Why Do You Want to Grow?
Before we dive into the proactive steps you can take to grow your blog, let’s start with an even more fundamental question: Why do you want to grow? In other words, what’s your play here? Do you want to grow in order to generate more ad revenue? Do you desire growth in order to build your brand recognition and establish yourself as a thought leader in your niche so that you can obtain high paying speaking gigs? Are you interested in selling books, consulting services, or some other related product? You must understand what your goal is before you can pursue growth. Otherwise, you risk bloating your blog without truly achieving what it is you want.
5 Tips for Blogging Growth
We all have a different why, but the how is fairly universal. Here are a few practical tips to help you grow your finance and investing blog and take it to a new level:
Simplify the Design
There should be zero distractions and minimal friction on your blog. Anything that could potentially prevent a reader from consuming your content and/or following through on conversion goals is a risk. For many bloggers, this requires a redesign. Make your blog easier to use by creating an intuitive layout (people love to scroll these days), clear navigation (a focused navigation menu will make people feel in control of their browsing experience), and responsive web design that displays a consistent experience regardless of the device or screen size the reader is using to access your blog.
Produce More Visual Content
As a blogger, two important forces are working against you. First off, attention spans are dwindling. (Goldfish now have longer attention spans than the average person.) Secondly, there’s more content being created on a daily basis than ever before. Ultimately, this means more bloggers are competing for a smaller share of attention span. How do you cut through the noise and engage people in a way that resonates with them? Visual content is one of the best answers. Video, infographics, graphs and charts, original images, and even memes work well. (Focus less on shock factor and more on adding value.) The key is to stay abreast of the shifts in visual marketing trends so that you can constantly maximize engagement with your readers.
Integrate a Stock API
If there’s one thing you know about your audience of personal finance lovers and investing gurus, it’s that they love data and numbers. Why not give them more of what they’re seeking? One easy way to add credibility and functionality to your website is to integrate a stock API, which populates your blog with real-time stock market data. The result is up-to-date information that readers engage with.
Improve Email Nurturing Campaigns
In order to grow, you have to think bigger than the blog itself. You need to think about ways you’re supporting your blog from the outside looking in. And in 2020 and beyond, email remains the primary focal point. The key with email is to build a list that you slowly nurture over time. By sharing engaging insights, providing links to your best posts, and building a relationship with your subscribers, you make people more apt to share your blog with others.
Hire Better Writers
As your blog grows, you’ll find that your role shifts. Instead of writing thousands of words of copy per week, you’ll begin moving into a more strategic position. The key is to keep your copy at the same quality level (or higher). Work your network and find talented writers who either have the same voice or are able to adapt their voice to meet your style guidelines.
Ready, Set, Grow
Some entrepreneurs are fine having a successful niche blog that brings in a little revenue or generates some positive exposure for some other business venture. Other people want to scale up and expand. We’ve given you some sound principles for achieving the latter. Now it’s up to you to act. Will you?
