Blogging has changed a lot over the past few years, as have the methods used to increase traffic. It used to be that buying backlinks or sharing them with colleagues was the way forward. Now, the quality of the content you are providing has become the most important factor in blogging. Search engines like Google have helped bring about this change with their ever-changing SEO strategies.
This however doesn’t mean that the methods for boosting blog traffic have decreased. In fact if anything, the total opposite is occurring. People are finding that there are a wide variety of new and unique ways to get the name of your site out there. With the range of methods now available, people are able to find what suits them and their blog perfectly.
Here we will take a look at some of the more recent and unique ways to increase the amount of traffic your blog is getting, and why they have proved to be so effective.
Mention Other Bloggers
If you have been blogging for a while then you will know already that writing posts about trending topics are a very good way of getting more hits. Making sure that your posts are informative and offer a lot to the reader is also a good way of going about this. But because of the evolving effects of backlinks, some bloggers are still a little unsure about what kind of links are good or bad for their site.
The solution is quite simple – mention or quote other bloggers. If you follow a blog that has said something you quite liked about the subject you are covering, go ahead and mention them directly. Quote them if you like, as long as you make sure that you include a link to the blog you’re referring to at all times. This is a great way of building relationships with other bloggers. By doing this only increases the chances that they will return the favor and quote you in one of their next posts.
It may sound rather simplistic, but it’s true. Raising the profile of another blog allows the popularity of yours to rise with it. It’s effectively a joint effort in increasing blog traffic, and it’s something that has proven to be very effective. This is particularly true if the links you are providing give the reader that little bit more information that they’re looking for. Not only will they check out the blog you’ve mentioned, but they’ll also read more of your posts too.
Get Friends Involved On Social Media
This sounds like something that everyone is doing anyway, but you’d be surprised how many bloggers forget to do this, or even think that it is a little beneath them. The truth is, your friends and family should be the first people you turn to when you are trying to raise the profile of your blog. The majority of the time, they will be more than happy to help get your blog off the ground.
When you share your blog posts on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, simply ask family and friends to like, share, and comment on your posts. This will help you raise the profile of your blog before you’ve even started to reach out to the general public. Some people do consider this to be a dirty pool, but there has never been any harm in getting a little help from family and friends. It helps get the word out during those initial stages, then you could be coming back and thanking them real soon when your blog traffic goes sky high.
Get Your Visitors Involved
When some visit your site and read a blog post that they find interesting, invite them to stick around and share their thoughts on the subject. Maybe they agree with you, disagree, or want to ask you a question. It doesn’t matter really. As long as the audience is getting involved, they will be more inclined to come back and read more of your work in the future. This is particularly true if you keep a track of comments and reply to them whenever you can. This way you could get a nice conversation going with your readers. Who knows, some of these people may have blogs of their own and want to build a relationship with you. Even if they are just casually browsing the internet, they could be more inclined to come back in the future if they know that you are willing to take the time to talk to them.
It really is quite a simple way of getting people involved, and yet it has proven to be very effective. Taking the time to communicate with your audience gives you a great chance to find out what they like and don’t like, and then you can make posts that you think will be a little more appealing to them in the future.
Syndicating Your Blog Posts
Again, this is something that has become more and more popular over the last few years. Because of the amount of software and internet browsers, people are finding new ways to keep track of their RSS feeds. It is becoming easier than ever, thanks to tools like Feedly that are able to embed themselves as an app on Google Chrome. For this reason, syndicating your blog posts for RSS feeds is now more important than ever.
In most cases, RSS feeds simply update people about recent posts and they are then redirected to your site. With programs like Feedly however, they have the ability to read the entire post without visiting your site. If you want to be visible on RSS readers like Feedly, make sure that they only provide snippet views of your posts so then readers have to click on the link for your site in order to read the complete post.
These are just a few of the more unique ways in which you can increase your blog traffic. With the internet changing on a regular basis, it won’t be long before people will have to find new ways in order to stay ahead of the competition. For now, at least, the methods detailed above should help you bring your traffic numbers up high once again.
