Some bloggers seem to have all the luck.
They get way more shares than you. They get tons more email subscribers than you. They get much higher search rankings than you.
And it sucks, right?
Because their content is good, but it’s not great.
Certainly it’s not that much better than yours.
So what are they doing differently?
Why is their content so much more successful than yours?
The difference is in the way they promote it.
What Promotion-Smart Bloggers Know That Most Bloggers Miss
From the day you started your blog, you have been lectured many times on the importance of good content.
Time and time again you’ve been told you must create high-quality content. Awesome content. Even epic content.
But smart bloggers know that while quality is important, it’s just one piece of the content puzzle.
In fact – and prepare to be shocked – it’s not even the most important piece of the puzzle.
Don’t believe me? Ask yourself: who gets more traffic – the blogger who’s great at writing and good at promotion, or the blogger who’s good at writing and great at promotion?
The answer should be obvious. The blogger who’s great at promotion will run circles around the talented writer every time.
Consider this: the New York Times doesn’t publish a list of best books. They publish a list of best-selling books.
See the difference? It’s all about promotion.
And the following tips will show you how to promote your content like a boss:
1) Think Cross-Channel and Multi-Format
When the average blogger thinks about content, they usually think in terms of blog posts. And they often don’t consider at all how readers first encounter those posts.
The boss blogger, however, knows how to combine promotion tactics and content formats for maximum effect.
That means blending search, social and email:
- Email and social allow you to stay connected to your audience.
- Social and search enable discovery, bringing new traffic and subscribers.
- Search and email give you consistent visibility with your readers.
Content is at the heart of all three channels, but you can’t just push out the same content in each. Different formats work better in different places.
Long-form text is good for search. Shareable images work well in social streams.
So a boss blogger creates assets in many formats.
They’re not just creating an endless stream of 800-word blog posts. They create charts, diagrams, SlideShare presentations, downloadable PDFs, infographics, quizzes, expert interviews, whitepapers, videos and podcasts.
Each asset is created with promotion in mind, knowing that different formats get traction in different channels.
And each channel makes different demands on the content creator.
Email Subject Lines, Tweets, Facebook Posts
These need headlines composed of power words that grab attention, surprise the reader, include numbers (as in, list posts), align with cultural trends or leave a curiosity gap.
Examples:
- Blog Like a Honey Badger
- I Thought I Knew Analytics, Until I Watched This Video
- 101 Ways to Make Your Sales Prospects Smile
SEO-Motivated Content
This requires titles and headings that align with phrases people are searching for – including complete questions and phrases – and long, detailed articles.
Examples:
- How to Market an Event
- Keyword Research Strategies
- How Does Social Media Affect SEO?
Pinterest, Instagram, SlideShare and YouTube
These visual channels require evocative images that grab attention. Do this by including a person’s face and a headline or subheadline from the article. Be sure to size images appropriately for each network.
Examples:
If you want a single piece of content to get traction in several channels, combine tactics.
Use provocative images with embedded headlines as the featured image in a post. Then embed a video with a striking thumbnail image or a slideshow with a compelling title slide.
Pro Tip!
To create headlines that get traction in both social media and SEO, use a colon to separate the search-friendly keyword from the social-friendly click bait. This gives you good key-phrase prominence (phrase appears at the beginning of the title) but still lets you leverage human psychology in the rest of the headline/title.
The following are some examples from my blog:
- Competitive Analysis Tools: 5 Free Ways to See the Analytics of Any Website
- Neuromarketing Web Design: 15 Ways to Connect with Visitors’ Brains
- Internal Linking: 9 Best Practices for Internal Links
- Ego Bait: 5 Simple Ways to Leverage Blog Mentions
- Thank You Pages: 9 Example of Missed Opportunities
Each of these was effective in both search and social.
So, are you publishing in different formats?
Are you tailoring each piece of content for each specific channel?
2) Use Your Blog as the Ultimate Networking Tool
Boss bloggers are power networkers.
They know that the difference between a popular blog and a deserted blog is relationships. So they’re constantly using their blogs as tools to connect with other people.
Want to build relationships with influencers? Invite people over, have a conversation and deepen those connections. If the website is a house, the blog is the living room.
