If you’ve been blogging for any length of time, you understand just how fun and exciting writing for an audience can be. Maybe you have a blog attached to your company website, or perhaps you just blog as a hobby. Either way, one of the most important things any blogger needs to do is work on increasing traffic to the blog itself.
Blog traffic might be the last thing on your mind, but increasing your traffic offers several benefits. When you receive more visitors to your blog, you’ll experience an increase in your site’s Google Page Rank (PR) and your Alexa score will decrease. Both of these will make your blog more visible through search engines. Having a good PR and Alexa score will also make your blog more appealing to possible sponsors and advertisers.
When you’re ready to start promoting your blog and increasing your traffic, there are a few steps you should take.
1. Post regularly
While blogging can be strenuous, it’s important to make sure you post on a regular basis. Many bloggers make the mistake of posting sporadically, which is problematic for two reasons. First off, it allows so much time to lapse between posts that readers will stop checking back for updates. Secondly, sporadic posting will negatively influence your blog’s appearance in search engine results. For the highest increase in traffic, aim to post at least three times per week. Note that if time is a concern, you can schedule your posts ahead of time.
2. Comment on other blogs
You might not want to take the time to post and comment on other blogs; however, this can actually be a great way to direct traffic back to your site. Consider commenting on several blogs with similar topics to your own. Always leave an informative, valuable comment. Never just say, “Please visit my blog.” That is considered poor Internet etiquette and will quickly get you banned from commenting on other websites.
3. Tweet your posts
If you don’t already have a Twitter account, now is the time to start one. Make sure you tweet each of your posts. You can use an automatic tweeting website or software to schedule your tweets in advance if you don’t have the time to tweet daily. Make sure you include the link to your blog, an interesting link title and a hashtag or two. Remember that even if someone doesn’t follow you on Twitter, they’ll be able to see your tweets when you use appropriate hashtags.
4. Pin your posts
Always include a picture on your blog posts. This can be a picture you took yourself or one you created using image creation software. When you include an image on your blog post, you’ll be able to pin your post to Pinterest. This is valuable since it means thousands of people will be able to see your image and click it. When they do, they’ll have a chance to read your blog and all of your posts.
5. Stick to your topic
If you have a specific theme or topic for your blog, try to stay on target. While it might be tempting to update your mommy blog with a post about politics or your religious blog with a random post about your experience at the grocery store, it’s important that you stay as focused as possible. Remember that your readers come to your site to read specific posts about your theme. If you jump around too much, you’re going to lose readers.
Whether your blog is a month old or a year old, make sure you take the time to increase your blog’s visibility and traffic. The more work you pour into advertising your blog, the greater revenue and visibility you’ll experience.
