If you’re a blogger, you want to do more than just write to express yourself. By publishing online, you want to reach as many readers as possible. Here are five simple tips to ensure you’re getting the most readers for every post.

1) Incorporate SEO strategies. Search engine optimisation isn’t just for business websites. Keeping your posts SEO friendly can make a big impact in how many people see your blog. Plugins are readily available to make it as simple as filling out a form at the end of each post.

2. Verify your email list. If you don’t have a way for readers to subscribe to your blog, go do that first. This encourages repeat views. However, it’s also important to do email verification as this ensures that the list you have compiled consists only of active and valid accounts. Getting too many hard-bounces from invalid emails will mean you may get penalised by email providers and end up in spam folders!

3) Don’t just rely on emails after each post. Sure, subscribers will get a notification when you’ve posted. But for many, this might come to their inbox at the wrong time and get completely overlooked. Instead, add a weekly or monthly newsletter to the mix, too. This can serve as a round up of what you’ve written and even a teaser of what you have planned over the coming period. It can also work to highlight older posts that might have a new found relevance because of something in the news.

4) Write guest posts. Blogging is a community affair, so writing a guest blog can be a great way to get your name out there. It also works the other way around. By inviting other bloggers to write guest posts for your site, you can get some of their regular readers to visit your page. After they have a look at what the other blogger has written, they will be likely to check out what you have there yourself.

5) Keep posting. One of the biggest errors a blogger can make is to stop blogging. Consistency is key when it comes to blog readership. If you keep to a regular posting schedule, whether it’s every day or every week, your readers will know when to expect new content. If they go back to check out your site, only to find that it hasn’t been updated since the last time they were there, it’s likely to be the last visit they make.

Getting great blog readership is a key to making any blog a success. When you have great content, it’s the basis for encouraging readers to see what you have to offer, but with these five steps, you can make sure they keep coming back for more.