Guest post by Molly Greene, @mollygreene
It’s true for
nearly every author: Attracting readers to your website is the main reason you
blog. After all, your books are your business, and according to a 2012 report
by marketing and web analytics specialist HubSpot, businesses that post new
blog content even once or twice a month get much more traffic than those that
don’t blog at all. Per HubSpot, “an average company will see a 45% growth in
traffic when total blog articles increase from 11-20 to 21-50, and a 59% increase
when total blog articles reach 100 to 200.”
Blogging gets
results. Every post forges another path to your website. So if you’ve wondered
how and why to begin – or if you’re stalled somewhere in the process and need guidance,
here are the basic steps.
1. Set
up a website. Choose
free Wordpress.com, free Blogger.com, even inexpensive Squarespace. With a
little research into what each platform offers, you can choose the right one
for you. If you already have a free site and you’re considering a move to self-hosted
Wordpress.org, pre-planning will allow for a seamless transition.
2. Determine
topic categories. Who
are you writing for? Who is your ideal reader? Choose a handful of topic
categories based on the answer. Also, keep in mind that every work of fiction
contains plot elements an author can explore on their blog. So pinpoint the
themes in your books, determine how they overlap real world topics you are
passionate about, and write your posts around this common ground.
3. Establish
a posting schedule.
Don’t be overly concerned about frequency at first, simply post as many times a
month as you can comfortably handle without going insane. Focus on quality before
quantity, and discipline yourself to post according to a pre-determined
schedule. Consistency is key.
4. Write
great content. This may
be the biggest challenge: The goal is to share good, evergreen content that
offers value to your ideal reader. Make them laugh, make them cry, make them
think, educate them. Whichever applies, strive to write posts that hit the mark
every time.
5. Interact
on social media. One of
the most effective methods to draw website traffic is sharing content across
social media accounts. Establish, build, and grow a following on pertinent social media platforms such as Facebook,
Twitter, Goodreads, Pinterest, and LinkedIn. You’ll be tempted to follow and
market to authors because they are so supportive, but be sure to seek out
readers, too. You want readers. Readers, readers, readers.
6. Bring
traffic to your site. Continue
to grow more traffic through consistent sharing and interacting on your social
media accounts plus the application of SEO principles, guest posting, optimizing
your website, hosting guests, and other methods.
7. Use
a call to action. The
primary goal of every author’s website is to sell books, but few accomplish
this directly through blog-driven sales. Instead, we rely on the second most
important goal for a website, readers who sign up to receive regular updates. A
great email list can be the most effective method for an author to actually
sell books. Use a really good call to action on your blog to encourage visitors
to subscribe.
8. Repurpose
content. Try to find
three channels to re-use every word you write. Ideas: rework some of your blog content
into ebooks that you can sell or give away in contests or as a subscriber
incentive. Rewrite posts and share them on syndication sites. Rewrite the guest
posts you share with other bloggers and use them in ebooks and/or on your own
site.
9. Use
email to launch products.
Use your email list to announce new ebooks and novels as you launch them. Then
use your email list to learn more about your readers (polls, surveys) and to
remind them about your work in a way that adds value, such as through freebies,
contests, giveaways, and whatever creative methods you can think up.
10. Continue
to learn the craft. Never
stop educating yourself about blogging best practices, SEO principles and how
to implement them, website enhancements, and third party vendors that will help
you automate, streamline and improve your blogging experience.
Molly
Greene is an author, blogger, and blogging coach with a preference for reading,
writing, remodeling, and rural life. Her nonfiction titles include Blog
It! The author’s guide to
building a successful online brand, and the self-awareness guide, Someone
Worth Becoming (July 2013).
Molly is working on a second novel, Rapunzel; her fiction debut, Mark of the Loon, is available
at major online retailers. Meanwhile, she blogs about self-publishing
topics and her crazy, ever-changing world at Molly-Greene.com.
Visit and subscribe! Follow & Friend
Molly on Twitter • Goodreads • Facebook • Google+