Today, blogs are one of the best ways you can up your content marketing game. From reviewing the best makeup products to sharing what goes on in your day-to-day life, blogs are an excellent way for brands to take control of the brand image they intend to portray.
When you start a blog, regardless of how great your content is, without the right approach and strategy it’s very unlikely to reach out to a specific audience that would be interested in reading it.
However, with the right combination of strategies, you can quickly revitalize your blog and generate more traffic for your blog, reaping its substantial benefits in the process. So, keep reading on to learn five proven strategies on how you can increase your blog traffic:
Optimize Your Content
There is absolutely no post about traffic and lead generation without the mention of search engine optimization. Optimization is essential to any kind of web content, including blogs. Your content may be captivating, but without the right kind of promotional tactics in place to draw visitors, all your efforts will go to waste.
Thus, your blog needs to be structured and designed in a way that draws in the most traffic and, what’s even better is that there are numerous ways your blog and its pages can be optimized for a better SEO ranking.
For starters, you can organize your content into various categories, allowing your visitors to find the topics and fields they’re interested in more easily.
Additionally, it’s important to remember that search engines pick up on themes of related content, which is why it’s crucial to incorporate popular keywords and keyword phrases to your meta description, headings, and even the titles of any images you include in your blog posts. The possibilities to rank higher are endless.
Define Your Target Audience
Perhaps a vital of any business, defining who your target audience is as much relevant to blogs as it is to any other company. You need to ask yourself who you’re writing to and tailor your content according to that.
You can start with the demographics of your target audience, such as their age group, gender, where they live, and what their interests are. Once you have the basics figured out, you’ll be able to create content that caters to your chosen audience and set the tone according to that. Of course, if your content is something that clicks with them, they’ll share it with other like-minded people, too.
You can even sift through your Instagram or Facebook followers and analyze their demographics to determine what kind of people are already following you.
Ensure There Are No Glitches
Businesses today need to realize this: customers have unlimited options. When vying for your target audience’s attention, you’re not just competing with local companies, but you’re also competing with those half a world away, too.
Given the presence of minimal barriers, customers demand speed and efficiency. If your blog’s speed is slow or the pages refuse to load, you’ll end up with a high bounce rate. Readers will immediately turn the other way if your blog is unable to keep up and will turn to another blog that’ll provide them with better user experience.
Customer experience isn’t the only way you need to ensure your blog is glitch-free; you’ll be facing penalization from Google and face a lower ranking if your site takes more than two seconds to load.
Use Tactics to Attract Your Readers
When you’re stuck in a rut and don’t know what to write about, do a bit of research. There’s no better way to determine what’s working in your niche than by looking at what’s working for your competitors.
You don’t need to do something out of the box; you need to know what your competitors are doing, but better. You can put your spin on something and rejuvenate a topic that’s been discussed countless times before.
The tone you’re going to write in should reflect the personality you’re trying to convey. A personalized approach always ensures your content is personal and memorable. You can link back to authority sources to add credibility to your content, too.
Keep Updating Your Blog
Make readers keep coming back to you by updating your blog regularly. You can do that by fresh content altogether or by revising old content with new research. Moreover, you should also consider updating the design and template of your blog now and then to give your readers a change.
When you’re confused about which route to take, it’s always a good idea to think about the blogs you enjoy following and use those as a skeleton to updating your blog.
Advertise Your Blog
It’s never a bad idea to spread the word about your blog, and perhaps the best way to do that is through advertising. One of the easiest ways to create a buzz about your blog is by sharing it on your social media profile. Depending on the content of your blog, make a profile on multiple platforms, such as Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook.
Food bloggers, for instance, may find that Instagram is the best platform for them while those blogging about social causes would prefer Twitter. You can join groups catering to your target niche and promote your content amongst members. In turn, you can also share content published by other influencers and, this way; you may even get shares in return.
When sharing on social media, it’s crucial to keep in mind the platform’s posting guidelines. For instance, your Instagram story dimensions need to be accurate; otherwise, your followers will miss the content you want them to see.
If you have the budget for it, you can also opt for paid advertising and promote your blog on search engines, social media through ads, or even through banner advertising on other blogs and website.
When opting for other websites, always select the ones that would have a similar audience and where there’s a high potential for better traffic. If readers like what they see, chances are they’ll end up following you.
Creating a blog that generates high volumes of traffic will undoubtedly require time, money, and effort, regardless of whether you’re planning to sell your website or keeping it for yourself. However, with the right focus and determination, your blog will be attracting people in no time.
Remember, it’s crucial to find the combination of strategies that works for you and the entire process will require trial and error. However, once you do find that, nothing is stopping you from ranking high.
Have you tried any of these strategies before or do you have suggestions of your own? Sound off in the comments below!