Say you learned how to start a blog and then launched one of your own this year.
Congrats! But now comes the hard part.
Your writing is out there for the world to see, but you want to gain more readers.
How do you increase website traffic in 2022?
Good question. That’s where this article comes into play.
We’ll break down the steps you can take to make your website excel.
Be mindful that you don’t have to try everything.
This guide is to help you out but what you decide to do depends on your content and brand.
Don’t be afraid to try new stuff, but consider one piece of advice that stands out and make that your priority.
The Basics of Website Traffic
Let’s establish what website traffic is exactly and how it can help you as a business owner.
What Is Website Traffic?
Website traffic refers to the users who visit your website.
Website traffic measures business effectiveness and how well the pages attract an audience.
Seeing how many people go in and out daily determines how popular and visible the website is online.
You can also see how long users stay, who purchases your product, and how much it costs to bring in more visitors to your website.
Traffic refers to all of the pages of your website, not just the homepage.
Which Types of Websites Get the Most Traffic?
The top five U.S. industries that get the most traffic include
- Internet and telecom
- Arts and entertainment
- News and media
- Shopping
- Adult entertainment
Internet and telecom take a whopping 95% of the traffic share.
Google, Facebook, YouTube, Yahoo, and Amazon own about 32% of the total U.S. traffic market.
How To Increase Website Traffic
Increasing website traffic has become easier in the 21st century with various platforms.
Once your website is functioning, you need to increase the views.
The process can be challenging.
But you don’t need to have a rigorous background in marketing to promote your blog.
After reading this article, you can check out this video and get more visitors like a pro!
Are you ready for more page views and success? Let’s get started!
1. Produce Great Content
Firstly and arguably most important is your content.
Good quality, comprehensive, and detailed articles will make your website reputable, right?
Your website should be helpful to users and focus on specific topics.
Consider the pillar articles (aka flagship content or cornerstone articles).
These keyword-packed blogs will provide thorough info, snagging the interest of users.
You could write a how-to guide, a tutorial, a comparison, an opinion, or a listicle article.
Remember to go in-depth and focus on one topic only.
You don’t have to worry about these articles expiring or becoming less trendy.
The information should always be useful regardless of how much time passes.
Infographics
Users view infographics more, liking and sharing them on social media.
If you have a graphic designer on the team, then all the better.
Many people appreciate pictures more.
So, you can communicate any idea or concept, like data, research, or stats in a more user-friendly way.
The only downside is that infographics are expensive.
That said, they’re excellent at making content shareable, and guess what?
Visuals are another spiffy way to increase blog traffic.
2. Perform Keyword Research
Big data is when you, or a team member, collect and analyze large sets of data.
In this process, you can uncover new and interesting findings that benefit you and the users.
You can build better connections by including target keywords in the content.
Anyone can research what keywords do well and others that fall off the face of the planet.
You might need some programming skills or a budget for a developer.
Confirming you do SEO (search engine optimization) right is intimidating.
But with a little bit more effort, you can gain more credibility.
3. Target Long-Tail Keywords
Long-tail keywords are what they sound like: longer keyword phrases.
Most of the time, customers resort to long-tail keywords when they’re closer to purchasing.
For example, someone might type “sofa” when they browse furniture online.
Then, a few clicks later, they type something more specific.
Compare this keyword to the last: “brown leather sofa with loveseat.”
While a bit of a tongue twister, long-tail keywords can be super beneficial for your website.
They have a lower search volume than the shorter keywords.
But, once you gauge long-tail keywords, you establish better communication.
You draw in customers who are more focused, committed, and want your services.
In other words, you spend less and make more, which is what everyone wants.
4. Quality Over Quantity
Including photos in your content makes your website more appealing.
You could also smack the keywords into the alt image, which boosts the overall SEO.
You can’t grab any image unless you want to violate copyright laws.
Choose royalty-free pictures from safe websites.
Or, snap a few photos and upload them.
Make your website memorable and unique so you stand out from competitors.
Provide useful, specific, accurate, and well-thought-out answers.
If you publish more, you can get more traffic.
Research, post regularly, but care about your content.