Here’s how to use your blog as a power networking tool:
- Take a stand. Rant a little. State an opinion and invite dissent. Start discussions that power players will be unable to resist joining.
- Move the conversation from the blog into social media and vice versa.
- Source topics from relevant communities on social media: LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Quora. Intentionally focus on communities where your target influencers are known to hang out.
- Write detailed, thoughtful comments. Share half-formed ideas and ask for input. Talk to people in the comments of their blogs.
- Write response posts, adding to what people have written elsewhere. Most people will be flattered that their writing has inspired other people.
- When you share a blog post, mention specific people who would likely be interested in what you wrote. Use social media to find specific people who will love the content. For example:
So ask yourself: are you making friends on your blog?
If not, you’re doing it wrong.
3) ABC. Always Be Collaborating.
A boss blogger doesn’t work alone. They collaborate – with friends, influencers, readers, even competitors.
Collaboration strengthens your affiliate network and goes beyond simple outreach because it creates bonds through content.
Turn strangers into friends by including them in round-ups. Interview the major players in your niche. Ask them to contribute a quote.
The advantage of collaboration is that each co-creator is also a partner in promotion once the content goes live.
And here’s a trick that most bloggers miss: get the voice of your target audience into your content.
Looking to increase engagement with your readers? Come up with a content idea that would benefit from their input. Conduct a survey that puts their views and experiences at the heart of your next post.
Collaboration has two huge benefits: it shares the burden of creating content easier, and it creates allies when it comes time to promote the content.
Example: 6 Questions for 6 Analytics Experts
This post is part of a series where we ask questions to influencers on various topics. This post included input from Justin Cutroni (Google), Neil Patel (QuickSprout) and Dr. Pete (MOZ). Most people love to be interviewed, so the outreach wasn’t difficult.
Are you using your blog to create reasons to contact people?
Remember – you’re a publisher. You can create reasons to contact people anytime.
4) Go Big or Go Home
Big results come from big efforts. The pros know this well.
Eighty percent of bloggers publish posts that are 1,000 words or less:
Example: Survey of 1000+ Bloggers.
But boss bloggers know this, and when other bloggers zig, they zag. So they go big.
They know that content that goes way beyond what’s expected gets more traction than a dozen medium-quality posts.
Content that’s more detailed, more comprehensive, or simply asks the questions no one else took the time to ask cuts through the noise created by less-ambitious content.
Try one of the following:
- Do a survey of a large number of people in your industry.
- Collect data over a long date range and publish the insights you discover.
- Publish a guide that explains every aspect of an important topic.
- Build an interactive tool that helps your audience make important decisions.
- Do a series of live webinars.
- Write and self-publish a book.
Bigger content is far easier to promote. It’s more worthy of shares, links, opens and clicks.
Bigger content also gives you an advantage for longer. Because content that is harder to create is also harder to replicate.
The Internet is ravenous for originality. So feed that appetite with original research.
At Orbit Media, we spent around 100 hours to create an original piece of research that answered big questions in our industry.
How much time do people spend blogging? What percentage of bloggers use editors? How are people promoting their content?
The post was covered by some of the biggest blogs and podcasts in the industry and has been translated into four languages.
So are you creating something truly original?
Are you investing enough time in your content?
Are you going big?
5) Get Strategic About Your Content
Most bloggers publish a steady stream of loosely connected posts.
Each week they take an idea, write it up and publish.
The next week? Another idea.
Even if they stick to a strict publishing calendar, they end up with a collection of posts with no underlying strategy. The posts may relate to each other, but then again, they may not. It’s mostly down to luck.
The boss blogger takes a different approach. They start with a plan to dominate a topic within their niche and then systematically create the posts (and other types of content) required to make it happen.
By staying focused on the topic for longer, they get bigger, and profitable benefits in their blog. They don’t create isolated posts; they create interconnected hubs of content.
The benefits to the boss blogger are many:
- The key phrases they target are interrelated, so they support each other.
- The connections they build with influencers stay relevant to their content for longer.
- The most recent subscribers to their lists are more likely to be interested in subsequent posts because there’s topic continuity.
- They have better opportunities for internal linking between posts.
And they don’t move on to the next topic until they reach the minimum amount of content and connections to be truly influential on that subject.
