By Geoff Nichols
Having trouble getting readers to subscribe to your blog? Started investing in a multitude of “essential guidelines” and training courses but still can’t boost your traffic numbers? We were in the same boat a few years back. Despite adhering to “blogging best practices,” we saw no increase in readership. Luckily, things have turned around for the better, and we no longer have this problem. Do you want to know how we did it? Here are our 8 proven ways to drive more traffic to your blog. Take a look.
8 Proven Ways to Drive More Traffic to Your Blog
It’s easy to become discouraged and stop writing, but the rewards may be well worth the effort. A blog can drive traffic to your site, expand your social media following, and leave a lasting impression on potential customers. There are many ways to drive traffic to your blog, but the most important thing is to write high-quality content consistently and develop a strategy for growing your audience.
1. Use keyword research to find interesting blog post ideas
Sitting down and composing in-depth blog entries about subjects no one cares about is trivial. Similarly, people often write a blog article on a topic that attracts readers but like to give it a title full of obscure terms that no one ever Googles. Here, keyword research comes in handy, as it may inspire exciting topics for blog posts and guarantee that there will be a sizable audience for them. You can learn how competitive a term is and how many times per month it is searched for with the help of keyword research. This will also significantly improve your local SEO (search engine optimization).
2. Pay special attention to the length of your post
Long-form content has outperformed ‘thin’ or brief postings in search engine rankings. Indeed, size does matter! The term “long-form content” is used to describe very detailed and lengthy articles. There are a few reasons why long-form content helps achieve better places in search results. More prominent postings will inevitably include more keywords, making them more visible in long-tail keyword searches (searches involving combinations of several words). Second, and probably more crucially, an intricate piece is more likely to please readers who come across it. It will be more likely to answer your visitor’s questions or solve their issue. This increases the likelihood that the content will be shared on social media or linked to other sites, which are excellent for traffic.
3. Choose your niche
Your material will be lost on your audience if it veers all over the place. Even if you’re passionate about topics as varied as marine life, best vacation spots, digital marketing, and weight loss. Determine your readers’ demographics, interests, and needs, as well as the overcrossing themes and points you want to get through. For this, a well-thought-out content strategy can do wonders.
4. Include outbound links
Always include a clickable link whenever you make reference to a third-party product or service in a blog article. Not only does Google like it when you link out, but the business you’ve mentioned could even see your article and provide a link back to you. Furthermore, readers value it when authors include links to other materials that might help them in their research.
5. Add sharing options to your webpage
It is important to add social sharing buttons for Twitter, LinkedIn, and other key networks at the top and bottom of your blog postings. Make sure that you make it simple for your readers to go to your other platforms and social networks.
6. Write a few guest articles
Find blogs that your intended audience would read and approach the owners about writing guest pieces for them. If the site has a sizable following, its visitors will likely be interested in reading more of your posts.
7. Update and recycle your material
In our opinion, this is one of the best ways to drive more traffic to your blog. The great thing about blogging is that you get several chances. Blog posts that aren’t doing well may need to be updated or rewritten to improve their search engine rankings, user experience, or compatibility with user purpose. You can update your old blog posts by creating new headings and subheadings, adding photos or videos, and adding links to additional sources. You’ll also want to update the links in your old blog posts to point to your new content (or add relevant new links).
8. Prompt users to share their thoughts in the comments and participate in discussions
Inviting comments from readers is a great way to get feedback on your content. This is helpful for three reasons:
- The result is increased keyword density in your website’s text (content that can be indexed and ranked highly by Google).
- Since debates may develop in the comments area, it can help bring in more visitors to your site.
- Experts in SEO have speculated that Google gives more weight to blog entries that spark lively conversation from readers than those that get few comments, maybe because the former encourages readers to spend more time on the page.
Keep in mind that search engines may punish posts with low-quality or spammy comments or user-generated material, so moderation is essential. You want real people to comment on your posts. Sometimes it comes naturally; sometimes, you have to work harder for it, but please, never go and buy bots or fake profiles. This will not be helpful at all. One of the best ways to drive more traffic to your blog is to have people captivated by your content. So, focus on creating great content, and eventually, you will get there.
Author bio: Geoff Nichols has been a content writer for over 5 years. The majority of his content is about digital marketing, specifically SEO. He has written for many different websites over the years, but most of his recent work has been for moverstech.com.
