One super-easy way to drive more traffic to your blog is to use your email signature. If you're like me, you send tons of emails every day, many to people who may not closely follow (much less subscribe to) your blog. Why not help them find your content? (And if you're in a big enterprise, encourage everyone to spread the word this way.)
Why am I doing this?
Before you do anything, know why you're doing it. What's your purpose? I want people to click, of course. But more than that, I want them to see that I've got something to say or a solution to a problem. The posts in my signature should make people say, "hey, there's some information I can use or a topic I want to know more about". (Read more about finding your purpose here).
What should I include?
My general rule is to put the most recent blog posts in my signature because different topics appeal to different people. Sometimes, though, I might choose a range of posts that cover a particular topic, like content development, that I'm trying to promote. And I always aim for no more than 3 to 5 posts. Otherwise I might come off as "hey, look at me!", which isn't what I want.
Here's the current version (which hasn't been updated to include this post yet!):
How often should I change it?
I update my signature daily, but you don't necessarily have to. And if you don't want the hassle of updating with specific posts, just put something as simple as "Read my blog!" or "Get tips on X here". Keep it simple and inviting.
Give it a try and let me know how it goes.
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
A few weeks ago, I added the URL to my blog in my signature for both work and personal email. People I didn’t expect to read it have not only read some of the content in my blog, they’ve sent me suggestions for how to improve it. Their suggestions have not only helped me improve my content and writing skills, I’d like to believe they’ve helped me build more traffic (readership) as well.
I’ve also included my twitter info. in my signature is well. This has been especially helpful for those folks who don’t subscribe to my blog via email. When I add a new post, a “tweet” is sent to my fellow “twitter-folk” alerting them that I have a new post. Because my blog is connected to my twitter account, I’ve built a wide array of followers as well. Again, I’m surprised by who is following me. My blog contains content related to teaching English to high school students, but people following me on twitter range from teachers and former students to people in the fitness industry, local consultants, a local law firm, a local non-profits within the education field and outside of it. I can’t prove that they’ve read every post, but knowing someone out in the web-verse has at least read one post is a compliment as a writer.