The short answer is no.
So you’ve crafted some excellent content (at least five or six articles) and you are eager for people to read what you have written. Unfortunately, there isn’t a blogging fairy who will tell the world you exist. In order to get visitors, you will need to start actively promoting your blog in all the right places.
Sitemaps
The first thing you need to do is get your blog listed in search engines. You could wait around for Google and Bing to eventually find your blog which will take a while or you could be proactive. I’m advising that you be proactive and sign up to Google and Bing’s webmaster tools and submit your sitemaps.
A sitemap is an XML file that tells search engines about the URLs (pages and posts) on your blog that are available for crawling. The XML file lists metadata about each URL such as how often the page is updated and how often the site changes. You can use a sitemap generator or if you are using WordPress you can use a plugin.
RSS Feeds
Make Sure It’s Easy to Subscribe to Your Blog via RSS. You can add a link to your RSS feed as well as a widget to allow users to subscribe to your feeds via email.
You can also set up a Feedburner Account so that you can manage your blog’s RSS feeds. Feedburner provides tracking data, and you have the option to email subscriptions to your feeds which can significantly increase the number of subscribers to your blog. If you are using WordPress you can read this step by step guide.
Forums and comments
You should also join forums that have something in common with your blog topics. Forums allow you to use a short signature where you can include your website address (URL). Don’t randomly spam the forums. Join in conversations and give informed feedback.
Some blogs allow comments on their articles and provide a link back to your own blog. You can subscribe to the RSS feeds of blogs that have a similar topic and comment on the articles that interest you. Don’t write spam comments just to get a link back, make sure your comment is relevant to the topic at hand.
These are just a few things to get you going. I will look at continued promotion and social media in a later post.
I’ve found that the best way to get noticed is to visit a heap of blogs, read what they have to say and then to leave a thought provoking comment. If you comment of dofollow blogs and those that have the Commentluv plugin you will slowly build backlinks to your new blog.
More importantly you will be building your brand. People will recognise you and your those brilliant comments you’ve been leaving on those blogs will create even more traffic as people follow you to your blog to see what else you have to say.
Hi Peter
Thanks for the advice. I’m finding that I’m not just benefiting from backlinks when reading other blogs, I’m learning new things too. Very beneficial.
I noticed a lot of blogs have the Commentluv plugin so I thought I’d install it to see if it would encourage more comments. 🙂
In fact, failure to have a megaphone can result in an unruly behavior from a group you were to control. Megaphones enhance one’s communication and offer easy control of crowds which are occupying a large area.
Hi, I find reading this article a joy. It is extremely helpful and interesting and very much looking forward to reading more of your work..