We’ve all heard the saying, “if you build it, they will come,” and it’s safe to say that a lot of businesses owners and marketers rely on this theory as it relates to their business and website. Unfortunately, though, that approach isn’t going to get you very far in the world of web traffic and blogging.
There are a number of factors that affect your website traffic and the visibility of your blog posts. If you’re posting regularly but still failing to see an increase in traffic, consider the following traffic influencers:
You need to know what people are searching for.
If you are not performing keyword research before you write your posts, you are probably doing it wrong. This vital step only takes a few minutes, but it could mean the difference between success and failure for your blog.
By using tools such as Google Keyword Planner, you can be sure that people are searching for the topic or title of your post. You should enlist the help of an expert like Flair if you need help with keyword research or strategic planning.
Be clear when you communicate with search engines.
Your blog posts should consist of more than just great content (although, great content is by far the most important aspect of what you are publishing on your blog).
Search engines use whatever cues you provide for them. They “crawl” your content, meta descriptions, headlines, and even images in order to find out what your post is about. When you include your most relevant keyword in all of these areas, you make it easier for the search engines to identify the purpose of your article. This is the key to having every post indexed and served up to your audience in their search results.
Write headlines that grab the attention of your readers.
Almost any search engine expert will tell you that the most important part of your post is the headline. This is not only important for search engine optimization, but it is also a key factor in your blog’s ability to capture the attention of your desired audience. Whether you choose to make your article’s headline entertaining, shocking, or simply touch on a trending topic, be sure that it really speaks to the people who will benefit from reading your blog.
Share your content and make others want to share it, too.
Where blog traffic is concerned, nothing performs as well as social media. This metric is so important that you will even find a designated section for this in your Google Analytics reports.
As soon as your post is live, share it across multiple social media networks—and then share it again and again. Change the wording of your social media posts and see what works best at grabbing people’s attention.
These tips are just a start, and there may be a number of reasons why your blog posts are not generating traffic for your website. With a bit of trial and error, however, you will learn what works best at creating interest and gaining visitors.
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Image courtesy of Hubspot. Used with permission.