Blueprint for a Brilliant Blog Launch

Launching a brand new blog can be extremely exciting. But it can also be awfully lonely for up to a year as you build readership, unless you plan to begin with a bang.

I’ve had several readers ask me questions related to launching a new blog, so I thought I’d share my thoughts on doing that. This strategy can be used by anyone starting up a blog, and does not require you to have an existing audience to use as a springboard. I’m assuming you’re starting cold.

The blog launch blueprint basically boils down to this:

1. Cornerstone
2. Networking
3. Attraction

Cornerstone – Build Your Blog on a Firm Foundation

Your cornerstone content is the foundation of your blog—the information any visitor would need to know in order to get the most out of a subscription to your blog. It enhances the user experience and should also be one of the primary search terms you hope to rank for in search engines. I’ve written extensively about cornerstone content already, so check out that post if you missed it.

I suggest doing a series of posts tied together on a landing page, such as I did with Copywriting 101. While not technically necessary, you’ll find that this approach is much more impressive to new visitors and the linkerati as well. This is important as we’ll see in a bit. Also, make sure you’ve written a strong “about” page before you launch.

Should you write the series before you go live? You can, but I would just turn the blog on and start posting on your own schedule. This will give you time to concurrently start working on Step 2.

Networking – Create Awareness and Form Relationships

You may or may not have contacts with other bloggers in your new niche. If you do, let them know you’ve started blogging, and specifically point out your cornerstone series. If not, identify your competitors and blogs with related subject matter, and start leaving smart comments. Send over an email introducing yourself, but don’t ask for a link or try to sell your blog. You’re trying to start a relationship, not close a deal.

Also make sure you’ve got a clear picture of possible social media news outlets that are compatible with your topic. Don’t forget about traditional websites and email newsletter publishers too. You need to make sure you’re identifying potential promotional partners, but also keep in mind that if you annoy these people, you may never get another shot.

Do this while you build your cornerstone series, one post at a time. You may want to sprinkle in other posts that conversationally link to others in your niche to demonstrate your knowledge and your willingness to link out.

Attraction – The Big Bang Comes Third, Not First

Now we come to the big splash—a single piece of content that is designed to get people linking and visiting in as large amounts as we can manage for our niche. It can be a PDF report, a quality Digg-bait article, or an industry resource that everyone in your niche will want to acknowledge. You’ll have figured out during the networking phase what approach has the best chance of succeeding, which is another reason for taking your time.

Why not simply launch the blog with your attraction content? You can, and several successful blogs have done so. But here’s why I advocate this three-step approach. Your attraction content should be about more than just getting attention. It should also be something that clearly demonstrates that your blog is worth reading on a regular basis. And to do that, you’ll want to point out your cornerstone content for reference, right?

For example, I started off Copyblogger by writing my introductory copywriting series, mixed in with other posts. Then I released Viral Copy, a thirty-page PDF on how copywriting skills can help you attract links and traffic. Viral Copy is a useful resource on its own, but it’s also designed to convince the reader that copywriting skills, and hence Copyblogger, are essential to building traffic.

Not sure what copywriting is all about? Viral Copy points people towards Copywriting 101. Starting to see what I’m getting at?

A Blog Launch with a One-Two Punch

Taking a two-step approach can lead to interesting outcomes. Naturally, having another prominent piece of killer content magnifies the value of your blog beyond the attraction content itself. But more than that, you end up not only pulling in links to your attraction content, but to your cornerstone content as well. And since your cornerstone content should be built around the most relevant keywords for your blog, those links will help you begin to rank well in the search engines and grow your audience further.

In my case, the links to Copywriting 101 continued to pour in months after the buzz over Viral Copy died down. Because I took the time to build a foundation for the blog before launching a promotional campaign, the attraction content did more than score links; it sold my blog and other content to other relevant bloggers.

This approach is a bit counter-intuitive, and it requires patience. For example, it was a full two months from starting Copyblogger to releasing Viral Copy. But if you’re in it for the long haul and really trying to create an authority site, this is a strategy that may work well for you.

For more on successful blog launches with exceptional content, check out these posts:

• Four Reasons to Write Extraordinary Articles When You’re Starting a New Blog from Dosh Dosh.
• Launching a Blog — What Type of Posts are Best? from Problogger.
• How to Launch a New Blog the Easy Way from Performancing.

Enjoy this post? Please vote for it at Digg. Thanks!

Copyblogger runs on the Thesis Theme for WordPress

Thesis is the search engine optimized WordPress theme of choice for serious online publishers. If you’re a blogger who doesn’t understand a lot of PHP, Thesis will give you a ton of functionality without having to alter any code. For the advanced, Thesis has incredible customization possibilities via Thesis hooks.

With so many design options, you can use the template over and over and never have it look like the same site. The theme is robust and flexible enough not only to accommodate a site like Copyblogger, but also to enable the site to run far more efficiently than it ever has before.

• Take the Thesis Video Tour
• Thesis demo site
• Thesis gallery showcase
• Testimonials