You just got started blogging, and you’re wondering, now what?  Last week we looked at the First Steps to Make Money Blogging.  Here are some more follow up steps to increase readership and head down the path to make money by blogging.

Content Creation

Develop some content.  Before you start reaching out to find backlinks, try to fill your blog with some articles and information.  When you ask for backlinks, people will probably visit your URL to see what your site has to offer and if it’s interesting enough to link back to.  If you have content there, you can convince them.  But if they see an empty site, why would they want to link to it?

Since you’re just starting to write your articles now, I recommend writing a bunch of articles before you start posting them, and then only publish them one at a time.  This way you can stay ahead of the game.  Space out your posts, but don’t wait too long as you’ll want to make sure you get into the habit of posting regularly.  When you have a lot of blog entries on the “back burner,” you have more slack and a back up in case you get writer’s block.

Branch Out… Find Backlinks

Once you have a multitude of entries, reach out to get back links.  (Backlinks are links to your blog).  You can search for other blogs with similar subjects to your own and leave constructive, thoughtful comments.  Be nice and friendly, and refer them to your own blog of a similar subject and see if you can exchange links with the blogger (you post a link to them, and they post a link to you). It’s probably best to try to find a blog that has been around for some time and has a few links, but might be looking for more.

Remember to be polite.  Show that you are also interested in their blog, and are not just trying to use them for a link – they’ll be more likely to link back to you this way.

The main focus here is developing relationships with fellow bloggers.

You can also try to submit your blog to a search engine, but it’s probably better if you get backlinks and let the search engine find you.

Guest Posts

Writing guest posts is a great way to generate traffic and backlinks.

Find a blog that gets a good amount of traffic, and see what you have to do to write a guest post.  You should look for blogs that have a similar or overlapping audience, so you can attract those visitors to your blog.  By this point, you should already have a few backlinks and therefore a few friendships with other bloggers.  See if you can guest post for any of their blogs.

Once you have found a good site, make sure you approach them respectfully and patiently. Some blogs, especially really popular ones, will probably have a link somewhere that explains how to do a guest post for their blog, so before emailing the blogger, make sure you check to see what his policy is.  Realize that they are busy, and may not be able to respond right away.  Don’t send your article in your first email – it might come across as pushy.

Hungry for more?  Here are 5 additional ways to find backlinks and promote your blog.