How Lifestyle Bloggers Attract A Dedicated Audience
Ierie Marie Manguit
Helping Restaurants Generate 20% More Sales | Restaurant Marketer
As most of you know, I am a lifestyle blog consultant who helps lifestyle bloggers attract a dedicated audience.
And most of you are wondering, how exactly does a lifestyle blogger attract a dedicated audience?
Well, you’re in for a treat because I’m going to delve into some of my strategies.
So, install a text highlighter extension plugin and bookmark this web page.
Are you ready?
Then let’s get into how lifestyle bloggers attract a dedicated audience.
Phase 1 - Defining Your Lifestyle Blog Niche
If you have read my previous blog “Why Lifestyle Bloggers Are Not Making Money”, you already know why I strongly suggest you get specific with your niche. This is a great deal of importance if you want to stand out in the crowded blogging space.
Why You Should Not Hesitate To Niche Down When Lifestyle Blogging
Lifestyle is, by definition, a niche in blogging. But you need to delve deeper into this highly saturated niche.
When I talk to lifestyle bloggers about niching down, I always ask them this question.
“What is the single hobby that you are most passionate about?”
Most of the time, they answer my question. But then they will go on to tell me that they don’t want to blog about that. They want to blog about something that is more trending and they THINK will rake in the dough.
Then I would ask them…
“What is the reason why you think your hobby isn’t worth blogging about, will not trend, or will not make you any money?”
The usual reason they say is that the hobby that they are most passionate about doesn’t have a vast market. No one is talking about it so no one is going to read it.
Then I would ask them…
“How did you come to know this hobby?”
Their common answers were they read a book or an article about it, have some friends or family members who are passionate about it, or saw it on TV, YouTube, TikTok, and so on.
Then my next question would be….
“How did you become passionate about this hobby?”
They would answer with how they did more research or study about it, how frequently they do this hobby, and how they engage with other people to do this hobby.
Now, if they still haven’t realized it at this point, I would just say.?
”Great to know that this hobby has a significant amount of interest and if you blog about it, we’re not starting with zero.”
Needless to say, there’s no such thing as no one talking about these hobbies.
Because as they have said themselves, there are people who know about these interests.
If there aren’t many people talking about a certain lifestyle niche, then you’re in luck. You can plant yourself as an expert in that niche and have your blog become the go-to blog for it.
Why Blogging About Your Hobby Is The Better Choice Versus Trendy Lifestyle Sub-Niches
It is a bit difficult to blog about something that is trending since that would mean you need to beat the well-established voices of those niches. And I bet you don’t wish to get swallowed up in that competition.
So don’t be afraid if there are not many people who are interested in your hobby. Because, once upon a time, you also didn’t know that hobby and weren’t interested in it. But here you are.
Your lifestyle blog can be an effective platform for spreading awareness of this hobby and getting more people like you to be interested in it.
So whether it is a strange yet effective way to stay fit or a tourist destination that people rarely visit, don’t hesitate to use that as your lifestyle blog niche.
Of course, I’m not telling you to marry that specified niche for life. You will use that as your foundation and you can expand from there once the right time has come.
But if you really want to attract the right audience, start off with something lifestyle-niched.
Phase 2 - Creating Consistent Valuable Lifestyle Blog Content
Once you figured out what your sub-niche is, it’s time to get writing.
But now, here is where the next problem arises.
“What topics about my niche should I write about?”
The truth about this question is that you already have ideas on what to write about. What you really want to ask is “What should I write first?”
A Technique For Brainstorming Your First Blog Posts
Now, the way I usually approach this is by adding 5 W and 1 H questions to my niche.
Let’s say the niche is “Dumpster Diving”.
So I’d do it like this:
From those, I can easily think of the basic topics I can write for Dumpster Diving.
With just this method, you already got your first 6 blog posts.
So if you ever find yourself stressing over what your first blog post is going to be, then just use my method and you will have great topics to get people interested in your blog.
But of course, you can’t just write whatever content you feel like writing. You need to make sure that your readers will find your lifestyle blog post valuable.
What Makes a Blog Post Valuable?
It needs to resonate well with your audience.
Your lifestyle blog post should be TRULI.
The best way to do this is to develop your personal brand as a lifestyle blogger.
By having a unique brand and voice, you can differentiate yourself from same-niched and even same-content bloggers.
But of course, when you are producing content online, you must do this consistently.
