Market It and They Will Come

The 1989 dramatic film Field of Dreams popularized the expression “If you build it, he will come” and its variations. When it comes to blogging, the opposite is often true: “Build it, and they still won’t come.”

The truth is that once you’ve built your shiny blog and published some content, traffic will roll in very slowly unless you actively promote your site. In other words, building is necessary but not sufficient to ensure your blog gets the attention it deserves.

Most bloggers skip this promotional step, and as a result they end up receiving only a handful of visitors. At that point, a vicious cycle starts in which seeing so few visitors demotivates the blogger, who in turn publishes less frequently and consequently attracts fewer visitors (which discourages the blogger further). The end result is a blog abandoned in a matter of weeks, or months at best.

This disastrous outcome can be prevented. First, you’ve done your homework regarding subject matter, niche size, on-page SEO, headlines, calls to action, and the type, quality, and frequency of content. These actions alone put you miles ahead of many bloggers and also partially vaccinate you against a complete lack of readership.

However, there are millions of active blogs in the wild; standing out and attracting a serious following will require a conscious effort on your part.

Another way to look at this situation is that you’ve got the first part of the equation right. Now you need to get your marketing efforts right as well. Don’t skip this or the following chapters; they’re absolutely some of the most valuable ways to make your blog a success.