Anyone can build a blog these days, but it takes work to generate traffic and build a loyal reader base. For many bloggers, finding people to visit your site and consume your content on a regular basis seems like a difficult task. For amateurs who are new to the world of blogging, there are some crucial steps that tend to be overlooked. For other amateurs, blogging is approached in completely the wrong way and can in some cases drive people away from your page.
Here are 7 “must avoid” strategies when you are attempting to generate traffic to your blog:
1. Write Content For a Number Of Topics
More is not always better. In fact, a blog that is not focused on a particular topic can make people confused about why you are online and what your purpose is of blogging. Instead, keep your blog focused on one particular niche. This will establish you and your company as an expert on that topic and create more incentive for your visitors to return to your site when they have questions on that specific subject. For example, the ArtDriver’s blog is exclusively focused on web development and SEO.
2. Promote Your Blog In As Many Places As Possible
One common way people promote their content is by posting on other blogs. This can be an extremely effective way of spreading the word about your blog by engaging with other writers. But when you post comments on blogs that are irrelevant or with comments that are purely self-promotional you risk your blog being seen as spam which can ban you from using this method of promotion and dramatically hinder your efforts.
3. Avoid Linking To Your Posts Or Other Websites
While you may be aware that gaining backlinks to your blog is hugely beneficial to your search engine optimization efforts, what you may not be aware of is that linking from your blog outward can be equally effective. By linking to other posts within your site, or to useful information on other sites, you can help search engines recognize your blog as informative and valuable to their customers, the searchers. This will help you perform higher in search engine results and deliver more resources and knowledge to your reader base.
4. Don’t Share On Social Media Platforms
Some people are anti-social media. They see it as a fad that will go away soon and do not want to invest the time to make a name in this channel. However, by not making a name on social media platforms, you lose out on an excellent opportunity to deliver your valuable content to people who want to consume it. Your readers are searching for you on Twitter and want to share you on Facebook and Google Plus. Don’t be shy about getting out there and posting your content on social media platforms.
5. Never Look At Your Results
Do you know how your customers find you or how they arrive at your site? If not, you are losing out on valuable traffic generating opportunities. Knowing where people arrive from is half the battle to knowing where to promote. Without being aware of what drives people to your content, you will never be able to attract more people in the same way. Use tools, such as Google Analytics to learn more about your readers. This information will help you to come up with new ways to promote your blog.
6. Post Large Chunks Of Text Without Images
Blogs are not meant to be written as research papers. Instead, they are meant to provide valuable information in a format that is quickly read or scanned. By using images, bullet points and short paragraphs you can create something that people will actually want to read and engage with. If you write large chunks of text without providing any images or anything to break it up with, your visitors will be intimated and likely leave before ever even attempting to read your manifesto.
7. Ignore Keywords Or Keyword Research
Just as you should be aware of what brings people to your site, you should also be aware of the keywords you want to target to help bring the right people to your site. Quality traffic is important and if you are driving the wrong type of traffic (that is people who have no intention of returning or sharing your information) it is almost the same as driving no one to your site at all. Use keyword research to help you know how to incorporate (not stuff) the right keywords into your content so search engines can deliver the best people to your posts.
Blogs fail by not doing enough research and by not acting with their reader’s best interest in mind. Consider how you feel when you arrive on a webpage that you like and try to emulate the formatting and strategy used by your favorite bloggers. This will help you generate more traffic on your site and learn new ways to target your reader base.
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