Is there a magic way to increase blog traffic? Everybody wants to get more and more traffic to their website or blog because this is the reason why these web properties exist, but how do you go from 0 to 1,000 visits per day and then from 1,000 to 10,000?
What I will explain below are some of the SEO strategies I have used to grow traffic to my websites (including the blog you are reading now) that are proven to work.
How to Get Free Blog Traffic
These are the best techniques you can follow and increase your blog traffic for free and without spending any money.
- Patience is the key
- Optimize your blog for SEO
- Publish Quality Content
- Publish Frequently
- Promote your Content in the Social World
- Do your Keyword Research
- Craft Titles That Can Get You Rankings And Traffic
- Do Some Guest Posting
- Create An Email List And Send Out a Newsletter
- Rinse and Repeat!
1. Patience is the key
While all the steps that you will read below are proven to work and if you follow them correctly you will be able to increase your blog traffic, it won’t happen overnight.
It may not even happen in 5 or 6 months. How long it will take depends on a number of factors and what is important is to have patience so that you don’t give up too soon.
Instead of anxiously waiting to see your blog posts on the first page of Google, you can concentrate on monitoring your progress (for the keywords you are targeting) and watch the improvement from month to month.
Progress is much more important than anything else and while waiting, you can spend your energy in creating and publishing high-quality content on a regular basis.
2. Optimize your blog for SEO
SEO or Search Engine Optimization is the key to your blog’s success. Why?
- For starters, SEO will get you more traffic from Google and other search engines.
- It will get you more conversions (whether this is email signup or the sale of a product) because search engine traffic is converting.
- SEO will get you more links since people tend to link to pages found in the first positions of Google
- SEO will get you more social shares for the same reason as above i.e. if you are on the first positions of Google then it means that your website is good so people are more than willing to share it on their social media
Now that you are convinced that SEO is a must, how do you optimize your blog for SEO?
Well, there is no one magic solution or technique you can follow but understanding the basics of an SEO-friendly website and going through our SEO checklist will certainly put you in the right direction.
3. Publish Quality Content
For most people, there is nothing new here but for beginners, it should be made clear that publishing content online is not enough.
What you need is high-quality content that search engines will love and users will find interesting so that they share, comment, continue to the next step (make a purchase, sign up to an email, etc), and come back to your blog for more.
What is high-quality content?
In the past this was like a ‘million-dollar question’ but over the years search engines have become more advanced and they are now able to spot high-quality content and differentiate pages that have high-quality content from the rest of the web.
In summary, high-quality content is:
Original and Unique – the exact same content is not published on any other website
Descriptive – It gives a complete detailed view of a situation, covering all sides of a story (i.e. it’s not biased)
Has an author – Users can see who wrote the content, it is not written by admin or unknown.
Sharable – People like the content and they show this by interacting with the content (reading it, commenting, sharing).
4. Publish Frequently
Once you figure out how to make good content, the next step is to be able to produce (publish) good content on a regular basis.
Consistency is the most difficult but yet important part of being successful in blogging.
Why is consistency important?
When you have a well-defined publishing schedule (for example Mon, Wed, Fri), this gives another incentive for users to re-visit your page and also for search engines to come back and get the new content and learn more about your website.
Don’t forget that search engines want to keep their users happy by showing up-to-date and accurate information in their search results so when you update your website regularly they will pick your content even faster.
Create a realistic publishing schedule you can follow in the long term rather than a schedule that is too optimistic and you fail in following.
5. Promote your Content in the Social World
Don’t just publish content but promote it as well. Your ‘job’ is not finished when you hit the publish button. Creating and publishing blogs is the first part of the blogging equation, the second part is to promote your content so that it gets the attention it deserves.
What do we mean by promoting your content?
Part of your ‘job responsibilities’ either as a digital marketing manager or solo blogger is to connect with other bloggers in your niche and the best way to do that is through the various social media channels.
If you have done this task correctly, then most probably you will have at least a few thousand followers on Twitter, Facebook, etc.
These are the people that are most likely to find your content interesting (provided that you connected with the ‘right people’) so you need to let them know that you have new content on your website or blog by informing them through your business and personal social media accounts.
What is the benefit of promoting your content socially?
Simply put, the more people see your post the greater are the chances of visiting your website, sharing it, and linking to it. (See also Social Media VS SEO)
6. Do your Keyword Research
Doing keyword research before creating content is a must for a number of reasons.
For starters, it will help you understand your niche better by learning what keywords and phrases are the most popular.
Second, it will help you get a higher return from your blogging efforts since a blog post that is the result of keyword research has more chances of getting more organic and social traffic.
