Boost Traffic Through Blogging

Seems meta to explain to you why blogs are great…through a blog, but how else would I prove my point? Blogging was once seen as a fad but has proven to be the best way to consistently get content out there and drive traffic to your website. But of course you already know this because you read this blog religiously for hot marketing tips, right?! Admitting that this is your favorite blog is the first step. Once you’ve done that, muddled through writer’s block to then finally wake up in the middle of the night with a lightning bolt idea for a must-read blog, come on back here for some pointers on how to reach the most readers.

Be Conscious of SEO

In the land of social media and content creation, SEO is a biggie. It stands for search engine optimization and although it may sound like it’s above your paygrade, it’s actually fairly simple to factor in when writing a blog. When you’ve decided on the topic of your blog and you start to write the first draft, take into account who might benefit by reading your blog, and what search words they might use to find it. If you’re writing a blog featuring book recommendations for summer reading lists, you might be able to assume that anyone looking for a summer read is going to search “summer book recommendations” or maybe “beach reads 2021,” or similar variations. Knowing that, you can incorporate those keywords into your blog as well as the title. That way when an exhausted mom searches for a book that will allow her to escape to a time when she wasn’t covered in spit-up, she’ll quickly land on your list of options. And would you look at that? She can even click the link right in the blog to take her to your digital platform and borrow the book right then and there. What a lifesaver your blog has been! As you might see where this is heading, not only is it great to include those keywords in order to show up on search engines, but linking to other pages on your website or useful tools within the blog also boosts SEO. These are known as contextual links and they point users to interesting or related content. They also allow search engines to find out what type of content is related and determine its value. The more links you have, the more important your post seems to search engines. Plus, keeping your reader in mind, it makes their life a whole lot easier if they can just click to the information that you’re referencing. To read more about the value of links to your website’s SEO, click here! (See what I did there?)

Blog-Friendly Format

Making sure search engines point to your blog is important, but once the reader lands on your page, it better be pretty! Formatting is important on every section of your website but here’s a few tips for ideal blog format. Break your topic up into sections to make it easily digestible. Those who are scanning can find the section that pertains to them quickly, especially if you make bold headlines that sum up the paragraph. Blogs don’t have to be a formal dissertation, so using informal language can make your content easier to read and relate to. This ain’t no research paper (if it were, I’d probably fail) so keep it light for fun topics. Of course, if the topic you’re covering is more controversial or fact-based, then disregard my carefree attitude and definitely back up all information that you share with reference links. Don’t be afraid to use visuals to emphasize the point you’re trying to make. Including infographics or images (following all copyright sharing guidelines) can break up the text and get the same amount of information across. There’s no official rulebook on what the post length should be, but generally speaking, a short blog (700 words or less) is ideal for getting more comments and discussion while a long blog (1,000 words or more) is best for SEO and social shares.

Share to Social Media

And believe me, social shares are a MUST! The best way to drive traffic to your blog is by boosting it on all of your social channels. Sharing the link with the right hashtags on Twitter will reach far beyond your followers and get even more people engaged with your post. Twitter is the best platform for sharing the same blog multiple times—on different days, don’t be a repeat monster on the same day (remember our guidebook for losing followers.) Share on Instagram and Facebook more sparingly since these posts tend to stick around longer, especially if followers are interacting. The more you put your blog out there through social avenues, newsletters and even contextual links on other pages of your site, the higher chances you have for SEO and engagement. Consider adding a “share it” widget to the bottom of your blog as well so that all it takes is a click for a reader to share your post to their own social accounts. Turns out your preschool teachers were right…sharing IS caring! So go ahead and pay it forward by sharing this blog to anyone who needs the 411 on how best to blog it up.