Just like that tree that falls in the forest, if nobody’s reading your content does it still exist?

It’s true.  Great content will always find it’s own audience.  But finding it faster is better.

Once you’ve written that great blog, article, white paper, or press release, there’s a lot you can do to get more people reading it and sharing it – quickly.

After all, the purpose of content is to attract people to your business’ website and keep them engaged with your brand.

In other words, content is supposed to help grow your business (just like any other kind of marketing).

5 Ways to Ensure Your Content Gets the Attention it Deserves:

1.  RSS Feed

You may have an email opt-in form, but don’t forget to complement it with an RSS feed.  I love RSS feeds because I don’t have to give out any information, I can read blogs when I want to, and I don’t have to keep visiting your website to read them.

2.  Email

A lot of people simply prefer to receive communications in their inbox.  To maximize subscribers, make sure people can subscribe from your homepage, your blog homepage, and at the bottom of ever blog.  Don’t forget to include “social sharing” widgets in your emails to encourage sharing of your content.

3.  Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

As a rule, write for your audience and not for search engines.  Don’t try stuffing your content with keywords or writing bad content just to get a little attention from Google.  In the end, you’ll get penalized.  Ensure your title and sub headings make it clear what the post is about for search engines, and your audience.

And if you want to help your reader make it to the end of your article (so they can share it), avoid big blocks of text, keep paragraphs short, and use simple, readable language.  The more people share your article, the more inbound links your site will receive, the better your website will rank on search engines.

4.  Social Media

No need to try and get content on every social media site possible.  That’s impossible.  Ask yourself, where are your customers and focus on the social media sites they use.  We use Twitter and LinkedIn, that’s it.

But don’t expect everyone to share your content right away, you need to promote others too!  Share their content, comment on their blogs, and they’ll return the favour.  As a rule, share other’s content 12 times more than you share your own.  And don’t forget, keep recycling old content as you gain new fans and followers!

5.  Integrate! Integrate! Integrate!

You probably have a lot of Twitter followers who’d like to subscribe to your email, or Facebook users who’d like to follow your RSS feed.  You’ll never know unless you ask them.  Ask your users to opt-in to another channel, especially one like email where you can capture their contact information and start treating them like a potential prospect.

Great content will help build an audience, but great content that uses these strategies will help build your audience, and your business, quicker.