The blogosphere is a vast and ever-growing medium that can be used to reach a large audience. But, building a loyal fan base and getting consistent traffic is not always easy. If you’ve found yourself stagnating, then you’re likely thinking that you’re doing something wrong, and that needs to change.
Most times, these issues are only small changes that you have to make. But, they can cause ripples that lead to increased blog traffic in the future. With careful planning and execution, you can grow your blog’s traffic and reach new heights in 2022.
To help you along, here are some tips on how to grow a blog and increase blog traffic in the coming year.
Plan a Content Strategy
When it comes to blogging, your best friend is going to be your content. The readers are coming onto your site to read what you have to say. You need to give them a reason to keep coming back to the site. So, your content needs to be engaging, current, and to the point.
But, you also need to keep Search Engine Optimization (SEO) in mind. It’s all well and good to create awesome content, but you also need to ensure that like-minded people are able to find that content on the internet. The only way to do this is by focusing on your SEO.
You may already have a content plan in mind, but if you haven’t done proper keyword research, you should scrap that idea and start again. Here are the steps you need to take:
- Identify your target audience and what you like to write about. Using these create a list of potential topics.
- You can then use a keyword research tool to find the most popular keywords in your target area. For SEO purposes, you should choose keywords that have a high enough search volume and low search difficulty.
- Create content around the keywords that you find through this method. For example, if you’re writing about the latest technologies in the B2B field, you could find popular keywords related to the latest tech and form an article around each of the relevant keywords.
By optimizing your content to a keyword, you are opening your blog up to Google’s standards which means that your blog will be shown to more people who are searching for those similar keywords. And if you focus on the more popular keywords, you are giving yourself more potential to find new readers.
Don’t underestimate the boost SEO can give your blog. You will most likely not see any results in the first few months, but given time and consistency, there is no reason for your blog not to see increased traffic levels as a result. This is one of the best tips to grow blog traffic for beginners, and you should focus on this area if nothing else for the next few months.
Always Provide More Context and Information
In the past, a blog used to be simply words on a screen. But, they have since evolved to meet the new user standards. Simple black and white don’t cut it anymore in the online world. There need to be extra elements on a blog to entice users to keep coming back to it.
Think of it this way. Users who search online aren’t always aware of what exactly they are looking for. They have a question and are looking for answers. And sometimes, simply reading the answer to a blog is not going to be enough. They may need visual proof or a video walkthrough to get a better understanding of the subject.
For example, a user may be searching for the best way to put up Christmas lights. You can blog about it explaining in detail the decorations they need to purchase and where they need to hang them. But, a video tutorial would be a better way to convey this information. So, instead, you could write the blog, but also include a video for visual learners and those who want quick information.
It’s as simple as learning how to record your screen on your laptop or using a digital camera to capture footage, then editing those videos to match the style of your blog. It may mean a little extra work on your end, but you will start to see the payoff in a few months.
Use WebPush Notifications Effectively
How quickly can you grow a blog with the content alone? It could take months, sometimes years. It’s not a fast process and you’ll have to learn to be patient. But, that doesn’t mean you need to sit on your hind legs and wait for something to happen. You can still use marketing tools and other strategies to help your content become more visible.
One such tool that many bloggers are still sleeping on is WebPush notifications. Web push notifications are a relatively new delivery mechanism that has been growing in popularity in the past few years. They use cloud-based technology to send notifications directly to a mobile device or computer. They are a great way to communicate with your users and are also great for fetching updates or notifications when the user is not online.
Using this tool, you can keep your readers updated when you upload new content. Or it can even remind your reader to come back to a blog piece that they left half finished. Your blog will not be dependent on the attention spans of your readers (which in general is quite low). These notifications have been shown to greatly improve engagement rates and returning visitors.
Though these tools aren’t free, they also aren’t expensive and can help bridge the gap between your content and your readers.
Not every blog will be a success. You will need a working combination of engaging content and effective promotion tactics to ensure that you get a steady stream of quality blog visitors. And don’t fret. Almost every blogger at some point faces the problem of increasing traffic to their blog. Spend some time testing out some strategies. You won’t know what works until you try them!