Get Traffic To Your Blog in 2019
When running a website or a blog, the question that gets asked more than anything else is how to generate more traffic. This doesn’t have to be a daunting task and with these handy tips, you’ ll be well on your way to creating tidal waves of traffic to your website.
There are many ways to increase your blog traffic, and while some may seem obvious, I will provide you with a detailed breakdown of each one.
1. Content is King
Create content which really helps your visitors. Content is king in attracting readers who will come back to your website for more. This helps establish your reputation as a thought leader and innovator in your field.
2. Create Great Headlines for Your Articles
Great headlines drive traffic and encourage visitors to click to read more. Using a headline formula is the key to creating effective headlines that appeal to your visitors.
3. Create 10x Content
Create content which is 10 times better than your competition. This will distinguish yourself as a leader in your niche.
4. Set a Writing Schedule and Stick to It
To gain more exposure to your content, you might have to be prolific. Visitors will get used to the consistency in your writing schedule when visiting your website.
5. Write List Posts
Writing a list post is a sure-fire means of getting visitors to your website. List posts are popular in the blogosphere and have great potential for going viral.
6. Link to Your Older Content
Linking to your older content reminds visitors that despite the date on the post, the content doesn’t lose its relevancy. Recycling older posts often provides new visitors with relevant information, so they don’t have to go digging through your website’s archives.
7. Interview Experts in Your Niche
Email those who are considered experts in your niche. This shows visitors that your website is a trusted source and encourages the expert interviewed to share your content with his or her audience.
8. Create How-To Articles
There are always people on the internet searching for the best way to accomplish their goals. Creating how-to articles show your visitors that you are an expert in your target niche, and it helps you become a trusted source for information.
9. Link Out to Your Sources Generously
If you want to get noticed by those whose opinions you value, don’t be afraid to mention their expertise. Let them know. Send a short email to everyone mentioned in your article.
10. Use Relevant Keywords
If you are trying to attract an audience for a specific niche, research the keywords necessary to get the targeted traffic you want.
I created the most detailed guide on how to use Google’s free keyword research tool – Keyword Planner. Doing keyword research helps you get the traffic you want so that you can give the visitors what they want.
11. Use SEO
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is an important part of digital marketing. You can learn more about it from my extensive post about the 116 SEO Myths. You should also check my extensive WordPress SEO guide.
12. Use Proper Spelling and Grammar in Your Articles
This may seem obvious, but many visitors skip over content that uses poor spelling or grammar. Poor grammar and spelling are bad for your website and create speed bumps for your visitors, slowing them down.
13. Use Visual Content (Pictures and Videos)
Articles that contain many pictures and some videos increase stickiness on your website. Adding visual media increases readership.
14. Allow Others to Guest Blog on Your Website
Allowing those in your niche to guest blog creates a double audience for your content. Guest blogging adds value to someone else’s website while building relationships with other writers.
15. Guest Blog On Top Industry Blogs
Guest blogging is a great way to get more traffic and backlinks to your blog. It is one of the most effective tactics to grow your blog on a low budget.
15. Write a Round-Up Post
Round-up posst are a great way to connect with industry influencers who will help you to create content faster.
16. Enable Website Comments and Reply to All of Them
Make sure that your blog comments are enabled so that visitors can leave their opinions on your articles.
Blog comments allow the readers to share their voice or questions, thus encouraging them to come back for updates on the conversation.
Stay engaged by replying to comments because it lets the visitor know that you are paying attention and care about the words they’ve shared.
17. Always Reply to Visitor Correspondence and Questions
If visitors reach out to you via blog comments, email or any other method, always take the time necessary to give them a reply.
Replying connects you with visitors and keeps them engaged. It also gives you interesting content to tackle in the future, thus creating more traffic.
19. Hold a Contest or Giveaway on Your Website
Create a contest or giveaway on your website encourages visitors to read and share the contest post. You could offer money, product or services. If you can afford to give anything you can contact companies or bloggers and asked them to sponsor your giveaway with free product or service.
20. Use Videos to Keep Users on Your Website Longer
Using videos on your website is a good way to keep visitors on your website longer. However, don’t place a video in the content without explanation.
Create a short text version of the video. Drive traffic with how-to videos or videos you’ve produced yourself
21. Study Your Current Traffic Stats
Your traffic stats should not be a mystery to you. Learning how visitors landed on your website helps you figure out what works for your readership, and you want to continue what works, right?
One of the best free tools to help you in the process is Google Analytics.
22. Keep Track of Your Traffic in an Excel Spreadsheet
Create a spreadsheet that details dates and content that generated the most traffic. Keeping track can offer you ideas on marketing products that turn visitors into sales.