A strong content hub does the following:
- Offers value on several interrelated sub-topics
- Targets several key phrases
- Includes content in various formats (as discussed in point #1)
- Appears on more than one website (e.g., via guest blogging)
- Includes content created by various collaborators
Here’s what it looks like:
Example: Lead Generation Website Best Practices (and related content)
First, we created a detailed, practical post and aligned it with a valuable key phrase. Then we published an infographic and five guest posts on similar topics. After several weeks of hard work and focus, the post ranks on page one, above many famous and authoritative websites.
With the hub built, Google now does most of the hard work of promoting the content within the hub. Pretty cool, huh?
So are you focusing on one topic long enough to get real results before moving on?
Are you creating a deliberate structure between your posts and the rest of the content on your blog?
6) Use Your Analytics to Actually Do Analysis
Most bloggers look at their traffic stats, smile or frown, and then move on.
But they’re not doing real analysis. They’re certainly not using the data to guide their next move.
The boss blogger, on the other hand, knows that analytics is not a scoreboard – it’s a decision support tool.
They use insights gained from their analytics to influence their promotion strategy:
- They learn which posts are traffic champions and which posts are conversion champions, and they know how to use one to promote the other.
- They know which social networks pull in what kinds of visitors, and they adjust their promotional activities on those networks accordingly.
- They know which topics get traction, which keywords get clicked, which formats work best, and they use that information to create content that is already optimized for promotion.
If you’re not currently using analytics, you’re blogging in the dark.
And if you’re using analytics simply to keep score, you’re missing a huge opportunity – the ongoing improvement of your blog and its promotion. A process based on trials, testing and a regular review of analytics.
So, are you making decisions based on data?
Do you know what’s working and what isn’t?
Are you truly analyzing the performance of your content?
Are You Ready to Start Thinking Like a Boss?
In a crowded blogosphere, great content isn’t enough.
You need great promotion too.
That’s why popular bloggers are as serious about promoting their content as they are about creating it in the first place.
They think long term. They aren’t limited to one tactic. They focus on relationships. They make decisions based on evidence.
Because that’s how a boss gets it done.
The hard truth is that if a blog post is created without a plan for promotion, it won’t get the traffic or the reach – or the end results – it deserves.
So adopt a promotion-focused mindset and start taking action.
The sooner you start, the sooner you’ll be the boss of your blog, your network and your niche.
Terrific article Andy! I heard about it through Jon Morrow, a reliable source.
Thanks, Don. Somehow, I think anything on this site has +1 credibility. It was a pleasure to write something for Jon!
I am a blogging virgin but soaking up all the great hints and tips I can get from Jon Morrow and people like you lot out there. Thank you
Hi Andy,
Great post! I think getting traffic (with “getting comments” right behind it) is the biggest goal for most of the bloggers with whom I interact.
Your promotion tips are great. SlideShare is something I’ve recently dipped my toes into, and I’ve had great success so far. Two presentations, one homepage feature, one “top slideshare.” And the traffic from these two presentations were wonderful.
Again, great work, Andy.
Thanks, Kevin. Yes, there are a few bloggers who have really figured out how to use Slideshare. It’s one of those networks with big tipping points. If you can get the visibility up beyond a certain level, it just goes nuts and suddenly becomes super visible. It sounds like you’ve been successful there. Glad to hear it!
There are lots of great tips on how to get more traction from Slideshare …on Slideshare. 🙂
Great collection of advice Andy!
What has recently changed my thinking about the way I’m doing blogging is the suggestion by Derek Halpern of Social Triggers who says that you should spend 20% of your time crafting great content, but 80% of your time promoting your content. In other words, you should be spend FOUR TIMES a much time promoting your content than actually creating it!
Whoa.
One thing that I noticed that really works in promotion is the idea of prizes/competitions. I’ll often see HUGE amounts of engagement on posts where prizes are offered, even if they are something like an ebook that costs the prize giver literally nothing to produce! This works gangbusters when done in collaboration with other bloggers – for example when blogger A runs a competition on blogger B’s website for their readers, I’ve seen up to 10x as many people commenting and sharing, leading to huge returns for both parties!
In short, it’s critical that WE are the biggest fans of our blogs, and make sure that no stone is unturned in it’s promotion.
