subject: Some Fundamental Pointers For Enticing Visitors To An Accounting Blog [print this page] Blogging is straight forward and fun, but without readers your blog won't help you market your services. Putting together a robust group of subscribers, however, is a lot of work. Even if you do everything perfectly it will still take a long time. Content has been covered to death so I'll just reiterate that it's vital to keep it fresh and interesting. But content won't bring in readers until you promote your blog, and that's the subject of today's discussion.
So how do you bring subscribers to your accounting blog?
1. Use your blog to communicate with employees and clients.
It's easy to get your employees to read and comment on your blog, especially if it's really informative, but your clients can make an excellent audience, too. Use your blog to keep them informed of breaking news that affects them. With hundreds of tax law changes every year your clients need you to sort though them and let them know what matters to them. Don't be shy. If you have a client that can benefit from your post send them an email and ask them to leave you a comment.
2. Make your blog easy to find on your website.
Don't make visitors search for your blog. Make sure the link to your blog is prominantly displayed on your accounting website. Put it on the navigation menu where it can be seen without making them open or roll over anything. Add a nice banner link to your home page.
Try to make the blog a page on your domain rather than using a URL on wordpress, blogspot or some similar service. You'll be doing a lot of linking to publicize your blog, and there's a search engine benefit to that. You might just as well enjoy the benefit of these efforts on your domain.
3. Display your website address everywhere!
The more places you post your web address the easier it will be for potential readers to find your blog. Make sure the address is on your business card, in the signature of your email, and on any forums you may frequent. Avoid the temptation to point all your links to your website home page. In some cases it's much more appropriate to map the link straight to the blog. Visitors looking for your blog won't want to navigate through your home page.
4. Share and share alike.
Bloggers are a tight-knit, cooperative community. If you help them out, they'll help you out. Doing this will get your name out there on other blogs in the industry and help gain exposure for your content. As a rule you'll get a link back to your website or blog for your trouble. This is not just a great way to drive visitors to your site, the search engines also look at these links as adding authority to your domain.
Conversely, you can return the favor by inviting guest bloggers of your own. Help others help you!
5. Use your networking skills.
The online world is not as fragmented and impersonal as it might appear to the casual observer. In, fact it's composed of many tight knit communities and if you want to succeed you need to find and engage the communities that are relevant to your market. Sites like LinkedIn and Facebook are a good place to start. Find and engage groups that are related to your target audience. Instead of simply promoting your blog in these venues, however, put your link in your profile and be as active as you can to draw potential readers.
6. Mention your influences.
Use online social sites to talk up your contacts; especially other bloggers.
Your contacts will very likely see and appreciate these "plugs". Most online networking sites like twitter and Facebook have tracking services that will allow your friends to get an alert when you mention them. This means that using their name in your content gets you noticed - and it may up the chances that they'll share it with their readers.
7. Contests draw a lot of traffic.
People love free stuff. They always have and they always will. In fact the word "free" is the most powerful word in the marketing lexicon. The prize doesn't need to be exrtraordinary; it can be as simple as sharing your blog link or posting the most comments. If you want to get even more comments you could offer something even more valuable. A free tax prep might seem like one obvious choice.
Contests can also be used as a good way to cross sell your off season services. Offering a free compilation and review for a local business owner, for example, can kill two birds with one stone. It will often bring that client into the monthly fold, and it can be used to create a new blog post that highlights the value added by exploiting financial statements.
8. Keep it dynamic.
Sometimes, when you find a groove, it's hard to break out of it. Don't succumb to the doldrums! By the time you feel yourself starting to drift into limbo it's a pretty safe bet it's already happened. Do something different. Tell a joke, post a funny picture, or post a viewpoint that differs from your own. Keep your readers guessing. One nice addition to your repertoire is video, and when you upload the finished piece to YouTube you draw in additional readers who might not have found you otherwise.
If you employ these tactics you'll have a much better chance of cultivating a real following. One last thing, play true to the basics. Keep your content apropos and compose to your target audience. As long as you're engaged, your readers will be, too.