23. Add Your Article Links to Wikipedia as Sources
If your website is considered a reputable authority, you can add your source link to Wikipedia. Wikipedia is the most visited content source in the world and it offers unbiased information.
24. Bold Certain Words or Phrases in Your Content
In the content creation process, bolding certain words or phrases immediately draw the visitor’s eyes to those particular words.
While there is no evidence that using bolding or italics affects your website’s SEO, it does make the content easily consumable by your visitors. Who wouldn’t want content that is easy to read?
25. Always Write a Call to Action in Articles
At the end of each post or article, create a call to action that begs readers to reply in the comments. Well executed calls to action create a sense of urgency in the visitor, making them follow your instructions.
26. Seek Out Referral Traffic
If you have proven your website to be a leader in your niche, then others will link to your content because it’s useful and relevant. Create awesome content and you will get backlinks from many big and reputable websites and blogs which will bring referral traffic.
27. Repurpose Your Content
Create a podcast, slideshow, infographic or e-book based on your content. When you repurpose your content to a new format for listeners or readers, you can reach a new audience for your website.
28. Share Your Content on Facebook
Share your content on Facebook, but make sure to include a relevant photo with the link. Share interesting tips, tools, and news along with a call to action that leads visitors to your website.
29. Create a Facebook Page
Creating a Facebook page is essential to your website’s traffic. Posts on pages that contain photos or video are considered more valuable in the newsfeed and will remain longer.
30. Encourage Others to Share Your Content on Facebook
Ask family members or friends to share your content with their friends on Facebook. This increases the reach of your content and increases your overall website traffic. You should also ask for shares at the end of your article.
31. Run a Facebook Poll
Create a question that you will pose to your readers on Facebook. If the question is compelling or controversial, people will share it on their timelines.
32. Run a Facebook Contest and Reward Those Who Share Your Content
Running a contest on Facebook increases traffic and offers the ability to collect email addresses. Fans can subscribe to an email list while sharing your post, which generates more traffic.
33. Add Social Sharing Buttons to Your Website
Readers don’t want to copy and paste your links into their favorite social media website, so make the process easier for them by including social sharing buttons on your website.
The easier it is to share, the more shares you will receive and that equals more traffic.
34. Get More Facebook and Twitter Followers
Create a sentence or two that encourages readers to like your page on Facebook or follow you on Twitter.
Copy this text into the bottom of each article to get social media interaction.
This is a tried and true method of pulling readers into your circle to dispense even more content to them on a wider array of channels.
Example: If you found this blog post useful, follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
35. Ask for Re-Tweets When Sharing Content on Twitter
When you share content that is awesome, there is no harm in asking for your Twitter followers to re-tweet your message.
Using the words: Please re-tweet in Twitter messages garners FOUR times the number of re-tweets. Don’t be afraid to ask; it helps to widen your audience.
36. Use Quora to Answer Questions and Include Website Links
Quora is a question and answer website. If you are an authority in your niche, browse questions and answer them, while including a link back to your website in the process when it is appropriate.
This also works for placing your website address in your profile so that those who see it may visit your website to learn more about you and the information you provide.
This Quora marketing guide is useful in reaching the website’s 6.5 million monthly visitors.
37. Share Articles to Twitter Using the Proper Hashtags
Using hashtags on Twitter helps users find your content which leads to more traffic. Even those who don’t follow you on Twitter can see the content created when they search a specific hashtag.
38. Direct Tweet to Influencers
Send direct tweets to influencers in your niche. Chances are good that if the content is valuable, these influencers will share it with their followers.
39. Share Articles to LinkedIn
Share relevant articles to LinkedIn to generate quality traffic from the website’s 414 million users. Begin with completing your profile, build connection post status updates and join groups relevant to your niche.
40. Add Your Website’s URL to Your Twitter Profile
Use the space in your Twitter profile to share a link to your website. Your Twitter followers might follow the link to learn more about your business.
41. Add Your Website’s URL to Your Instagram Account
Similarly to Twitter, Instagram provides a space to put a link in your profile. Use this space to put your URL in or a link to a blog post that you’re especially proud of.
42. Add a Link to Your Skype Status
If you spend a lot of time using Skype, place a link in your status to give those you speak with a reminder to check your website for updates. It’s wise to use any space that websites give you to promote your website or brand.
43. Add Your Link to Your Pinterest Profile
Let your Pinterest followers know where you conduct your business by including your website’s URL in your profile. You can also include your web address in every description when adding photos to the website.
44. Start Your Own Podcast
Make a list of influencers in your niche and interview them on a podcast. Staying persistent in the promotion of your podcast will grow your audience and website visitors.
