Sometimes, no matter how good your blog content is, getting people to your website to actually read it can be a real challenge. There are some tried and tested ways to bring traffic to your blog, however, and here are a few of them.
Post More Often
When we say you should post more often, we’re not saying you should drown your users in content, but rather have a regular and consistent content creation schedule. Don’t go days without posting anything but don’t post many things a day and create content fatigue. Research in this area suggests that adding content to your website or blog or just creating something for your audience about twice a week is the sweet spot. These days, blogging sites run content management systems that make it easy and painless to add content, so all you need to do is write it! This will not only give those familiar with your site and content something to come back for, but it will also increase your search engine ranking priority which will, in turn, drive more traffic to your blog.
Build a Loyal Following
There are studies in management and marketing comparing the costs of getting a new customer on board versus retaining existing customers. According to some research, this cost can be as much as five times higher for attracting a new customer than it is for retaining an existing one. Apply this same thinking to your blog and how you bring traffic to it. Building a loyal following provides not only the return visits of that following but increases the chance that they will share your content with their friends and family. Using evergreen content that doesn’t go stale with time can also mean more people will discover your blog from search engines or social media, see a particular post, and become loyal fans of your work.
Encourage Social Sharing
That loyal following has a higher chance of sharing your content naturally but creating interesting content that people want to share as well as making it easy for them to do so is a great way of driving increased traffic. Social media is a wonderful way to get your blog out there and harnessing the many ways users can share your content is critical. Make sure your blog has buttons and tools available on each post to let users and readers quickly and easily share it on the biggest social media platforms. Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are the non-negotiables, but also spend some time learning about the current social media trends and the kinds of content that are popular on these platforms.
Use Guest Contributors
Guest contributors offer a really unique advantage for your blog. It gives you a break from the constant need to create content, but it also offers a different perspective from what your readers are used to. If the guest contributor has a following of their own, some of this following is likely to find their way to your blog to read the guest contribution and might just find your writing and blog posts worth sticking around for too. Don’t be afraid to offer remuneration or a trade of content (you write something for me, and I’ll do the same for you) deals with these contributors. Look for guest contributors that write blogs in the same sphere of subject matter as yours and don’t shy away from those contributors that might contradict your own beliefs.
Harness the Power of Giveaways
Everyone likes free stuff and your blog audience is no different. Run giveaways and competitions to encourage traffic to your website. This means the basics of the competition should require visiting your blog or interacting with it in some way. Asking your blog readers to leave a comment drives up engagement. Ultimately, that’s the goal and one of the things that are going to get your blog more traffic in the long run. If it’s shareable on social media, all the better.
Clickbait Works
It’s not something we like to admit as content creators, but it’s something we all do. Create an enticing headline that when shared on social media creates interest for those who see it, but to find out the actual story or any details of it, they would need to click the link and visit your blog. Use clickbait wisely and responsibly, however, and don’t use it for frivolous posts that hold no value to your readers. You’ll only usually get one chance to make the user think their time was worthwhile. The next time they see clickbait from your blog, they might think twice about clicking it if the last time had no value to them. There’s a special art to the clickbait headline.
Getting eyes on your blog is something that takes a lot of work and the only way to keep those eyes on your blog is with your content. While marketing is important, you need to make sure you have the content to back it up.
