At Apollo’s Blog, we’ve talked a lot about crafting exciting, catchy, and consistent posts to better your writing abilities and make your blog a true phenomenon. Now that you have spent the time brainstorming, writing and refining your content, why not take the extra step and market it to your prospective audience?

Here are some helpful pointers to reaching out to your potential readership:

1. Practice Effective SEO. Writing your blog entries with search keywords in mind is vital to attracting visitors from organic search engine results.
2. Put up an RSS Button. A well-placed RSS feed button will attract readers to subscribe to your blog and alert them to new entries as they are posted. You can also submit your feed to a syndication site like Syndic8.com that users can search through.
3. Have Contests on your Blog. Contests are a great way to promote your blog and attract new visitors. Keep the contest related to your content and/or relevant current events and topics. The best blog contests often involved ‘write your own caption’ threads or ‘the best reader stories’. Try to get your readers to contribute as much to your contest as possible. If you have a health blog for example, you can have a contest for the worst dieting horror stories. Posting the winning and finalist stories will be sure to generate excitement, provide a way to learn about your audience, and will also encourage readers to comment more!
4. Use Strategic Linking. When writing your articles, think of the reader. When you state an opinion or fact, also state your (online) source by linking to it. In addition, there will be information you’ll provide that is necessary to your point but will be out of context to explain further in this article. Link out to high quality websites to give your readers the option to learn more. This will attract the attention of the other webmasters you are linking to, which helps SEO in two ways: they may link back to your site in return (inbound links) and also refer new readers (drive traffic) to your site.
5. Respond to Your Comments. Keep the conversations going on your blog by commenting. Not only does this encourage other readers to comment, it will help you network with other bloggers, in turn promoting your efforts.
6. Comment on Prominent Industry Blogs. Find a blog that has already developed a strong readership and provides expertise in your given field. Providing a well-thought out and detailed comment on a specific article will catch the attention of that blog’s editors and readers and will hopefully draw valuable traffic your way. Make sure that your comments say something worthwhile, so it doesn’t look like your writing just for the sake of plugging your own work. Contribute to the discussion!
7. Give Stuff Away! Create an e-book, newsletter or file downloads that your dedicated readers can receive either through winning contests or by merely visiting your site. This tactic will help establish your authority as an industry expert.
8. Guest Blog on Other Sites. If you have developed a strong network with other bloggers, you can offer to contribute to their sites as well. This will not only draw more attention to your own blog, but will establish yourself as a committed and prolific blog writer.
9. Use Social Media. Syndicate your posts on Facebook, Digg, Reddit and other book marking services to share your blog through established social networks online. This is one way of pulling users into your blog who may not be directly looking for your content.
10. Submit your Blog Directories. Directories like Technorati are great for promoting your blog to those directly searching for sites covering specific interests. Technorati lists your authority based on the number of sites that have linked to your blog, so you should work this step in with your other networking and promotion strategies.

There are ten proven online marketing techniques out of countless ways to market your blog. Be sure to come back to Apollo’s Blog for more helpful tips like these. Now get out there and blog!