I agree with Derek in principal. The biggest part of the job is promotion. But in practice, I find I can’t really measure the ratio of creation/promotion. I think it’s because that a lot of my creation tactics have promotion built-in. For example, If I’m reaching out to a co-creator to contribute to an article, is that creation time or promotion time?
Ultimately, none of us should ever produce content without a plan to make it visible. I blogging “boss” would never do that.
I’ve never done much with specific incentives (like prizes or ebooks) but I can imagine that they work well. I’m sort of a “traditional digital marketing” with a big focus on search/social/email. But I’m open to anything that gets results!
I definitely agree – the 80/20 rule may not work for everyone, and there’s no perfect set number. It’s just that that number manages to jump start the importance of promotion and marketing of your own work.
Please ignore minor grammar mistakes – it happens when you’re excited about a topic and typing in a rush!
(Cringing at mixing up its’ and it’s)
Daryl, it’s neither it’s nor its’ at the end of your comment. It’s simply its. Forgive me for being a grammar prick. I make a living out of it in substantial part. Your original comment remains great! Cheers!
Andy, Very useful article for every bloggers, Thanks for sharing such type interesting article.
Hey Andy,
This is such an awesome post, and we discussed many of the points you bring up here in the interview we did recently for my online event. I love the tip about using a colon to separate the search-friendly keyword from the social-friendly click bait. I will definitely implement this tip on a few posts I have coming up soon.
I’ve been using collaboration with others to get more traffic to my site a lot from the very beginning, and it’s especially great when you’re starting out to get on bigger influencers radar and build powerful relationships.
Thanks for sharing all this with us!
– Navid
Yes, writing this post felt a lot like the Skype interview we did last week. It was one action-item after the next and it covered a lot of similar promotion tactics. I can’t wait to see it live! That was such a fun conversation, Navid.
Yes, the colon in the headline is something I’d never written about or talked about before, but I’ve used it for years. As a way to strike a balance between search and social, it works beautifully…
Love the semicolon tip. Great post.
Writing Effective Headlines: 6 Tips for Creative Punctuation
This is *such* a valuable post Andy. I have bookmarked it and coming back to read it in the morning. (1 am isn’t ideal for epic posts ;-))
I loved your idea of mixing up content types, the content hub and 100-hour post (going to check it out).
Thank you for the share. You’ve stood by your point “go big or go home” in this one 🙂
Pooja
Thanks, Pooja. The more experience (and data) I get, the more I believe in longer, in-depth, epic content. My company just does web design, not content marketing.
But if I ever did start a marketing company, we would focus on research and promotion. Produce original data, make friends and share like crazy! 🙂
I would’ve never guessed you’re not into content marketing. Just checked out Orbit media 🙂 Great work Andy.
Pooja
Hi Andy.
Quality post, especially the bits on niche domination and use of analytics in order to inform blogging decisions. Thanks for taking the time to put this together.
Glad you liked this, Ian. A lot of the credit goes to BBT itself. Jon, Glen and the editing process here is impressive. The final post here is far better than it was when I first submitted!
Very enlightening post. I will definitely need to start implementing more promotion tactics when posting.
Blog like a boss, Syed! It makes a huge difference…
Thanks for your insight!
When going “big” with content, articles at the 1500+ word mark, how often do you consider using long-form content on your blog? And do you think, if once a week is the answer, that supplementing with shorter content is a good tactic? Recently read a statistic that only 12% of bloggers update their blogs weekly, this means you can be ahead of the curve with just the one post but does it help to build engagement with more?
Interesting question, Yolanda. If you publish “big” content less frequently, I don’t think this means you need to supplement these posts with smaller content more frequently. In fact, I think it’s a good thing to establish your format and stick to it.
I like to write longer post less frequently. Seth Godin writes short posts more frequently. Either way, readers eventually learn what to expect. Each blog and blogger can develop a style and the readership will follow accordingly.
BTW, in the blogger survey mentioned in the post above, we found that a lot of bloggers post weekly or more. In fact most (54%) were publishing at least weekly!
Yet another entry for my “Andy Crestodina” One Note file. Thanks for keeping me on my toes.
Uh oh… Do I have a permanent record? If so, I hope it’s filled with good things!
Hi Andy,
I follow Jon as much for his insights as his guest posts. Neither have ever been a disappointment.
