These days, many professionals are looking to build a blog community to develop their reputation, uncover new business opportunities and grow revenues. What this comes down to is using a blog to build meaningful business relationships.
People think the best way to grow their blog is to simply focus on driving more traffic there. So they spend lots of time and effort on:
* SEO keyword research and tools
* Writing posts littered with keywords to pull in the most search visitors
* Dreaming up a promotion to make a post catch fire (a long shot at best)
Problem is, the traffic-building approach doesn't actually build your blog community over the long term. Check out the Google Analytics for your blog. Look at stats for new visitors--traffic that came from a search. How much time did they spend on your blog--seconds? And how many page views? This traffic is not a community.
But what if a post goes viral, driving big traffic to your blog for the day? Doesn't that help build your community?
Bloggers with this experience report that the spike in daily traffic usually does not create any big surge in comments--and almost never lands new subscribers.
The secret? Return visitors!
Now take a look at the stats for your blog's return visitors--people who are attracted to your blog and engaged with it. They're starting a relationship with you. They can help you grow naturally and can make a real difference to your business.
To keep visitors coming back:
* Strive for unique content with either new info or a fresh look at something they already know
* Don't worry about the popular keywords
* Engage right away with people who comment
* Connect personally with bloggers and commenters--email them, call them, meet them face to face
By focusing on return visitors, you're cultivating real relationships with devoted readers, who will then help grow your community by spreading your blog's message to their friends and acquaintances.
Slow and steady wins the race
This approach keeps track of return visitors on a daily basis and focuses on driving up that number over time. It gets you thinking about creating the better content and value-added efforts that build a stronger community.
Taking this slow and steady approach to developing your blog community eventually gets you to that "tipping point," where so many people and their friends are spreading the word about your blog that ALL your numbers begin heading up. The results can be dramatic.
To use a blog to create meaningful business relationships, make return visitors your first priority. There are no shortcuts--build your blog community just like you built your customer base---one connection, one relationship, one referral at a time.... Enjoy a great month!
This is an advertisement for Deborah Still. The material provided is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be construed as investment and/or mortgage advice, or a commitment to lend.
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