Writers come to the blogging world with many different goals in mind. Some are content with a few hundred views per year, while others want their articles shared by millions of readers around the world. And still, there are some who pay no attention to numbers at all.

So whatever your goal, here are five tips to help make it happen.

1. Create Great Content

Writing is one of those skills that anyone can do, but not everyone can do well. However, if you’re not a writer who puts out great content people will love, it doesn’t mean you can’t start a blog. Hire someone who can, or someone willing to ghostwrite on your behalf.

So what passes for good content – even great? Great content attracts interest, encourages people to share, prompts responses, and informs readers. If the writing on your blog doesn’t do all or any of these things, then it’s time to go back to the drawing board.

2. Hire an Editor

If you’re not a great writer, but looking to improve, hiring an editor is one of the best decisions you can make. You can either work alongside the editor to improve your writing, or you can take note of the changes they make before publishing.

Some bloggers may be turned off by the cost, but an editor need not be as expensive as you think. In fact, you can find one for free by asking friends or family members to read over your work before publishing. You could also hire someone on a freelance basis, or contract with a start-up.

It’s important to edit not just your blog posts, but your website copy as well.

3. Write on Trending Topics

One of the most popular tactics used by blogs – big and small – is to write on trending topics in pop culture, politics, and the news. This helps writers to capitalise on momentum already built by important topics in the media.

The more popular a topic is, the more people want to consume information on that topic. This makes them more willing to read your blog post.

To add to this, as more people search for new information, your blog post enjoys a better chance of being found. This further helps to boost your ranking in search engines, along with your website traffic.

4. Include Relevant Pictures

As the popularity of Instagram shows, pictures do a great job of catching people’s attention – more so than words. By using relevant pictures, you increase the likelihood of people viewing, clicking on, and reading your article.

Pictures within the body can also help to improve a piece, especially in particular lifestyle genres. Some of these include food, fashion, interior design, luxury, and travel blogging.

5. Promote

No matter how amazing your blog post is, if no one knows it exists, then it won’t ever do well. Even blogs plagued with typos, covering ridiculous topics, have built up enormous followings by promoting their content.

There are many different options for promoting, but social media is likely the most effective. Some great platforms to try include LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Many of these sites also offer paid promotions, to ensure your work has a better chance of reaching the right people for a price.

Even better than social media, however, are our family and friends. Once you get them interested in your work, you’d be amazed to see just how many of them become regular readers. These are the people who may prove your loudest advocates, who will share your posts, refer you to friends, and provide a tiny but steady stream of traffic every month.

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Growing your audience is probably one of the greatest challenges you will face as a blogger, regardless of where you draw the lines of success. These five tips are sure to help you publish better content, reach more people, attract a more regular following, and maybe even find some clients in the process.

About the Author

Alexis Chateau is the Founder and Managing Director at Alexis Chateau PR. She is an activist, writer, and explorer. Follow her stories of trial and triumph at www.alexischateau.com.