Growing a blog online has never been harder than it is right now. Every day, millions of blog posts are competing for attention. As you know, the attention span of Internet users can only go so far. As per studies, 55% of people who click on a blog spend less than 15 seconds on the page. Well, is it possible to read an entire blog in just 15 seconds? It is just frustrating news for bloggers hoping to get traction from their efforts.
However, at the same time, growing a blog is easier now than ever before. New studies and tools are coming up every day that help in creating blogs that not just attract, but retain the attention of the readers. Thanks to more quality tools at the disposal of a blogger, it is possible to craft an attention-grabbing blog and drive traffic.
Keep reading to know some of the results-driven strategies that bloggers are using to make sure there is a steady source of blog traffic.
1. Build An Email List
Building an email list is considered to be the most dependable tactic when it comes to driving traffic to your blog. Social networks are going to come and go, but your email list will remain yours.
Growing your email list comes down to two things:
Make it simple for your readers to join
Provide them a compelling reason to sign up to your list
As your email list grows, you will be able to send more traffic to your latest blog posts. Focus on robust email list building and drip feed your best blog posts to your list. It will ensure that your subscribers never miss out on your best content. Use catchy email subject lines to increase subscribers’ engagement and email open rates. If you do send emails frequently, make sure to link your blog as that can help in driving extra traffic.
You can also read this amazing post which talks about helpful tips on writing follow-up email subject lines that get opened along with 27 examples shared by industry leaders.
Moreover, the traffic you will get from creating an email list will be mostly targeted. The readers will be those who are genuinely interested in your blog posts and looking for the information that you are offering.
2. Write More, With Engaging Titles/Headlines
Studies show that updated blogs get more traffic. The search giant, Google, gives more importance to those websites that have a steady supply of fresh content. So, if you want more attention from the search engines, you need to update your blog at least two times a week.
When you are writing more, you have to remember the following things:
The content should be unique
Avoid using plagiarized content
Remember to start crafting a blog post with keyword research. Shortlist the relevant keywords after analyzing your competitor websites, user intent and user behaviour.
Make sure not to stuff your content with keywords. Google looks down on keyword stuffing and considers it a violation of its rules.
Craft the content in simple, easy-to-understand language and make it interesting for the target audience.
Make use of tools like, BuzzSumo and Google Trends to find out about the trending topics and craft content on such topics. The ones that are trending get more clicks and drive more traffic.
Additionally, pay great attention to the title of the content. The title for your blog post is equally important as the content itself. Titles help potential readers decide if they should click and read more. The title for your blog post should be enticing and, at the same time, promise readers value. If you can come up with attractive titles, you can increase your readership, and hence, generate more traffic.
3. Promote Your Blog by Targeting Niche Groups, Forums and Social Media Audiences
Ignoring groups, forums and niche social media audiences is one of the biggest mistakes that marketers make while promoting their blog. Sure, getting many likes on a blog post is excellent – but it doesn’t matter if people don’t care about your content enough to click through, read and share it with others and come back to your website for more.
The best way to find those people is by becoming part of the core networks where the ideal audience hangs out. It refers to groups and forums, for example:
LinkedIn and Facebook Groups: The real action on these websites is in the groups. People in groups actively share helpful content, useful tips and recommend products to one another. They will support your blog if they find it exciting and a valuable read. They will even visit your website to know more about your brand, if your content moves them.
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Reddit: You can search for subreddits on topics that match closely with your niche or the interests of your audience. Reddit is a great platform to find out what people are talking about. This platform is an excellent source of inspiration, and you can also use it to drive traffic to your blog. You can also take part in the conversations on Reddit. Maybe, answer a question or two. As time goes, Reddit users will begin to see you as an authority on the subject that you most comment on. They might even be interested in finding out more about you. Some may also reach out to you.
Micro-influencers: Micro-influencers tend to have an audience of anywhere between 5,000 to 20,000 followers. They are passionate about their work and the recommendations that they find. You need to discover the influencers that target your niche and use them to promote your content. Since they already have a huge following, your blog will get a traffic boost from the very start.
Quora: With a little effort, it is possible to turn Quora into a traffic-driving machine for your blog. This Q&A platform allows anyone to post questions and receive answers from experts in a particular niche. Even though Quora was launched in 2009, it is only recently receiving the attention that it deserves. From professors at MIT to Ashton Kutcher and Barack Obama, all have taken their turn in answering questions on Quora.To get traffic from this platform, link your blog to your Quora profile. In addition to securing the desired traffic for your blogs, you get to rub shoulders with the biggest names on the web. And of course, if you’re lucky, you might even bag a few collaboration opportunities. Become a part of social media groups and forums, and actively take part in discussions. These networks will reward you with relevant and useful traffic.
4. Include Relevant Pictures And Other Visual Elements In Your Blog Post
Boost readership by making your blog post visually appealing. Instead of presenting your readers a big, block of text, break it up using the following visual elements:
There are plenty of statistics on the web, proving that visual content is a huge deal. Visual content gets more shares, earns more links and ultimately, drives more traffic.
Reasons why visual content drives more traffic:
Videos, infographics and images capture the attention of the readers faster than textual content
Images act as visual anchors in an information-flooded online landscape
The brain can process visuals more quickly than blocks of text
People tend to remember visual content better than the information given to them in textual format
With the help of tools like Canva and Visme, you can easily create personalized photos and infographics to include in your blog post.
5. Repurpose Old Content
Repurposing or refreshing old content can help drive new traffic to your blog. It is particularly helpful in making new readers find your past blog posts, which were written when you did not have much readership.
For this, all you have to do is some general rewriting. Post the refreshed content. This way, you get to recycle all posts with minimal fuss.
It might sound bizarre, but 1,000 to 3,000 words content attracts more traffic than 500 words content.
You might argue that people have a short span of attention. For this, you need to break your content into short paragraphs, lists and make use of visual elements to keep the interest alive. The reason why you should focus on creating longer content is given below:
People have still not caught on to this trend of creating longer content. So, you get a chance of standing out with your 1000+ words content.
Longer posts are excellent for organic leads and backlinks.
You become an authority on the topic. You have done the research, and your readers can find in-depth information about a particular topic by going through your content. They need not look elsewhere, and this puts you in an advantageous position to get more traffic.
Growing a successful blog in today’s competitive landscape isn’t easy. But, if you want to drive more traffic to your blog and stay ahead of the crowd, consider implementing the tips above.
Snehil Prakash is a WordPress enthusiast and web development expert who previously served as the Marketing Manager at WPOven. He believes that business owners should spend their time investing in their core business missions, not setting up and maintaining a WordPress site.
Snehil has been instrumental in providing all-inclusive managed WordPress solutions to businesses of all sizes, ensuring that they have the resources they need for a robust online presence.
