A well-promoted blog is a great way to generate leads and acquire customers. Here are 9 tips to help increase your blog readership. Visit www.ReferralCandy.com to learn how your existing customers can help you do the same!

1. presents
from�top
marketing
experts

2. before�everything�else,
your�blog’s�gotta rock
be�helpful
Most bloggers and content marketers
need to make their content helpful to
their community and not just type
something to put it up there.
Ask the question, “Is this helpful?”
If the answer is no, start over.
chris brogan
CEO & President, human business works

3. be�unique
Figure out what’s your value
proposition. Help people understand
why they should pay attention to
you and buy your products.
peter sandeen
Online Conversion Specialist,
petersandeen.com
I’d have my guests tell a story. A real story of
a failure, the lessons they learnt. A real story
of their “aha” moment, and lessons they
learnt from that “aha” moment. And we just
connect with stories. They're very powerful.
john lee dumas
founder, entrepreneuronfire
tell�stories
YOUR�BLOG’S�GOTTA�ROCK

4. quote�experts
What I like to do is write an
original article and gather expert
opinions to supplement some of
my arguments.
gregory ciotti
customer champion, help scout
respond�quickly
to�trends
It’s easier to get bloggers and journalists
to write or share information containing
an interesting new angle on something
that was already at the top of their mind.
larry kim
founder & Cto, wordstream
searchmarketing
mobile
social
YOUR�BLOG’S�GOTTA�ROCK

5. 2 make�sure�it’s searchable
don’t�let�your�effort�go�to�waste,
do�proper�keyword�research
Writing awesome content is nice,
but not doing proper keyword
research upfront is probably the
most common mistake I see.
joost de valk
founder & ceo, yoast
keywordsearch
traffic
SEO research
optimizationranking
term
referrals

6. a�picture�paints�a�thousand�words,
we’re�all visual�creatures
create
original�images
Far too many blogs use
stock photography because
they won't take 20 minutes
to create an original picture
that stands on its own, and
isn't just a title image.
david leonhardt
chief seo consultant and writer,
seo-writer.com
stock photo
make�images�more�effective
with�text�overlay
On Pinterest and on other social
networks images are often seen in
isolation and the viewer has to make an
extra effort to read the text of the pin
description to understand it. A simple
text overlay is an easy way to clarify the
meaning of the image and can increase
click throughs.
cynthia sanchez
founder, oh so pinteresting
this image is
all about
text overlay

7. invest�in�your
content’s�design
Remember that most of the people
that you reach out to are very busy.
That means they won't read every single
word of your content. So the better your
content looks the better response you'll get.
brian dean
founder, backlinko
24pt
12pt
21 SEO TIPS
Techniques You Can Use to
Get More search Traffic
36pt
use�images�to
attract�traffic
Images not only make your articles
more pleasant to read, but they can
also help drive a lot of traffic from
sites like Pinterest and Facebook.
mitt ray
founder, social marketing writing
WE’RE�ALL�VISUAL�CREATURES

8. create�visual�content
I think all bloggers can promote their
content more effectively by creating
engaging visuals that encourage
interaction via sharing, liking, or
clicking through to see the content.
That could be in the form of awesome
photographs or creatively designed
graphics included in a post that allow
for easy visual sharing. We’ve found
that people can easily consume and
will consistently respond to content
that has strong visual anchors.
lindsay ostrom
founder, pinch of yum & food blogger pro
Start and Grow
Your Food Blog
WE’RE�ALL�VISUAL�CREATURES

9. relationship�matters
The most effective thing is taking
the time to build real relationships and
not trying to ‘network’ your way to
acquire as many links as possible. Real
relationships tend to scale better and
you get better results in the long term.
eric siu
ceo, single grain
build�real�relationships�with�people�first
Your post promotion efforts will be a lot
more effective if you build relationships
first before asking anyone to share your
posts. Saying "Hey, I love your blog - look
at this great post I just wrote!"
doesn't usually work well.
ana hoffman
founder, traffic generation cafe

10. build�a�loyal�audience
I’m talking about a dependable base of
people who genuinely feel like they have
some attachment to you or relationship
with you, or who just really like your
stuff. Encourage that group, feed them,
nurture them. Make them special.
mark traphagen
senior director of online marketing,
stone temple consulting
can’t wait for your
next blog post!
RELATIONSHIP�MATTERS

