5 Ways To Expand Your Reader Demographics

As a blogger, it can be frustrating to see your number of readers reach a plateau. Using these 5 strategies can help broaden your reader demographics.

Many of these tips were inspired by Darren Rowse, who runs blogs such as Digital Photography School and TwiTip (Twitter Tips).

1. Comment on and trade links, banners, or guest articles with blogs just outside of your niche.

You can start expanding by aiming at people who already read blogs about similar topics. For example, let’s say your blog is about skateboarding. People who like other street sports, like cycling, might be curious about your blog, even if they aren’t part of your regular demographic. It’s easier to start branching out to people with similar interests.

You can bring your content closer to them by commenting on cycling blogs. Never spam! Post positive, interesting comments. Try to be one of the first commenters on new posts, but make sure to say something relevant.

You can also e-mail the owners of similar blogs and offer to link to their blog if they link to yours. If their blog uses banners, try making your own and offering to exchange banner ads. Many websites let you make banners for free.

Or, you can offer to write a guest article on, for example, the similarities between skateboarding and cycling on another person’s blog, if they write a guest article on your blog.

It helps if you write an article or two about cycling first. You can use what you learned from visiting cycling blogs.

2. Join online forums just outside of your niche.

Let’s go back to the skateboarding blog example. Potential readers of your skateboarding blog might also post on forums about street sports in general. Find some popular, active forums that people from a slightly different demographic use.

Lurk for at least a few days to see what the forum culture is like. Some forums frown on self-promotion, but posting a link to your blog in your signature is generally fine. Again, never spam. Spamming is a great way to get banned. Write useful, friendly posts.

Again, if you see that this is bringing in more traffic, you can start adding articles about other types of street sports. You will already have learned a lot by participating in the forums.

3. List your blog on online directories, portals, search engines, and indexes.

Aim for the more popular sites, like Technorati, first. Focus on listing your blog among blogs that are part of—or related to—your niche.

4. Translate your posts into a different language.

This could bring in a totally new demographic! If you know a foreign language, or know someone who does, this is a great chance to use it. Otherwise, you can find an online freelancer on your budget to help.

5. Encourage your current readers to tell their friends about your blog.

There are lots of tricks you can use to make it easier for your readers to spread the word about your blog. Then, they can bring in people from different demographics.

You should add a feature to your posts that makes it simple for your readers to e-mail them to friends. Try making a banner, as mentioned in the first tip, and post the HTML code that allows readers to add it to their site. Adding a feature that lets readers “like” your post on Facebook or tweet it also works. Also, try adding links that let your readers bookmark your posts on social bookmarking sites like Digg or Delicious.

Jamie Scott is a blogger at the business credit cards blog CreditDonkey.  With these tips you can start honing in on new demographics once you see what works for your particular blog. That way, your blog can grow in new directions naturally.