Growing a blog takes time—you need to publish consistently and frequently for months on end, and share content all over the web. Some bloggers take two years for their blog to take off.
While going slow and steady to increase visits works, there are ways to get massive traffic fast, and not just random traffic, but valuable targeted traffic that can generate leads and attract returning visitors.
1. Write Powerful Headlines
If your headline sounds bland, no one will be inclined to read your content. An awesome headline can promise a great story as well as clicks.Here are tips to create a viral-worthy headline:
- It has to be useful. Communicate a benefit for the reader and make sure to hit their emotions. For example, saying “How to Use Your Network to Grow Your Business” or “Fix Your Personal Financial Troubles with These Tips” will tell readers what they can gain from reading your post. How-to articles and ultimate guides are always helpful.
- Numbers and superlatives. If you’ve ever visited Cracked.com, you know that their headlines are always compelling, but it’s not only because of their obscure facts and informative lists. They have a formula for their headlines: The + Number + Superlative (over the top) adjective + Subject + Ever. Here are some examples of that effective format:
- The 5 Most Absurdly Petty National Laws Ever Enforced
- The 5 Most Incredible Tings Ever Done Purely Out of Spite
- 6 Inexplicably Hostile Interviews with Famous Musicians
The trick is to use intensifiers, such as “most,”“creepiest,”“mind-blowing,”“weirdest,” etc.
Note that they actually use digits instead of spelling out the numbers. Editors may throw fits at this convention but viewers tend to findtitles with digits more appealing rather than numbers that are spelled out.
- Make it original. Millions of blog posts are churned out every day. You have to make yours stand out from the competition. Search Google if other blogs have used the headline you have in mind. If they have, change it.
- Specify. If you’re writing about Internet marketing, don’t just write “Online Marketing Tips for Small Businesses.” A specific focus like “9 Actionable Content Strategies to Make Your Small Business Stand Out” is more attractive and sounds more informative.
- Set a time frame.A time frame can create a sense of urgency and tells readers about the content’s effectiveness. Something like “Increase Sales by 64% in One Week” or “How to Lose 20 Pounds in 60 Days” can spark their interest.
2. Create Comprehensive Guides
Long comprehensive posts such as “The Ultimate Guide to Guest Blogging or “An Advanced Guide to Twitter Marketing” generate a lot of traffic because they’ve very informative and people like to share them on social networks.
Characteristics of a powerful comprehensive post are:
- Detailed.Elaborate on different areas of your topic and provide hard-hitting tips. If your post turns out great, people will keep coming back to read it again.
- Timely. Find out what’s hot in your industry or on Google Trends. How can you put your own spin to trending topics? Can you connect niche topics to Game of Thrones? Or the NBA 2013 playoffs?
- Similar but different.Read posts from industry blogs to get content ideas. Subscribe to their RSS feeds.Every time they publish a new article, think about how you can expand on or add a new twist to their stories.
- Contains visual elements.Screenshots and pictures will break up the blocks of text and encourage people to scroll through the content. Regardless how basic or complex the topic is, include screenshots.
- Instructive. How-to articles are big on the Internet because people go online to gather information—howto do something, how to find it, etc. Readers will appreciate a great how-to article, so give that to them and more while showing you’re an authority in your industry.
3. Guest Posting
Writing a guest article for a popular blog is one of the easiest and most popular ways to get a sharp traffic increase. You can spread your brand to those who haven’t seen your work before, and you earn links and references back to your site.
The first step is to find blogs with a relevant audience. It’s frustrating to beaver away on an amazing article only to see it fizzle out because the blog’s readers were uninterested. Research about your target site first – findout what kinds of posts get the most comments and shares, and what type of comments people leave.
Next, build a relationship with the site owner. This can be easy thanks to social media. Contact them on Twitter, leave high-quality comments on their site, and if possible, get another guest writer to introduce you to the site owner, which can improve your credibility.
When pitching your guest post request, have a wonderfully written article ready to be published and that’s never been shared before. If the site owner knows you have a fantastic article to offer, you have evidence that you have something awesome to contribute. At the very least, provide an outline with snippet.
To actually make guest posting work, you have to create a killer blog post:
- Write a good headline.Again, the headline can make or break your copy.Focus on making it as persuasive as possible.
