10 Tips for Driving More Traffic to Your Blog
By 2020 there will be 31.7 million bloggers in the United States alone. If you’re new to blogging, you may be wondering how you can stand out amongst so many other bloggers, and how to get more traffic to your blog.
Luckily, there are a few ways you can shorten the learning curve and grow your blog. Here are 10 ways you can boost blog traffic and grow your audience:
1. Guest Post
One of the best ways to get more traffic to your own blog is to find a blogger that is currently getting more traffic than you are. Ask if you can write a post for their blog.
This will give you a link back to your website which is great for the search engine marketing. Links back to your page help you increase your rankings. You’ll also gain access to that blogger’s audience.
For guest posts, look for a blog has been around for a while and has a large following. Look at their niche and pitch a blog post that their readers could find interesting and valuable. Sometimes it’s best to go with a guest post service to take care of the hard work, letting you focus on the big picture stuff.
2. Do Keyword Research
To rank on Google, your blog posts need to appear when people search for those topics. Google Keyword Planner can help you find related keywords so you can see how difficult each keyword will be to rank for. You can then create blog posts around those keywords.
Long-tail keywords are particularly important. There are so many websites on the internet already ranking for basic keywords. By using long-tails, you can create more specific, tailored content for long-tail keywords.
Google Autosuggest is a great way to find long-tail keywords. Begin typing a primary keyword into the search engine and see what auto-suggested queries begin appearing. Then you can use Google Keyword Planner to see which ones you have the best chance of ranking for.
3. Create Great Content
Every blogger wants to create the type of content that goes viral. But few people do. That’s because they’re not paying attention to the sites that create viral content.
If you’re hoping to create the type of content that gets thousands of clicks and shares, it all starts with your headline. This doesn’t mean “clickbait.” You should aim to draw your readers in and follow your headlines up with truthful, quality content.
4. Understand Your Audience
This step goes hand-in-hand with number 3 in this list. Without a solid understanding of who your readers are, you won’t be able to create the type of content they want to see. You need to find ways to keep them clicking, reading, following, sharing, and coming back for more.
Think about what your audience wants. Quora can be a useful website for this. Type your keywords into the search box to see what people are asking about a particular topic.
Talk to your readers on social media, ask their opinion and engage with them in the comments. This will allow you to provide them with the type of content they’re looking for and you’ll get your first 10k readers.
5. Start an Email List
You may think that you need to wait until you already have thousands of readers before you start your email list. This is incorrect. In fact, getting used to email early on will make it much easier for you to grow that list, and will help attract readers back to your blog.
You can use your email list to send newsletters, snippets of blog posts, or even announce products that you’re selling in the future. If new visitors read your blog and sign up to your email list, they’ll receive notifications when you have a new post and will return. This makes visitors into loyal readers.
6. Comment on Other Blogs
It’s good to be active in different communities online, particularly if you’re hoping to get your blog’s name out there. Most blog comments allow you to leave a website URL which can help curious readers learn more about you and your blog.
For this to work well, it’s important that you actually have something to say. Comments like “Great post” or “interesting idea”, don’t actually add anything to the conversation. Read the post and offer a unique point of view.
7. Talk to an Expert
Interviewing an expert is an easy way to boost your traffic. If you’ve got some great content elsewhere on your blog, you can keep some of that traffic hanging around.
It will surprise you how many experts in your niche are willing to have a quick conversation, interview, or even answer a few questions by email. Once the interview is complete, you can share it with your followers. The person you interview will also share it with their large following- who are likely to visit your blog to read the interview.
8. Get Social
Social media is crucial for getting readers for your blog. But this means creating a dedicated social media strategy with regular updates. Simply sharing new articles every once in a while won’t cut it.
HootSuite is a great way to schedule posts on Facebook and Twitter. Make sure you’re sharing old posts, new posts, status updates, and links to content from elsewhere.
9. Create an Ebook
Are you an expert in your niche? If you run a personal finance blog, you could create a free personal finance checklist or ebook. If your blog is travel related, a handy packing list, travel guide, or other valuable content works.
When you create something valuable and share it for free (in exchange for an email address), you can advertise this through social media and the blog, attracting more readers to your blog. You can also reach out to other bloggers and ask them to share your offering with their readers to get the word out.
10. Be Persistent
Why are there so many blogs on the internet, and yet only a few bloggers are able to list “blogging” as their day job? Easy. Some of them committed to increasing their readers and driving more traffic to their blog, while others gave up too soon.
Building a popular blog takes time. Even when it feels like you’re only blogging for your mum and a few close friends, keep going and those numbers will soon begin rising.
Ready to Get More Traffic to Your Blog?
Blogging is hard work, but rewarding. By using the above tips, you’ll be able to grow your blog much faster than if you were to try and figure it all out on your own.
Want to learn more about using social media to get more traffic to your blog? Check out some of these blog posts.