If you want to increase blog traffic, you need the right marketing strategies. 

Starting a blog is easy, but driving consistent traffic to it isn’t. Anyone could start a blog today with WordPress, but once the blog is up and running, the next big challenge is getting attention.

Many blogs compete for attention, so getting noticed isn’t easy compared to years ago.

But don’t worry; you will find traffic tips and tactics you can explore to drive more website traffic to your blog in this guide and beat your competitors.

So…How do you Drive More Blog Traffic?

What you will find on this page are some of the marketing strategies I used to generate more attention, build engagements, and get more people to visit my blog.

1. Define Your Target Audience

The first step to a successful internet marketing plan is to define who your ideal audience is. This question’s clarity will guide you to making informed decisions that will accelerate your progress.

The more you narrow down your audience to a specific group of people. The easier it becomes to create content that is tailored to their needs and wants.

This could also give you the advantages you need to dominate your industry quickly. And rank almost for any keyword related to your niche.

Targeting your ideal audience is like in the game of darts. If you don’t aim very well, you probably will lose. If your aim is fair. Let’s say you hit the board – good! But if your aim is perfect – you hit the bull’s eye, excellent!

man playiing dart

Think about the problem(s) you aim to solve with your content. Once you can figure this out, defining your target market will become less troublesome.

Take CopyBlogger for an example.

Brian Clark creates a blog for those struggling to write amazing captivating content. Those who want to shape their writing skill and make the best out of them. He knew exactly those he created the blog for.

There are no better ways to define your audience than that.

Instead of the regular blogging tips blog that talks about everything blogging. Writing, and a bit of SEO, WordPress related, how to make money blogging, etc…

Brian Clark crafted copywriting from all these and made it a stand-alone topic of discussion.

This makes it easier to generate articles and ideas complimenting each other regularly. Your audience already knows what to expect from coming down to your blog.

Define your audience from day 1. Know exactly who you’re writing for and why you need to write to such a person. This becomes important, as it will provide the direction you’ll need to follow. It helps in marketing your blog for better traffic and revenue growth.

Hey, look here!

I don’t know what you’ve been fed.

But the truth is if you care about quality traffic, that takes positive actions on your blog. The kind of traffic that finds you wherever your website is located.

Not that kind of traffic you’re chasing around with your hard-earned money, energy, time, and abundance of resources. You’ll need a good chunk of your website visitors to come from search engines.

Don’t quote me wrong here; social traffic is great, and PPC is one of a kind – you get what you pay for. I have had a bit of social traffic share in the past and present and will surely do in the future.

But let’s face it; nothing could be compared to organic search traffic when measuring the quality of website traffic.

You get rewarded for the one-time efforts you put into publishing SEO-optimized content for a long period.

According to Rand Fishkin of Moz in one of his publications for ProBlogger.net he said:

Links are still a huge part of how search engine algorithms rank pages. And without them, you’ll usually struggle to perform – Rand Fishkin

There are dozens of tactics already proven to be working towards attracting high-quality inbound links.

But just like many smart link builders in the industry will tell you. The broken link-building strategy is one of the easiest means of getting quality inbound links from authority sites.

All you have to do is:

  • Find pages with dead outbound links on your target website.
  • Verify that the links are pointing to dead pages.
  • Contact the blog owner – your potential link partner.
  • Point him to an alternative post to replace the dead link – something better in quality.

That’s it! Simple!

If you’re looking for a simple tool that lets you discover broken links on the current browser tab. Then check out Domain Hunter Plus – a Google Chrome Extension.

Is a simple yet powerful SEO tool for link builders.

3. Create Viral Content

This is not going to be easy. Yes, it shouldn’t be…if it is, every content sucks.

That’s just the truth about creating something extraordinary.

Content that lives in the heart of your darling audience for a long time. Something that makes concerned audiences scramble on their heels just to read and put to practice the advice given.

girl reading book sitting on a tree

The problem is most people who attempt to create viral content don’t have the nerves. Or the resources to put out something great. Something that can be called epic content.

The type of content that is so so difficult for other writers in your niche to emulate. Types of content that leave people with no option but to bookmark it. Content that gets shared becomes a reference point whenever the topic is mentioned.

How do You Create Viral Content?

There is no right or wrong way to produce viral content. This expert will tell you this; that expert will tell you that…in the end, it’s all about testing. Tweaking things around to see what your audience actually likes the most.

When you discover this – give it to them till they stop digesting it the more.

