Maybe you're new to blogging and want to fast-track your growth, or you've been blogging for a while but you'd like to get more page views. There are so many great blogs out there, some with similar content to your own, so standing out from the crowd will require you working a little smarter than most. Read on for some quick tips to give your blog a boost.
The 80/20 Blogging Rule
So often, what happens is that we creatives spend countless hours crafting something until it's just right until it's as close to perfect as possible. And then, when it's ready to be shared with the world, what do we do? We whisper (if we say anything at all) to a couple of close friends or followers that we made this thing... and that at some point... if no one's busy... that maybe they should check it out.
Sound familiar?
When we create something that sparks excitement and joy inside us, why wouldn't you share it with others who may respond in the same way?!
We should be spending 20% of our time creating and 80% promoting if we want to grow our business, not the other way around.
These 10 strategies will increase traffic to your blog
1. Find Your Blog’s Niche
If you really want to get your blog noticed, make sure you narrow your focus instead of writing about everything you're excited about. This goes back to figuring out your ideal target audience or ideal customer avatar (ICA). Once you have an idea of your niche, check to see if it's something people are truly interested in by typing it into Google Trends. This tool will tell you whether or not people are actually searching for your niche, and if it's receiving increasing or decreasing interest over time.
2. Produce Quality Content
Once you're really clear on who you want to attract, writing content will become so much easier! Make sure to write about your area of expertise in a way that resonates with your ICA, so that you can build authority and become your readers' go-to expert in that field. And write about something you're passionate about! You don't want to stop blogging after a month or two simply because you've lost interest.
Content is king (or queen), so it's important to add writing time to your schedule and post consistently (a minimum of once per week).
3. Make Your Blog SEO-Friendly
Take the time to make your content SEO-friendly. Utilizing even the most basic SEO (Search Engine Optimization) strategies will help increase your search ranking and blog traffic. Go through your posts' images and headings, and make sure the posts are optimized for SEO. Take a look at my post, SEO For Blog Posts for a complete breakdown.
One of the biggest on-page improvements you can make is to focus on keywords. Brainstorm a list of keywords related to your niche that you'd like to be known for (example: photography, California photographer, wedding photographer, wedding photos). Then, take those keywords and plug them into a keyword research tool – KWFinder and Moz Keyword Explorer are two good options that let you search for free. When you do this, those tools will also suggest other related keywords, which helps you really explore all aspects of your niche.
There’s no hard rule here, but generally, you want your main search terms to have at least several thousand searches per month. If there aren’t many people searching for the main terms, it will be difficult to come up with lots of blog post ideas that people are interested in.
4. Share Your Content on Social Media
This one should be obvious, but if you're not sharing your blog posts on social media platforms, start now! If you're new to the blogging space, make sure you have at least 3-5 posts published before you start promoting them so that once viewers have seen one post and love it (because your content is so valuable ☺️) they’ll want to read another.
Share a snippet of it in your Instagram and/or Facebook post captions and stories, letting people know they can click your profile link / swipe up to read more. When you're coming from a place of service (i.e. giving your readers valuable information), sharing your content won' t ever have to come across as sales-y.
5. Make Use of Your Email List
Email your list of email subscribers, however small, letting them know you just added something great to your blog (include a snippet, image, and call to action such as "head to the blog for more details/tips/the full roundup/my favorite deals of the week", etc.).
6. Make Your Blog Content Shareable
Wherever possible, make your posts valuable; better yet, actionable. Give your readers at least one action step they can apply and experience results from right away. When your readers see the value in your content and results from your advice, they'll naturally want to share the information with friends.
You can encourage your readers to share your content, too. Make this easy for them! Check your site's settings, or if necessary, install a social media plugin that adds share buttons to all of your blog posts (somewhere easy to spot). You can also include a “Pin It” button that appears when you hover over an image on your site. This will increase your Pinterest shares. You can even share the post directly to Pinterest by pinning any one of the blog images with a link back to the post, or by creating a Pinterest-friendly image using a tool like Canva.
7. Reach Out to Brands
If you mentioned any specific brands in your blog post, send them a quick email or DM to let them know. It can be as simple as:
"Hi [ Their name ]. I'm the owner of [ Your blog/business name ]. We love what you’re doing with [Their product or service you mentioned ]. I wanted to introduce myself and let you know that we talked about you on our blog today. Here's the link: [ URL ] Keep up the great work! [ Your name ], [ Your business name ]
8. Guest Post to Share Your Expertise
Guest posting on other sites is a fantastic way to get your blog noticed. It gives you exposure to a whole new audience and helps you build authority in your field. If you choose to do this, make sure of the following:
Contribute to blogs that attract the same kind of audience you're trying to reach
Write with a goal in mind. It should serve a specific purpose (example: You could do a few guest posts around the time of a launch. Before your new product goes live, make it your mission to build your email list and generate brand awareness).
Provide valuable insight along with an opt-in freebie to grow your email list
Respond to any and all comments on your post(s)
Remember to thank the blogger you teamed up with. It's important to appreciate every opportunity you get to spread the word about your product or service, and, it could lead to more guest posts in the future.
9. Add Video Content
In 2020 and beyond, it's so important to advantage of video to connect with your audience on a more personal level. There are a few ways to do this. You can start a YouTube channel, host webinars, or just go live on Facebook or Instagram. If getting in front of a camera makes you feel uneasy, ease into it and see what feels good to you! Remember, the focus should be on bringing value to your ICA and helping them connect to you, your product(s) and/or service(es).
10. Make Use of the Data from Google Analytics
The thought of analyzing data may make you wince, but understanding the basics will be invaluable to your blogging success.
Google Analytics is a free tool that's available to anyone with a Gmail account, and once installed (instructions here), can help you measure and track the following:
Which posts and pages rank the highest on your website
Which posts are performing the worst and how they can be improved
Where your visitors are coming from (e.g. social or search engines)
Which affiliate programs (if applicable) are working the best for your blog
Which keywords are working the best for you
How long visitors are staying on the website
Once you familiarize yourself with this data, you'll be able to make tweaks to your content as you go, even go back and improve older posts, giving you a real boost in your blogging journey.
Which of these tips can you implement today? Let me know in the comments, or if you have further questions, shoot me an email at support@mycreativekickstart.com.
Mel xo