Six Key Strategies for Increasing Blog Traffic

This is a guest post by Peter Nevis.

Is traffic to your blog stagnant? Perhaps it's time to shake things up and try something new. In this post, we look at six tried-and-tested strategies for bringing in new readers.

1. Shake Up Your SEO Strategy

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the number one way of attracting readers to your blog. By using relevant keywords in your blog posts, you can get relevant traffic through search engines without spending any money on advertising.

• Refreshing Old Content

  How much attention did you pay to SEO when you first started your blog? It might be time to revisit some of those old posts and add a keyword-rich introduction to each one. Tweaking the valuable content already on your blog to make it more search-friendly is an easy way to attract more traffic.

2. Engage Your Readers

Being found by web users is only the first step in widening your audience. Capitalize on new visitors by developing a connection that keeps them coming back for more.

• Email Capture

  It should be your goal to capture the email address of every visitor to your site. A very effective email capture strategy is to have a pop-up box prompting users to enter their email addresses to quickly subscribe to your blog.

3. Develop a Social Media Strategy

Social media is a useful tool for increasing your blog's visibility. Are you making the most of this opportunity to promote yourself?

• Facebook

  Create a Facebook page for your blog and encourage your readers to Like it. This activity will expose your blog to your readers' contacts, helping you to reach a wider audience.

• Twitter

  Twitter is incredibly useful for promoting your blog. Every time you post, you should tweet the link using relevant hashtags to help interested Twitter users find your blog.

Make it easy for Tweeters to follow you by adding a “Follow on Twitter” button to your blog. Once you have built a strong base of Twitter followers, you can promote your content to them by making relevant Tweets.

4. Network With Other Bloggers

You can learn a lot from other bloggers. Find the most popular blogs in your niche and subscribe to them to learn by example.

• Connecting Through Comments

  Leaving comments on other people's blogs is a good way to connect with them and could even result in you sharing their audience. Include relevant links back to your blog - but don't be a spammer. Focus on forming a genuine connection with the bloggers you admire. Becoming a successful blogger isn't just about promoting your content, it's also about promoting yourself.

5. Guest Posts

Guest posts breathe new life into old blogs. There are two ways to use guest posting to revitalize your blog. First, you can invite leading bloggers in your field to create fresh content on your blog. Second, you can write guest posts on other blogs and include a link back to your blog to draw in a new audience of interested readers.

• Inviting Guest Bloggers to Write for You

  A guest post is a fantastic way to create a buzz around your blog. Notify your readers in advance that a guest blogger will be making a contribution. You can use the upcoming guest post as a way of getting your readers to subscribe to your email list by promising to send out an email notification when the post is created.

• Writing Guest Posts for Other Blogs

  Use your contacts to negotiate a platform for yourself on blogs related to your niche. When creating a guest post, take your time to make it as engaging as possible. The purpose of a guest post is to convince readers to follow the link back to your blog; hopefully they will become part of your regular audience.

6. Give Away Freebies

Creating and giving away a free e-book is a great way to promote your blog. You can either give away the freebie as a reward for signing up to your email list, or use it as a viral marketing tool. Include links to your blog in the e-book and encourage your audience to share it widely so that new readers can discover you.

Getting traffic is something you have to work at, but it is necessary if you want your blog to be read by the widest possible audience. Use the six strategies described above to attract new readers and keep your blog buzzing.

About the author
Guest post contributed by Peter Nevis, for Orange Line. Peter contributes to various websites, he's a marketing expert and enjoys writing articles about SEO & online marketing strategies.