The secrets to incredible traffic that I've gleaned from four top rated Pinterest courses.
Find out how I tripled my blog traffic in just one month using these 5 top Pinterest strategies! Then implement them, be consistent, and watch your traffic skyrocket too.
How to Grow the Readership on Your Blog When You’ve Tried Everything
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If I had a nickel for every time someone emailed me asking how to get more blog traffic… I could probably buy myself a new Roomba.
(Side note: Does anyone else absolutely adore their roomba? Seriously the best invention ever. I died a little inside when our son broke ours.)
Jokes aside, we all want to get more traffic to our blogs, and that goes for me too.
So how exactly do you get more blog traffic? And what do you do if you are already using Pinterest and you still need more?
That's a great question.
This post is going to be a long one. It's also going to be a good one, because I'm really giving away my blog traffic secrets here.
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The Blog Traffic Ladder
There's a useful little framework I call the blog traffic ladder. It's my step by step system for getting blog traffic to any of my blogs.
Implementing this ladder is definitely hard work, but the system works every time!
Here’s how the blog traffic ladder is laid out:
- Search engines
- Social media
- Other people's audiences
The idea behind the blog traffic ladder is that you start with the first rung, master it, and then move on to the second rung. After you master the second run, you move onto the third.
Note: In the next section, I'm going to show you the different elements that make up each run. This does NOT mean that you need to master all of these elements. Your best bet is to pick the ones that will be most beneficial to your audience, and get really good at those.
Okay, are you ready?
1. Master the Search Engines
The first rung of the blog traffic ladder is to focus on the search engines. Getting your blog content ranked in the search engines is incredibly important.
Here's why.
Search engine traffic is:
- Free
- Compounding
- Long lasting
That's right. Search engines can provide you with hundreds or even thousands of engaged readers, for free. On top of that, your content will compound over time.
The more content you put out, and the higher quality it is, the more your traffic will snow ball.
Let's look at the best search engines for blog traffic:
Using Google for Blog Traffic
Google SEO is not easy to master. In fact, it's nearly impossible for small bloggers to rank number one at Google ahead of major sites like Huffington Post, BBC, and other major media sites.
That being said, it's important that you don't discount Google! Although you may never rank number one for bigger keywords, small bloggers DO receive a good amount of traffic from Google when they optimize their blog posts.
Thankfully, optimizing your blog’s SEO is pretty easy. I use the free Yoast plugin to make sure that I am meeting the basic Google SEO criteria.
And that’s it! Sure, you could certainly do more and hire SEO wizards to help you, but generally your time and money will best be spent on creating new content.
Use the Yoast plugin to get your SEO right, and then forget about it. Getting ranked in Google often takes years, so I don't recommend thinking about this one too hard.
Leveraging Pinterest for Blog Traffic
Pinterest is the ultimate search engine for bloggers. Yep, that's right. Pinterest is a search engine, not a social media platform.
If you think about it, there is nothing social about Pinterest. People don't really like, comment, or talk to each other over Pinterest.
Instead, users type in what they are looking for and Pinterest brings back search results. It's a search engine!
If you aren't using Pinterest yet, or you aren't getting very much blog traffic from Pinterest, now is the time to get serious about it.
These posts will get you on the right track.
Related content:
How to Get Traffic From YouTube
YouTube is a great way to get more traffic back to your blog. It's also an awesome way to repurpose your current blog posts into video format and use them to rank in Google's video search.
YouTube is now owned by Google, and video is an important part of their algorithm.
On top of that, blog posts with an embedded video tend to rank higher than those who don't, which can give you an advantage. Another great thing about YouTube is that there is still so much room for new people on the platform.
There are a million people blogging out there, but only a fraction of those people actually start and maintain YouTube channels. This means that you have a huge opportunity to find new audiences by creating your own channel.
And because YouTube is a search engine, every video you put out there adds up until you have a snowball of traffic racing to your blog each day.
2. Find the Best Social Media Platform For Your Audience
The absolute best case scenario is that you, over time, find a way to incorporate Pinterest, Google SEO, and YouTube into your business.
If you decide to go with two out of those three, that's great too! But no less than that. Mastering two search engines is really the bare minimum any blogger should focus on in the long run.
Of course, keep in mind that I said in the long run.
You don't need to start out trying to master two search engines at once. Start with one, and move on once you’ve got a good system in place.
Once your search engine strategy is on point, it's time to move on to social media for blog traffic.
How to Drive More Traffic to Your Blog With Facebook
Facebook is probably the number one social media platform I'd recommend to nearly any blogger. The platform has the largest number of users worldwide, and they come in all different age ranges.
While many social media platforms are predominantly frequented by a certain generation, Facebook seems to know no bounds. Whether you're audience is millennials, Gen Xers, or baby boomers, you'll find them on Facebook!
So how exactly do you drive traffic to your blog from Facebook?
