How To Attract Traffic To Your Blog
So you decided to start a blog. For most people, the main purpose of having a blog is to drive traffic to it. You want people to read the stuff you took time to write. If no one visits your blog, clicking links to other articles or advertisers will not happen. Even if you have an ad-free blog, it is still rewarding to get your posts in front of a large audience. Increasing your blog's visibility is the only way to do this.
Share Each Post on Multiple Social Networking Sites
As soon as you post your latest entry, you should share the link on social media. Think places like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Google+ and any other social networking site that you belong to.
It is crucial to make the link worth clicking on. In order to do this, you should write a short and compelling introduction that prefaces the link.
Pay Close Attention to SEO
Google now penalizes sites that do not offer high-quality content. It is more important than ever to develop a solid search engine optimization (SEO) plan. If your posts are stuffed with links, they are more likely to get buried in Google's search engine results.
You should use keyword linking sparingly, and it is vital to ensure that each post is top notch. Remember, that Google is constantly changing algorithms to measure relevance and popularity in a more accurate way.
Keyword stuffing is simply no longer allowed if you want to be ranked by the top search engines.
Write Guest Blogs
If you can get a popular blog to give you a guest spot, you will be able to get your writing style in front of a much wider audience. At the bottom of your post, you should be able to put a miniature biography that includes the link to your blog.
If they like what you wrote, this will encourage people to read your blog as well.
Alternatively, you can ask well-known professionals from the industry that you blog about to write a guest post for your site. This will also capture the attention of new readers, and it could result in a larger overall audience.
Offering Something Unique Can Drive Traffic To Your Blog
It is important to be topical, but you should also provide a unique insight into current events. For example, if you run a literary blog and everyone else has been posting reviews about the latest bestseller, you could write a post that compares and contrasts the book to a classic novel with similar themes.
This will provide an interesting new angle, and it is more likely to capture attention than a regular review.
Offer Mixed Media
Blogging is primarily about the written word, but this does not mean that you cannot include images, videos, slideshows, and graphs. I actually encourage this. After all, everyone responds differently, and providing a mixed media experience will capture more attention.
The single most important rule of blogging is to provide quality content, but that is not enough to drive traffic to your site. Therefore, you should definitely use social networking and SEO to your advantage.
Additionally, it is important to take every free advertising opportunity that comes your way, including putting the link to your blog in your email signature.