Archive for October 2020

Blog Audit Challenge 2020

Welcome back for another month of challenges for the Blog Audit Challenge 2020!

I hope you did well with the September challenges. Remember to link up your progress reports in the Link Up on the 3rd October.

Each month we'll concentrate on a different area of our blogs.

Life is strange for most of us this year with Coronavirus, Lock-downs, etc... If you fall behind with the monthly tasks don't worry. Just catch up when you can. First time joining us? No problem! Everyone is welcome to join and catch up whenever. This challenge lasts the whole year.

The Challenges:

January- Plan of action

February- Information pages

March- The trimmings

April- Design

May- SEO

June- Links

July- Quality content

August- Content gaps

September- Developing readership

October- Get social

November- Press and collaborations

December- Know your stats

Monthly link ups

In order to keep us all on track, and give us a way to see each others progress, I'll be hosting link ups on the first Saturday of every month where participants can share their links and discuss their progress.

#BlogAuditChallenge2020

October Challenges

Our focus for October is on getting social.

We've already done a lot of work towards this months challenge already during the previous months of the Blog Audit Challenge.

The October challenges:

1. Increase traffic to your blog

The first step to getting more traffic to your blog is to share your content. If you just publish and wait for people to flock to your site you'll be waiting a long time. People need to know your content exists.

Task 1 : Make sure you are sharing your blog posts on multiple social media sites. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest.... and anywhere else you're active.

Sharing your blog posts doesn't need to be too time consuming. There are plenty of apps that help you schedule posts for your social media profiles.

On Facebook you can schedule your posts directly on site. For other sites you'll need to use a third party app. The good news is there are lots of options available, and some are even completely free of charge. This article has a list of a good selection of apps.

Task 2: Make sure it is easy for your readers to share your content on their social media profiles.

Social media share buttons are an essential element on any blog. People are much more likely to share your content if it's easy to do so. Click and share buttons to multiple social media channels are a must.

I personally love Sumo.com and use it on this site as it allows for image sharing as well as plain text. It's free too!

2. Increase engagement on your blog

In September we looked at the importance of the comments section of our blogs and developing readership. This month we're taking that a step further and looking at ways to get more people commenting.

Task 1: Comment on other blogs.

As bloggers we're part of a community of people who share common goals. We all want more traffic, more comments, etc... A great way to draw new readers to our own blogs in to post quality comments on other blogs in our niche. Not only will you build a great relationship with the other bloggers (which can lead to some awesome collaborations and opportunities for all involved) but you'll also be putting yourself in front of their audience (who are interested in your niche).

In some cases it also gains you backlinks for your blog too. Whilst we're on this topic I'd just like to take a minute to talk about dropping links in the comment section of someone's blog. As a general rule, don't do it. It's tacky. As most comment sections automatically link your name to your profile (your blog profile, Twitter, Facebook or Google etc...) there really is no need to add a link anyway. It just makes you look spammy and not genuine. So avoid doing it unless the blog host asks for links to be posted.

An exception to this would be if you have a long standing friendship with the blogger. In this case you might drop a link to related content from your own blog e.g. you both covered the same topic, reviewed the same book, etc... or if the post is part of a weekly meme where link sharing among participants is considered the norm.

Task 2: Link to other blogs in your content.

As you've probably discovered throughout this Blog Audit Challenge, you most likely have holes in your content. If these holes are not necessarily topics you really want to cover why not send your readers to other blogger that have covered them. You fill the hole as you're still giving your readers the chance to get the content and at the same time you're building relationships with other bloggers. When you link to another blog the host usually at least shares your post on their social media (featured at....) or will post a comment of thanks. In some cases they'll add a link to your site on theirs either to promote you including them or to return the favour by post a link to one of your posts to fill a gap in their content.

As we covered links early in this challenge I won't go back over the importance of external links again here, but just remember it's good for the SEO of your site.

Task 3: Make sure your social media channels are set up and that you're interactive with your audience.

You don't need to be on every social network that exists... in fact I recommend concentrating on just a couple. Better a strong presence on one than a load of nothing on several. Spreading yourself too thin will achieve nothing other than increasing your stress levels and hinder results.

Pick one or two that fit best for you and your brand and work on those. Reach out to others in your niche and join conversations. Again, be real not spammy.

Task 4: Share your content.

This might seem like a no brainer but you need to share your content. You can't just wait for people to discover it and hope they share it for you. Also when you do share it make sure you're using relevant hashtags.

A great way to accomplish a lot of the above tasks is to be part of an online group. One of my favourites is the Book Bloggers Support Group on Facebook. I also love The Write Reads group on Twitter. Although very different from each other both are great for building relationships with other bloggers in my niche, driving traffic to my site, improving engagement on my posts and on social media, and increasing the amount my posts get shared by people on social media. Consider looking for similar groups that fit well with your blog content.

You might also like: 108 Book Blogs To Follow

Free downloads: You can grab copies of all the extra materials for the Blog Audit Challenge 2020 for free here.

Save the Date!

Remember to drop by tomorrow for the monthly link up post for sharing your September progress. The November challenges will be posted on 2nd November. The monthly link up post for sharing your October progress will be on 7th November.

You might also like: Exploring CTA's: Different Types of Calls To Action To Use in Your Blog Posts

Don't forget to promote your participation in the Blog Audit Challenge 2020 by using the following graphic in any blog posts you do connected with the challenge along with a link back to this site.

Blog Audit Challenge 2020 hosted by @JoLinsdell at www.JoLinsdell.com

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2020 Challenges: September Update

Blog Audit Challenge 2020

September Link Up

Blog Audit Challenge 2020

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October Challenges

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