In last weeks post ‘Blogging For Illustrators Part 2: Which Blogging Platform Should An Illustrator Use?’ I presented the three main blogging platforms to choose from.
In this final part of the series, I’ll be highlighting 11 great ways to market your illustration blog and help you get the word out there about you and your work.
On Blog Activity:
1 Set a regular posting schedule and stick to it.
Search engines love fresh content & your readers like to know what’s coming up and when to expect new content (especially if they don’t use your RSS or email feed), so set yourself a regular posting schedule and be sure to stick to it and get your posts out on time.
2 Create keyword-rich copy
To ensure that your site gets picked up in the search engines, use keyword rich content in your posts (eg. if the new illustration you have posted is a collage illustration of the Eiffel Tower, be sure to use the words ‘Eiffel Tower collage illustration’ in your post).
If you’re stuck and don’t know what words to use, think about it from an Art Directors perspective, what would they type into Google if they were looking to commission an illustrator to produce a blue collage illustration of a snake? If your post about the new blue collage snake illustration you’ve just created has the appropriate keywords – bingo, the Art Director has just found you!
This also applies to the file names you assign to your images too.
3 Links
Inbound links are one of the best ways to bring new traffic to your blog (or website) as one of the ways search engines rank the importance of a site is based on the number of inbound links it has. Try to get your blog linked to from as many other relevant sites as possible – the more popular the site (in Google’s eyes) which links to you, the more weight that holds.
However, don’t be fooled by companies wanting to share reciprocal links with you – search engines prefer one way links and you also don’t want to be constantly directing people away from your site.
4 Interview other prominent people in your field
A great way to gain credibility by association is to interview other prominent people in your chosen field (it’s also a great way to bring traffic to your blog, see point 2 above).
For example, if I were to land an interview with James Jean for this blog, anyone searching for ‘James Jean Interview’ via Google, may very well end up on my blog – and featuring someone as prominent as James obviously gives this blog additional credibility.
5 Use a specific & relevant url
Always use a specific domain name for your blog (or website) eg. www.illustration.com rather than illustration.blogspot.com – not only does it look much more professional, it will be easier for people to remember when they are spreading the word about your work or trying to recall your site.
6 Set up RSS feed
Set up an RSS feed for your blog (WordPress blogs do this automatically for you) so that people can subscribe to it and receive all of your latest posts straight into their feed reader – and make sure you register your blog feed and url with all of the blog directories and search engines.
Off Blog Activity:
1 Guest posts
Approach other big blogs/sites in your illustration field or niche and offer to write a guest post for them (with a link back to your site obviously). Aside from the traffic to your blog that this can generate, it’s also a great way to build your profile and credibility in the illustration industry.
2 Use social media tools to raise your profile
I’m surprised that more illustrators these days aren’t taking advantage of all the social media tools available to them. Set up a Twitter account, get on LinkedIn and if you have a Facebook account, create a Facebook Page for your illustration business.
It goes without saying that you should make sure that your blog and/or website urls are clearly displayed in each of your social media outlets. Not only are these sites great for networking – they’re also a valuable tool in building up a community around your work.
3 Set up Google Alerts to monitor your ‘brand’
Once set up, Google Alerts tracks any mention of you or your website anywhere on the web and alerts you to where and when it was mentioned. This not only allows you to see how far reaching you and your work is getting, but by following up on these alerts with a friendly comment or email to the person that mentioned you, it helps to build up a valuable online and offline network.
4 Comment on other blogs
By commenting on other blogs, you are essentially creating an inbound link to your blog/website. While this is great for driving traffic to your site, it is also good practice to support other people in your field. If you like another illustrators work or have a web resource that you think they would find interesting, let them know via a comment.
The freelancer’s life can often be an isolated existence without work colleagues around us, so it’s always nice to have someone stop by your blog and say hi.
5 Use your blog url in your email signature
Add your illustration blog and/or website url to your email signature – don’t waste any opportunity to get it out there and in front of people.
I hope you’ve found this series useful and don’t forget to check out my resources page for a free guide to ‘Setting Up Your Own WordPress Blog From Scratch In 60 Minutess.’
