How To Get Your Style Blog Found

I promised myself it would be a while before I wrote a blogging tips post here (I do have quite the history blogging about blogging LOL), but I think it's time to answer the question that every new personal style blogger who dreams of 'making it big' wants to know...

How do I get more people to my blog?

This really isn't as difficult as it seems. However, there is a lot of competition out there, and the standards for a 'good blog' nowadays are much higher than they were 5 years ago. The key is to work smarter, not harder.

And before you scoff at my fashion resume, I would like to point out that this blog is not the big project of my lifetime. I must remind you that I am an industrial musician/producer, a tattoo shop manager, and a paranormal investigator. In being a performance artist and public figure, it is important that I have a defined style, a personal brand. This blog is my way of keeping track of my outfits, makeup, and personal growth. It is public because if someone can benefit from my own musings, that will have made my problems, and time spent writing, worthwhile.

With that said, here we go...

1) Content is important.

If you read other articles of this nature, you will read this tip a lot. And it's true. Your blog is only as good as its content. Use keywords, but write for people, not robots. Keep it rich in text, not just photos, videos, etc.

Also, the more quality content you have, the more possibilities of people finding your blog. Every post is a separate page, a separate entrance to your website. If you have 50 posts, that's 50 different pages people can find on the internet. If you have 500 posts, your chances of getting found are tenfold.

I try to post something every day. If I did this successfully for an entire year, I would have 365 pages. That stuff adds up. After 5 years, I would have 1826 pages for people to find (this includes a leap year, if you're doing the math).

2) Get involved in social networks.

Networking is also super important. Go where the people are- Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, Chictopia, Twitter, Digg, etc. It's important to have friends/fans you keep in contact with, who will support you, and share your content with their other friends. Without them, it is going to be near-impossible to reach your blogging goals.

3) Build backlinks.

If no one is talking about you, no one is noticing you. The sites that link back to you have a lot to do with how well (or poorly) you rank in Google search results.

Of course, you probably won't have anyone linking to your blog in the beginning, but there are ways to overcome this- you can start by including your blog link in your social profiles and sharing your posts. This is a great way to get your content out there to your current friends/fans, and the links will eventually contribute to your site rank.

You can also submit your link to blog directories and carnivals, and comment on other blogs in your niche (get out there and socialize). You may also want to include your link in your signature on any forums you contribute to, write guest posts for other blogs in exchange for a link back to yours, and/or link back from any other websites you may have.

4) Tag your images.

Are you remembering to write alt tags for the images you post on your blog? This is important so your photos get found in Google image searches.  You will want to describe the image and include relevant keywords.

A lot of my visitors come from image searches, so never underestimate the power of alt tags. This could be a major 'game changer' for your blog.

5) Buy online ads.

This is probably the simplest and quickest way to get traffic to your blog, but you do have to deal with the dilemma of whether the traffic is the kind of traffic you were looking for, etc. And the price of advertising will vary depending on what, how, and who. While this is a proven method, I believe that word of mouth is a much more effective thing to focus on.

6) Advertise offline.

Make flyers, business cards, etc, and pass them out to everyone you meet who could possibly be interested in what you do. Even if it's not for them, they could pass your info on to someone who would love your blog. Traditional marketing isn't dead yet, so don't overlook it.

7) Don't forget about email!

Putting your blog link in your email signature is probably one of the first things you should do. That way, the friends, fans, family, coworkers, etc. you email regularly will know about your blog. Those are the people who are most likely to get involved in the first place, and encourage others to do so as well.

What do you do to get traffic  to your blog? Do you have any ideas I haven't included here?