Keyword research doesn’t have to be a painful or time-consuming process. If you are a beginner, here are some tips to make your life easier:
#1 – Start with the Google keyword tool – This tool will give you an estimate of how many people per month search google for a particular keyword. I will explain in a different post how to use this tool but this is your starting point.
#2 – Use BuzzSumo – Buzzsumo is like a search engine but the results are based on social media popularity. In other words, when you search for a term, buzzsumo will tell you which articles that have this term performed better in social media.
#3 – Use Google – Start typing in google search and look carefully at the suggestions given to you by Google. Change the letters as you type to get more suggestions. After you hit search, scroll down to the bottom of the page and see which are the “related searches”
#4 – Watch what your competitors are doing – monitor your competitor(s) website(s) closely and take note of what kind of posts they are publishing. Your goal is not to ‘copy’ them but get some ideas on where to concentrate your efforts.
7. Craft Titles That Can Get You Rankings And Traffic
This is related to the previous point and what you need to understand in addition to keyword research is the importance of choosing page titles that both search engines and people can understand.
A title that is super human friendly is not necessarily an SEO friendly title and for maximum exposure, you need to learn how to keep a balance between the two.
The title of a page is also very important for SEO so you need to make sure that the title includes your keywords otherwise search engines will have a hard time understanding what your page is about.
8. Do Some Guest Posting
Guest posting is considered by many as a “safe” way to do link building but the real benefits of guest posting are far more than getting a link pointing to your website.
Guest posting is a great way to promote your brand (either personal or business) and get traffic to your web site.
To take advantage of these benefits you need to get your posts published on high-quality websites with lots of traffic and this is not always easy.
First, you need to identify the websites that are good candidates to accept your posts and then create a plan on how to get published. The idea of just sending an email with your post will not work so you need to work harder and be more creative.
When approaching big websites that accept articles from contributors (like Forbes, Inc, etc) you need to show them examples of your previous work so before attempting to contact them make sure that you have some nice examples of published work in your portfolio.
When the Editor will review your application for becoming a contributor they will also view your social media profiles to ensure that you have a really strong profile in at least one of the networks.
9. Create An Email List And Send Out a Newsletter
I cannot think of a niche that an email list is not useful. Many people believe that social media killed email lists but this is nowhere close to the truth.
People still use email and they actually check email several times per day. In most cases, they also get a notification when a new email arrives on their mobiles, smartwatches, or tablets.
Some consider email lists and newsletters as a kind of spam but this is not true. When people enter their email address to subscribe to your newsletter they do it because they like what they read and they need more.
To have the most success in getting people to subscribe, use some type of lead magnet such as a downloadable PDF, cheat sheet, template, ebook, or even create an online course that delivers a ton of value and is short/digestible.
So whatever your niche is, start collecting emails from your visitors and send out emails to inform them about new posts, new offers, new products, and anything else that may interest them without spamming and without overdoing it.
Before sending out a newsletter think for a moment if it is useful for the recipients and if it something you would like to see in your inbox.
For blogs and websites that are not selling any products or services but are using AdSense or other ways to monetize their content, an email list registration can be considered as a conversion metric.
10. Rinse and Repeat!
If you are long enough in this business you should know by now that getting traffic to a website is not a once-off process but it is something that needs a lot of patience and hard work.
On the other hand, a website (or blog) with a lot of traffic can make you money and create a number of business opportunities for meeting your goals (and dreams).
To finish this post with a positive message, when you do everything correctly you will be able to grow your blog’s traffic naturally. Just be patient and keep working until you reach your desired traffic levels.
Joe Graisbery says
Excellent post, thank you for the info!
Alex says
Hi Joe
Thanks a lot. Hope my post will help you increase your blog traffic.
All the best
Alex
Anitha says
Thanks for the post.. I almost forget collecting emails.. i wil be getting lot of emails for my blog posts am gonna start email newsletter Now
Thank you
Alex says
Hi Anitha
I did this mistake a lot in the past as well. Once you start building an email list you will see how useful it is not only in terms of traffic but also for building a targeted audience for your website or blog.
Thanks
Alex
Anitha says
Wow.. i have visited many blogs if we comment they wont even reply .. But am happy to receive a reply here
Thanks for the Support..
Alex says
Thank you for your kind words Anitha. All the best.
James spary says
Great post and very interesting. You have given me more confidence with my own blog which is have recently set up.
Regards
James
Alex says
Hi James
Take it slow and one step at a time. If you have good content and patience everything else will come sooner or later.
Good luck with your new blog.
Alex
Mahdi says
Hi Alex.
