It is a fact that every business owner who’s ever hosted a blog has experienced the frustration of trying to gain readership. Though we’d all like it if readers just magically came to us, the reality is, it takes some work to build an audience.

It’s easy to get frustrated and just give up on blogging, but once you experience the benefits, you’ll understand that your blog can have a tremendous impact on your business by attracting traffic to your site, helping you build a social media audience and making an impression on prospects and clients alike.

Here are some of the proven strategies that can help you boost readership and increase traffic to your blog.

Write Better Titles.

The titles for your blog posts are almost more important than the content itself. That’s because titles help potential readers decide whether they should click and read more. Pay attention to the article titles you see on magazine covers. They entice readers with promises and solutions. When you do the same, your readership will increase.

Know Your Niche.

Niche is a specialized segment of the market for a particular kind of product or service so while you may be interested in Soccer, exotic travel destinations, Dogs and Fitness, you’ll confuse your audience if your content doesn’t follow a clear theme. Decide who your target audience is, what they want to read and what specific messages you want to convey.

Include photos.

Studies have shown that photos in blog posts boost readership. Not only does a photo make the post more visually appealing, but you can also include keywords in the Alt Image tag on the photo, boosting search engine optimization (SEO) for your site. Keep in mind that you can’t just pull any photo from Google because you risk violating copyright laws.

Include social sharing buttons.

At the top and/ or bottom of your blog posts, make sure you include social sharing buttons for Twitter, LinkedIn, and the other major social networks. Make it easy for readers to spread the word.

Retweet Past Content.

We are all not active on Twitter at the same time, so when you share a new blog post link, the majority of your potential readers won’t see it the first time. Repeat your tweets by retweeting them and don’t be afraid to share past content. Readers don’t care when it was written as long as it’s still relevant.

Invite Guest Contributors.

When others write for your blog, you add more content that you didn’t have to write yourself. As a bonus, those contributors will also share with their networks and may ask you to write for them, opening up new readership avenues for you.

Add videos.

Google owns YouTube, which is one of the many reasons that videos can drive more traffic to your site. Supplement the written content on your blog with short videos that are informative and entertaining.

Conduct Give-Away Events.

Create fun theme days such as “Free Book Fridays” where your readers can win a prize by submitting a comment or sharing your link via social media. You can provide prizes yourself or invite companies to donate or sponsor these promotions.

Cross-promote to your Mailing list.

Instead of writing all new content for your electronic newsletter, share the first paragraph from several recent blog posts and include a link to continue reading on the site. Not everyone is taking the time to read your blog each week, so this will help get your subscribers invested in your blog.