5 Expert Ways to Boost Your Blog Traffic

Blogging can be fun because it gives you an opportunity to share your thoughts and feelings with a large number of people. As of 2018, there were 30.6 million bloggers in the United States alone. And by 2020, that number is expected to increase to 31.7 million.

So, you can imagine the amount of competition you’re likely to face if you want to stand out from others and generate quality traffic to your blog. You can’t just keep writing blog posts and expect people to visit your website to read them. Writing a blog post and driving traffic to your blog are completely different ball games.

This post will teach you 5 effective ways to drive high-quality traffic to your blog.

1. Leverage Social Media Platforms

As of 2018, globally there were 2.62 billion social media users. And by 2021, that number is expected to increase to 3.02 billion. So, you can well imagine the potential social media carries.

You can, therefore, leverage the power of social media to expand the reach of your blog posts. Here are some great ways to leverage social platforms and make the most of them.

Create a Facebook page, a Twitter account, and a Pinterest account for your blog. Make sure to fill out the bio appropriately and add the link to your website or blog. This will help your target audience find your website quickly and easily.

You need to add social media buttons on your web pages. Make sure to add them where they’re visible and immediately get the attention of your readers. This will encourage them to share your blog posts with their social networks.

For example, here’s an example of a post on Jeff Bullas’ blog. In the screenshot below, you can see a list of social sharing buttons on the left side of the screen. They have a prominent placement so that readers can easily share the post on social media.

Image Source – JeffBullas

Whenever you publish a new blog post, don’t forget to share it in your social networks as well. However, select the platforms where your target audience spends most of their time. Also, you need to be consistent and make sure to post relevant and high-quality posts. You can use scheduling tools to ensure that you post consistently.

For example, here you can see how Bethany Frater, a writer, has shared her post on LinkedIn which was originally published on her blog. You can also follow this strategy to drive more traffic to your website.

You can leverage live videos on Facebook to develop a personal relationship with your target audience. People who follow you on Facebook will always be notified whenever you go live. However, make sure to create valuable and educational videos. This will encourage your audience to visit your blog.

Use visuals that are meaningful and add value to your post. Also, avoid using stock photos as far as possible.

When you share the link to your blog post on social media, make sure to add a strong call-to-action. This will encourage your followers to interact with your post and visit your blog.

2. Leverage Podcasts

You can also create and leverage podcasts to drive high-quality traffic to your blog. Ensure that you create podcasts which are informative and educational. This will help you attract and engage your target audience. It will also help them get to know you better.

As of 2018, there were 73 million podcast listeners in the United States. The numbers are expected to surpass 130 million by 2022. So, if you are not using podcasts already, it’s high time you start doing so.

One of the best ways to use podcasts is to invite an expert from your niche and conduct an engaging interview. You can also share the podcast with your network via social media platforms. This will not only get their attention but also motivate them to visit your blog. However, make sure to select a suitable podcast hosting site for this.

3. Optimize Your Content for Search Engines
No matter how brilliantly you write your posts, if your target audience cannot find them through search it then they’re of no use. So, it’s important that you optimize your content for search engines. This will help your audience discover your content and website easily. By using the right SEO strategies, you can improve the rankings of your posts in the search engines too.

Here are some effective SEO hacks to help you optimize your content for search engines:

Add keywords in your post titles and evenly distribute them throughout your content, making sure not to stuff too many keywords in them. and sub-title of your post. Ensure that you keep your title as specific as possible. The title of your post should give a clear idea to your readers about what they can expect from the post.

For example, Dan Western is the founder of Wealthy Gorilla. He mostly writes about entrepreneurship and self-improvement. The screenshot below is one of his “how-to” posts. As you can see the title of the post is very clear and precise. It gives a clear idea of what you can expect from the post.

It’s important to write meta descriptions for your posts. Add your keywords to your meta descriptions but don’t overstuff them with keywords. Keep your meta descriptions between 150 and 160 characters.

You should also consider interlinking your posts with some of your older, relevant posts. It’s even better if the older posts are some of your best performing posts on Google. You can use Google Analytics to find your top performing posts. All you need to do is go to Acquisition > All Traffic > Channels > Organic Search.

When done correctly, these tips and tricks will help you drive high-quality traffic to your blog. However, these SEO strategies will take time to show results. So, if you want to get results quickly, you can use PPC ads.

The difference between SEO with PPC is that the latter will help you amplify the reach of your content faster. Of course, this will depend on the amount of money you invest into it and the keywords for which you bid.

With the help of PPC ads, your content can appear on the first page of search engine results (in the ads section). So, for immediate results, you can use PPC ads to drive traffic to your blog.

4. Capture Email Addresses of Your Target Audience

When a user visits your website for the first time, try to get their email address. This will enable you to send newsletters notifying them about your new posts.

Always add the link to your post in your newsletters. This will make it easier for your users to check out your post. And this can help you drive quality traffic to your blog.

To collect the email address of your users, you need to add either a pop-up or sidebar form. Add some simple text with a strong call-to-action asking for their email address. This will encourage your visitors to join your email list and get notifications.

For example, the screenshot below is from the Post Planner’s website. They don’t have a pop-up or sidebar form. They have a static box that uses some simple text and an effective CTA to ask their visitors to enter their email addresses and join their network.

5. Add External Links

To drive more traffic to your blog posts, you need to add a few relevant and credible links to external sites in your posts. This will help you build a network with other bloggers and increases the value of your own post.

However, ensure that your external links are relevant to the content of your post and direct to reputable websites. Don’t add external links just for the sake of it. They need to add value to your post.

For example, below is an example of a post from Medium. As you can see the author has added external links to his own post. He has referred to a post from Moz, which is a very reputable website.

Final Thoughts

Driving high-quality traffic to your blog is easier said than done. It takes a lot of time, effort, and consistency. You can leverage the power of social media to share your posts with your network. Also, add social sharing buttons to your posts as that will encourage your readers to share your posts with their networks.

You also need to add keywords to your meta descriptions and meta title. Follow the strategies mentioned above to stand out from the millions of blogs and drive high-quality traffic to your blog.

Do you know of any other effective ways to increase your blog traffic? If so, please feel free to share your ideas in the comments below.

Shane Barker is a digital marketing consultant for 15 years with an emphasis on Influencer Marketing in the last 5 years. He is specialized in sales funnels, targeted traffic and website conversions. He has consulted with Fortune 500 companies, Influencers with digital products, and a number of A-List celebrities.

Original post: 5 Expert Ways to Boost Your Blog Traffic

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