Whether you’re just starting out or have been blogging for a while, you may be wondering where all the readers are. Writers are often told to just write great content and the readers will come. But writing great content on a regular basis isn’t enough to build a dedicated audience. You need to market your content as well.

Many bloggers get the technical aspects of their blog content marketing right, including their website layout, clever use of headings, having a call-to-action and share buttons. But that won’t draw readers to your blog it will only help them stay once they’re there.

Marketing is about people. And if you want people to read your content you need to get out from behind the keyboard and start making good, old-fashioned relationships.

Here are 11 ways you can increase your blog’s online following simply by acting like a real, genuine human being.

1.  Let your immediate network know about your content and encourage them to share it with at least three people they think would benefit from reading it.

2. Actively participate in online communities and don’t be afraid to start conversations, offer advice and share your work when it’s relevant.

3. Join forces with another blogger or a peer in your industry and share each others work within your own networks.

4. Regularly comment on other people’s blogs with the purpose of striking up a conversation with the blogger and their community.

5. Participate in Twitter chats and other live online events and remember to share your area of expertise when you introduce yourself.

6. Write guest posts for a range of blogs, focusing specifically on sectors that complement your own like graphic design, SEO writers, digital marketers and so on.

7. Offer free training online, at a seminar or university and give every participant a 10% discount on your products or services.

8. Seek out speaking events in your industry and ask happy listeners to give you a shout-out on their social media.

9. Encourage readers to send in their questions and dedicate an hour a week to answering them and sharing the answers on your blog for your wider community.

10. Send blog posts to your favourite influencers and ask them to read the post and give you a testimonial if they like your content.

11. Thank your readers for reading your blog and sharing it with their networks by giving them a special gift of their choice.

What have you done to market your blog? What marketing techniques haven’t worked?