4 Ways to Increase Traffic to Your Blog
Bring more attention to your blog with these 4 tips
Blogging is a great way to connect with your audience and provide them with valuable information. Increasing traffic to your blog can help you share your message with the world. Most people read blogs because they learn from them or find them entertaining. You might have the most amazing content, but if you don’t get enough traffic, no one will benefit from it. These 4 tips can help you get the traffic you want and deserve!
1. Harness the Power of SEO
Ahhh, search engine optimization—the critical process of improving the quality and quantity of traffic to your website. Everyone needs it, but not everyone does it right. Bad SEO practices can make or break your website and affect how much traffic your blog gets.
Keywords are the holy grail of SEO. Using the right keywords in a blog post helps lift the veil that Google drapes over generalized content. Choosing targeted keywords makes it easier for search engines and people to find your blog posts when they search the internet. Use these tools to help you with your keyword research:
Choose keywords that are relevant to your blog post and website. The more specific you get with your keywords, the better. Writing a blog post with the title “Gluten Free Brownie Recipe for Cold Weather Days” will give you better search results than “Gluten Free Brownie Recipe.” Be specific!
Once you have your keywords, plug them into the following:
Your blog post titles
The first sentence or two of your post, if natural
Subheadings, where natural (H1, H2, H3)
Throughout the post, where natural
The URL/slug (your URL should be short with no filler words like “and” or “to”)
SEO title (within Yoast SEO plugin at the bottom of the post)
For Wordpress users
Meta description (within Yoast SEO plugin at the bottom of the post)
For Wordpress users
You should also write an alt description for every image you use within a blog post and on your website. This helps Google identify what the image is and what it’s about. Describe what’s in the photo and include primary keywords if natural.
2. Use Pinterest to Your Advantage
Pinterest is a search engine, not a social media platform! It’s one of the best sites for optimizing and sharing visual content. Pinterest should be used as a highly targeted search tool to help you grow your target audience and increase blog traffic.
Every time you upload a new blog post, you should be creating at least one pin to drive targeted traffic to your blog. You can even create new pins for old blog posts to recirculate some of your content into Pinterest’s search algorithm. If you’re using the right keywords, people who use Pinterest can find your pins even if they don’t follow you. Here are some tips for using Pinterest:
Use keywords that are relevant to your business and blog post in a pin's title and description
Write an alt description for every pin that includes keywords
Use original, high quality images that link back to your blog post
Pinterest can also be used to inform your content creation. By searching for what’s trending on Pinterest, you can come up with ideas for what to create and post. Use terms that are aimed at your audience and plug them into Pinterest’s search bar. Once you hit enter you’ll see a list of content that other people have created, and you can use that to inspire you!
3. Be A Guest On a Podcast
People want to hear authentic conversations, which is one of the reasons why podcasts have become so popular. Being a guest on a podcast is a great way to increase your PR and targeted traffic to your blog.
Think about your ideal audience and what kind of podcasts they might listen to, then reach out to podcast hosts and ask to be a guest. When pitching to podcasts, highlight the value you can bring to a conversion and you’ll increase your chances of being featured. Don’t feel defeated if you get turned down a few times. What you have to say is important; it’s about finding the right fit, which might take some time.
Once you land a spot as a podcast guest, decide where you want to direct listeners to at the end of the episode. Most podcast hosts will ask their guest, “Where can listeners find you?” or something along those lines. If your goal is to increase traffic to your own blog, then point listeners to your website! If you give a long list of your social media platforms, listeners won’t be able to remember them and won’t take action to learn more about you and your work.
4. Leverage Your Email List
This can't be emphasized enough—email marketing is essential for building and maintaining an audience. Emails are one of the best ways to increase blog traffic. You can send emails highlighting your newest blog posts, as well as older content.
One of the best ways to do this is through a welcome series. When someone signs up to receive your emails, they should be sent a set of emails over a period of time. The first email they receive might welcome them and explain who you are and what you do. The second email might list your newest blog posts. A third email could showcase your most popular blog posts. The goal is to drive traffic to your website and highlight your most valuable content.
Increasing traffic to your blog is possible if you implement the right strategies. Consistency is key when it comes to blogging, so don’t get defeated if you don’t see an increase in traffic right away. Stick with these tips—over time, more people will be able to find your content and benefit from your unique message.