The only shock from reading your post is I’m more a before picture of the boss blogger than the after. Although my baby steps are getting bigger, they’re still baby steps. And I’m not a baby anymore.
So here I am knocking out post after post, delivering them to facebook, google, and newspaper forums. My small email list and monthly visitors show I need to be a better marketer. And you show up with such usable ideas.
Feeling better already. Thanks,
David
I looked at your blog and you’re doing great, David. Just make sure to never create anything without keeping promotion in mind. These days, that usually means keywords (search) and collaboration (social).
Keep creating and keep connecting!
PS: The fact that you wrote such a thoughtful comment is a great sign of future growth…
Andy
ABC- Always Be Collaborating… loved that. Blogging offers you the chance to work with thousands of people you wouldn’t have been able to before- gotta utilize it.
I sometimes tell people, “If you’re not making friends, you’re doing it wrong.”
Yes, collaboration gives you allies, both for creation and promotion. And the moment you have a blog, you have an excuse to contact anyone. You’re a publisher and they’re a source!
Wow, nice post Andy. Writing detailed and thoughtful comments is the way to go. Thanks.
My notebook is filled and my hand is cramped! Thank you so much for the great ideas, tips, advice, etc. My brain is exploding with ideas. I especially love #5 and dominating a topic within my niche. I’ve done series posts before, but goodness, I am going to take this much much further. I’ve got several keywords I could expand on and really build upon, I’ve gotta figure out which one to start on first. Thanks so much Andy!
Thanks, Rochelle.
One of the most valuable things I’ve learned over the years is to create a structure. If you look more closely at the article about “Content Hubs” you’ll find detailed instructions. Here’s a quick summary: Create interconnected content
…on related topics
…targeting related keywords
…published in several places
…created in several formats
…and written by several co-creators/influencers.
Very few bloggers will do this, but it’s the key to dominating a niche!
Happy Marketing, Rochelle!
Hi Andy,
I enjoyed your post. There are some great headline tips here. Haiku Deck is a great tool for people who need to create SlideShares. I also recommend Canva.
Hi,the article was very informative.Thanks for sharing,keep on post an informative article like this
Hi Andy,
What I like about your post is that you name the successful blogger the “boss blogger”. To be a boss blogger requires some skills that must be learned through hard work, and patience.
Before you become the boss blogger you’ll hear “NO’s” more than “Yes”, and still you’ll have to continue be creative. Your tips come in hand when I think like falling down.
Thanks for sharing these your insights.
Yes, “Boss” is a popular word these days. I suppose you could do anything “like a boss” but you’re right, to blog like a boss, you’re going to hear a lot of no’s along the way. But keep your eyes on the prize. If you never forget your purpose, the rejections won’t bother you as much…
I’ve been blogging a loooong time and I get shot down a lot. If you’re not failing regularly, you’re not taking enough chances.
How did you treat your wounds after being shot a lot?
Because, here is the trick. I can write an excelent article one or twice and everybody will like it. Delivering the same quality in further posts is difficult, and it really feels like you get shot.
Hi Andy,
These are great tips.I am still a beginner,but this post gave me lot of ideas.I am truly motivated.Now lot of ideas in my mind,Seems I want to try them all and write a great blog post in my blog.I specially like tip#1 and want to try different formats in my next posts…
Thanks for sharing your tips.
thanks for sharing this great tip for beginener.i am a newbie blogger.so blog content promotion is most important thing for me.thanks for your tips.
more blogging tips and tricks
http://www.onlinefreeteacher.com/2014/08/how-to-increase-website-traffic.html
Hi Andy,
Your article is impressive and intimidating. There is so much to do rise to the top in blogging that it can be overwhelming. Your repeated use of lists were helpful in keeping me focused, and knowing where I can start.
Thank you,
Darin
Yes, this is one of those lots-of-everything posts, but we broke it up so it shouldn’t be too overwhelming.
One of the things I love about content marketing is that you can start anywhere and do anything. There’s not necessarily an order to things. Just start with something, try it, see if it worked and keep going. Attempt. Experiment. Iterate. It’s a giant cookie and you can take a bite out of it from any angle.
…this is the first time I’ve ever confessed that I think of marketing as a big cookie.
