The purpose of any website is to generate traffic. A site developer cannot simply toss up a few pages and hope for the best. There is a lot of work that needs to be done to build a popular blog.
However, it’s not all that difficult of a process.
It’s the hopes and dreams of every site owner to start a blog that reaches high levels of success. With a bit of effort and the right tools on hand, almost anyone can drive traffic to virtually any kind of website.
Here are 10 steps to generating that natural traffic to a blog regardless of its niche.
Step 1: Practice Good, Basic SEO in Content
One of the best ways to boost traffic to a blog is practicing good search engine optimization. While this may sound like something people have to spend money on, there’s actually quite a few things developers can do while writing content. Proper SEO starts as simple as picking the right keywords.
Keywords and phrases are how people find the content. However, creators want to stay clear of saturating the website. Too much use of the keywords or phrases will actually hurt the blog in the long run in terms of SEO.
Step 2: Focus On Your Niche
A niche is the primary focus of the website. For the best results, developers don’t want to distract from this topic. For example, a blog about cooking wouldn’t feature a post regarding car care.
Niche sites focus content to help that specific audience. It has the higher rate of engagement and often leads to creating a fan base. Focusing on a niche also lends to the credibility of the developer while promoting a more professional appearance.
Step 3: Create More Engaging Titles
Titles of blog posts are very important when trying to engage an audience. Tools such as CoSchedule Headline Analyzer helps find those titles that are more effective at driving interest. Because the title is the first thing most visitors will see regarding the topic, it needs to stand out.
CoSchedule will use various metrics and compare phrasing of the title against the most popular content on the Internet. This creates a system that has potential to help the creation of titles to attract search engine and social media visitors.
Step 4: Write More Content
Website owners can’t simply create one blog post and cross their fingers. It takes content to connect with an audience. Covering every aspect of the blog’s niche not only helps engage people looking for such information, it also promotes the site as a credible source.
Because every industry and website are different, it’s difficult to estimate the perfect frequency of blog posts. However, many found a great deal of success by making it a daily project.
Step 5: Structure the Content Well
The way blog posts are structured will influence visitor retention as well as search engine ranking. Things like easiness of reading, header use, paragraph length and more will contribute to overall success of the site.
A good place to start would be to analyze content using Readability-Score.com. This tool will scan through the content and display areas that need improvement. For WordPress users, Yoast SEO is another good tool for scanning content.
Step 6: Add Relevant Links
Adding links is an important aspect of creating a blog. Not only does it give a flow that visitors can follow internally, but external links are looked at favorably by search engines. This is especially true if the content being linked is from an authoritative source.
Creators also want to make sure the linked content is relevant. For example, linking from a post about baking cookies shouldn’t have a link to a site about lawn furniture. It plays poorly in SEO.
Step 7: Include Images
Blog posts that include images offer greater engagement to visitors by as much as 650 percent. This is one of the biggest reasons why any blogger needs to include visual appeal in some fashion.
However, not all images will be beneficial.
An image needs to be optimized, such as using the correct size of the graphic. Bloggers may also want to consider lazy loading options, which vastly improves site performance for SEO.
Step 8: Share On Social Media
Once the blog post is complete, it should be shared on social media. This is because sites like Facebook and Twitter have been known to contribute a large portion of traffic to websites.
Using tools such as Buffer can easily share the newly created posts with the masses. Simply add a small blurb about the topic, its link and the tool will do the rest. With a single click of the share button, users can update their most important social profiles simultaneously.
Step 9: Add Social Buttons
Sharing on social media can also be done by current visitors. Adding social buttons to the blog post allows guests to share the content with their own friends and family. This means the website can engage an audience that might not otherwise be available.
Some additions to the blog will offer more than 200 different social sites users can share to with just a click of the mouse. Essentially, this helps turn guests of the website into a kind of free marketing team.
Step 10: Engage Visitors and Fans
One of the most important things to consider when developers start a blog is to engage visitors to the site. Guests who comment on posts or social media need to be addressed. This makes the guest feel important while increasing the likelihood he or she will return.
It’s all about creating the positive experience. As most visitors who leave a comment are looking for that interaction, it only makes sense to oblige. This isn’t to mention how it improves online branding.
It’s all about the guests…
When many people start a blog, they tend to think that success is imminent. In reality, it takes determination and motivation to build a site that becomes popular with the masses. Whether it’s a blog about boating or sharing Grandma’s cooking recipes, focus on the content and the visitor base. It’s all about creating an engaging atmosphere that makes visitors feel welcome.
SEO Tips And Tricks For Small Business Owners
Originally posted on February 22, 2017 @ 3:36 pm