5. Get User Intent Correct
Understand your users and build meaningful relationships.
Ask yourself the following questions:
- What are they looking for in the content they consume?
- Who are they? What’s their age range? Job? Education? Level of expertise?
- What problems do they need to solve?
Find answers to these questions.
Provide appropriate subjects that relate to the people who read and interact with your blog.
6. Create a Tool or Content
Offering something that your visitors can use is a great way to obtain more traffic.
Say you have a free, downloadable template available on your website.
Creating a tool or content for marketers or creators to access will maximize returns.
Of course, nothing is free in life, but you can get their contact info in exchange.
Therefore, you can find new leads, increase blog traffic, and promote your content and tools.
Relevant groups related to your industry will appreciate the collaboration.
You helped make their lives easier, after all!
7. Optimize Content With SEO
Highlight terms that people search on Google or Bing.
Find unique content ideas.
Don’t be afraid to peek at what competitors do.
Create related articles to drive constant traffic to your website.
Plenty of keyword research tools are out there to access.
All you have to do is enter the word or website address.
Then, you get new keyword ideas that will outdo other similar websites.
Ensure SEO Best Practices
Write better titles that include specific keywords.
Sometimes, the titles are more important than the content.
Potential readers look at titles first to see whether or not they want to read more.
Think of magazine covers.
Make the titles eye-catching, filled with solutions or interesting tidbits.
By doing so, more readers will click on your articles.
Perform On-Page SEO
Learn more about the specific words and sentences users type into search engines.
If you guess, your content most likely won’t score high.
Aka, you won’t get the traffic you want because the competition is too high or no one’s looking for that specific topic.
Basic On-Page SEO Tips
SEO allows you to bring countless new visitors and customers to your website.
The best part is you get to establish and decide everything.
We won’t lie; SEO is a lengthy process.
You must optimize both behind-the-scenes and live components of your blog.
But, once you get a better idea, you’ll see higher rankings in searches and an increase in traffic.
SEO revolves around your content, telling Google more about your website.
If you take the time to utilize good on-page SEO practices, the customers will see and appreciate it.
Choose relevant keywords and topics to produce high-quality pages.
Use an SEO Plugin
Here’s a bonus pro tip for you!
Use an SEO plugin like Rank Math or Yoast to make SEO plugins super simple.
As we established, SEO is one of the best practices you can use to make your website more search engine friendly.
You don’t need an expert, and you can find plenty of resources at your disposal.
The above websites have advice, step-by-step tutorials, and a comprehensive design.
The tools will optimize your website and provide the features you need to succeed.
8. On-Page SEO
Implementing these SEO tricks might seem like a no-brainer.
Of course, you’ll know that you need a homepage.
Still, note each page in the navigation menu with primary and secondary labels.
Then, those who didn’t create the site know what you intend with each tab.
Meta Description
A meta description is a short blurb about the article that appears under the blog.
It’s not an official ranking factor in search engines.
Yet, a meta description influences if people will click on your page or choose to keep scrolling.
Copy the meta description, pasting it on your social media content.
You encourage clicks via those sites.
Keep the description under 160 characters and use the entire keyword.
Write one or two strong sentences to convince users that your blog is worth checking out!
Keyword in Title
As you probably figured out by now, keywords are super important in SEO to generate more traffic.
A plus is that keywords are easy to incorporate into a short title.
Make sure that every page has a keyword strategy.
Then, choose one key phrase and incorporate it into the title, headline, and within your blog (sound as natural as possible!).
Google will better understand what the page is about.
Then, the search engine will recommend it to people browsing for similar content.
One Keyword Only Per Article or Page
Keywords help tell visitors what they can find on pages.
Focus on that specific phrase or a couple of other corresponding words.
Don’t overstuff your blogs with keywords. If you do, your blog seems like a scam, second-rate, and unnatural.
Search engines monitor and penalize content that goes overboard with keywords.
So, make your blogs relevant and, most importantly, you.
9. Use a TF-IDF Tool to Optimize Content
Tools like Surfer SEO or MarketMuse optimize words and sentence structures in your blogs.
Thus, your website ranks higher.
Hopefully, you’re not too confused.
