Out with the old and in with the new. A familiar saying one would be reminded with when change is upon us. The blogging fundamentals previously utilized to assist with increased readership potential are changing rapidly. Primarily due to emerging consumer trends and patterns in the marketplace. Like that fancy new jacket you bought a year ago which seemed to be in style back then, now it no longer boasts the latest fashion trends. Blogging fundamentals have significantly changed and will continue to drift in different directions as consumer behavior shifts.

The evolution of social media has changed the blogging landscape significantly. Certain demographics such as the millenials are playing a determining role in the changing fundamentals of blogging. Due to the increase in social media engagement and interaction, millenials particularly are paying lesser attention to blogs. They are disinterested in subscribing to blog feeds merely due to the fact that social media platforms like Twitter or Snapchat have become their prime avenues for news consumption. So, as an avid blogger, the shift in consumer behavior presents a challenge for all bloggers.

Time to Change Up Your Blogging Tactics

Betting on subscribers in the blogging world these days seems like a bit of an outdated technique for capturing readers attention. Don’t get me wrong, brand loyalty absolutely matters and should definitely be a goal to strive towards. However, in the reality of things, since the demise of Google Reader the blogging world changed. The importance of blog subscriptions and their attentiveness took a lesser priority in consumer eyes.

Fortunately, there are a few ways worth exploring that will help ignite the spark behind your content.

• The lack of subscription does not necessarily equate to negated readership. Your site visitors are consuming the great content you’re pushing out but most likely thru social platforms simply out of accessibility. Consider sharing of blog articles onto your social channels more frequently in attempt to put forth stronger visibility and attention within your reader base. A companion of a social media management tool such as Hootsuite (preferred choice) can make content curation a bit easier. By the way, I’m a huge fan of ow.ly url shortening service.
• A/B testing always pans out different results and should be an integral component of your content strategy. Attempt to test the waters by offering information in a slightly different way than typically accustomed to in the past. Switching things up once in a while spawns diversity that most online users tend to attract towards. Using A/B testing methods can outline different areas of engagement for your audience and their perception of the content.
• A rebrand of your blog at times may be considered essential. Stop referring to your blog as “blog” which tends to invoke a traditional mindset of the ancient form of a blog. Instead, consider a rebrand exercise for a moment that may in actuality change the perception of your audience. Refer to your blog as “Ivan’s Thoughts” or maybe even “Ivan’s SEO Tips”. As a matter of fact, I’ve been giving this particular technique some thought as part of an experiment.
• Even though Matt Cutts stated back in January 2014 to put a fork in guest-blogging, it doesn’t quite mean that it’s completely dead. Most people took that statement in its literal meaning thought and wrote-off guest blogging. The intent behind that statement was to be a bit more strategic about guest-blogging endeavors and most importantly, not to abuse it. So, with that being said, consider building of meaningful online relationship with  a few authoritative sites that support or compliment your expertise. It is still considered to be a valiant effort for online relationship building.

When I started this site back in 2009, content marketing was practically non-existent. Over the course of the last several years a variety of blogging trends and patterns came and past. A difficult challenge facing every blogger out there consists of the continues adherence to shifting trends and patterns in the marketplace that determine the course of blogging fundamentals. And those are bound to change more frequently than ever before forcing us bloggers to adapt which at times may be easier said than done.