Blogging isn’t what it used to be back in 2010, 2015, or even 2020 and the game has definitely changed.
Back when I started my first blog in the “team building affiliate marketing” space 15 years ago, you could write about nearly anything with a few keywords in your post and some basic SEO strategies and start getting visitors from search.
These days, most of the search results are dominated by big media companies, and even though this website will eventually get millions of visitors…
My initial approach has nothing to do with all the SEO stuff.
Instead, here’s what I’m going to do.
All Roads Lead Back To The Email List
My home page, about page, newsletter page, and every blog post I publish has a sign up box to join my email list.
Every social media profile I have has a link back to my blog.
Even though my goal is to grow my blog, the best way to do that is by growing my email list for one big reason:
Most people who visit a blog will never come back.
However, the odds of repeat visitors and building an actual community are exponentially higher if they sign up to get notified of new posts.
You can do this by offering a free digital product or some other incentive to get people to sign up.
The trick is getting people to visit in the first place, so here’s what I’m doing to accomplish that:
My Simple Blog Promotion Strategy
Since I’m not doing the whole search engine optimization thing (aka SEO), my main approach is getting attention on social media, mostly through 2 platforms:
- YouTube
- Medium
Every single video I publish has a link to my blog in the video description, and every single Medium post is linked as well.
The incredibly simple plan is to keep publishing and building my audience around this new topic.
On top of that, if I ever decide to post on Instagram, TikTok, X, Threads, Facebook, Pinterest, or LinkedIn…
My home page is linked in my profile on all those platforms too.
Here’s the blogging growth strategy in a nutshell:
- Publish at least 1 blog post per week
- Import the blog posts to Medium
- Publish at least 1 YouTube video per week
I might start posting short form video and text content again too, but I’m not quite ready to make that commitment yet considering I just started a new job and still need to get into the groove with that.
Read Also: My New Morning Routine As A Door-To-Door Salesman
Either way, the three things I listed above are my current focus.
Why I’m Taking Such A Slow Approach
The truth is, I’m in no rush to get the millions of visitors this website will eventually have.
I’ve rushed the process before by doing all the keyword research and ninja social media tactics before, and while they did get a whole lot more visitors than I’m currently getting…
It turned my blogging experience from a fun way to express myself through writing which I enjoy, into an insanely underpaid marketing job that stressed me out more than my regular jobs of the past.
I’ll take the hit now to win later.
Wouldn’t it be ironic if this ends up working way better down the road?
Only time will tell, but one thing is for sure…
I’m enjoying my new strategy a whole lot more.
Talk soon,
-Gabe
P.S. Admittedly, I still want to grow so I plan on experimenting with the latest strategies when I can find the time. If I try something and it works really well, you bet I’ll share what I learn in future content, especially in the monthly life updates.