I have started my website for over 5 months but I don’t get much traffic (virtually 250 unique visitors/day) now I’m getting worried about my website. Is it normal or abnormal?
Alex says
Hi Mahdi
250 unique visitors per day is not bad all for only 5 months. It depends of course on the type of website, amount and quality of content and a lot more factors but 250 per day sounds good to me for starters. Better results take time so keep your patience.
All the best
Alex
Vikash Kumar says
Hi alex sir! Awesome post to increase blog traffic. You have clearly described all the tips in proper manner. An informative post indeed.
Thank you..
raghu says
Great post & well explained. Really i appreciate. Keep on posting.
NOYON says
Great post, thank you for the sharing,I will following your suggestion …..
Deon Christie says
Excellent post, I couldn’t agree more. Especially with your first reference to the most important ingredient which is patience and ultimately Time. Personally I think time and content will always be the king and queen of online success.
It’s actually alarming when one think of the Billions spent on buying traffic. When in fact, the best traffic is Free Traffic but it requires patience and dedication.
Alex Chris says
Hi Deon
Very well said. Free traffic is great but it does require a lot of patience and dedication. The good news is that if you are willing to put in the work, results will certainly follow.
Thanks
Satish says
Hi Alex,
Very helpful to beginner like me. Learned a lot from your post and I am applying in my blog.
Thanks
Sameer Khan says
These are really some awesome some Tips to increase Traffic.
I was struggling with the Traffic on my Blog.
I ‘ll surely apply these Strategies.
Thanks for sharing with us 🙂
Julia Stone says
Nice article thanks for the informative pots. every blogger has to face the problem of not having much traffic on their blogs. Your blog helpful for those bloggers, who faced this problem
Amy says
Hey Alex. This is really a good informative post. Liked the way you have written and described things in so down to earth and specific people who actually want to grow their business.
However, emailing part is a bit just a basic and not satisfying me. Any other way we can communicate or you could help me understand in depth?
I would really appreciate your help with your experience of 18years.
Bill DuVall says
Thanks for the solid information. I’ve got this page bookmarked to be able to circle back for ideas. I found #8 particularly helpful.
Alex Chris says
Hi Bill
Thanks for commenting. Yes, guest posting (when done right), is one of the best ways to increase your blog traffic.
All the best
Alex
Ricardo says
These are very good points. Thank you. I will do/doing it already but
It takes a lot of time.
I do it because on the long run it is absolutely worth it I know.
My question would be what to do in the meantime?
Other than spamming the links, because that’s bad. And paid advertising is a bit expensive for someone just started.
So what other methods are legit/working to promote the blog while the SEO gives its results?
Praveen Pandey says
Love your website. And the way you explained every about SEO topic in details it helped me a lot.
Faith Oge says
Excellent post.
I’m very new to blogging and would love to grow. I will also appreciate getting some guidelines from you.
Levi Perry says
As a beginner, it is difficult to find reliable traffic sources. Don’t let that get you down. A good start is to start writing about a topic you find intriguing. Create some meaningful posts and start connecting with other people on their blogs. Not only will you create relevance, but you will learn from other people’s perspectives. This creates an overall beneficial experience for everyone.
Pratap says
Thanks for nice Tips i am searching to know how it needs to increase the organic traffic.
Scoan says
Thanks Alex. This is very helpful in blogging
Daniel Chidera says
Hi Alex,
Great article, I like reading your blog post because it is filled with quality information.
I will implement this on my website ASAP.
Inu Etc says
Hey Alex,
Thanks for sharing this informative and helpful post!
It’s really hard to maintain consistency as a beginner blogger! I will try my best!
Thanks!
Ruben M. Anderson says
For a blog, a quality piece of content is usually a comprehensive article on a specific topic that covers all the details. This makes it extremely helpful for users and attracts them to visit your website.
Samrat singh says
Quality content is the King..The best way to promote your blog is to publish quality content in regular basis and promote your content on social sites.
Nice informative blog.
Thanks
Alex Chris says
Hi Samrat
That’s correct and I agree with you 100%.
All the best
Alex
Trisha says
Thanks for sharing such an informative and interesting post for driving traffic to our website. Please keep sharing more in future.
Alex Chris says
Hi Trisha
Thanks for your comment. I hope that you now have a better idea of how to increase your blog’s traffic.
All the best
Alex
Denny Fontaine says
Amazing blog!
This Content is really help me for my website
Thanks for sharing Wonderful content
Cheers!
Mohit Bhargav says
I have recently started my new blog and this guide will be really helpful.
Thanks for the great tips 🙂