But from reliable sources and data, we’ve collected together around the web. Data that proves what is working for bloggers/writers who had great success in publishing viral content regularly.

Based on these factors, follow the below guidelines. You will come up with something not too far away from propelling your blog for viral traffic.

Tips #1. Take Good Care of Your Articles Headlines

Copy Blogger once said,”

On average, 8 out of 10 people will read headline copy, but only 2 out of 10 will read the rest. This is the secret to the power of the headline. And why its so highly determines the effectiveness of the entire piece.

How do You Write a Never to Ignore Article’s Headline?

To make sure your effort is not a wasted one. There are proven techniques to gauge the viral effect of your soon-to-publish articles on the web.

If you have a Twitter account (which I assume you must) with a decent number of followers. Then before writing your blog post.

I mean before a single word of it, head over to Twitter. Tweets your exact article headline version to see the reaction of your followers to it.

If it does well by attracting a good number of retweets, quotes, or favorites. This could be an indication that you’ve thinker well. This could also mean that your blog topic is a good one that people care about.

Also, use the same approach for your Facebook account, head over to Facebook, and update your status with your headline.

  • See how people react to it:
  • Does it attract comments?
  • What of likes?
  • How many people leave a meaningful insightful comment on it?
  • Do they care for feedback from you?
  • What question are they asking further?

All these will help you validate your article’s headline. And know more about the potential viral effect your article will create on social media.

If it does well on these two social media sites, it will certainly do well on the web.

This useful material walks you through the art and science of writing magnetic article headlines.

Tips #2. Get Your Ideal Reader’s Word Count

According to a reliable source, the more the article length, the most social shares it generates. Articles in the region of 3,000 – 10,000 words or more perform best regarding social shares.

averaage content lenght

But this does not mean you should sacrifice quality for longevity’s sake.

Good content is like a woman mini skirt. Short enough to make it interesting, and long enough to cover the main subject.

Don’t go over dragging a topic that can be well wrapped up within 1,000 words or less. Just because you’re trying to make the post-2,000-word count, it will hurt instead of help.

Also, don’t be known for producing thin content all the time. Especially if you’re writing on industry topics that are relevant today, tomorrow, and future for debates.

google thin content

Tips #3. Choose a Proven Topic

What do I mean by a proven topic?

There is no point trying to reinvent any wheels here, unless you’re writing on breaking news, event, celebrity gossip, etc. There is absolutely no new revolutionary or groundbreaking formula for doing things anymore, at least for now.

We’re seeing an update to the previous version or another version/alternative to something old. The fundamentals remain the same.

For your content to go viral. You’ll need to write on a topic that has already gained the attention of a targeted audience. And attract thousands of social shares, hundreds of comments, and responses.

Choose a topic that your ideal readers are passionate about. Something they are eager to learn more about that has been proven to attract industry leaders’ attention.

audience applauding the spaeaker

There are a few useful tools on the internet that lets you quickly find proven topics to write about. You must have used or heard about Buzzsumo, right?

Head over to Buzzsumo and type in your niche keyword idea. Wait a few seconds for the app to return a list of top posts in that category. If your topic is good, you should see a couple of posts with thousands of social shares and likes.

In the example below, I typed in “increase website traffic“. And there are the top results Buzzsumo App returned based on top social shares count for the past year.

There are a few lessons to take from the image below if you chose to write on the same topic:

  • Concentrate on sharing the post mainly on Facebook and Twitter.
  • Ignore Pinterest – it could mean a waste of time.
  • Facebook is better for this topic than Twitter.
  • List-post performs better for this topic.
app buzzsumo content share count


As you can see in the image, two (2) out of the top three results are listicles. I talked about how to use list posts to drive blog traffic down this post, read on.

Visit the links and see what makes these posts so successful. Use them as the basis and guide for your next post. Take care of the headlines. Analyze what makes them go viral, and attract so many shares and responses.

Then see how you can come up with something better, by upgrading the already successful post to a new one.

Old wine in a new bottle.

4. Make The best out of “List-Post”

If you visit the sidebars of some top blogs, like Jeff Bullas, Daily Blog Tips, etc. You will see how they’ve made the best out-of-list posts to get more blog traffic.

list post popularity

A list post has been proven over time to attract readers’ attention because:

  • List-post goes viral.
  • They are easy to digest.
  • Easy to scan through.
  • Each section or number is expected to present a point.

