This article does’t just help you find readers…but loyal ideal readers. What are loyal ideal readers? Loyal ideal readers are the ones who come back to your site each week to read your new posts. This article outlines 7 ways you can find your loyal ideal readers.
Why find your loyal ideal readers? Well….loyal ideal readers are only one step away from becoming a super fan…and super fans are those who read your posts, follow you on social media, join your email list, and buy your products. Additionally, loyal ideal readers will help you continue creating great content by providing feedback as you engage with them.
Put in the Time
It takes to grow your blog. You have to put in the time. Millions of ideal readers will not show up automatically and immediately. You have to grow your readership over the weeks, months, and years. Therefore, work each week on furthering your blog…by writing and promoting great articles.
If you publish a new article every week, then the number of great articles on your site will continue to grow every week. Each article is another doorway for your ideal readers to find you. Think about it. If you write one post, that’s one door. If you write ten posts, that’s ten doors.
Each door leads people to your blog and contributes to finding your loyal ideal readers. Therefore, be consistent and publish a new article each week. Put in the time and follow the remainder of these 7 areas and you will see your blog grow.
You will find your loyal readers. Even if only 1% of the readers who visit your blog become loyal readers, you’ll grow. Remember, loyal readers are the ones who continue to come back and read your content. These are the people you’re writing for. They are your tribe.
Put in the time and write. However…writing is not enough…you have to create great content for your readers.
Create Great Content
If you want to find your loyal ideal readers, then you need to be creating great content. You have to be providing the quality that makes people want to come back and read your posts.
Great content goes beyond your blog posts. Content includes every aspect of your brand. This includes your blog posts, social media posts, emails, etc. It’s all content…and it needs to be great.
What does great content look like? That’s a hard question; however, maybe I can give you an answer by showing you what great content does not look like.
Great content is not having a wall of text. A wall of text that’s full of typos and grammatical errors. Therefore, when writing great content, use short paragraphs to break up the text…and use images to break up the sections. If you notice, I use circle icons to break up my content, this makes its easier to scan and read.
Do your readers a favor and make your content easy to digest. If you do this, you’ll be on your way to writing great content. As far as typos, just proof read your work and you’ll catch the majority of those little buggers. If you find a couple of typos after publishing, don’t worry about it. I still find typos…we’re only human after all.
Be Consistent
You must be consistent if you want to grow your blog…by being consistent you gain trust. For example, if you publish on Wednesdays…like I do…then your readers will go to your blog on Wednesday looking for the new post. When the new article is there, you’ve earned some trust. If a new post isn’t there, you lost trust.
If you want your readers to come back week after week, then you must earn their trust. Therefore, you need to be blogging on a consistent basis. Don’t start off doing more than you can sustain. Don’t try blogging everyday…I recommend a post a week.
Pick a day of the week and be consistent. Make sure you have a new article published each week on that day. Remember, you have to put in the time. So start doing this now…and give it time. You have to sow before you reap.
In order to be consistent you need to develop a blogging habit. I’ve written an article titled, “How to Develop a Blogging Habit.” Check it out by clicking here. It’ll help you in planning your writing and publishing schedule.
Growing your blog is why you publish consistently…developing a blogging habit is how you publish consistently.
Leverage Social Media
Writing great consistent content is not enough, you also have to put your articles in front of your readers. You can’t expect them to find you. There is where the next two categories come into play: Leverage Social Media and Optimize SEO.
Social media is a great way to find your readers if you know where to look. You have to find the platforms your ideal readers use. I’d recommend starting with Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest. Don’t try to do all of them at once. Focus on one.
For example, with Facebook, there are groups for almost every niche. Find and join these groups and start answering questions. Do not join a group and immediately just start posting your articles. Join the group and start serving.
Start serving the members of that group. Answer their questions and help them where you can. This will help you gain trust and likability…then you may post your article…and they’ll actually go to and read it.
Do this consistently and you’ll be finding loyal ideal readers in these groups.
For Instagram, utilize hashtags that target your ideal readers while placing a link to your article in your bio. When your readers see your post and want to check out the article…all they have to do is go to your bio.
Start leveraging social media…but remember your post are considered content…so do a little extra and make them good. You take them good by ensuring they serve your ideal reader. It’s all about serving your audience.
Optimize SEO
Optimizing SEO is what helps your post being found on search engines like Google. There are several factors that play into optimizing SEO and I’m just going to touch on a few of them here. First is word count. Next is readability. Last but not least is keywords.
You need to have a sufficient word count for search engines like Google to display your content. They want to ensure that you truly are proving good content that answers questions. I’d recommend no fewer than 500 words, but instead anywhere between 800 to 1200 words.
If you’re a string writer…and your post is formatted well…you could shoot for anywhere between 1500 to 2000 words. Just know a long post will highlight bad writing.
Next is readability. Your content needs to be easily read and digested. If you’re creating great content then you’re already doing this. Google knows how long people stay on your page…good writing causes them to stay longer than bad writing. So create good content and format it well with pictures or icons.
Finally, is keywords. What is the main keyword you want your article to rank for? Think about it and try to use it in your title, first paragraph, and some of the headings. This helps search engines know what the article is about and when to display your article in search results.
A tool I highly recommend is YOAST. It’s a free plugin that’ll help you with readability and SEO in general.
Interact with Readers
Another great way to find your loyal ideal readers is to interact with your audience. Interact with those that leave comments and interact with potential readers on Social Media.
Another great tactic is to comment on other blogs. By doing so, you’ll be establishing a connection and relationship with other bloggers who then might (1) become loyal ideal readers of your blog and (2) promote your blog to their readers by doing a collaboration with you.
The main going in interacting with readers is to establish the relationship and serve them the best you can…by answering their questions and creating great content.
Grow Your Email List
Your blog and your email list both serve a purpose. With a healthy email list you’ll be able to more intimately connect with your readers as you build trust.
With services like ConvertKit, you can customize the email so its sent to the person by name. For example if your name is Zach, the email will start with “Hey Zach” or something similar. I love it. It gives it the personal touch…like you wrote it just for them…which you actually did.
Your blog and email list should have a symbiotic relationship. A symbiotic relationship is a relationship where both parties benefit. Your blog should be promoting your email list and your email list promoting your blog.
There is a direct correlation between the traffic your blog receives and the size and health of your email list. As your email list grows so will your traffic. If you don’t have an email list…I encourage you to start one today…just read my article, “Why an Email List is the Christian Blogger’s Biggest Asset.”
Conclusion
Loyal ideal readers are only one step away from becoming a super fan…and super fans are those who read your posts, follow you on social media, join your email list, and buy your products. Additionally, loyal ideal readers will help you continue creating great content by providing feedback as you engage with them.
You can find your loyal ideal readers by (1) putting in the time, (2) creating great content, (3) being consistent, (4) leveraging social media, (5) optimizing your post for SEO, (6) interacting with readers, and (7) growing your email list.
Grow Your Christian Blog (7 Simple Things You Can Do)
If you want to get serious about growing your Christian Blog then grab my free guide. It details 7 simple things you can do to prime your blog for growth.
These 7 simple things will help you: Discover, Serve, & Build Trust with Your Ideal Audience…transforming them into loyal ideal readers… In addition to receiving the guide, you’ll also receive a daily email from me during the next 7 days with additional tips and resources.
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Question: What tactic are you going to start using today? Let me know in the comments.
