, it will be subject matter that’s not being covered. Where are the voids in your niche?
2. Remember, there are always people just behind you on the learning curve
I can’t remember where I read this piece of advice, but it really helped me, particularly at the beginning when I felt I didn’t have much to offer. Whenever I would learn things along the way, I would write a post about it. One good example is this post about manipulating the wp_list_pages template tag. It wasn’t earth shattering news, but it turned out to be information that many people were looking for and the post generated a lot of traffic. There are tons of bloggers out there using WordPress all looking to learn how to use it better and do things for themselves rather than having to pay someone. What did you learn today?
3. Network, Network, Network
The other very important piece is networking with others in my niche, starting by leaving comments regularly on their sites, linking out to their posts, eventually guest posting here and there, and participating in a couple of forums. The importance of networking cannot be overstated. Where are the people in your niche hanging out?
These are a few thing that have worked for me. To what do you attribute your blog’s growth?
Great Article. I myself have a relatively new blog and am always looking for more ways to build it up!
I am @kylereddoch for those who are on twitter.
Thanks!
Randa, super article. I have appreciate your blog for some time now. I’ve seen my own design blog as a mere addition to my main site focus, which is my portfolio. But my personal blog, which is an entirely separate site has come with good white hat SEO practices and giving useful content. I’ve found that it simply takes a lot of time to gain the trust of a potential audience on the net. You’re doing a great job!
Great keys on growing your blog. I have been focusing on the final two lately, but I love the ideas you have had filling a void.
Great post, particularly like point 2.
I’ll be working with colleagues in the New Year re: blogging and will direct them to come read this!
My own blog is a bit of a mix of work and personal, but hey – so am I!
I’m @m8nd1 on twitter.
My first visit so I’m off to browse a bit more…
A very well written and informative guide, Randa. Congratulation for the upcoming 2 years blogaversary and I’ll spread my words to my friends. Hope they’ll want to become the sponsors for the “Blogstravaganza Contest”!
Great tips, Randa. It’s hard under-exaggerate the value of networking and the power of community.
My short time blogging has taught me how documenting mistakes can prove of great help to others. Posts about what I did wrong during the first months of publishing, or how my domain was stolen through a lapse in security, brought high levels of traffic and a few new readers.
Have a fantastic new year, and all the best for 2009!
Great tips indeed. I am a first time visitor to your blog and I really like your posts and your web design. Do you have any favourite CSS books that you read to master your design skills ?
I try to blog consistently. But sometimes I am lazy and don’t feel like writing at all. Guess it is the writer’s or rather blogger’s block at work.
@Linux and Friends – I don’t read any CSS books. I’m sure there are some good ones, but all my info comes from the web on an “as needed” basis.
@David – thanks for your comment. We have all learned a lot from some of the difficulties you’ve had.
@Brandon – yes, time and persistence are key factors
Thanks for taking the time to discuss this, I feel strongly about it and love learning more on this topic. If possible, as you gain expertise, would you mind updating your blog with more information? It is extremely helpful and beneficial to your readers :)
Really great advice. Thanks so much!
Happy New Year!
ive been blogging for 5 yrs but only late last year (2oo8) that i really putting effort into it and i must say im lovin it. thanks for the advices i’d keep them in mind.
http://itpinoy.blogspot.com
I’ll be blogging a year in February. What has brought me the most readers is providing good content for keywords that have little competition.
I spend most of my time researching and writing content. I posted five days a week until a couple of months ago when I went to three days a week.
It’s loads of work for little reward. I average about 100 visitors a day, mostly from Google search, but so far it hasn’t helped my bottom line.
I’ve thought of dropping my posts to once per week in order to spend more time networking. That seems to be your approach, right?
Happy New Year Randa. Thanks for this very informative posr. I totally agree with you that by having quality advice which people often look for, one can get a good following in no time. I also like your idea of filling the void.
Very well written and informative. I can’t agree more with you that networking is important. Your information provided will be put to good use.
Thank You
Happy New Year!
so true about “find a void and fill it” – Chris Brogan said it first, “Passion is not a ‘me too’ game” – there are needs out there, we just have to find the solution and tell people about it.
Thanks for the espresso shot of inspiration Randa! Your “fill the void” concept is brilliantly simple (as genius often is) and is a concept that extends well into creative and business endeavors too.
I’m enjoying your blog and how effortless it appears, though I’m sure it’s plenty of perspiration as well as inspiration.
Keep up the good work!
This is great information! I didn’t know anything about the nofollow option and its so true about others behind you and sharing information for their benefit. I sure have benefited in that way as well. Thanks.