In simplified terms, a TF-IDF tool is the algorithm that acts as the base for every search engine.
It determines what content is most relevant according to the user’s search.
TF-IDF directly influences the website ranking.
You can use this tool to find related terms about the topic you choose to tackle.
Approach content with SEO in mind so you don’t miss out on key terms that could ultimately get you more traffic.
10. Perform an SEO Audit
An SEO audit helps you sort through old pages you need to merge, delete, or rewrite.
Regularly update old content and prioritize what you want your audience to see.
Organizing the web pages helps give you a basic layout of your site.
Then, you and your potential customers can navigate the blogs without hassle.
11. Use Schema Markup
What is schema? Schema refers to structured data vocab.
Think about it this way.
Schema helps search engines understand the info on your website.
Therefore, when people look for results, Google, Bing, or Yahoo present them with related content.
Using schema will assist in determining the meaning and relationship of your website.
Schema is another SEO method that organizes data around people, places, and things online.
Schema coordinates with search engines to provide users with better results.
To summarize: schema elaborates what your site content means vs. what users find on your website.
12. Add Internal Links
External or outbound linking is when you use another company’s product or service.
The business you mention may notice your post and link back to you.
Besides, readers like it when you provide resources.
However, it’s harder to ask third-party websites for permission to use their links.
On the flip side, internal links are strictly to promote your website.
You can use a tool like Link Whisper to add internal links within your blog.
Link to existing posts, building context, and a strong relationship between different articles.
Internal linking helps with ranking and increasing page views.
You also keep users around longer instead of bouncing from page to page.
13. Ensure Fast Load Times
Nobody likes waiting for pages to load.
You want to make sure your users are happy with how quickly your blog functions.
If your website takes its dandy time to load, users will leave out of boredom or frustration.
Your website speed is one of the biggest factors in ranking.
Keep Users Happy With Fast Load Times
Optimize the WordPress performance and images, and clear cache.
You ensure your blog loads in a reasonable time.
That way, you avoid unnecessary weight on your website that makes the pages lag.
Meet Core Web Vitals
Here’s a brief history.
Google initiated web vitals to guide quality signals.
Web vitals are essential to delivering great user experiences on the web.
You can apply core web vitals to all your web pages.
Web vitals play a direct role in loading, interacting, and visual stability.
You can measure core web vitals with field tools as the site owner.
Make sure the three previous requirements meet recommended target levels.
In other words, loading, interacting, and stability all need to reach the 75th percentile.
Adjust your website as necessary if one of these features is lacking.
14. Build Backlinks
So we talked about internal linking, but what are backlinks?
Backlinks are incoming links to your content from external websites.
These are just as influential in search engine rankings as internal links.
However, finding reputable backlinks from blogs and websites can be hard for everyone.
Talk to other influencers and bloggers.
Tell them about the content you want to link.
Or, ask if they want to write guest posts on your website.
On the other hand, you can interview them and encourage fans to check out the final post on your blog.
You can add the link to your website and other social media profiles after collaborating with others.
If you want an easy way to get respectable backlinks, take this approach.
Backlink Exchanges
Countless businesses try to increase blog traffic.
So, you must link to sites in your posts that offer related and interesting content.
These additional resources should mutually benefit you and the other blogger.
Once established, you’ll get more views.
Finding the right partner means you can reap plentiful rewards.
Guest Posting
Guest contributors can write for your blog.
They add more content and carve new paths for the future.
Another plus is you won’t have to work so hard coming up with ideas.
Then, both of you can share the completed article on social media.
Sometimes, other bloggers might ask you to write for them.
Writing guest posts and contributing to their website helps build an audience.
You gather readers who want more of your content.
15. Maintain Social Media
In the 21st century, social media plays a crucial role in promoting your website.
Share new blogs on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Pinterest, etc.
You’ll create more networks while sharing your great content.
Social media acts as one of the top traffic sources.
Posting on websites other than your own reaches more potential consumers.
Add share buttons on your blog to other social media platforms.
Linking to your Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook accounts helps readers spread the word.
Interact with your social media, retweeting and sharing past and present content.
Don’t be afraid to recycle previous content.
