Increasing blog traffic doesn’t have to be difficult. There are many simple things you can do.
Now that we’ve gone over the basic points, let’s delve into them more. These are all simple things that many bloggers are doing now. It’s not rocket science, but it can be as frustrating. If you follow some simple steps, however, you’ll increase blog traffic.
- Be upfront about your posts by having good titles. Let people know what you’re writing about before they start reading.
- Be regular with your posts. But don’t be too regular. Keep people coming back by keeping them guessing.
- Comment on other blogs often. And make sure your comments add value to the discussion.
- Be accommodating to your readers. Write what your readers want to hear, simple as that.
Now that we’ve gone over the basic points, let’s delve into them more. These are all simple things that many bloggers are doing now. It’s not rocket science, but it can be as frustrating. If you follow some simple steps, however, you’ll increase blog traffic.
Be Upfront With Your Content
Is your title good? How long is it? Does it have a colon? Should it? When it comes to titles, shorter is often better. But what’s even better than short is catchy. Will your title stick in my head? Will I remember it later today, or tomorrow, or next week? Will I throw that title out into casual conversations as if it were my own? That’s what you want in a title.
So how do you get that great blog title? By writing it out about 20 different times in 20 different ways. This works best on paper. When you write them on paper you can cross off the bad ones. How will you know which ones are bad. Trust me, you’ll know.
A good blog title lures people in. There are many things that good titles have in common. They’re often short. They’re to the point. They often contain numbers, like a list, but they don’t have to. Overall, they’re memorable. But not just memorable, they’re informative. A good title tells you what the post is about right away. A good title makes you want to read the post. A good title says it all.
So how do you get that great blog title? By writing it out about 20 different times in 20 different ways. This works best on paper. When you write them on paper you can cross off the bad ones. How will you know which ones are bad. Trust me, you’ll know.
A good blog title lures people in. There are many things that good titles have in common. They’re often short. They’re to the point. They often contain numbers, like a list, but they don’t have to. Overall, they’re memorable. But not just memorable, they’re informative. A good title tells you what the post is about right away. A good title makes you want to read the post. A good title says it all.
Be Regular With Your Posts
I’m not talking about getting your daily fiber intake here. What I am talking about is writing often. If your blog has a new entry once a month, I’m sorry. You need to post often. How often? No one knows. You can post everyday. You can post once a week. You can even post once a month if you want to. Many people get away with this. But those people have put in the work.
Do you want to be a blog that people check everyday? Of course you do, why else would you be reading this? Do you want your readers to be frustrated when there’s not a new post? Yes and no. Yes because that means they can’t wait for another post. No because that means they might not wait for another post.
Do you want to be predictable? Is your blog one that always puts up a new post on the same day each week? How about the same time each day? If you’re predictable it can be good. After all, people know when to check in. But if you’re not predictable people will check in a lot more often.
Why? Because they want to read your stuff. There are several sites I check each day to see if new content is up. I do this because I enjoy reading their posts. Would I prefer to have an email each time a new post goes up? Not really; that takes a bit of the fun out of it. I enjoy the anticipation of the page loading. I enjoy seeing the page pop up. I really enjoy seeing a new post. I don’t enjoy seeing the old post still sitting there. But that lack of enjoyment makes me visit even more frequently.
Do you want to be a blog that people check everyday? Of course you do, why else would you be reading this? Do you want your readers to be frustrated when there’s not a new post? Yes and no. Yes because that means they can’t wait for another post. No because that means they might not wait for another post.
Do you want to be predictable? Is your blog one that always puts up a new post on the same day each week? How about the same time each day? If you’re predictable it can be good. After all, people know when to check in. But if you’re not predictable people will check in a lot more often.
Why? Because they want to read your stuff. There are several sites I check each day to see if new content is up. I do this because I enjoy reading their posts. Would I prefer to have an email each time a new post goes up? Not really; that takes a bit of the fun out of it. I enjoy the anticipation of the page loading. I enjoy seeing the page pop up. I really enjoy seeing a new post. I don’t enjoy seeing the old post still sitting there. But that lack of enjoyment makes me visit even more frequently.
