How to Increase Blog Traffic for Free

Build it and they will come are the hopes and dreams of every blogger, but eventually, you’ll probably want to know how to increase blog traffic for free?

The reality is, that build it and they will come doesn’t really work this way. Well, perhaps not in the short term anyway.

When you first get started with a blog, you’ll want to consider how to increase your blog traffic and get the ball rolling. It’s really not too hard and here are a few pro tips to help you along your way.

How to Increase Blog Traffic for Free

Content is King

You may have heard this before but, content is really king in the blogging world and I’m not talking about scraped content from other websites, but good original remarkable content.

Content that people want to share, content that you are proud of sharing.

If you don’t feel you’re a writer yet then you need to and become one, the best way to do this is to write more.

As I alluded to earlier people will find your blog naturally after some time because of the power of the search and a phenomenon called the long tail. The long tail is made up of those obscure searches that people type into search engines because they can’t articulate what they are looking for. There are a lot of them, hundreds of thousands in fact.

The long tail is made up of those obscure searches that people type into search engines because they can’t articulate what they are looking for. There are a lot of them, hundreds of thousands in fact, for example, the following is actually a search term people use.

…Blog find self help me

You see if you produce unique content then eventually as your site gains more popularity your content will start to appear in the long tail and you will start to get organic traffic.

Crazy searches like the example above happen every day. Nothing is off limits.

Organic traffic is free traffic

Of course, if you want to game the system a popular blogging style for those wanting gain blog traffic quickly is to do keyword research and put that long tail into their content.

In the past, Google provided a keyword research tool but this has since been removed and now you can only rely on google AdWords keyword searches with are not as comprehensive. If you’re serious about monetizing your blog with the long tail then maybe check out long tail pro as a useful tool.

It’s the standard in keyword search now.

Or perhaps just learn a little more about keyword research here.

Sometimes you just need an outlet

Bloggers who are driven by a passion may never look to monetize their site, and are likely to see blogging as a hobby, and that’s OK too.

But to become a popular blog you must give readers what they want, and that is the content they are looking for. So try mixing the stuff you want to write about with the stuff people want to read about.

Once, you gain a solid following people will want to know more about you anyway.

What’s the frequency?

If you want people to follow and engage in your blog, how do we make this happen?

Well, the most basic rule to follow is consistent posting. And I mean consistent.

You may be a daily blogger, twice weekly or once a week but none of that matters as much as being consistent.

If you post on Mondays then make sure you post on Mondays, because your readers will be looking for you on Mondays. Fortunately, with WordPress you can schedule your post to publish at a particular time and date, so line up a few blog posts ready to go.

I know that’s easier said than done and I struggle with this on my main blog, because once you have a few blog posts ready to go in the queue you become complacent and before you know it your queue is empty again.

However, don’t beat yourself up over it because we are only human and only have so much time in the day. When I quit my day job I had much more time to do the things I’m passionate about, including writing and helping others. You’ll get there.

Sharing is Caring

Another simple way to get Blog Traffic is to share your blog with your friends. Don’t be shy, post it on your Facebook page or twitter feed and it doesn’t need to be a hard sell, just letting them know is enough.

And if they share it out to their network then make sure you give them some thanks.

Read and Comment on other Blogs

Now is a good time to see who your competition is and spend a little time reading what they are about, you may also get some ideas from them.

Commenting on their blog could pique the interest of their readers and you might get a little traffic flowing into your blog. Just make sure you thoroughly read the blog posts you’re commenting on and provide value in their comments.

Although you won’t get Google link juice, your website link is still relevant to those wanting to read more about you.

Guest Blog Posting

Sometimes going through the front door is quicker than spending time commenting on blog posts.

Guest posting is a popular method to gain more Blog Traffic. Again look for blogs that have synergies with your blog and as a rule of thumb target blogs that have 2-3 times more traffic than you.

The big fish may not see the benefits in publishing a small fry blogger.

Remember they are trying to add value to their readers too.

Buy Blog Traffic vs Pay for it

If all else fails then consider buying blog traffic to kickstart your blog.

There are a number paid traffic alternatives out there but if you have nothing to sell then Google Adwords or Facebook ads might be the best use of your money for targeted visitors.

Both work on a sliding scale and the cost per click depends on how popular your blog topic is; popular blog topics tend to have a good product conversion like finance, insurance and real estate.

However, if you have something to sell then let your affiliates do the work, driving traffic to your products. In this case, you will be paying for traffic rather than buying it.

A site like Clickbank is worth joining to get affiliate marketers to send you traffic. Affiliates usually only get paid on sales, so it’s generally a win-win and paying half of the product costs is not uncommon.

So there you have it, hopefully, you learned how to increase blog traffic for free. If you have some other methods you use to drive traffic to your blog, then please share in the comments below.

And if you found this post useful then please share with your friends. Everyone can be a blogger.