45. Create a Quiz to Increase Reader Engagement
Websites like Qzzr allow you to create and embed a quiz into your website. The longer the visitor remains on your website, the more likely they are to share your content.
46. Share Video Content on YouTube
Videos are a great way to get your message across to visitors while keeping them glued to your brand. Be sure to include a link to your website in the video’s description to send traffic back your way.
47. Share Content with LinkedIn Groups
Join groups on LinkedIn and expand your audience by sharing your content. Getting your content seen is the key to generating traffic while providing valuable information.
48. Share Your Content on Google+
While Google+ might not seem like it’s the most popular social media website, it does have quite the following of users. Learn how to drive traffic from Google+ with this handy guide by Ankit Kumar Singla.
49. Update Your Google+ Profile with a Website Link
In your Google+ profile, include a link back to your website. For every view or follower you have on the service, the chances are greater that they visit your website.
50. Share to Communities on Google+
Find communities on Google+ that are in your niche and share your content with them.
51. Share Posts that Contain Images to Pinterest for Maximum Effect
Posts that contain a few images are guaranteed to bring in traffic if shared on Pinterest. The website caters to an image loving audience, so why not cultivate a post that caters to them?
With 100 million users, it’s hard to ignore Pinterest. According to Jeff Bullas, 88% percent of people have purchased items they’ve pinned. That sends traffic that converts to sales.
52. Share Articles in Photos on Instagram
Instagram doesn’t allow users to share links to articles, but you can create photos that instruct followers on how to reach your website.
53. Use Periscope
If you haven’t heard of Periscope, now is the time to get started using this service. It allows you to connect with your audience using live video.
54. Create Custom Infographics
Infographics are a great way to get people to read your website. Share Infographics on social media along with a link back to your website so they can learn more about your business and the content that you offer.
Use a service like Canva to create a great infographic that is likely to be shared. If you are short of time or skills, you can find great freelancers on Fiverr and get stunning infographics for $10-30
55. Use Twitter Chats to Get Targeted Traffic
Twitter chats are found by using a specific hashtag that is relevant to your business. If a user posts a question that is relevant to your content, share a link, but don’t forget to use the proper hashtag in order to be seen.
56. Start a Twitter Chat
If you can’t seem to find a Twitter chat relevant to your business, then start one. This provides a great way to engage with followers and those seeking information in your niche.
57. Comment on Others Websites
Commenting on the websites of others usually allows for a spot where you can share your website’s URL. Use this space to share your website or the URL of a post of which you’re especially proud.
58. Share Others Content if it’s Useful and Interesting
To show your followers that you don’t only care about self-promotion, be sure to share useful content created by others. This shows that you are a trusted source of information. You can get a chunk of traffic if you use Sniply.
59. End Blog Posts with a Question
Ending your blog posts with a question encourages your visitors to comment. When they come back to further the discussion, it creates more pageviews for you.
60. Follow the People that Twitter Recommends
When logging into Twitter, the service offers up the handles for those it recommends for you to follow.
If you follow these people, there is always a chance that they might follow you back. Those who follow you back provide you with an extra audience that sees your content.
61. Follow the Followers of Influential People in Your Niche
Check out the followers who follow the influential people in the same niche as your website. These people are more likely to share your content if they share similar interests (and they do!)
62. Share Your Posts on StumbleUpon
Stumble every post that you create on StumbleUpon. This puts your content into a specific category for those looking to discover certain content types.
63. Submit Useful Posts to Reddit Sparingly
Submission to Reddit is a double-edged sword. Use this tactic sparingly because the users on the website may come to know that you are seeking traffic.
Tip: Have a thick skin when reading comments on any postings but don’t be afraid to be controversial.
64. Outreach to Other Bloggers
Reaching out is one of the most effective tactics to spread the word about your content. It also helps you to build connections and benefit even more in the long run.
Reach out to other bloggers in your niche and make an agreement to share content. Getting more links is the key to getting more eyes on your content.
65. Submit Your Website’s URL to Google and Bing’s Webmaster Tools
Utilize Google to diagnose and repair any errors found on your website. Not only can you improve your website, but you can also find out the search terms visitors used to access your website.
66. Include Your Website’s URL in Your Email Signature
Use the area in your email’s signature to create a link to your website. Whenever you contact another person or business, they will see your website.
67. Use Forums to Get Traffic
Locate forums relevant to your niche and offer any articles relevant to threads created there. This sends traffic to your website from those interested in learning more about you or your business.