Comment on Blogs Often
Forget about “always be closing.” This isn’t Glengarry Glen Ross. You have a blog not a sleazy real estate office. You need to always be commenting. Find those blogs you like. Visit them regularly. Read the entire post. Read all of the comments. And then make one of your own.
It doesn’t have to be earth-shattering. It doesn’t have to by clever. It doesn’t even have to be that long. In fact it shouldn’t be that long. What it has to do though is add value. If you’re comments aren’t adding value to that post then don’t leave them. Read the post again. Read the comments again. If you still haven’t found a way to make your comment add value, repeat the process.
Surely you can find some experience deep within yourself that makes sense to the post you’re reading. Can you find a few statistics or facts that relate to the post? How about a great link that talks about something similar, or even more in-depth?
If you can add value to a blog through your comments you’re much more likely to have people visit your site. And if they don’t visit your site at least they’re reading you. If you do this often enough regular visitors to that blog will get to know you. It’s only a matter of time before they visit your site.
It doesn’t have to be earth-shattering. It doesn’t have to by clever. It doesn’t even have to be that long. In fact it shouldn’t be that long. What it has to do though is add value. If you’re comments aren’t adding value to that post then don’t leave them. Read the post again. Read the comments again. If you still haven’t found a way to make your comment add value, repeat the process.
Surely you can find some experience deep within yourself that makes sense to the post you’re reading. Can you find a few statistics or facts that relate to the post? How about a great link that talks about something similar, or even more in-depth?
If you can add value to a blog through your comments you’re much more likely to have people visit your site. And if they don’t visit your site at least they’re reading you. If you do this often enough regular visitors to that blog will get to know you. It’s only a matter of time before they visit your site.
Be Accommodating to Your Users
Write what your readers want to read. Sounds simple right? Well then why don’t more people do it?
The problem with many blogs is that one great post goes up. It gets a lot of traffic over time. But until the writer sees it’s getting a lot of traffic they write about something else. And when they do see that it’s getting a lot of traffic, what do they do? Continue writing about something else, or write about that same topic again?
If you’re looking at your analytics you know which posts are popular and which aren’t. If posts aren’t getting a lot of hits then why continue with that thread? Why not go back to what people want to read and expand it? Don’t just expand it, though, make it better. How do you do this? By reading your old post.
Go back and read the whole thing. Read it again. What works? What doesn’t? How are your headings? How is your title? Why do people want to read that post and not the others? Is it the SEO, or is it the content? What is pulling them in, and why are they staying?
Analyze these things and then write that post again, from scratch. Don’t refer back to the post. In fact, close it down for now. You wrote it, and you’ve just read it again twice. You should know it. Now make it better. Make it new. Make it informative. And make it like your readers want. Don’t know how? Yes you do.
The problem with many blogs is that one great post goes up. It gets a lot of traffic over time. But until the writer sees it’s getting a lot of traffic they write about something else. And when they do see that it’s getting a lot of traffic, what do they do? Continue writing about something else, or write about that same topic again?
If you’re looking at your analytics you know which posts are popular and which aren’t. If posts aren’t getting a lot of hits then why continue with that thread? Why not go back to what people want to read and expand it? Don’t just expand it, though, make it better. How do you do this? By reading your old post.
Go back and read the whole thing. Read it again. What works? What doesn’t? How are your headings? How is your title? Why do people want to read that post and not the others? Is it the SEO, or is it the content? What is pulling them in, and why are they staying?
Analyze these things and then write that post again, from scratch. Don’t refer back to the post. In fact, close it down for now. You wrote it, and you’ve just read it again twice. You should know it. Now make it better. Make it new. Make it informative. And make it like your readers want. Don’t know how? Yes you do.
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