Best of luck, Darin! If I can help you, let me know.
Hello andy; I appreciate your comprehensive approach to the subject of promoting content. I have done a good job building relationships and manage at least 25 comments for each post. but i really need to plan my posts better to take advantage of all three types of content and all three forms of promotion. I just started building a mailing list for my motivational speaking and coaching site. but most of my comments come from reciprocation from group members at face book or linked in. I would appreciate your opinion on my site. thanks so much, max the blind blogger
Thanks, Max. I appreciate the comment. Yes, make sure to take advantage of all three promotion channels: search, social and email. They don’t add to each other, they multiply!
Keep writing, sharing, teaching, helping and measuring results. It’s like physical exercise. The benefits are incremental. Onward!
Hi andy thanks for this post. It gave me alot of ideas.
This is a great post Andy, thanks for sharing your insight. I particularly like the section on making decisions about content strategically.
Great fantastic article.
Wow, this is a ton of good information. I really need to learn how to promote better. Thank you so much.
In your article you have written that Email Marketing is a best way to Stay Connected. But Now a days bloggers don’t want to use their money in Email Marketing. So for them I thinked a lot and now thinking to write a Article on it. How to Do Email Marketing for Free.
Hey Andy,
Thanks for this great post with precious tips to implement!
Loved especially the 1st tip to think cross-channel and multi-format, especially using the colon in the headlines to separate the search-friendly keyword from the social-friendly click bait.
Also, I have started to use podcasting as another way to promote my business and the response is great!
Your post is really informative.Thanks for sharing such a informative one.`
How does Instagram play a role in getting your blog post viral? As it is about images and not much about content, how would it help me in getting my post viral?
Hi Andy,
Thanks as always for spreading nuanced quality content. I liked your info very much. It was very well-presented and approachable. Good job and looking forward to more articles.
Thank you, Stephen! I’m glad you found this useful. I may not be back to write on this blog for a while, but you can find me writing for marketing sites all over the web…
Very good post. Love the ways suggested to become a boss blogger. Will surely implement in my blog.
This post content promotion, is helpfully thanks for your tutor ..
Great post. There are so many effective ways and techniques to increase blog traffic. And one of the best methods is to promote or publish a unique and informative content.
Wow, I needed that! I’ve got the basics covered now but am ready to move forward to the next phase and this post definitely helps! Thanks for that!
Glad to hear it, Linda. It’s a hundred little things, isn’t it? Glad this was useful to you!
Great Article.
I am following your instructions, please visit my blog ( http://unifiedgadgets.com ) and let me know in which I need to focus more to get traffic.
Thanks in Advance
Promotion is definitely important but content is still king…that’s why it’s good idea to familiarize ourselves with inbound tools like SEO, Facebook, Twitter, etc.
Thank you for one of the most detailed posts that I have read that gives me some actual “how to” info on how to boost the quality of my blogging.
I’m glad you found this useful, Edwin and Natalie. Honestly, in this case, a lot of the credit goes to the blog editor and not the writer. Glen and the team at BBT really go the extra mile to make sure everything here is high value.
Thank you for the comment and I’m glad you liked the post!
“Use Your Blog as the Ultimate Networking Tool” yes, I agree. Blogs can be a powerful tool especially if you know how to use it and what to post. This can be a very effective social media marketing strategy if you want your product or service be noticed. Thanks for sharing this one!
You have a good point in the team up of content and promoting. I guess you are right. Contents and promotional strategies should be both great if getting a lot of traffic and conversion are the aims. You have supported your points with excellent facts. Thank you for sharing this post.
Awesome article Andy!
I especially liked two thing in your blog post:
Content hub: It proved my hypothesis that we have to cover other topics, which are related to our core topic (which is dark social and word of mouth)
Connecting: I just started to talk to other bloggers, influencers. My goal is to build relationship with them. Your post just strengthened my belief.
Andy, thanks again!
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Great article, completely agree with number 6. It’s one of those things that you’re always told to do but never do properly. Seeing what users are searching for and adapting your content around it is invaluable. This is becoming slightly harder now that SSL is becoming widely adopted.
Thanks for sharing information.but There Safe adsense provide hell of lot things listed to how to bring traffic and followers to your website, which we are all very capable of doing. However the hardest part is actually in the doing.