Sometimes, people don’t have a chance to see the blogs when you first post them.
Of course, make sure the blogs are still relevant and not regarding an outdated topic.
Create Social Media Profiles (If You Don’t Have One)
We, as humans, appreciate social media because it taps into other experiences.
It influences our own decisions. So, list your social outlets on your website.
Talk about your blog in Tweets and emails, and tap into the advantages of social media.
You can interact with readers by including a feedback form at the end of a post.
Or, advocate for users to leave a comment. Approach users to collect testimonials.
Ask them to rate your articles and leave reviews.
Share your social media stats, like how many shares or email subscribers you have, to increase reputability.
Set up alerts on social media to monitor keywords that people use in conversations, and answer questions posed by your readers.
Link to your website article to promote your brand name.
Set Up and Optimize a Google Business Profile
Google is the leading search engine.
So it’s safe to say that your target audience browses there for products and services your company sells.
A Google business profile is crucial especially if you’re a small business owner to increase blog traffic.
Claiming a business profile helps you find potential customers.
You also increase your credibility and legitimacy.
You can elaborate on your business, such as your location and contact information.
Leave past reviews and anything else you want to share with the world.
Use Hashtags
Hashtags are super helpful to gain attraction and get more customers to your website.
Once you post content, use relevant hashtags that searches will pick up.
Then, your blog and website appear when users browse for related topics.
Tag influencers who might be interested in your content.
Hashtags entice and encourage readers to click.
Engage With Your Audience
Follow a clear theme and establish a consistent niche.
After you figure out what to pursue, you can decide who you want your blog to reach.
Think about what your target audience wants to read and what messages you want to convey.
Focus on one interest rather than confusing them with multiple.
Interact by replying, reposting, or tagging them to build a healthy community.
16. Leverage Email Marketing
When growing your blog, you don’t just want to think about new visitors.
You must maintain the relationships with existing customers and encourage them to return.
With email marketing, you can coerce them to subscribe to your blog and follow other social media.
Building an email list helps expand your reach.
You have peace of mind that the messages go directly into their personal or business inbox.
Email marketing is cost-efficient and effective for promoting your website.
Send out emails regularly, and you’ll increase blog traffic.
Build an Email List
A mailing list allows you to send out brand-new content.
However, consider only sharing the first paragraph from several of your recent posts.
A sample, if you will.
Then, include the link to continue reading on your site.
Not everyone reads your blogs weekly (as much as you want that to happen).
So, you have a chance to get them invested and subscribe.
Send Newsletters to Your List
When sending out newsletters, make the content easy to read.
Email your signature with a brief bio from your online profile.
Readers should be able to subscribe easily.
If they leave a comment, respond so they know you’re equally engaged.
Clarify the topic in the subject line and body.
Insert a link or button so subscribers can click to read more.
Allow mobile and desktop access so readers can navigate regardless of their device.
You could personalize the emails further and include their names at the top.
Make the newsletter visually appealing and use templates if you’re unsure.
The most important thing is to have fun with your blog!
17. Run an Advertising Campaign
Advertising through paid search, social media, and display ads effectively increases website traffic.
That said, there are a few downsides.
Users can block display ads, thus lowering the average cost per click.
Consider your budget and goals before investing in advertising.
But you can choose from several methods and figure out what works best for your business.
PPC Campaign
PPC, or pay per click, ads are beneficial to see how audiences behave with various keywords.
You can start with one campaign and experiment with a few different ad groups.
Test multiple keywords.
Maybe you’ll discover that one didn’t increase website traffic while another encouraged clicks and investment.
Google Ads
Google Ads promotes your website via a sponsorship with specific posts depending on where your readers spend the most time.
You have to invest some money, but you boost your website traffic while gaining returns.
Google Maps Advertising
Google Maps is an advantageous way to attract nearby customers.
When you run a local business, advertising via Google Maps helps them find your location.
All you have to do is enable location extensions from your account.
You can set up or update your business profile (that we previously mentioned).
Then you can use location targeting and optimize keywords.
In the end, you get more details about the people who use your blog and business.
18. Other Display Networks
You can opt for different advertising options instead of what we listed above.