For website visitors to convert into a dedicated audience, you need to get them to keep coming back.
How To Consistently Post New Lifestyle Blogs?
You need to be posting new lifestyle blogs regularly. It doesn’t have to be every day. You just need to pick a day and time when you are going to post a new blog article.
For example, you post new blogs every Tuesday and Friday at 8 PM or every Saturday at 8 AM.?
The specific schedule and frequency depend on what you can accomplish. If you can see that you couldn’t make it to your own deadlines then adjust it accordingly. The important thing is that you set a deadline and you always follow through with it.
It is also best if you have a content calendar. So you can plan your blog posts and make a schedule for it. This helps keep track of your content and also reminds you to create blog posts and lets you see if you’re running out of content.
If you do this, it helps to build anticipation among your audience and keeps them coming back for more. Be reliable, delivering on the promises you make to your readers.
Phase 3 - Gaining Visibility and Promoting Your Blog Posts
Now, you have a sub-niche and a consistent stream of lifestyle content.
The next phase is to ensure that your content is seen.
What To Check For On-Page SEO
As a lifestyle blogger, your blog website’s partner is SEO.?
Thus, you need to make sure that all your blog posts and your blog’s other web pages are search engine-optimized. You should also write descriptive meta tags.
All photos have alt text and are incorporated with the right keywords.
Make sure you utilize internal and outbound linking to increase your blog website’s authority.
Furthermore, you should make sure that your content is readable.
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What You Need To Do For Your Lifestyle Blog's Off-Page SEO
Once you get your blog website’s on-page SEO fixed, you should start working on your off-page SEO.
You need to get high-authority websites linking back to your blog website. The usual method for this is through collaboration. Thus, you should reach out to other bloggers who produce content related to your lifestyle blog niche.
Collaborating with other bloggers, influencers, and brands can help you reach new audiences and gain credibility.?
Guest post on other blogs, participate in collaborative projects, and feature guest contributors on your blog. By cross-promoting and supporting one another, you can tap into each other's audiences and grow your dedicated following.
The goal is to get your blog posts and web pages on the first page of the search engine results. This plays a crucial role in attracting organic traffic to your lifestyle blog.
If you have SEO done for your lifestyle blog, then the next best way to get more traffic is to utilize social media platforms.
Leverage Social Media For Your Lifestyle Blog's Visibility
In choosing the right social media platform, you need to make sure that your intended audience uses them.
For example, your lifestyle blog is helping moms with home improvement. You can check each social media platform and search for posts about moms and their home improvements.?
If you see that there is a significant number of posts, groups, and profiles regarding moms and home improvements, then your market is on that platform. Start promoting there.
However, don’t get too excited. You don’t need to be promoting your every blog post on all social media platforms that your audience lingers.?
By doing that, you will end up doing the bare minimum for your blog promotion. You’ll just end up posting links to your blog that will get 0 clicks.
Thus, you should start by focusing on one platform. Create post captions that will intrigue people to click and read more.?
Plus, don’t just share the blog posts. Do your best to build your presence and following on these social platforms. And once you get that following, direct them to your blog so they can also become followers of your lifestyle blog.
Phase 4 - Converting your traffic into an audience
Once you see that your lifestyle blog traffic is getting daily traffic, it’s time to take hold of them and turn them into your audience.
First, you need to encourage them to engage in your blog.?
How To Get Your Visitors To Engage On Your Blog Posts
You should add call-to-actions to your blog post. You can ask their opinion about the blog post or ask them for other points they would like to add to your blog post.?
Make sure your blog post has a comment section and share buttons. And when your audience engages with your blogs, make sure to show them you value them.?
Reply to their comments, and thank them for sharing and liking your blog post. Be a bigger fan to your fans. Build a community where your audience will feel appreciated.
Using Email Marketing To Convert Traffic Into A Dedicated Audience
At this point, it is best that you have email opt-ins set up and ready. Email hasn’t died yet and it is far from dying. In fact, this is an effective tool in turning your blog traffic into a dedicated audience.
There are a lot of email marketing platforms to help you with this. Even website builders offer email storage and marketing. So, check your blog platform if this is an option available to you.
Now, once you figure out what email marketing platform to use. Here is what you need to do next.
Keep in mind that it is rare for website visitors to give their email addresses for free. That is why most bloggers offer something valuable and free to their clients in exchange for email addresses. This is what we call a lead magnet.
