7 Powerful Tips for How to Get More Traffic With Your Blog

How to Get More Traffic With Your Blog

Few things are more important for a niche website owner or blogger than traffic. Knowing how to get more traffic with your blog is an essential ingredient of online marketing success and sales generation. We know it’s about quickly grabbing the attention of your readers, sparking curiosity, and keeping them engaged.

But how?

Use these 7 techniques to get more eyes viewing your content and also sharing your posts through social media.

How to Get More Traffic With Your Blog

1.  Write Irresistible Headlines

Your readers are seeking information, right? Naturally, you’ve written an article around a keyword phrase that many people are searching for. But how will they react when they spot your title? Does it have a persuasive impact that grabs readers’ attention and encourages searchers to click through and read what’s inside?

Or is it….boring?

Use power words in your headline like “effective” or “powerful” and words that evoke emotion such as “valuable” or A Plus Headline Rating


“attractive”. “How to” is another example of an emotional word and is always a great addition to a headline. Many studies have shown that few people can resist the allure of this phrase. Infuse your title with words like “you” or “your” to convey a personal touch. Include numbers or percentages to increase the appeal of your headline.

The best resource I have ever encountered on this subject is Jon Morrow’s “Headline Hacks.” This free e-book lays out time-tested headline formulas that have been catching readers eyes for decades. Blog Post Headline Analyzer is another exceptional resource (also free) that you can use to improve the overall impact of your titles and encourage both click-throughs and social sharing.

2. Write Compelling Content Peppered With the Word “Because”

Is it possible to overemphasize the fact that readers are searching for answers and solutions to problems? I really don’t think so! Our mission is to be their “go to” source for all relevant inquiries.  Compelling content holds out the promise of thorough solutions and implementation guidance.

Why use the word “because”?

This is a power word that belongs in your writer’s toolbox because it typically precedes a longer explanation or rationale. Let’s look at an example. If I were to ask a group of my readers, “Why do you want to work online at home?“, I might hear one of the following responses.

Work At Home Online

In each instance above, the word “because” is a prelude to clarification of an issue and additional information whose impact is undeniable. Readers are looking for expansive coverage of a topic, and they anticipate that expansiveness when they spot the word “because.” According to Copywriting 101 by Copyblogger, because is one of the top 5 most persuasive words.

3. Create Posts With Lists

A listing essentially streamlines information and spoon-feeds it to readers in easily digestible chunks. Try ideas such as:

  • 8 Things to do….
  • 12 Habits of……
  • 10 Ways to……

Create interest with catchy subheadings that encourage readers to dig further. Lists make it easy for readers to scan and quickly extract key points. Lists are easily shared on social media and what about those numbers? Numbers have a magnetic quality. Print magazines have known this and used the allure for years.  If you don’t believe me, pay closer attention the next time you’re waiting in line at the checkout counter. People can’t resist finding out if they know all 8, or 12, or 52 ways.

4. The Argument for Writing Longer, Detailed Posts

Many studies have shown that longer, more comprehensive posts tend to attract more attention. Readers appreciate the detail even if they don’t often read it all. 

 Articles that are long on facts and benefits, and anticipate a prospect’s questions, tend to convert well. Your readers want to make an informed decision, and that means having all the necessary facts in front of them.

Posts more than 1,200 words carry several benefits. Longer articles can help you establish authority and credibility within your niche. Readers of your content often have multiple questions on a topic and a more detailed post can address those questions in one sitting rather than over a period of time. And, of course, we don’t want to ignore the fact that Google values longer posts and often ranks them more favorably. No question, your blog should include extensive articles that I like to think of as “pillar posts.”

Does that necessarily mean that every post you publish has to be lengthy? In a word, no. Best practice guidelines suggest you should vary the length of your posts, although they should rarely be less than 500 words. Make your post no longer than needed to fulfill the promise of your overarching keyword that drew readers to your website. Keep your content on target. Don’t ramble and prattle on to achieve a certain word length.

Problogger recently published a podcast on the pros and cons of writing a series of short posts vs. a longer post that is definitely worth a listen.

5. Build a Responsive Website

A responsive website adjusts the web page display based on whether the page is viewed on a desktop, tablet, or smartphone. In an era when more than half of all Internet traffic comes from mobile devices, responsiveness is a key consideration. In April 2015, Google introduced Mobilegeddon.

