How to get your blog noticed in the sea of information online
Every minute of the day hundreds of hours of video are uploaded to You Tube, thousands of ebooks and blogs are published, and websites now number in the trillions. But that doesn’t mean your voice should be silent. If you think that we have got too much information on the internet, you may hold yourself back from letting your voice be heard. It is completely understandable. On the one hand some people are constantly posting photographs of their drinks and meals – which you don’t want to do – and on the other you do want to get your blog noticed.
Information, or information overload?
What may look to you like information overload can simply be information to someone else. Have you seen how many magazines there are on losing weight, working your iphone or ipad, on fishing, cross stitch or puzzles?
Magazine publishers have large costs and would not keep these publications going if they were not making money and finding readers.
Information overload usually happens when the search for information leads to confusion. You look for something straightforward online and get all kinds of conflicting answers. The end result is that you don’t know what to do. When you find the right information it all changes. You can take action or get clarity.
Did you find the answer easily last time you searched online? If you wanted to buy a specific book, or find a recipe for carrot cake using oil, or discover the year St Paul’s Cathedral was built, it you probably found it fairly quickly.
The amount of information didn’t hinder you. You knew what you were looking for and you knew when you had found the answer.
The chances are that you may have used a site you have used before, like www.bbc.co.uk/food or www.wikipedia.com. These sites become a shortcut to cutting through the information overload.
The same applies to your readers. If your information is suitable for them they are more likely to go from indecision or inertia and move forward.
In fact the information overload question can work in your favour, because if it has taken a while to find you, they know how valuable your blog is.
Your specific views will get your blog noticed
You may have noticed that different newspapers treat the same subject matter very differently. It is not about simply giving information, there is a strong bias which is evident even on the front page. If you watch the news on different television or radio channels you will have noticed the same thing.
This also applies to blogs. Two blogs which you would think would be similar as they both cover news in fact have a very different feel based on their audience.
Mashable was started by Pete Cashmore literally in a bedroom in his parent’s house in Scotland, while Huffington Post was originally founded by Arianna Huffington who has been included in lists of the world’s most powerful women. (Her book Thrive is apparently extremely good and is on my to-read list.)
You too can enter a crowded space and offer a fresh viewpoint. It’s a great way to get your blog noticed!
Get your blog noticed by the right readers
Your challenge as a blog owner is to help the right people find your blog. So that when they glance at it they know immediately if it is for them.
This is relevant for your blog whatever you are writing about an entrepreneurial topic or about the time your great-grandmother lived in Paris!
Your blog can
- help people with specific problems by providing valuable information
- allow you to share what fascinates you
- focus on the type of clients you love to work with
- connect to like-minded people create a community
As long as you are clear about the type of readers you love, your blog will let them know they have found the right place on the internet. Their worry about information overload stops when they realise your blog is the right place for them.
The big advantage of a blog is that it can reflect your purpose and your personal style. This can be hugely fulfilling as you are sharing your enthusiasm. This moves a blog on from information-only and is a great way to get your blog noticed.
Your expertise, your failings and your values can show through and you will find people are reading the blog because it is by you, not simply because of your knowledge.
I was surprised once because I was approached after a talk by someone who wanted to work with me because she liked my shoes. (They were pink, with a white stripe, pointed toe and no back, in case you wondered, and I LOVED them!) So we had an additional bond!
Your blog gives clues about your personality and preferences which will be picked up and appeal to the right people.
Providing a clear path of information
Once your readers have found you and your blog, you want to think about how they can absorb your information. A clear path is usually the best way to reduce overload.
You can link blog posts together so that readers know easily where to go next. (Just add a hyperlink on the relevant word and link through to another blog post.) You can develop a series of steps to the desired destination which will help your readers along the way.
When the right reader finds your blog and it is relevant to them, they forget about information overload. Now they have a chance to know like and trust you and feel they are understood.
Your voice is needed – let it be heard!