However, for your list post to pose the potential that makes a post go viral, better if it is written on an evergreen topic. A topic that doesn’t compete with time or trends.

If you care to keep enjoying the fruit of your one-time labor for years to come.

Research has shown that by giving everything equal, some list posts will perform better than others. Numbers are vital in how viral a list post could go.

Figures “10, 23, and “16” have over time proved to be more effective than other figures. I don’t know why Figure 10 plays best. But judging from my days as a football player I could tell this figure “10” has some magic to it.

The most amazing, talented players I know of love to put on the jersey number 10. I don’t understand why it is so, but it is just that way. Name them, and you will be left with an endless list:

Maradona. Pele. Zidane. Del Piero. Toti. Ronaldinho. Messi. Okocha. Figo – at a time in Madrid. De Lima Ronaldo – also at a time in Inter Milan. Zico. Platini. Ruud Gullit. Etim Esin and the list is endless.

football players with jersey number 10

In content marketing, and mostly on the part of the readers. I think it is because “10 items” seem not too bogus. And not too thin also for a comprehensive list of information.

Compare this to when you roll out 70, 100, 150, or even 50 list posts.

Lots of readers won’t bother reading past 20 points on your list of 70 points before skimming away. They might just press the share button for the sake of rewarding your efforts in publishing such tedious work.

Remember to keep it simple, short and sweet.

5. Analyze Your Published Content

If there is one better way to accelerate your blog traffic growth quickly, it is to study in-house content performance.

Chances are, you already have some quality posts written that perform better than others, right?

Have you considered looking into why these posts perform better than others? Maybe in traffic terms, comments, sales, or just shares?

For instance, I have discovered that on this very blog, you’re reading. Most of the posts that generate affiliate income for the blog don’t attract shares, comments, or social media traffic.

They are posts that perform better in organic traffic. Well writing for such a purpose and closely targeted at a specific audience.

Whereas, posts that drive the most traffic. Both social and organic traffic – are topics related to search engine optimization – traffic, link building, and things like that.

On the other hand, I see posts that are not SEO-focused attract a larger percentage of comments.

So if I’m out to drive more blog traffic, it will be the best idea to publish more posts on SEO topics. But if I am out to increase affiliate income, I know what type of post to publish frequently.

Here are a few strategies to discover your best-performing posts.

First, install WordPress’s popular post plugins on your blog – there are dozens of these plugins. After installation, set your preferences. You could set it to fetch posts based on comment count or views. I prefer comment count for obvious reasons.

  • It shows first-time visitors how engaged your blog community is.
  • Attracts attention, and could possibly increase page views.
  • Let you know what’s working and what’s not for your audience.
  • Gives you post ideas to write on.
  • It attracts advertisers to your blog.

If you want to go deeper on knowing how your posts are performing on the web. Head over to your Google Analytics account

There is no better way to understand what’s been happening on your blog than a trip to Google tools.

Once you’re in your Google Analytics dashboard, click on Acquisition, search engine optimization, and landing pages. Here you will see a list of your top-performing post in search traffic.

What you need to do here could be divided into two:

First, if there are posts that attract a good impression but low click-through rate. Consider revisiting such posts to add more content and optimize them better. Build more relevant links to it then wait to see if there could be any significant changes in search ranking.

Alternatively, you could decide to write fresh content targeting the same keyword. If the first post can’t tweak around to get more search visibility.

Google never penalizes anyone for targeting the same keyword more than once with different content.

To get a list of your top-performing post on social media in Google Analytics. Click on the acquisition, search engine optimization, social, and lastly, click on landing pages.

Here you will see a list of your top content that is bringing in social traffic to your blog.

Now you’re armed with valuable information on the type of content that is performing better among your social followers. You can now build on what is already working.

Conclusion…

How to increase blog traffic that increases your lead acquisition and eventually generates more sales won’t be an easy task. You need a clear roadmap and a proven strategy.

Most of the time you won’t find one. You’ll need to discover what works for you on your own – no handout.

What deters many from achieving success with tactics is the lack of consistency. They do this thing for a moment or once. And the next you’ll see from them is switching to other next BIG tactics on the internet.

Most of what is working today for the “A” list bloggers is the result of months of consistent hard work on a strategy. They work long on it till they see the expected result.

What have you been doing to increase your blog traffic? Let’s hear you in the comment box.

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33 Comments

  1. Bringing traffic to a new blog is really challenging these days. I think content writing is still the key and after that one can look for guest posting, blogger out reach, participating in round ups to take the blog authority to next level. Then only gradually traffic will improve. many thanks for this simple but effective share.

