Although we all start by saying we’re “writing for ourselves”, I’m sure most of us WANT people to read our content. Blogging is all about creation, sharing and connecting. If you’re shouting into the void, then none of that is being fulfilled. I’m at the stage where I thoroughly enjoy writing for my audience. It boosts my own traffic and if I can help you learn how to increase blog traffic to your own blog, then amazing!
Photo by Katie Harp on Unsplash
The most common reasons for wanting to know how to increase blog traffic is likely to be because you want to attract followers and potentially help someone with your content or because you want to work with brands. Both valid. Both cool.
And you know what? Getting steady, consistent and high traffic feels bloody good. There’s no shame in wanting more views, more followers, more anything. If you’re going about it the right way. We all want to succeed.
Ready to learn how to increase blog traffic to your blog?
Make SEO a priority to increase blog traffic
Ah… SEO. If you’re not utilizing SEO then you’re seriously missing a trick. Optimal SEO can be a GODSEND for you to boost your blog traffic and grow your online presence. It sounds a bit boring at first but once you get the hang of it, you’ll catch the SEO bug, I promise.
If you’re not using the Yoast Plugin on WordPress yet to help with the SEO of your blog posts, I urge you to download it today. It makes SEO so simple and straight-forward. I won’t go into detail here about specific ways to boost SEO but I have plenty of other posts and resources for that if you’re interested!
However, keyword research is also mega important and the Yoast plug-in can only take you so far. I’d recommend grabbing this eBook all about Keyword Research for Bloggers – it’ll be your bible!
Related: A Beginners Guide to SEO for Bloggers
Related: Blog DA Score: What Is It, Why Is It Useful & How Can You Improve It?
Pinterest will help in how to increase blog traffic
Pinterest is THE PLACE to be right now in terms of referral traffic. Although I’ll put my hands up and say that it’s definitely not the source of the majority of my traffic – far from it – it definitely does help. But some absolute Pinterest wizards out there get an incredible amount of traffic from Pinterest.
Recommended: Pinterest With Ell eCourse
Take part in comment swaps
I love a comment swap. I know some people don’t and don’t “agree” with them or whatever but for me, they’re a place where I know so many of my favorite bloggers are going to be at the same time. It’s kinda like a virtual meet up with online friends to share what’s going on on your blog right now.
I found so many amazing bloggers through taking part in comment swaps that I might not have found otherwise. And now I know all those bloggers are going to be sharing their latest posts at the same time. I’d highly recommend the TeacupClub swap, Monday and Thursdays at 5pm (UK time).
Related: How To Make the Most of Comment Threads
Create a comment pod
Similarly to above, not everyone likes these and I understand why. But if you’re in a comment pod with a group of like-minded bloggers who’s content you enjoy, then I think they can be a good way to boost your blog traffic with a little extra, consistent blog traffic.
Join relevant Facebook groups
Facebook groups are a banging way to get involved in a blogging community, meet people, share blog posts, gain opportunities and ask for advice. I DID have my own Facebook group, which I stepped back from just last month because it was too much to keep going. But there’s plenty of other Facebook groups out there which encourage you to share your posts which may boost your blog traffic.
Increase blog traffic by share widely
This kinda goes hand in hand with the above 3 but to boost your blog traffic, you’re going to want to share your blog posts. And share they widely. So I’m not talking about once on Twitter when the post goes up. Don’t forget, not everyone who may want to read your post will follow you on Twitter.
You should be sharing your posts across multiple platforms, so Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest definitely. Instagram if you have good engagement on there and perhaps LinkedIn too.
Promote effectively
The average life of a tweet is just 18 minutes. So like I said above, sharing once to Twitter when the post goes live is about as helpful in the long run as a chocolate fire guard. You want to be sharing widely, yes. But you always need to be promoting effectively too.
What do I mean by effectively? Well, find out your most popular posting times and utilize that. Schedule your tweets and Facebook posts in advance. Ensure your tweets and other promotional posts are engaging, visually appealing and include photos and MAKE people want to click through to the post. And for crying out loud, don’t beg for views. It’s annoying. Just keeping it real.
Advertise on relevant blogs
Advertising on other blogs which offer advertising packages is another great way to boost that traffic. It’s always worth shopping around and making sure the blog you’re advertising on is a right fit for you. Is their audience likely to enjoy your content too if they blog about cars and you blog about make up… use your common sense basically.
Related: Want To Advertise With Me? Click Here For More Information!
Guest post on other blogs
Guest posting on other blogs can help boost your blog traffic, similarly if it’s a blog which is relevant to yours and which you can contribute meaningfully to. It’s also a good way to boost that DA if you’re guest posting on another high quality, high DA site. So double win for that one.
Create topical, seasonal or helpful content
And lastly but most importantly, content in king. Are you producing the best and highest quality content you possibly can? Or are you rushing it to get more posts out? Are you talking about things which are note-worthy, seasonal or that other might find helpful? Or are you talking about that time your cat threw up on your jumper?
I don’t want anyone to take this point the wrong way – I reiterate time and time again that if you want to blog about a particular thing (like cats throwing up on jumpers) then crack on. But for the sake of this post, I’m just sharing what I know. And what I know is content is absolutely everything.
What do you readers want? Who ARE your readers? Check out your own stats and see which of your previous posts have done the best in terms of views. Are you noticing a trend? (E.g most of my most viewed posts are blogging related). Is there something in the forefront of everyone’s minds you have something to say about? (E.g climate change or politics).
Or do you have super knowledge in a certain area? Do you know everything there is to know about beauty or Vegan food? Do you have something to teach people? Whatever it is, could you make it into a series on your blog? Content is EVERYTHING. And I’m currently working on a course to help people with this sort of thing so watch out for that!
Related: 25 Blog Post Ideas for Bloggers Who Blog About Blogging
There we go! 10 relatively easy and simple ways to boost your blog traffic! Do you have anything to add to this list? Do you struggle with any of these areas? Let’s discuss in the comments!