Blogging, Encouragement & Productivity

4 Ways to Maximize Blog Traffic

January 29, 2020

It’s true that one of the hardest parts about blogging is building a loyal audience. Another difficult thing, however, is getting people to actually visit your site in the first place.

It’s been a while since I’ve sat down to go over some practicalities that come with blogging: namely gaining views, maximizing traffic, and creating a platform for your target audience. Without further ado, let’s get to it.

1. Word of mouth

Word of mouth is super important when you’re just getting started with your blog. If you’re new to the blogging world and you don’t have an audience yet, the first few people you should ask are the people closest to you. Not all of them are going to be regulars on your blog. Not all of them will even remember that you have a blog. But there will be some who stay because they enjoy your content or simply because they love you — and those are the people who matter.

So yeah. Just go and talk to people, and you might be pleasantly surprised. (Hint: if you can readily recite your domain name or have cards with your domain name on it, that’s helpful. Otherwise, texting the link is fairly effective as well.)

2. Social media

In order to build your audience, you’ll want to spread your content all over sites that your target audience might be on. I currently use Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest to promote my weekly blog posts, but I have a larger focus on Instagram simply because I like the platform and I enjoy interacting with the people there.

When it comes to social media marketing, don’t create profiles on every social media site you know. That’s going to overwhelm you, and before you know it, you’ll be abandoning many of these websites. Instead, start small. If you’re already familiar with Twitter, use that. If you like Instagram, use that.

Another thing to keep in mind when deciding to build an online platform is your target audience. If your content is mostly aimed at women, try Pinterest. If your audience is relatively young (millennials and below), try Instagram. Do your research and see which types of social media people use today.

3. Blog hopping

I cannot stress how important blog hopping is. In my earlier days, I did not do this — rather, I waited for others to come find my site. DON’T BE LIKE ME. In the blogging community, it’s extremely important to create connections with other bloggers.

What you need to do is go to your favorite bloggers’ sites (in your niche) and leave a comment on one of their blog posts. Be sincere. While you’re there, look through the other people who’ve left comments on their site. Click through those peoples’ profiles and check out their sites. If you like what they have to offer, tell them yourself in a comment.

Leaving comments on other peoples’ blogs means that other bloggers will find out you exist. They’ll maybe even hop over to your site and leave a comment. The key is that you have to be genuine. You have to be sincere. You have to want to give more than you want to receive back, because that is exactly what is going to happen. Making one solid friendship with a blogger who will regularly check up on you is a far better gain than fifty strangers who click on a post, read it, then forget about you entirely.

4. Guest posting

I don’t guest post much (read: at all), but I’m planning to improve that at some point in time. Guest posting on someone else’s site — especially if they’re more influential than you — is a surefire way to drop in a shameless self-promo. If a regular reader from the site you guest post on likes your content, they’re likely to check out your blog and see what you have to offer. The result? You’ll get more views on your site and the possibility of a new subscriber.

That’s all for now!

How do you market your content and maximize your blog traffic? Do you think that there’s a ‘most effective’ way to gain more viewers?

Let me know in the comments below!

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Germaine Han