How to Increase Blog Traffic for Free (9 Surprising Ways)
If you’re trying to Increase Blog Traffic, search engines are only going to get you so far. Fortunately, there are lots of other tactics that can be just as effective when it comes to increasing your site traffic and building a loyal audience that sticks around for the long term. In this guide, you’ll learn about 9 strategies you can use to increase your blog traffic for free, including guest posting on other blogs, sharing original content with social media networks, and reaching out to prominent bloggers within your niche.
1. Keyword Research
Keyword research should be a top priority when you’re thinking about increasing your blog traffic for free. It’s important to know what people are searching for in relation to your content. To do that, keyword research is essential. For example, if I were writing a post on how to use social media marketing in your business, I would look up keywords like social media marketing and marketing with social media or something like that.
Keyword research is essential for all content, whether it’s a video, audio or even a written post. The first thing you should do when you sit down to write is to make sure that you know what people are searching for in relation to your content.
If you are a beginner, I will advise you to utilize free keyword research tools to get more knowledge before paying for expensive ones. Here are The 10 Best Free Keyword Research Tools
2. Write Compelling Titles
It may sound obvious, but titles are important. Make sure you have one. Make sure it has your keyword in it. Most importantly, make sure people can tell what they’re going to get when they click on your post. For example, 10 Steps to Increase Traffic is better than Steps.
People want steps because they want help–even if a particular step doesn’t apply to them–so tell them explicitly what you’re going to offer and use that in your title. The more descriptive your title is, the more likely people will read it and click through; remember: people see hundreds of titles every day and yours needs a hook or people won’t give you their time.
Short headlines are better. According to a study by OkDork, your headline should be 25 characters or less. This is primarily because they’re easier to read and catch people’s attention—so use as few words as possible in your headlines. According to Quicksprout, 80% of readers won’t click past headlines with more than 7 words so try and keep it under that number! The shorter your title is, and the more concise it is in communicating its contents—the more likely it will get clicks.
You can make use of Headline Generator to get the best titles for your content.
3. Optimize your images with alt text
Alt text gives search engines a description of what an image is and helps visitors who can’t or don’t want to see images in your content (for example, screen readers for visually impaired people). Alt text also lets you give viewers tips on how to act on your image. For example, Click here or Find out more. Don’t try too hard though—optimizing your alt text is less about making it keyword rich and more about making it clear and helpful. SEO copywriting will help you with that!
4. Optimize your blog posts with SEO
It’s important that your posts are easy for readers to find. One of your primary goals as a blogger is to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs). How you go about doing that depends on whether you want short-term or long-term results, and what kind of content you’re publishing.
It’s not difficult, but there are lots of moving parts—so it’s important to have a plan and be deliberate about implementation. In other words, if you want more people to read your content right now (short-term), post on popular keywords. If you’re looking for more long-term results (traffic), focus on boosting brand recognition with well-researched topic ideas and quality writing.
5. Get others to share your content
You might think that getting more shares is something you do once when you initially post. However, you should be looking for ways to gain new social media followers on a regular basis. One way is through sharing other people’s content (and then tagging them).
While it might not seem like much at first, if you consistently share others’ content and tag them in your own posts, then they will notice and begin following your updates. When that happens, your posts will appear more frequently in their feeds. So take some time each day to search for interesting articles online and share them with your followers using hashtags specific to their interests—but don’t forget to also tag them!
Here are some other ways you can increase Blog Traffic: If you have a Pinterest profile, be sure to pin posts from your own site. This will help with your rank in Google and give you more exposure. Also, include pin-it buttons on all images on your site so visitors can easily share your content on social media.
If you don’t have a Pinterest account, set one up and be sure to include a link at the bottom of every post. A growing number of people are turning to Pinterest for news and information about new products, services, and trends in their fields of interest – so get involved!
6. Guest Post on sites related to your niche
One of the best ways to increase your traffic is to guest post on other blogs in your niche. While it can take time, you’ll find that people who like what you have written will start following your content and eventually check out what else you have written. This means more visitors in the coming months. So be sure when posting on other sites, you include a brief bio that includes links back to your site so they can learn more about you.
Also, if you are going to write on someone else’s site, make sure you have their permission. Not only is it illegal otherwise, but it’s considered bad form in your industry. You don’t want anyone thinking you are a spammer or that you can’t be trusted.
Remember: even though there are tons of sites online that allow guest posts, not all of them do, and certainly not for every niche! So be sure to check which ones will let your post on board before sending an email asking for that opportunity. You can also try creating a How-To … series with photos showing step-by-step how something works or how to solve a problem.
7. Do a Giveaway
A great way to increase your traffic for free is by doing giveaways. If you have a small following, it may be a good idea to start off with a small giveaway and see how many people enter. You can then use that information on what type of giveaway will do well for your site.
As for what you should give away, think about products you know will appeal to your readers and offer something of value to them. It may also be a good idea to ask others what they would like as an entry in order to get different ideas! At any rate, word-of-mouth is always effective so if you run out of ideas after one or two giveaways, try asking your followers directly!
8. Ask people what they want in a comment section
I’m sure you noticed that a lot of bloggers will often ask their readers what questions they want to be answered or what their thoughts are on a specific topic. This is because it gives readers a sense of agency and accomplishment and makes them feel more like part of your community.
Asking for people’s thoughts and opinions is an easy way to do just that. Here are a few examples: How can I improve my site? What kinds of topics would you like me to write about? What advice would you give someone in your shoes right now? What should I be talking about in my next post/video/podcast? What have been some of your favourite posts/videos/podcasts so far?
9. Be willing to try new things
Whether you’re trying new ad networks, tools, or techniques, it’s important to be willing to take a few shots on goal in order for one of them to go in. If you don’t try anything new, your traffic will never increase and your reader engagement will be stagnant.
Be willing to try out new things that could help improve your site, even if you aren’t sure how well they will work. There is no reason in waiting until everything is perfect; instead, focus on something specific and move forward with it. It might not lead anywhere, but something else may come up and surprise you along the way!
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Final Thought
If you’re just starting out as a blogger, or you’re feeling stuck and need some fresh ideas, consider trying out one of these ideas for yourself. You might be surprised at how easily you can come up with your own compelling titles that really drive interest and engagement from your target audience.
And remember, don’t get too hung up on writing perfectly—this is meant to be an experiment! Some of these suggestions will work better than others (that’s okay!), but it doesn’t matter: they all have something to teach you about connecting with your audience through more compelling writing titles. Enjoy!
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