11. share�other’s�content
The Internet is a relationship
economy. You have to give to get.
This is definitely a long game,
but the payoff is tremendous.
carol lynn rivera
founder, web search social
Your followers will appreciate the extra help and the
content creators will be pleased to get extra attention,
so it’s a win all around, and then everybody’s more
likely to check out your next piece of content.
sophie lizard
founder, be a freelance blogger
8 tips to help youwork faster
think better
with these
lifehacks
how to get ahealthier body
in 7 days!
RELATIONSHIP�MATTERS

12. New blog posts should be shared with the
intent of actually sharing and starting
discussions, rather than the expectation
that just because you posted a link that
means I have to click on it. Google+ is a
great place to see this in action.
mike allton
founder, the social media hat
use�social�media�to
network�and�engage�-
not�spam
Mention relevant people and
ask them to get involved
in the conversation. Make sure
to hang around to interact
with those who do respond.
tom ewer
founder, leaving work behind
be�human�on
social�media
hello
@greenman!
RELATIONSHIP�MATTERS

13. your�target�audienceknow
really, really�understand�your�audience
Revisit your customer
profile and see if the
assumptions you made
when you first created it
still apply. Keep track of
how these things change so
you can invest your time
and resources into only
promotional tactics that will
work for them.
megan dougherty
education lead,
firepole marketing
Understand your target
audience’s most difficult
problem and provide
critical information to
solve their problem. This
will help them and
solidifies your position
as someone who
provides incredible value.
carol amato
online entrepreneur,
carolamato.com
The process is simple.
You create personas
to describe a group /
sub-group of your
target audience
so you would have an
idea of their
interests and needs
in your industry.
venchito tampon
founder,
digital philippines
wants to amplify
word-of-mouth
but not sure
where to begin
considering to
get a referral
program for
her online store
needs help
with website
design
needs help
with content
marketing
wants to
understand
email marketing
better

14. Begin by surveying your audience. Ask
them what is important to them. What
do they need help with?
What keeps them up at night?
melonie doDARo
founder & Ceo, top dog social media
Successfully promoting content is
a lot easier when you're promoting
awesome - and targeted - content.
rae hoffman
ceo, pushfire
Match�your�content�to
the�needs�of�your�targeted�audience
Match�your�content�to
the�needs�of�your�targeted�audience
relevant
content
relevant
audience
KNOW�YOUR�TARGET�AUDIENCE

15. by�emailget�personal
email�people�that
you�mentioned
This sometimes works better than
just tweeting it at them because it’s
more personal and others can’t see
that you’ve emailed them. The more
people on your email list who you can
notify when you create a new post,
the more traction that post will get.
dan norris
co-founder, wp curve
hello
howdy
collect�leads
The most effective way to convert
traffic into subscribers is through
the use of a Lead Magnet.
The Lead Magnet is an irresistible
bribe that gives a specific chunk
of value to a prospect in exchange
for their email address.
ryan deiss
ceo, digital marketer

16. perform targeted distribution
Start with the low-hanging
fruit - people who have already
shared similar content from
your competitiors. But it's very
important to ensure the quality
of your content matches or
exceeds the content from your
competitors.
jason acidre
co-founder and ceo, Xight Interactive
share�with�those
who�have�already
shared�similar�content
send�your�content
to�specific�targets
For our clients we make a list of
targets to share our content.
Hopefully we can turn them into
advocates. We created what we call
a “client firehose,” which gives us great
insight into who similarly publishes the
stuff we create, and others who have
a general interest in content like ours.
bill sebald
founder, greenlane seo
@marketer_mark
curated #socialmedia wisdom
from top enterprise experts
ow.ly/x2dzw via
@awesomemarketingblog
@marketer_mark hello mark!
we wrote a post to analyze..
target

17. reach�out�to
influencers
Find key influencers on
Twitter that would be
particularly interested in
your content. Then, reach out
to them with a tweet and
ask them to review your
content. This works especially
well if you mentioned or
referenced that influencer
within your content.
jayson demers
founder & ceo,
audience bloom
If you run an outreach
program to reach out
to key influencers in
your industry to
promote your content
it's important to track
this outreach. One
great tool for doing
this is Buzzstream.
ian cleary
founder,
razor social
The way ViralContentBuzz
works, it’s one of the most
unintrusive ways you put
your content in front of
eager social media
influencers. And you don’t
even need to ask them to
share your content
because they are there
exactly for that: They want
to share your articles.
ann smarty
founder, myblogguest.com
co-founder, viralcontentbuzz
PERFORM�TARGETED�DISTRIBUTION