Your choice ultimately depends on your brand, your website, and what you write about daily or weekly.
Look at the following companies to see if any spark your interest.
Outbrain
Outbrain advertises brands on media sites, helping you grow your customer base with customized recommendations.
Their services increase your visibility, connecting brands and agencies to consumers.
More importantly, their content is engaging.
Some of the most recognized media companies use Outbrain.
Many consumers appreciate engagement compared to fancy displays.
You can promote, educate, and influence customers with Outbrain.
Their services guide you to the performance goals you want to reach and increase monetization.
Taboola
Taboola reaches customers on trusted websites with genuine and effective ads.
You can obtain new audiences on a more massive scale.
Taboola also uses behavior data to track users and create formats tailored to them.
You can meet your marketing goals and promote awareness of your blog with Taboola.
You’ll get new users and encourage them to participate online.
Amazon Ads
Amazon Ads allows the world to see your brand.
You can reach audiences while they browse the stores, read e-books, listen to music, and watch shows.
Amazon offers advertising services away from the main website as well.
You can customize your brand shopping experience and create interactive ways to speak with customers.
Amazon Ads provides useful tools to plan, manage, and measure your website.
The services optimize digital marketing strategies and provide content with modernized resources.
You can reach readers, drive sales, and run campaigns to grow your business.
19. Retargeting
Retargeting is a form of online advertising.
However, retargeting focuses on the people who have already visited your website.
Perhaps you have their contact info, or they browsed your blog and store before.
Retargeting generates awareness and completes the buyer’s journey.
In other words, they won’t leave without buying or supporting your website in some way.
You have the chance to introduce new products or posts that could snag their attention.
20. Outreach To Others In Your Industry
You can’t do everything by yourself!
Building connections and relationships with people are crucial when you start your blog.
You want to reach an audience and make online friendships that benefit everyone.
Take a look below to learn how you can engage with more people to help reach the goals for your blog.
You dedicated a lot of work to make it the best it can be!
Influencer Outreach
Finding and engaging with other influencers helps promote your blog.
Your traffic will boost, and that’s what we want!
Although, influencers already get hundreds if not thousands of messages a day.
Most often, they’ll disregard your message if you’re just starting a blog.
They’ll assume you don’t have anything to offer in return.
So how do you get their attention?
Talk with them via social media.
Share your opinion on their content by leaving a few comments here and there.
These interactions add value.
The influencer will appreciate your efforts and honesty and remember you.
Then, you can establish a relationship, giving and getting advice from an online veteran.
Press Releases
Submitting press releases helps promote your business to potential clients.
But, you don’t want to just smack them onto a website and see what happens.
Push the release and send the article to influential websites.
Then, related industries publish the article to reach audiences.
You’ll see a spike in new customers and increased blog traffic.
Attend Industry Events
Face-to-face interactions with people in the same business are still important. (Even though we accomplish so much online nowadays).
Establishing these connections generates new business and confirms you stay current with trends.
Building meaningful relationships helps your company grow and establish more trust.
You have a chance to discuss your common interests and goals.
You can share ideas and become more motivated with additional information.
You’ll learn more from presenting speakers and get feedback.
You have a chance to connect with fellow influencers with similar target audiences.
Remember you’re entering a very competitive field.
Find sponsorships or others you can work with again.
These conventions are highly valuable for future years.
Speak at Relevant Webinars
Q&A websites are the biggest online communities on the internet.
You can answer questions and interact with others.
Your replies will remain online for as long as the answer remains accurate.
You can get a regular source of traffic by writing detailed answers.
Host webinars to prove your knowledge to an eager following.
Link to your posts if they fit the context.
Become Well-Known in Forums
Similar to the previous tip, you can participate in online communities.
Websites like Reddit are a great source of traffic.
You’ll find interested users who are passionate about specific topics.
You can participate in smaller communities on LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube groups.
Spend time building your reputation instead of just posting links to your articles.
Answer questions, join discussions, and share your website when appropriate.
Don’t just spam your blogs and leave because no one will appreciate that.
Besides, Google may block you, so it’s a lose-lose.