A lead magnet can be any digital product that you think your audience would love to get their hands on. It can be something as elaborate as an online course, as common as an e-book, or even as simple as a checklist or one-page workbook.
Once you create that lead magnet, the next is to create an email opt-in.?
But before that make sure that you have a welcome email ready that ideally will contain what you promised to give them. This should be automated so the person can receive it after giving them your email.
Once you get their email, make sure to regularly send them emails. You can use this opportunity to foster a relationship with your readers.?
Make them open up to you and have them share their insights. If you do this right, they’ll continue to open your emails especially, your promotional ones.
Value Makes a Visitor a Dedicated Follower
Of course, don’t forget to provide value to your email list. Have a weekly newsletter that follows TRULI.?
It doesn’t have to be something new to them. It can be an old blog or social media post that you repurposed as a newsletter.?
And be sure to spice up your relationship with your email subscribers by giving them exclusive content, deals, giveaways, events, and so on.
If you haven’t noticed yet, the root solution to turning your lifestyle blog traffic into a dedicated audience is to provide value to them.?
Even if all the internet users are able to visit your blog, they will not stay and keep coming back to you if you are not giving them anything worthwhile.
Always remember that people visit blog posts because they want information. Give them that valuable information they are searching for and they will remember you. Once they enter your blog, do your best not to let them go so easily.
Once you build that loyal following, it will be easy for you to convince them to buy anything you are selling on your blog. And that is where you want your lifestyle blog to be.
Phase 5 - Analyze Your Results and Adapt
You thought we were done?
Well, think again, because this is something that a lot of lifestyle bloggers neglect when they are trying to attract a dedicated audience.
In the ever-evolving world of digital marketing, strategies can lose effectiveness and even become obsolete. Furthermore, it is natural for people to get bored of something that they have seen over and over again.
Thus, it is essential that you revise and adapt your marketing strategies accordingly.
How do you do that exactly?
You need to be monitoring your lifestyle blog’s performance.
Google Analytics is a Must-Have Lifestyle Blogging Tool
You simply need to link your lifestyle blog website to your Google Analytics.
Google Analytics has everything you need to measure your lifestyle blog’s performance.
It collects a wide range of data about your website visitors, including their demographics, location, device used, and more.
Furthermore, it allows you to track the performance of individual blog posts. You can see which of your lifestyle blog posts are the most popular. It also identifies which ones have the longest average time on page, and which ones have the highest bounce rates.
Plus, you can see where your traffic is coming from and which pages they visit frequently.
You can get all that data and more from Google Analytics for free.
Why do you need to know all these data?
It’s so that you can make the proper adjustments.
For example, knowing which blog post is the most visited will tell you that this is the type of topic your audience is attracted to. Thus, you should make more blogs about that.
That finding alone can change a lot in how you attract people to your blog.
Check Your Social Media and Email Analytics Too
Another analytics you can monitor is your social media reach. Which social media platforms have contributed a lot of traffic to your lifestyle blog??
Finding this out can help you determine where you should put most of your social media marketing efforts.
You should also check out your email marketing analytics as well. You can find these in the email marketing platform of your choice. One of the metrics you can check is the open rates of each email.
Of course, the email that gets the highest open rate means that people are interested in this. You can turn that email into your template for your future sends.
Simply put, adapt your content strategy based on insights to continuously improve and provide the content your dedicated audience desires.
The Bottom Line
Attracting a dedicated lifestyle blog audience involves:
Convert your lifestyle blog traffic into an engaged audience through community-building, email marketing with lead magnets, and providing exclusive content.
Continuously analyze performance with tools like Google Analytics and adapt your strategy accordingly. Stay adaptable in the evolving digital landscape.?
Success as a lifestyle blogger hinges on dedication, consistency, and delivering value to your readers.
And if you need help turning your traffic into a dedicated audience, I can help you.
Send me this message, “I want a dedicated audience for my lifestyle blog.” And I will create a personalized strategy just for you for FREE.
Do you have your own strategy for attracting a dedicated audience? Share it with us in the comments.?
Helping Restaurants Generate 20% More Sales | Restaurant Marketer
1 年Glad you like my article MR Devid. What audience attraction strategy do you do?
Helping Restaurants Generate 20% More Sales | Restaurant Marketer
1 年Thank you for the repost Hilary Denosta ??