18. prioritize�promoters
First, choose the people you link out to
wisely. If you have to choose between
linking out to a blogger with an inferior
resource but who is very active on a site
like inbound.org or a subreddit, choose
them over the blogger with a better
resource but who’s less active in
promoting other people’s content.
richard marriot
founder, clambr.com
tag/mention
relevant�people
The next time you share one of your
blog posts on social media try
tagging any brands or people that
you have mentioned within a status
update or you could go as far as to
actually ask them (nicely) if they’d
help share your content – if you say
awesome stuff about them, chances
are they will be happy to help you.
adam connell
founder, blogging wizard
the secret behind
@thebloggingwiz’s
success revealed
PERFORM�TARGETED�DISTRIBUTION

19. add�context
when�sharing
Instead of dropping a link and leaving,
take the time to craft an introduction
for the piece you are about to share.
Also, every social network serves a
specific purpose. You cannot promote
your content on Google+ the way
you would on Facebook.
cendrine marrouat
founder, social media slant
Hey Mark! Here's a
link to that idea
you said you were
looking for!"
get�as�much�personal
exposure�as�possible
Get as much personal exposure as
possible. This can be done through
many different ways, such as paid
advertising, a guest post, interview
or even with your own affiliate
program. Of course the ultimate
way is to get exposure for free, as
that is where the real value is.
zac johnson
founder, bloggingtips.com
will blog
for food
PERFORM�TARGETED�DISTRIBUTION

20. maximise the�potential�of
social�media
Ideally, you want to time your
content’s publication and
promotional efforts to coincide
with your audience’s schedule.
Your content will be much more
successful if your audience
finds it when they are most
receptive to sharing, linking, etc.
steve webb
founder, web gnomes
take�note�of�timing share�in�more�places
If you go through a lot of effort to
create good content, then do yourself
a favor and share it, re-publish it,
and pitch it to more places. Good
content deserves to be shared with
more people and the best way to do
that is to share it in more places.
james clear
founder, jamesclear.com
audience
active
hours
10 27 5 35 54

21. retweet�for�visibility
We all use social media to increase online
visibility but there are certain tools that
can magnify your efforts. Justretweet is
a platform where it’s members can easily
share content to social media channels
including Twitter, Facebook and Google
Plus. Once added to these channels
additional people are able to share it
further magnifying your reach.
bill gassett
real estate agent,
sellmyhomeinmetrowestma.com
Most bloggers tweet the same piece
of content multiple times. The reason
being is that not all of your followers
won’t see your content so tweeting
and sharing it multiple times helps
increase your overall traffic.
neil patel
founder, quicksprout
co-founder, crazyegg & kissmetrics
tweet #1
tweet #2
tweet #3
11:00aM
1:00PM
3:00PM
retweet
multiple�tweets/
shares�at�intervals
MAXIMISE�POTENTIAL�OF�SOCIAL�MEDIA

22. milk�older�content
for�their�worth
Don't forget to promote older content.
If it's valuable, evergreen content, there
is nothing wrong with re-sharing it
months later. You have new followers
and subscribers who haven't seen it.
And existing fans might have missed
it or might even gain a new
perspective from re-reading it.
jimmie lanley
co-owner, ihomeschool network
use�pinterest
Pinterest is still widely
underused for bloggers. Bloggers
should have a Pinterest
Business account and utilize the
analytics on their pins. Rich pins
are also a must for bloggers.
peg fitzpatrick
social strategy head, canva
SHARE
MAXIMISE�POTENTIAL�OF�SOCIAL�MEDIA

23. http://www.smallbusinessideasblog.com/how-to-promote-your-blogSource:
make�it�happen!a
one�step�at�a�time
take�action
Every morning, before doing
anything else, grab your list of
tactics and strategies, look it
over, and ask yourself this:
what’s the ONE thing I can do
today, right now, that can help
me grow my readership? Then
go do it. It’s that simple.
james chartrand
founder, men with pens
ok let’s
do this!

24. take�action
CRafTED BY
A well-promoted blog is a great
way to generate leads and
acquire customers.
Visit ReferralCandy.com to learn
how you can use existing
customers to do the same.
REFERRALCANDY