68. Spy on Your Competition
Find Their Link Sources and keywords they get traffic from Google. You can use tools like Ahrefs to check their backlinks and SEMrush to find their keywords.
69. Use a WordPress Plugin to Share Related Posts in Every Article
Gain more visibility for older posts automatically by installing a WordPress plugin that shares related posts at the end of each new post.
70. Create a Slack Team
A Slack team consists of a community of people interested in the same topics. Create a Slack team and invite the community members to share content that you are proud of.
71. Host a Reddit AMA
If you are an expert in your field, then you have value to add to a Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything) session.
72. Use an Email Auto-Responder
If you go on vacation, you may not be available to answer questions or other emails from your readers.
73. Get Your Website Listed in Google News
If your content is based around a news cycle, then you should consider submission into Google News. Follow Google’s guidelines to learn more.
74. Use HARO to Gain Visitors
HARO (Help a Reporter Out) offers the ability to be interviewed if you are considered a source of valuable information.
75. Go on Television (Local Public Access or Other Channels)
Taking a spot on a local public access channel can put your face in front of people who are interested in your website or service.
76. Create Business Cards
You don’t have to be online in order to get readers to visit your website. Pass out business cards that contain your URL. Ask friends or family members to do the same and leave cards where they can be seen (bulletin boards, inside books, etc.)
77. Create Merchandise that Contains Your URL
Create a coffee mug or hat that contains your website’s URL. Whenever you leave the house, you become a walking free advertisement for your own business.
78. Host a Workshop to Educate People with Your Expertise
Host an in-person workshop if you feel that you’re an authority in your niche. This allows you to educate those who look to you for advice and it encourages readership.
79. Host a Conference to Share Your Knowledge
Similar to hosting a workshop, hosting a conference is a great way to get the word out to larger crowds about your website. Prepare for any speaking engagements by creating an outline of points to talk about.
80. Start or Attend a Blogger Meetup
Starting and/or attending a blogger meetup puts you front and center with bloggers like yourself. Use this opportunity to talk about your niche and create networking opportunities.
81. Create Branded T-Shirts and Give Them Away
Use a t-shirt designer services such as Spreadshirt.com to create a branded t-shirt design. Wear your t-shirts and give them away to visitors for free advertisements.
82. Offer a Free Product or Service
Visitors love free stuff and will continue to return to your website if a product or service is provided free of charge. Giving away a small service or low-cost item can boost web traffic and get others to link to your website.
83. Do Company or Product Reviews
Reviewing companies or products in your niche can amount to increasing your expertise on these items. If you’re considered an expert, visitors will count on you for your honesty and will return to your blog.
84. Post a List of Jobs on Your Website
If you have any positions available to work for your website or business, create a WordPress page that aids in listing the available positions. WP Job Manager plugin offers the functionality of posting jobs as well as letting your visitors do the same.
85. Create a Forum to Gain Reader Engagement
Use a forum using bbPress – to create a forum that you can increase reader’s engagement. The longer visitors interact with one another, the better for increased traffic and pageviews.
86. Offer Awards to Bloggers
Make a list of people in your niche and rate them about certain achievements. Give them a blog award to flatter their egos.
Everyone likes to be recognized and creating an award that you give to others is a great way to get the word out about your website. Bonus points if you create a graphic that can be used as a badge for other bloggers.
87. Submit Your Website to Aggregators
Submitting your URL to various aggregators like to receive a surge in traffic.
88. Create an E-Book and List it on Amazon
Repurpose content from your website into e-book format and list it on Amazon. Be sure to include your website’s URL in the first ten pages so that readers can see it when they preview your book.
89. Be on FourSquare or Yelp
Yelp and FourSquare want to know your physical address, but you can also include information on your website. This is especially useful if you offer a physical product or service.
90. Buy an Established Newsletter or Email List
A site in your niche that is no longer active may have an established newsletter or email list. Contact the business owner to see if you can purchase their email list in order to offer his or her former customers some fresh content.
91. Allow Other Websites to Syndicate Your Content
Allowing other websites (especially those in your niche) to syndicate your content gets your blog posts in front of fresh eyes.
92. Repurpose Content for Use on Medium or Similar Websites
You can create shorter versions of your best content and publish them to popular platforms like Medium. Put a link to your original article at the end.
93. Create a Wikipedia Page for Your Website or Yourself
Creating a Wikipedia page for yourself or your website increases your reputation as an influencer in your niche. Use the page to link back to your website and detail your knowledge on the niche.
94. Create an Affiliate Program to Sell Your Products
An affiliate program puts other people to work for you, but benefits both parties if the product or service sells.