Nelly
http://nellybeepaperprojects.blogspot.com/
Thanks for this information and flower picture
[...] How to Grow a Blog | Randa Clay Design Grow that blog! (tags: blogging blog) [...]
Congratulations on your upcoming two year anniversary. It’s great to hear how your blogging has succeeded as a boost to your business.
It’s really interesting to read your thoughts on posting frequency: to me it seems that posting a few times a week may result in faster growth of a blog’s subscriber base (so long as you’re consistently posting quality content) but you’re not going to go backwards if you’re posting good articles a bit less frequently.
My blog is one-quarter the age of yours – I’m proud to have made it to the six month mark. Networking has overwhelmingly driven the growth of my blog, and especially so since I joined twitter three months ago (thanks for the twitter icons, by the way!). In 2009 I will be placing extra focus on filling the void via my blog posts.
[...] How to Grow a Blog [...]
Good and useful article. Useful for newbies and I got a few suggestions for myself. Thanks!
Good content is also the best to increasing traffic over time, you can’t just make people visit your site for the sake of visiting, it needs content….
Thanks for the write up! I’m new to the blogging world, so the insight you’ve been providing on your website has been very helpful.
“Network, network, network”. I would appreciate a whole article on this topic Randa. It is the possibly more important than marketing.
I may call your blog “with a noble purpose”. You give tips that are truly helpful especially for the beginners. No wonder yours is growing so fast.
I blog to add photos. It is a much more convenient way to get images on the net without having to build a new web page in Dreamweaver and change the menu system and all tha JAZZ. Cheers – Have a great New Year Randa !! CD
Thanks for the tips! While I am not new to blogging, I am new to actually trying to grow my blogs rather than just blog and see what happens. Your info is helpful
Btw – The pink flower image is stunning..love it!
Just the sort of advice I’m in the market for Randa, thanks! I’m currently looking into pushing my site up the search rankings and wondering if and how I can get some sort of following – just a fraction of the loyalty and readership you’ve gained would be wonderful. Keep up the awesome work!
Great advice. I particularly like point No. 2. It’s too easy to take your foot off the gas when you feel like you’ve made good progress, and that can be fatal – there’s always someone waiting to fill your shoes.
I also like the fact that you focus on serving your readers, there’s way too much attention paid to getting Dugg and Stumbled for the sake of it. That’s fine, but it’s only by giving readers what they want that you keep them interested. (Says he, stating the bleeding obvious.)
Thanks so much. I am a beginner but have high hopes. Very informative!
Great post! In my opinion networking is the most important point for reaching the goals.
Thanks so much for the article, Randa! I only just started blogging about a month ago, and I’ve been enjoying it so far. I think it’s a great idea to post about things you learn as you go. My very first blog post was about my site getting hacked because of “rookie” mistakes I made and how others could avoid the same fate. Now that you’ve given me a little positive reinforcement on that strategy, I think I’ll try it again! Thanks again and keep up the great work!
thanks a lot. it’s very useful
Super writeup, being a beginner myself. This info is more than appreciated.
Emily’s Corner
Great article! If your blog is in the right niche i have found that its almost impossible for it not to grow if you continue posting to it
Thanks for the tips!
and for the free twitter grafics!
Randa -
Thanks for the info. I pretty much agree with all that you’ve said here, and especially network X 3…
One thing to add though – try networking with people inside your blog genre but not in the specific topic. I’ve found that a lot blogs inside my niche don’t add much to my traffic but those in related ones do.
Case in point, the blog “The Art of Manliness” refers people to my martial arts blog frequently while blogs in my same niche of “mixed martial arts” doesn’t.
Just food for thought.
Good content is also the best to increasing traffic over time, you can’t just make people visit your site for the sake of visiting, it needs content
Anyone else find that sites that get statistics from Technorati, etc don’t always get the right value? Sometimes you show up as having 0 “authority”, etc when you actually do.
This is a great post. Thanks for sharing. I like points you explained on twitter grafics and network.
Thanks. Some good advice from someone who has been there. Your blog is full of useful stuff for other bloggers and I think that’s one of the main ways to increase your sites popularity. People always appreciate quality content.
A great article! I agree with all of the networking and commenting on other’s blogs. I am very intrigued about trying to find those voids that can help give a blog more exposure, I am trying to think of some of those “voids” that will help my site. Thanks for the ideas.
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@Tracy- I agree with you completely on posting frequency. I always enjoy your blog posts and glad you were able to use the Twitter graphics!