21. Track Your Analytics
Once you start creating content and promoting it, you need to track how well each piece does.
How do you know which keywords are successful?
Track Using Google Analytics
Google Analytics discovers where your users come from.
You can see what they do when they browse your website.
You can’t determine what step to take next without this feature.
Tracking visitors and reporting their behavior, like engagement and activity, allows you to determine the most successful aspects of your blog.
Then, you can feel confident in what works and what doesn’t, making adjustments as you go.
Track Using Google Search Console
Google Search Console is a free tool that Google provides for website owners.
This tool helps you see how your website does amongst users.
Google Search Console also monitors competitors and their website traffic.
You can see who ranks higher than you and why.
Pivot If Things Aren’t Working
If the strategy you’re using doesn’t meet your objectives or if the metrics do not display what you set out in the beginning, change the strategy.
You don’t need to stall your blog with a strategy that doesn’t provide good results.
Different blogs require different strategies.
What Doesn’t Work
Sometimes, things don’t work out. But, you shouldn’t get discouraged.
Try another solution.
Make adjustments and experiment with other options available to you as a blogger.
Look at the next sections to see what you should avoid when trying to increase blog traffic.
1. Directories
Here’s a quick background on directories.
Years ago, not many people had websites.
They were relatively uncommon and didn’t garner much profit, unlike today.
But, as the internet progressed, more websites began to pop up.
People couldn’t remember the site names, so a group of guys decided to create a web directory.
They made money by selling advertising space and boosting results in exchange for a fee.
Directories brought better ratings. However, now they don’t make as big of an impact on rankings.
The downside to directories in the modern age is they tend to have a lot of spam since no one manages them.
Google penalizes people who use web directories. Overall, directories aren’t efficient and can be compromising for a beginning blogger.
2. Link Wheels
What are link wheels anyway?
Visualize this: you have your main web page in the middle.
The backlinks from other websites form around it, like a wheel.
Link wheels are problematic to say the very least.
Most often, website owners don’t have enough time or resources to create high-quality backlinks.
Link wheels can’t improve SEO rankings noticeably.
They’re also expensive and take a lot of time to perfect.
Even then, you have to dedicate energy to constantly maintaining link wheels.
In short, you have to plan and execute link wheels correctly.
There are benefits to link wheels, but the cons outweigh the pros.
The return isn’t worth the increased workload.
You’re stuck with long-term maintenance like software updates and troubleshooting errors.
Besides, you struggle to create unique content.
3. Blog Comment Spam
Blog comment spam is difficult to define.
You know it when you see it.
Whenever someone posts a comment that doesn’t ask a question or contribute anything relevant to the article, you know it’s spam.
But why does spam happen? Who’s behind these obnoxious comments?
Unfortunately, the link to the blog most likely contributes.
When posting, you can choose to leave your website URL to attract readers.
As with anything on the internet, your blog accumulates friends and foes.
Those who compliment your blog and others who use it as an opportunity to spam.
You can avoid spam by disabling comments.
But, a blog is supposed to be a conversation.
Limiting your readers’ abilities to interact makes your post boring.
You might not increase your website traffic if users feel unwelcome.
4. Instant Traffic Generators
Instant traffic generators sound too good to be true.
To be perfectly frank, they are.
These generators advertise themselves as able to bring thousands to your site.
But, they will provide more harm than help, ultimately wasting your time and money.
They aren’t safe or effective. Plus, you’re taking the easy way out.
Instant traffic generators aren’t as simple as pressing a button, and suddenly you’re a hugely popular blogger.
Google picks up on fake traffic and will ultimately ban your website.
Choose the smart and safe option.
Work to gain authority instead of faking traffic just for your success and ego.
Wrapping Up
Here’s the bottom line: you can take several steps to increase blog traffic in 2022.
Experienced influencers choose a few of these options, implementing them to garner attention from readers.
After reading this article, you hopefully better understand how you can improve your website and career.
Increasing your blog traffic is something anyone can do.
While you have to put in a bit more work at first, you’ll ultimately be successful in creating a website that excels in the wide world known as the internet!
Feel free to comment if you have any questions; we’d love to hear from you!
