My personal blog just turned 18 years old. And while the dynamics and landscape of blogging has certain changed (substantially), the reality is that blogs still drive the Internet more than most people think. In fact, there are currently over 600 million blogs out there, all vying for attention (Source: Tech Business News). So having a strategic blogger growth plan is essential for anyone who writes online and wants to stand out and achieve sustained success.
When I started blogging, it was an easier time to stand out and get your writing noticed. Then more people started doing it. And algorithms change. Then even more people jump in to try to leverage the benefits of having a blog (mainly the ability to monetize content or whatever online). The focus used to be just on quantity. The more you wrote and put yourself out there, the more you got seen. And that drives success.
But today, with so many more people out there trying to find some quick gains online, the game has gotten much more strategic. And believe it or not, even with the incredible amount of content being published each day, it’s still not that difficult to get your stuff seen online. You just need to have a blogger growth plan (something we can help you with in our blog coaching services), and you need to be much more intentional about what you do and why you do it. And if you get a few things right in planning your growth, then you can reach lots of people with your message!
Understanding a Growth Plan
Building a blogger growth plan doesn’t just happen. It requires that you are intentional and clear about what you’re trying to do with your content.
When I started blogging, I was writing just for the sake of writing. And I never really gained any real traction. But when I found my focus and started fine-tuning what I was writing, then I started to see the momentum grow. And the same is true today.
So, in order to build your growth plan, there will be a few things you’ll need to ensure you’re putting in place:
- Setting Clear Objectives – Where exactly do you want to go? Think of it like getting in your car and telling your GPS to get you to your destination, but you don’t know what your destination is. The GPS won’t be able to do much to help you at that point. But if you know where you want to go, then the tools will help you get there.
- Identifying Target Audiences – Who are you trying to talk to? This one thing that I see a lot of blogger miss. They want to be the answer for everyone. But imagine talking to a room full of leading scientists about a children’s art project (or vice versa). It’ll fall on deaf ears. No matter how much you niche down your audience, there’s always an audience. With 8 billion people in the world, if what you’re talking about is only for one in a million, then there are still 8,000 people out there who are the perfect fit. And most authors would love to have an audience of 8,000!
- Outlining Actionable Strategies – What exactly are you going to do? It doesn’t help to just fill your plan with vague strategies that don’t really do anything. You’ll need to have actionable steps that you can take that will get you to where you want to go with the people you want to talk to.
A structured plan provides you with direction, it measures your progress progress, and it can adapt to changing trends. And that’s pretty important, considering the current landscape of the blogosphere.
The Current Blogging Landscape
The opportunity out there with blogs is really pretty enormous. But it can also be overwhelming thinking about how you can stand out. Consider these two numbers…
7.5 million – That’s how many blog posts are published daily (Source: Tech Business News). That’s a massive amount of content… every. single. day. The good news is that the vast majority of it has no specific plan for how it’s going to stand out. This means that simply having a plan is most of the battle. And if you have a good plan, even better! I’ve even seen people implement just a few elements of a plan that I suggest, and they’ve seen incredible growth as a result.
77% – That’s the percentage of Internet users who engage with blogs (Source: Express Writers). That over 3 of 4 (almost 4 of 5) of all people who use the Internet. The reality is that blogs have become a major source of how we consume content, learn and engage with new ideas, and find community with people like us.
Key Components of a Blogger Growth Plan
A solid blogger growth plan really has just a few key components in order to be effective. Granted, each of these components can become as simple or as complicated as you like. So I suggest starting with something simple in each of these components and building from there.
- Content Strategy – These days, successful blogging is more about producing great quality content (as opposed to writing lots of blog posts). You can produce a large quantity, but it doesn’t help to do more just for the sake of doing more. If you do more, just make sure it’s still produced at a higher level. Often, longer content tends to perform better. The average blog post that ranks well on search engines is about 1400 words. But then again, high quality is better. If you only write 500 words, and it’s a great, concise post, then that’s better that 2000 words of fluff just for the sake of trying to create a longer post. So build a plan that considers what you feel like you can produce at a high level of quality, and then build from there.
- Audience Engagement – Consider how you’re going to engage your readers. Things like writing in a conversational tone and inviting reader interaction to foster a loyal readership can pay big dividends with building community. And consider using reader comments and feedback to refine content and address audience needs. Remember, a conversation is a two-way street. Don’t try building a platform where it’s all about you talking at your readers. The more ways you can find to foster community and engagement, the better chance you have at growing a community of loyal readers.
- Promotion and Distribution – 97% of bloggers use social media to enhance their blog’s exposure (Source: DemandSage). But you need to approach social media in the right way. It’s not just a link-sharing tool. It’s also one of the places where you can focus on building community. What you do on social media should enhance your blog content. And search engines are quickly becoming a place where people get answers to their questions. So there’s significant opportunity be a provider of those answers for people. If you build your promotion and distribution plan well, then it will be a great complement to your writing and pay off with increased traffic.
- Monetization Strategies – Explore options like affiliate marketing, sponsored content, and digital products. As a content producer, you’re going to have some natural opportunities to use your content to generate revenue. The key is that you use a a thoughtful approach to monetization in order to ensure it aligns with your blog’s brand and audience expectations. Some bloggers do a little if this to help offset some of the costs, while others find ways to expand monetization and generate a substantial source of income.
Creating a blogger growth plan that contains at least something from each of these components will help you achieve long-term, sustainable growth. Start with what you can, and then when you begin to master various elements of the plan, then step that area up a little bit. And then keep measuring your success and adjusting for more growth over and over again.
If you’re looking for more directions, resources, and tools to help you build out elements of this plan, then I know of a great resource for you…
Recommended e-Course: The Awesome Blogger Seminar
What the Experts Have To Say
There are plenty of voices out there giving all kinds of advice (not always good advice). But here are a couple thoughts from people I respect that bring some valuable insight to what we’re talking about here.
On Consistency:
“The key to success in blogging… is small but regular and consistent actions over a long period of time.”
— Darren Rowse, ProBlogger
On Content Quality:
“A good blog has a niche. It has focus. It has topics that are proven to drive results.”
— Neil Patel
And that’s the key to success… quality content, consistently.
Final Thoughts
Here’s the thing. Just like my wandering in the blogging desert for a while, you don’t want to get stuck without a plan. Find your focus, and set your GPS for where you want to go. Then follow those directions. And sometimes, just like with the GPS, the best course may shift to a faster/better route. Go with the flow. But no matter what happens on that journey, it’s better than just setting out and saying, “I think I’ll try going this way, and hope I get to where I want to go at some point.”
Build your plan. Set your route. And go!
If you need help figuring out where to start, then feel free to schedule a free 30-minute discovery call. I’ll talk with you and help you figure out which of our coaching options (or courses) will be best for you. I also highly recommend our Awesome Blogger Seminar course! It’s walks step-by-step through every one of these elements and helps you build a great plan for growth. This is the culmination of everything I’ve learned through 18 years of blogging, and 13 years of helping others grow their blogs.
And drop a comment below with any questions you have!
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