Blogging is an important component in most Internet marketing strategies. And since you’re making the effort to write them, why not ensure they’re read by the audience you want to attract. I came across some excellent suggestions from Bamidele Onibalusi of YoungPrePro to help you make your blog magnetic.

1. Have a Clearly Defined Point of Difference

You are unique. Your take on your product or service is unique. But have you clearly identified this point of difference? As Onibalusi suggests: “Take a look at your blog and ask yourself one simple question: what is the first thing I want my readers to think about after landing on my blog? Take a look at your blog and ask yourself the same question. Can you come up with an answer for this right away, or is it taking you so long to determine what really makes your blog different from the others?”

Once you identify your point of difference, it will help with communication.

2. Develop a Strategy to Help Fuel Your Blog Growth

It’s one thing to write a blog and post it. It’s quite another to attract new readers to your blog. At Dinkum, we spend time cultivating guest blogging opportunities, article distribution, email marketing, and SEO. But we do it within a strategic framework. “My approach is to create a landing page focused on getting people to subscribe, publish around 5-10 guest posts on big blogs in my niche every month, and nourish the relationship with my subscribers to make them consistently engage with my brand,” says Bamidele Onibalusi. At Dinkum, blogging only forms part of an overall strategy so 5-10 guest blogs is too high for most of our clients. But clearly identifying your blog strategy will help to make it more successful.

3. Create a System to Help Bring Visitors Back to Your Blog Again

In most cases, you want visitors to come to your site again and again. And you want them to take action such as buying a product or service. Ornibalusi says, “The system designed to bring visitors back to your blog could be an email list, it could be an active RSS subscriber base, and it could be a huge following on social networks like Facebook and Twitter.” Check that you are employing these systems to encourage repeat visitors with clear calls to action.

4. Focus on Building Connections with People that Matter in Your Field

There’s nothing quite like an endorsement or referral from a trusted commentator in your field. It’s a great way to drive traffic to your blog. But like friendships, they take time to build and cultivate. The first criteria is to offer something of value to your influential blogger’s audience. There needs to be a win-win. “Focus on contributing value to them and gaining their trust, and they will be there for you when you need them,” suggests Ornibalusi.

5. Be Everywhere

As I’ve said before, the days of using single tools in Internet marketing are long gone. Ornibalusi agrees. “Don’t just stick with one approach. Use a combination of 2, 3, 4 or more. If people start to see you on every blog, on every forum, on every portal, and on various social media sites in your field they can’t help but pay attention.”

You’re probably saying ‘But I don’t have time for all of this.’ It’s true that effective blogging is time-intensive. My suggestion is to allocate time specifically for this task. Depending on the importance of blogging for your business, you might spend half-an-hour a day, or one hour a week. It’s up to you. The important part is strategy and execution. Get those force fields working.