Now that your art blog is up-and-running (and you have a few posts under your belt) it’s time to get that blog noticed! Below are 8 simple rules for getting more readers. . . and more attention online.
1. Write Appealing Content
The first rule to getting your blog post noticed by others is to remember who your audience is. You’re not writing in your personal art diary, you’re writing to an audience. Therefore, it’s important that you keep your posts reader-focused.
Its okay to share personal insights about art and the art business, its okay to toot your own horn once in awhile, it’s even okay to share your personal struggles. . . just make sure that when you do, you leave your readers with some sort of “take home value.”
In other words, if you’ve written about a recent struggle you’ve experienced, conclude the post with a solution. If you’ve yet to resolve the problem, share resources (i.e. some helpful links) to possible solutions.
2. Write Each Post Like You’re Talking To A Friend
What would you rather read? A post that feels stifled and bogged down with impersonal, textbook-sounding statements, or a post that makes you feel as though the blogger is one of your dearest, and most treasured, friends?
Blog posts which make the reader feel like a real person get shared the most, so when writing your posts, write as though you are writing to your best friend, not a stranger. Write in your own voice and stick to one subject per post.
3. Write A Great Headline for your Blog Post
Engage your readers with a headline that captures their attention immediately. If you’re not good at writing headlines, study the headlines used in magazines, newspapers, and even your favorite blog.
Your headline should be short and concise. It should give your readers an idea of what they can expect to read in your blog post. And above all else, it should be search engine friendly.
When in doubt, use one of the following title formats:
• Provide a declarative statement – “Zazzle.com Makes Selling Prints Easy”
• Use a list – “10 Best Ways To Safely Store Original Art”
• Ask a question – “Can Artists Have Multiple Streams Of Income?”
4. Include Photos in your Post
Images make posts pop. . . They catch the eye and draw the reader in, so take advantage of this little known fact by making sure you include an image in every post.
When using images in your posts, include one image at the top of your post to draw readers in, then use a couple of images throughout your post to break up large blocks of text.
And don’t forget to use “alt” tags and description attributes with your photos! They’ll help the search engines get a better understanding of your post, especially if you chose attributes that clarify your post’s content.
5. Make Sharing your Blog Post Easy
Blogger has a wonderful tool under the “configure blog posts” area. With the click of a single button you can include social network buttons at the end of each of your posts.
These buttons allow your readers to share your blog post on Twitter, Facebook, and Google Buzz. Your readers also have the option of emailing your post or blogging a clip from your post on their own Blogger blog.
(NOTE: If you’re not on Blogger, there are a ton of free sharing plugins and apps available, just do a search online.)
6. Tell People About Your Post
The saying, “build it and they will come” is a farce. In order to get readers, you must seek them out. You must let your target audience know that you exist and that you welcome them with open arms. . . and you can only do that by actively publicizing your blog.
• Share your post on your Twitter stream, your Facebook page, and other social networks.
• Include your blog’s url in your email signature, forum signatures, and whenever you leave a legitimate comment on someone else’s blog.
• Put your blog’s url on your business cards and your advertisements.
7. Tag Your Blog Post
Use pingback services like Digg, Del.icio.us, Reddit, StumbleUpon, Technorati to automatically draw traffic to your blog. Once you sign up your blog’s RSS feed, every time you publish a post on your blog, these services will be notified.
8. Take Your Post Viral
You’ve written a great tutorial on your blog, now it’s time to repackage that tutorial in another format.
Use the exact same information to create a short video or slideshow presentation and post it to YouTube. Make sure to include your blog’s url in the credits! Now, when viewers embed your video into their blogs, you’ve gained an entirely new audience for your blog.
None of these rules is especially difficult, and all of them put together will make a BIG difference in getting your art blog noticed.
Start on these today. . . and good luck!
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