- By using other people's Facebook groups
- By creating your own Facebook group
- By using Facebook ads
Other people's Facebook groups are an excellent way to start getting social media traffic to your blog. It's important to keep in mind, however, that every group has different rules and you'll need to follow them.
Some groups don't allow promotion at all. Many allow promotion within designated threads, and some are a free for all.
I'd recommend finding a couple of groups where you really feel at home, and spend a little bit of time there each day helping out other members. Start conversations, add your posts to any promo threads, and give advice when you can.
If you do this consistently, other members will start to recognize your name and check out your profile. Make sure that your blog is listed in your workplace bio on your Facebook profile!
My Blogging Boss Moms Facebook group is the perfect place for women to gather and talk blogging shop!
How to Get More Blog Traffic With Twitter
Twitter is a bit harder to extract blog traffic from than Facebook. It's recommended that you tweet somewhere between 15 and 30 times per day to get the maximum amount of exposure.
Because each tweet is really only relevant for up to a half hour, Twitter is a high input, lower reward social media platform.
That being said, Twitter is a great place to connect with other bloggers in your niche who might want to collaborate with you on various projects. Even if you can only schedule a few tweets per day, I highly recommend getting active on the platform.
(And I’m saying this for my benefit too… because I’m not on Twitter yet!)
One tip to keep in mind for Twitter is that images go a long way. While standard tweets are really easy to overlook, an appropriately sized image will stand out and get attention.
Instagram, Blog Traffic, and Branding
I saved Instagram for last because it tends to drive the lowest amount of traffic of all the social media platforms. If your niche is extremely visual, Instagram will probably be a great option for you!
If your niche isn't particularly visual, Instagram can help quite a lot with building your brand and building a connection with your readers. You likely won't see direct traffic from it, but your efforts will pay off in the branding department.
This is nothing to scoff at, as photo and video is one of the best ways to help your readers like, know, and trust you.
Instagram recommends that you post one new photo per day with a handful of relevant hashtags to help your image be found. Photos of people almost always do better than photos of objects too.
3. Leverage Other People’s Audiences to Get More Blog Traffic
Once you've gotten good at one or two social media platforms, your time is best spent leveraging other people's audiences for blog traffic.
This blog traffic strategy is really the cream of the crop. If you can find ways to connect with other people's audiences who are in a similar niche to you, growing your audience quickly will be a cinch.
Here are a few ideas for leveraging other people's audiences.
How to Get Blog Traffic from Guest Posting
While guest posting isn't as big as it was a few years ago, it can still help grow your blog!
Guest posting is when you offer a brand new post for another blogger to publish on their blog. This is a win-win situation. It gives you a back link and access to that bloggers audience, and the other blogger gets free content to publish on their blog.
My best tip for guest posting is to make sure that any blogs you decide to guest post on have an audience that would be interested in your topic. Take some time to get to know any potential blogs before you pitch them!
Another way to make the most of your guest post is to include a freebie at the end of it. This freebie should link back to your website and give new readers an opportunity to sign up for your email list. Most blogs that accept guest posts will allow you to do this, and it's a great way to build your audience.
Getting Blog Traffic from Guest Podcasting
Guest podcasting is the new big thing right now, and I'm not surprised! More and more people are listening to them and learning from them everyday.
New podcasts are springing up left and right, and they need people to interview to stay fresh and interesting.
Becoming a guest on a podcast who's listeners are the right audience for you is a great way to get more exposure. These new audiences will get to know your voice, learn about your values, and be able to check out your blog at the end of the episode.
Once you've got your search engines and social media platforms down pat, I would highly recommend spending a good chunk of time pitching podcasts for a chance to contribute.
Driving Blog Traffic With YouTube Interviews
My last tip for leveraging other people's audiences is to be a guest on someone else's YouTube channel! This could be in the form of an interview, a collaboration, or simply a guest appearance.
If there are other people in your niche who have successful YouTube channels, it would be a smart idea to send them a pitch for a collaborative video you could both do together.
This is sort of like guest posting, except it's video. You'll get exposure for your blog and a link back, and the YouTuber gets some interesting content to send out to their viewers.
Double win!
Conclusion
This post was long, but I hope you were able to get through it. This blog traffic ladder is really the ultimate strategy to growing your blog traffic in the long run. It isn’t fast or easy, but it will help you build a real online business that can stand the test of time (and algorithm changes!)
Here’s the blog traffic ladder strategy in a nutshell:
- Master at least two of the three major search engines
a. Google SEO
b. Pinterest
c. Youtube
- Find the best social media platform for your audience!
a. Facebook groups and advertising
b. Twitter
c. Instagram
- Leverage other people’s audiences for maximum exposure and blog traffic
a. Do a handful of guest posts and monitor your results
b. Start pitching to be a podcast guest on podcasts with the right audience
c. Do interviews and guest appearances on related Youtube channels
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