You can create a blog for free and grow it without paying a penny. However, the deeper you go into blog growth articles, the more likely you are to come across tools and options that cost money. Some tools cost over $100/mo and others cost even more. The go-to recommendation of using Facebook ads to grow your audience is effective, but the dollars add up.
Yes, you can invest in something like Facebook ads and make a strong ROI. However, this doesn’t help the shoestring blogger looking to make it without paying a penny.
If you want to expand your blog without paying a penny, follow these 10 tips.
#1: Grow Your Email List With MailChimp
Your email list is your most valuable asset. If you don’t have an email list yet and want to build one, I recommend using MailChimp to get started. MailChimp is free for the first 2,000 subscribers. If you nurture those subscribers and send them valuable content with the occasional product promotion, you’ll make a big profit by the time you surpass 2,000 subscribers.
#2: Reach Out To Influencers
Reaching out to influencers and building relationships with them increases the likelihood of more people sharing your content. I strongly recommend reaching out to influencers by having them on your podcast. It’s the best way to reach out because you build a healthy relationship, produce content for your audience, and learn more.
I use Libsyn for my podcast which costs as low as $5/mo, but in the spirit of everything free, you can use PodBean or BuzzSprout to host your podcast free of charge. Of course, you get very basic features and limited storage space, but they’re enough to host your own show and test the waters.
If you don’t want to go the podcast route, be everywhere to those influencers. Engage with them on multiple social media posts spread across the social networks, comment on their blog posts, videos, and other content, and send them an email.
When you build the relationship deep enough, some people will promote your content without you asking. It’s good to occasionally ask people for help with getting the word out if one of your blog posts is related to their niche.
#3: Publish More Content
When your blog is new, you need to publish as much content as possible. You’ll give your existing visitors a reason to return to your blog again and again. Having many blog posts available makes it possible for you to have a group of core fans.
Not only will core fans know they can keep going to your blog for epic content, but they’ll have more of your content to share with your audiences. If you only publish one blog post, you only give your core fans one piece of content to share with their audiences.
#4: Mention Other People And Articles In Your Content
And then tell them you did so. People love consuming and sharing content that they are in. It’s better to follow this approach with micro influencers—people who are influential but not so influential that they won’t have time to respond to your email let alone share your content.
Linking to prominent publications and blogs will also give you a boost on Google since they see you’re linking to authority content.
#5: Get Active On More Social Networks
It doesn’t cost us a penny to post on social media and grow our audiences. Many people post on 1-2 social networks very actively and aren’t so active on the others.
If you want the potential for generating massive traffic, get active on more social networks and grow your audiences on those platforms. You should also jump right into new social networks because if you’re a big influence on a small social network that eventually grows as big as Instagram, you’ll get a big stream of traffic from that social network.
#6: Write Guest Posts
Some blogs accept outside contributions. These blogs, otherwise known as guest blogs, rely on these outside contributions to showcase more content to their audiences. Basically, they need content, and you are one of the people who can provide that content.
Look for guest blogs in your niche by typing “[your niche] guest blog” and [your niche] write for us” into Google. Anytime you read blog posts in the future, pay attention to if they accept outside contributions.
Some of my guest posts have been shared thousands of times and given me new business. I know for a fact they can do the same for you if you align yourself with the right ones.
#7: Write Better Headlines
The headline determines how successful your content becomes. Great content with a bad headline won’t make it.
To get better at writing great headlines, examine your niche and see what headlines grab your attention. This will help you craft better headlines for your blog post. For each new blog post you write, come up with 5-10 potential headlines. You’ll get the bad ideas out quickly and eventually come across a powerful headline if you use this approach.
In Conclusion
There are many paid tools that will help you grow your blog. However, the free ways mentioned give any blogger, even bloggers on shoestring budgets, a chance to grow their audiences and catch up to the big guys.
By taking massive action, these tactics can result in thousands of people visiting your blog every month.
What were your thoughts on these tactics? Do you have any other tactics we can use to get blog traffic without paying a penny? Do you have a question for me? Sound off in the comments section below.
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