Happy Wednesday Y’all!!! Over the past eight months I have learned a lot on how to drive traffic to my blog (especially from taking Helene In Between’s ecourse). Writing blog posts is a small part of getting traffic but getting readers to your blog can be a challenge. So here are some ways I found to increase traffic to my blog. Hopefully they will help you as well (if you don’t already do these).
SEO (One of the most important things you should be utilizing if you have a blog)
- Save your image with a title or phrase (this can be your blog topic).
- Add “Alt” text to the image. This helps your image (and your blog) to be found online. When people search for images on Google they will find your image that lead to your blog.
- Look at your Google Analytics to see how people are finding your blog (keywords they are using when searching)
- Have links to other posts within your blog. This helps keep readers on your site.
- And more importantly, I’d ask you to read this blog as I’ve garnered a lot of information on SEO strategies.
Create Compelling Content
- Research Your Topic. This is a given. I doubt that anyone would write a blog about something they have no clue about.
- Having a catchy headline. You want to have a title that is captivating because this makes people want to read your blog posts. I have learned that this is so important! This basically is the first impression that people have before they read what you have to say.
- Have a hook. This is the first few sentences before the post that draws your readers in. Typically the first paragraph will determine if your readers what to continue to read the post.
- Write about something that is controversial. I find that these are some of the most popular blog posts because it gets people talking.
Social Media
- Facebook. This is my number one social media platform that drives traffic to my blog. Remember a lot of your readers are on facebook. I also joined some amazing blogging groups on facebook which has driven a lot of traffic to my blog. I occasionally also take the aid from themarketingheaven.com so as to get more exposure on the social networking platform.
- Stumbleupon. I recently started using Stumbleupon about two months ago and this is my second biggest social media platform that drives traffic to my blog. Using Stumbleupon is really great way to get your content shared that is outside of your typical blogging circle.
- Instagram. I love promoting new posts by using instagram. This gets me followers that I may not have typically found on other platforms.
Miscellaneous
- Have an newsletter (I am currently working on getting one together). Emailing your readers once a week,every two weeks, once a month lets them know what is going on with your blog. It’s a great way to promote your content.
- Comment on other blogs. I know that I find a lot of new blogs by commenting on other blogs and vice versus. It’s a great way to network and drive traffic to your blog.
These are just some of the ways that work to drive traffic to my blog. What ways do you use to drive traffic to your blog?
Great tips! Super easy to follow. Thank you much. 🙂
You’re welcome Sabrina!
These are great tips. I am still learning how to navigate it all! ~ btw I lived in Louisiana for a year- moved in May. I love that state!
Thank You Melissa! I am still learning as well. I am learning new things because I have been taking ecourses and webinars, which have been really helpful. What part of Louisiana did you live in?
I am a fairly new blogger and I really find these tips to be helpful! I will have to look into Stumbleupon, sounds interesting. Thanks!
You’re welcome Jennifer. I’m glad they were helpful for you. I still have a lot to learn when it comes to blogging. Stumbleupon is really easy to use and a great way to get more traffic to your blog.
I just recently looked over my Google analytics and found that my pages with the lowest bounce rates were posts with links to other posts on my site. I don’t know why I haven’t been doing this more before – but it is a great tip!
Google analytics is so useful when finding out what type of posts are your most popular,etc. I find that linking other posts that are relevant to my current posts help drive more traffic. 🙂
Very valuable advice. Thanks for sharing this. 🙂
You’re welcome Aishwarya. 🙂
Great tips! Thank you for sharing!
Thank You Bri!
I would love more info on how you drive traffic to your blog with facebook and stumbleupon!
Becky I will try to see what I can do about getting more blog posts on how to drive traffic through both of these. I am slowly but surely learning. 🙂
I’m doing most of these things too! I think StumbleUpon is great for traffic and it’s so easy. Thank you for posting these tips, such a great guideline!
Awesome tips! I feel like I’m so horrible with my SEO. I’m working on it though. I understand the basics, but I don’t feel like I understand enough to really utilize it and be good at it.
Thank You Keating! I am not that great the SEO either but I am slowly learning on how it works. Hopefully I can write some more blog tips on SEO,etc soon. 🙂
These are all great tips. But maybe I’m missing something, but under SEO, when you say save your image and add Alt to it, where am I saving it? And where do I add Alt?
You’re welcome Wendy! When you go to add your photos to your blog post for example on wordpress: you go to add media & upload your photo. When you go to upload your photo you will see on the right side where you can put the alt text. I will add alt text that is relevant to the blog post. For my alt text for this post I put blog traffic. I hope that helps explain it a little better.
Thanks for the awesome tips!!
You’re welcome Natalie! Thank You for reading!