95. Create an App for Your Website or Business Extensionizr
If you possess app development knowledge, your branding will benefit if you can create an app for your website. To do so, try a website like App Institute (appinstitute.com) in order to create something useful.
If you don’t possess the knowledge or have the time, hire a freelancer on Upwork to do the work in app creation.
96. Create a WordPress Theme and Include a Footer Link
If you possess the knowledge to create a WordPress theme, you can get free advertising by including a link in the footer to your website.
Those who review WordPress themes will be happy to link back to the source, generating, even more, traffic.
97. Optimize Your Website for Mobile Users
Most visitors will pass up your website if it is not optimized for smartphones. WordPress plugins such as WPTouch offer the ease of use in making your website responsive. Google has also stated that mobile optimization is the key to getting better search rankings.
98. Follow Various Twitter Users
If you follow various users on Twitter, the chances are good that they will follow you back. A small percentage will return the favor, but it still gets your content in front of new eyes.
99. Link to Older Posts on Social Media
When using your social media accounts, share links to older content to move traffic around. This is especially useful for content that doesn’t get old.
100. Search Niche Related Forums for Relevant Content
To keep visitors returning to your website, you must get a good grasp of the type of information they seek. Find relevant forums in your niche to read and take away any ideas that could make for great blog posts.
101. Ask Your Readers What They Want to Read
Ask your current visitors what they would like to see covered on your website. In doing so, you show them that you care about their opinions and it keeps them coming back for more.
102. Create a Browser Extension
Using a website like Extensionizr.com, you can create an extension for use with the Chrome browser. If your website has a product that is something users need to access quickly and easily, use this service to remind visitors to return to your website.
103. Create Content That is Your Expertise
As the old saying goes; go with what you know. If you create content, make sure that it is a topic of which you’re very familiar.
Your readers will understand if you write about something you don’t know well.
104. Credit Others for Their Images and Ideas
Link out to those of whom you’ve used their images or ideas. It is always a good practice to share the link love and in doing so, it encourages others to do the same.
105. Create a Youtube Channel
Youtube is the 3rd most visited website in the world. If you can create quality videos you could launch your own Youtube Channel and direct traffic to your blog.
106. Create a Widget or Badge
Use Canva or some other image editor to create a widget or badge for others to use on their websites. Use HTML to embed the widget onto the websites of others, thus creating a backlink for your website. It is very important to use a no-follow link to your website from this widget.
107. Affect Visitors Emotionally
If you know how to pull at someone’s heartstrings or cause a debate, then do so. Be controversial in your headlines and articles. This can trigger big discussions and build user engagement
108. Share and Ask for Opinions
When you create great content, sometimes you find that there is an already existing article out there that deserves your point of view. Instead of leaving a comment, link to the article and create your own post with your opinion. In the end, survey your readers for their opinions.
109. Study Competitors Content
Learn from the best content of your competitors. Check which articles get the most comments and social signals. You can check social signals count with Ahrefs Content Explorer or Epictions.com.
Setup Google Alerts in order to find industry-specific keywords for fresh content ideas to cover on your website. Google will notify you when the terms come up in news articles so that you can create your own article with your own point of view.
116. Don’t Ignore Negative Website Comments
People usually don’t leave negative comments on your website if they don’t care about the type of content you create. Pay attention to the negative remarks and remedy any errors on your part.
117. Don’t Be Afraid to Build Great Links
Even the best content needs some promotion. For starters contact anyone who is mentioned in your post. You can also check your competition links and try to contact bloggers who link to them.
118. Try Newsjacking
Not sure what Newsjacking is? Don’t worry, you’re not alone. The good news is that it is a legal way to use trends to increase brand awareness for your website.
119. Get Testimonials for Your Product or Service
Testimonials tell future buyers that your website is useful in the products it offers. This is basically first-hand experience from other visitors who sell your website for you.
120. Offer Online Games
When visitors come to an online game that is fun and entertaining, the chances are good that they will share the website where they found the game. If your website is sticky, visitors will stick around longer and even bookmark your site for future visits.
122. Create an Online Petition
Creating an online petition shows visitors that there are causes you care about. If your website is related to something that could affect social change, you can use Change.org to start a petition. If visitors find your cause worthy, they will share it with others.
123. Meme Customization
Hire a developer who can create a tool that allows visitors to generate and customize memes. You can also use a blog plugin. Think about I Can Have Cheezburger and the customizations it offers. It sounds like catching lightning in a bottle, but it can be a fun experience for your visitors, leading them to come back for more.
124. Live Blog Events in Your Niche
Live blogging is when you update your content in real-time for events that are happening in your niche. Coveritlive.com is a great tool in live blogging events so that your visitors can follow along with the action.