Mobilegeddon represents an algorithm change that rewards websites that display well on mobile devices with better rankings. A responsive site also allows users to purchase or share content “on the go” which is ideal today.

6. Never Forget the Value of Images

Make no mistake; we live in a visual world. Sprinkling eye-catching images throughout your post and carefully selecting your featured image can make all the difference. Images effectively break up a sea of gray text and draw your readers eye. Images are also eminently shareable on social media, particularly Pinterest.

There are outstanding sources of free images available for your use. See my page, Where to Get Awesome Free Images For a Website, for inspiration. Have you forgotten to add Alt Text to your image? Please keep in mind that Googlebot cannot see images. To reap SEO benefits from your engaging images, you need to include Alt Text.

7. Don’t Ignore the Social Media World

Your intriguing titles and compelling content are generating click-throughs. Good for you! Create even more buzz by getting your content shared. Make sure those social media icons are prominently displayed on your pages and posts and ask your visitors to share. You must also regularly share your own posts to fully exploit the value of social media sites. Check out this blog for guidance on the best and worst social media posting times.

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Over to You

Join the conversation by posting your favorite tip for getting more traffic in the comment section below. Or, please ask any question you have on how to get more traffic with your blog. I will respond to all comments.

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Help your friends and colleagues by sharing these blogging tips on your favorite social media sites.

To your success!

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12 thoughts on “7 Powerful Tips for How to Get More Traffic With Your Blog”

  1. Hi Linda. Getting traffic to a website or blog is sometimes not as easy as it may seem. Your post on this topic is well thought out and has lots of great information. Thanks for sharing 🙂

    Reply
    • Hi Rick,
      I couldn’t agree with you more. Getting traffic for your website is definitely not easy. But it’s nice to know that there are a lot of great resources available to help with the process. The training at Wealthy Affiliate is incredibly helpful. There are also many highly successful Internet Marketers within the community who are always willing to share their knowledge about what works. I’ve found both the WA training and the input and feedback from members of the community to be invaluable. Good luck and thanks for your comments!

      Reply
  2. Linda,

    Wise words, you have not missed any of the important stuff here.

    I need to rewrite some of my posts after reading your post.

    Thanks for the additional work :o)

    Reply
    • Hi Carl,
      Unfortunately, I can relate. Some of my early posts could use some tweaking also 🙂 We live and learn. It’s kind of nice that the websites are ours and we have the ability to go back and modify those early posts. Thanks for your comments.

      Reply
  3. When I first started off, I never used to focus on the images. It’s somewhat difficult to find a free, high-quality stock image online. Thanks for providing a link to free, high-quality images.
    Great post btw!

    Reply
  4. Hi Linda, what a huge amount of information you have provided in your post, plenty of which I will need to go back over to ensure that I fully comprehend. As someone still trying to get to grips with business online I found your 7 powerful tips, to be exactly the sort of information that I need to help drive more traffic to my site.

    I feel there are quite a few tips that you have provided here that I am not yet using myself and which could be the reason for my low levels of traffic.

    Social media is something that I really need to work on.

    Thank you very much for your tips.
    All the best
    Tommy

    Reply
    • Hi Tommy,
      You’re very welcome. I’m glad you found my post informative. I too struggle to ensure I’ve covered all of these bases. There are a lot of factors to consider that can impact traffic. We all have areas we’re still working on 🙂 I like to view these tips as opportunities to improve and things to work on.Thanks for taking the time to comment!

      Reply
  5. You bet I’ll be coming back here for more great info!

    This article is a great reference when writing quality content.

    Huge thanks,
    Nick

    Reply
  6. Great post here Linda. One other thing that is becoming increasingly important is an emphasis on spelling and grammar. Many people overlook this, but the general consensus is that Google’s algorithms are starting to pay attention to this as one of their (albeit, many) ranking factors. I don’t know if you have an opinion yourself on this Linda, or indeed if you have heard about this?

    Reply
    • Hi Anthony,
      My understanding is that spelling and grammar are factors that Google considers when assessing overall quality and readability. Frankly, I would like to see even more emphasis placed on these factors. I found it very distracting to try to read something that is riddled with grammatical issues and will often click away from such a site. I always use Grammarly to spare my readers and find my glitches prior to publishing. Thanks for commenting!

      Reply

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