Great tips, you make them seem so simple too!
Thank You Hil! I am glad that they are helpful!
So happy I came across this post! Great tips 🙂
Amanda
http://anchoredtosunshine.com
Thank You Amanda! I hope it is helpful. 🙂
Does the “alt” text on the photo for SEO need to be different from the title of the post? I’ve just been entering the title.
Rebecca I do the same for both the title and the alt text. Having both will increase your chances of having someone find your blog by doing this.
I’ve been feeling like I need to create a monthly newsletter- but I totally agree with having optimized posts, I prefer to use the Yoast SEO plugin… it makes it so easy.
Melissa I agree!! I use Yoast and it makes understanding the break down of SEO so much easier.
Thanks so much for these tips! I’ve been blogging for a little while, but slowly trying to get more serious and really start driving traffic and readers to my blog!
You’re very welcome Libby!! I am still learning myself about blogging and how to drive more traffic to my blog. I hope these help you as well.
Great tips! I find social media works the best to get a surge of traffic to a new post but SEO is best for longterm results! 🙂
I agree Shaylee. When I first started blogging I had no idea what SEO was or how to utilize it. I have slowly but surely learned more. It’s a great source!
Having useful content does wonders!!!
It is Hayli.
I’m in the process of building my new blog and I’ve just started using Yoast SEO. It’s really useful!
Yoast SEO is amazing Emma!!!
SEO is so important! You are totally right there! Stumble Upon is a hit or miss for me. I’ve never had a post really take off on it until yesterday randomly and now it’s bringing in a ton of traffic to one blog post! I’m super excited!
It is Chelsie! When I first starting blogging I knew nothing about SEO. I’m so glad I have slowly but surely learned about it. Stumbleupon has been great for me so far. That’s not to say it will change.
Great tips!
Thanks Jes!
These are awesome tips! I have definitely found that commenting on other blogs and building relationships with other bloggers has been really helpful for traffic. My non-blogging friends and family members don’t understand the importance of comments and shares so they typically aren’t as active in that sense.
I agree Ariana. Connecting with other bloggers is so important. If you think about it they are the one’s who are going to be visiting and commenting on your blog more than your friends/family typically do.
These are great tips! I’ve been a little unmotivated lately but u think it’s time to get back into the swing of things. Thanks for sharing.
Thank You Leslie! I hope you are able to find your motivation and get back into the swing of things.
All great tips!
I need to get a newsletter for my blog in the coming months as well.
xoxo, Jenny
Thank You Jenny!!!
Great blog post!! I’ve never used Stumbleupon so I will look into it! Thanks for sharing :))
You’re welcome Rosalyn. Stumbleupon is really easy to use. Sometimes it’s a hit or miss when driving traffic but it is still a great way to get your blog out there.
Greta tips! I make sure to do this for every post and it really helps!
Thank You Dara! It does really help!
Great post! I wish I could do Stumble Upon, but it won’t let me sign up.
Thank You Summer. That’s odd that it won’t let you sign up. Maybe try contacting them to see what the issue is.
I think adding share buttons also helps. I like to add a tweet message in the body of my posts so readers can share quickly. I also have buttons for stumble, Google +, Facebook, and Twitter.
That is also great to have Mary. I don’t have a twitter account just yet. I have been slacking on that but I will get one eventually.
A lot of people recommend creating newsletters, I’m not quite sold yet. I’d love to see a post elaborating more on how to do one and what to put in it.
Caitlyn I have yet to set up a newsletter for my blog. A lot of other bloggers recommend it because it keeps your readers engaged and up to date. If I make one, I’ll make sure to elaborate more on how to do one,etc.
I love facebook groups too, it has really helped and it encourages consistency…really awesome tips
Thank You Nancy!! I’m so happy that I joined blogging fb groups because I have learned so much from other bloggers and I love being able to see what other’s are blogging about.
These are great tips! I’m working on getting my newsletter all set up too! I think I’m going to start it in the new year. <3
Susannah that is great that you are planning on starting a newsletter. I want to start one but trying to get some other things in order first. Hopefully I will get one started soon as well.
Great tips! Thanks for breaking down each time of promotion.
Thank You for reading Lisa! I hope these tips were helpful.
I am glad you like facebook for your blog, because I do not! I have over 2.4K followers, but sometimes my reach is only 4 😉 I haven’t heard many good things about it lately, but so glad you have found success!! I need to look at GA for the ‘search’ term! Who knew!
Caroline I love fb for my blog as far as it being able to get me hits. I unfortunately at this time do not have a personal fb page for my blog yet. That is one of my goals for next year. How awesome to have 2.4k followers! I would love to have that many followers. GA is really awesome!