  2. Hey Adeshokan,

    Every blogger is striving to get more and more visitors to his/her blog. It’s always important to have the quality content.

    You can embrace it with the catchy headlines and spreading it to your targeted audience. I like the way you have shown the concept of visual content.

    Thanks for sharing with us.
    ~Ravi

  3. author comments Joseph Chikeleze says:

    Hello Shamsudeen, thanks for this great post.

    Building traffic sources is a job for every blogger.

    Traffic is best enjoyed when it flows steadily to a blog than when it oscillates.

    Have a nice day, I will check back on your blog!!

  4. author comments Joseph Chikeleze says:

    Nice post bro!
    Traffic is one big problem for every newbie blogger.

    As you said, goof and fresh content helps to get good amount of traffic in short period.

    I always believe; content is king. Another way to get a goof amount of traffic is by commenting on top blogs.
    Have a nice day, Adeshokan

  5. This a nice one, but down here in Nigeria, where everyone is only tailoered to the entertainment industry then bringing traffic to your blog is like passing through the needles eye when right now in Nigeria everyone is a blogger. But i still think taking time to do what is different and the publishing and sharing this would be a wonderful tactic..

    Thanks for the post once again

    1. Hi Mike,

      You’re right on that, a good percentage of bloggers in Nigeria are into entertainment niche to the point people taught a blog is meant for breaking news and gossip. And that bring along competition in that industry.

      Well, I believe if you can come up with something unique, relevant to the society and produce useful information regularly, you stand a great a chance to rise above the average.

      Thank you.

  6. Great tips. To me creating viral content is the best.

  7. Great post Adeshokan! I have found that making list works the best for me. Taking the time to make a list can always bring you some good traffic and some links as well if its useful.

  8. Talking about Backlink Mr. Shamsudeen, how many of them is required to be on the first page of Google for a medium competitive phrase?

    1. There are no specific number needed to rank for any keyword, is all about the quality of the links and lots more other factors that contributes to ranking.

      User intent, page context, topic relevancy, keyword usage, etc and many of the times – blog/author authority on the subject matters.

      Talking about how many links require, install the MOZBar for Google chrome on your browser and turn it on. Next time you run a search or browse through a web page, this little tool will let you see through the page back-link profile so you know how to analyze your chances of beating your competitors in SERP.

      Hope this help..?

  9. Valuable content shared.Traffic problem is the first thing all should keep in mind.Thank you for sharing.

  10. Great stuff, Thank you for sharing such a wonderful post.it will be very useful.

  11. author comments Sam Steve says:

    Hi adeshokan,

    What an insightful post!

    I love the part where you said”… No need to re-invent the wheel” > This statement aptly captures my philosophy about Internet marketing.

    Why Reinvent the wheel?

    It is becoming increasingly difficult to drive traffic to the blogs. And my strategy is simple:
    Look at what other successful blogs are doing, analyze it, personalize and implement.

    I recently published a research on the the social strategy of selected tech blogs to drive traffic. visit the blog to read.

    Thanks for sharing and I will share this with my twitter followers.

    Regards
    samsteve

    1. Hi Steve,

      Thanks for your awesome comment.

      With lots of businesses starting up online, the fight for attention is on the rise. Executing what already works for others is a sure strategy to beat the competitors.

      Thanks for your time, Steve.

  12. Hi Adeshokan,
    Few days before I started a blogging with affiliate marketing; I am totally failed to get a more traffic on my blog. But finally today I read your post and note down few points to improve my blog.
    I failed to reach out my audience because of my title of post. You wrote a informative and easy to understand article… Thank you for sharing the valuable information. )

    1. Hi Akshay,

      Good to read you find some useful website traffic tactics you can try from reading this post. Let me know how it works for you.

      Thanks .

  13. Great post Cybernaira.
    Unfortunately, driving traffic seems to be one of the highest hurdles to climb in one’s online business endeavour. I think your research on this issue speaks volume. Nice post sir.

  14. Insightful posts…thanks bro

  15. it is the dream of every blogger to attract audience to his blog. And here you are given us the teaching we could have paid for.

    Thanks for sharing.

  16. author comments Alena Sham says:

    Very Informative post. It has motivated me to start blogging again. Thank you for taking the time to write this.

  17. Love this post! I’m just starting out and this has some great tips and insight, thanks!

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