“How do I build an audience? Should I try guest posting or focus on building a community on my own site?”

I asked myself those questions when I started blogging. I’ve learned that there are three types of options when it comes to building an audience:

1. Post your articles on every platform that allows publishing (LinkedIn, Medium, Facebook, Tumblr). Some argue that it will increase your traffic.
2. Only post your articles on your own site, and drive visitors exclusively to that site. Some argue it’s better for SEO traffic.
3. Find a balance between the two above strategies (which is what I do, but more on that later).

You can be successful with all strategies. Some successful writers publish everywhere and syndicate their articles to a bunch of outlets (James Altucher). But other bloggers only stick to their own site (Mark Manson).