- Use simple words. You want the average Joe to be able to understand your copy, especially if the topic is complex. The best articles are able to convey a complicated message as clearly and digestible in the public eye as they appear in the industry expert’s mind.
- Initiate a conversation.Ask questions in the copy that invite readers to think and discuss what you’re saying.
- Prove you’re an authority. Include solid data and statistics in the content to show that you’re an expert in this field and that you are dead serious.
- Pay attention to your landing page.The links in your byline should point to a landing page designed for your target readers and related to your guest post topic.
Don’t be discouraged when a site owner declines to let you guest post. This only means you have room for improvement and you have more chance of getting a “yes” in the future.
The tool MyBlogGuest provides a great community for both blog owners and guest bloggers. Other places to find guest blogging opportunities include Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+.
4. Make Your Own Infographics
People love infographics because they’re loaded with so much information that’s easy to grasp. The interest and demand for infographics has grown so much over the past few years.
In 2011, The Atlantic released an infographic about the most expensive Google ad keywords, and in 2012, infographics about Batman exploded all over the Internet.With so many social networks designed for photo sharing, it makes more sense to make your own infographics.
The most shared media is images; bloggers want a simpler way to feed their readers information; and well-designed infographics are more likely to be shared and embedded. This means it’s easier to attract more people and you’re more likely to get a link.
Let’s say your infographic catches the attention of blogs of all sizes, even sites like Mashable. If it does catch the attention of an established, reputable site, you better brace yourself for a surge in traffic.
5. Pinterest and Tumblr
Activities on social networks have great potential to go viral across a user’s network and beyond. The right approach to get a post go viral depends on the social network.
While Pinterest is largely image-based, you have to know exactly how to make posts go viral. Mashable made a guide on how to make your Pinterest images stand out. Here are some of the key points.
- First off, optimize images on your website so they look good on the online pin board. Would users even want to pin them? Make sure your blog has simple, easy-to-locate Pin It and Follow buttons.
- The photo description has to contain your keyword and shouldn’t be just a generic file name like choco-vanilla.jpg or PHOTO1234_Jun2013.jpg.
- Right after uploading an image, edit it to add a link because Pinterest doesn’t automatically add links. Don’t waste this opportunity to generate traffic.
- Descriptions can go up to 500 characters, but avoid long descriptions because Pinners don’t like them. Long pieces of text only mess up their grids.
- Re-pin other pictures as well, pin your own images more often as re-pinning has fewer chances of going viral. The point is to comment, like, and re-pin once in a while because this is a social network after all.
- Create a variety of boards, which should be keyword-rich. For example, instead of the board name “Travel,” write “Beaches in California.”
Tumblr
If you have content related to GIFs, memes, nerd fandoms, cute animals, fashion, photography, food, funny videos, artsy things, news, and even politics, Tumblr is perfect.
This blogging-cum-social media platform is said to be meant for fangirls and hipsters, but it can work for marketers as well. Companies that have used Tumblr for marketing include:
- The Atlantic
- Elle
- Mashable
- College Humor
- The Today Show
- Sesame Street
- IBM
These brands are successful in their Tumblr marketing because they offer content that can stir emotion, and thus each post gets many reblogs and likes.By contributing your own version of a trending topic or meme, or publishing a long post, you can take advantage of the active blogging (and reblogging) community of Tumblr.
Much like Pinterest, a huge part of Tumblr is image-based. For your memes, funny pictures, photography shots, etc., make sure to link back to your website and consider redirecting them to a gallery of your other pictures.
Text-based posts get plenty of reblogs as well. When you publish a long post and your followers see it as they scroll down their dashboard, they tend to pause and read what you have to say because written posts can be hard to ignore in an ocean of GIFs and images.
This is where you’ve got them.
Ensure you have links in the content, and visitors can get more details and data when they reach your landing page.
Earning traffic isn’t exactly rocket science. The best part about these tips is that anyone can do them, and that they work! Whether most of your visitors are referred by search engines or social networks, these five different methods can bring a spike in your traffic that you can use to your advantage.
Author Bio: Mary McLean is a blogger for Philippine-based outsourcing provider SquareFish Inc. She has been working actively with the company to develop its content and Internet marketing strategies. Mary blogs about SEO, content creation, social media, and some of the latest IT-related topics. You can find her on Google+
