4 Golden Rules of Driving Traffic to Your Blog the Natural Way
So, you want to launch a blog, but aren’t sure where to start? You’re not alone. There are literally thousands of blogs that are started on a daily basis, so how do you get yours to stand out from the crowd?
With 78% of marketing officers believing that custom content creation is the future of marketing their respective brands, your blog needs to be the best it can be. Here are four rules to follow to driving traffic to your blog the natural way.
1. Identify With Your Niche and Stick With It
When most people start a social media account or blog, they typically have no idea what their own niche is, sharing anything and everything. While this may work for practical purposes, it is lost time that businesses or content creators can’t afford. Not having a specific topic that all posts or re-shares revolve around can make becoming a subject authority very difficult.
Whether you’re passionate about the foster system or healthcare in Uganda, it’s crucial for bloggers and content creators to share content–whether it’s their own or someone else’s– that revolves around the shared niche. All included links within your posts should point to relevant, related content.
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2. Create Social Media Accounts and Learn How to Use Them Effectively
When you’re a blogger or content creator who’s anxious about social media, keep in mind that it is the number one way to reach your target audience. To that end, it pays to have accounts on Twitter, Facebook and Google+ at the minimum. All three of these networks help unite like minded users through the use of hashtags, and is an excellent way to drive traffic to your site.
Another useful tip is to know when to post. Regardless of what network you’re using, there are peak times for each one that will garner you the most shares. A good rule of thumb for any network is that you’ll typically get the most shares during lunch hours and after 5PM.
3. Engage with Your Viewers
A typical mistake that most social content creators make is to simply share their own content. Unfortunately, this can appear as “spammy” to some users, especially when there are loads of other users who are sharing similar content and feel just as passionately about their niche as you do.
To avoid this, be sure to share other, related content at least two times the amount that you would share your own. Be sure to send out timely, personalized messages to your lauders as well as your detractors. Not personally and professionally engaging with your viewers (even if they’re complaining) will only hurt your online image.
Dealing With Complaints Effectively
4. Don’t Get Discouraged
So you have your social media accounts set up and being used effectively, and you’re creating awesome content with a consistent posting schedule. But, where’s the traffic?
Even if you’re doing everything right, it takes time to get a high level of shares and interaction for your content. Even if you feel that your blog is invisible, it’s important to stick with it, celebrate the small victories and never stop interacting. No one starts out with 10,000 or more unique visitors, but you can eventually get there as long as you remain consistent, in both your vision and interaction.
Follow these Four Golden Rules and you’ll be well on your way to driving traffic to your blog.
[author image=”https://smarthustle.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/RobertConrad.jpg” ]Robert Conrad is a former manager and business student who graduated before the big boom in social media. As a result, all of the tips I’ve provided here were the result of my own findings and research. My services have since been put into use for sites like Gaming Rebellion and Lumpz the Clown Entertainment. In my downtime, I enjoy impromptu road trips with my family and playing video games. I can be found on Twitter and Facebook.[/author]