Ten Simple Ways to Get More People to Your Blog
Need to get more visitors to your blog?
One visitor recently shared with us that his biggest marketing challenge is “writing blog posts and understanding what I need to do for proper SEO/SMO”. He downloaded our Perfect Blog Post Checklist, so we know he’s now well on his way, but we felt we could address the idea of SEO for blogging more directly. SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and SMO (Social Media Optimization) both have as their aim driving more traffic to a website or blog.
Traffic – Generating Blog Tips
Write Good Stuff
OK, this should go without saying, so it doesn’t get a number
. Write something that people want to read about.
#1 Know Your Keywords
The Google AdWords Keyword Tool can help you determine which words and phrases to use. Another method is to respond to an urban legend or commonly posted and reposted erroneous message on Facebook and use some of the exact phrases you see used over and over.
#2 Use Your Keywords
Use your keywords near the beginning of your page title and in your post headers, where they sound natural. Technically, using keywords in headers does not help with search engine ranking, but it does provide readers who like to scan an article before they read it, proof that they will, indeed find what they are looking for here. Write for people first, search engines last.
#3 Write an Irresistable Title, Description, and Opening Sentence
Want your article to look great and draw readers in when shared to social media sites? Make sure your Title and Opening Sentence are compelling, as these are displayed by default when someone shares a link to your post. Remember to use your keywords. Get some great ideas from “28 Fill-in-the-blank Headlines“. I have this one printed out
Writing a good description is important because it may end up as the link description in a search engine result. Ask yourself – If I saw this title followed by this description, would I choose to click on this link?
#4 Add an Image JUST for Pinterest
Our site now gets more traffic from Pinterest than Google Plus or Twitter. Why? It’s not because we spend a lot of time pinning (though we probably should!). Rather, we make sure each post has an image specifically designed for easy and effective pinning.
Create an image that illustrates the main point of your post. Add a headline right to the image, so when it is pinned, viewers will know exactly what it links to without having to read the description. The optimal width for a Pinterest image is 600px (don’t go below 110px), but if that is too wide for your site layout, add the image at 600px, but resize the display to fit. Make sure to give your image a title and alt text that make a great description because many Pinterest browser add-ons grab this information and publish them as a default description. Think, “How to get more people to read blog posts” rather than, “Picture of person reading.” You can also include the URL to your post in the title or alt text, giving more opportunity for people to visit your blog.
#5 Edit Carefully
Review your post for proper grammar and ease of reading.
#6 Share Your Blog Posts on Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus and Pinterest – and others
Have you tried sharing your content on StumbleUpon or Digg, Reddit, or maybe a specialty site? Some bloggers report great traffic from there.
Have you tried Google Plus Communities yet? They can be a great place to share content with other industry experts. LinkedIn Groups are good places to share.
#7 Make it Easy for People to Subscribe to Your Blog
There are a few blogs whose posts I NEVER want to miss. I’ve subscribed to receive emails from them whenever a new post is added. Why not make that option available on your site as well (I just did)? Also, try inviting them at the end of a blog post – this has worked in me!
#8 Reference Your Past Blog Posts and Those of Others
Someone linked to my blog post – so I went and read theirs, too!
Have you written a blog post that would provide additional information on your current topic? Link to it in the body of the text and in “Related Articles” at the end. Link to other people’s blog posts. Many blog owners choose to receive notification when someone links to their blog post, so chances are, they will check out your site if you link to them.
#9 Guest Blogging
Write for other blogs in exchange for a link back to your own site. Invite others to write for you. You can bet they will publicize their guest post! This has worked very nicely for us.
#10 Don’t Give Up!
It takes time to generate traffic from your content, so don’t be discouraged. Keep writing. Ask others in your industry for their honest assessment of your site and your content.
Continue reading here: Five Reasons Why You Need a Mobile Website Now!
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