Steps to Drive Traffic to a Blog

Driving traffic to a new blog can seem overwhelming at first glance. However, it’s not as daunting of a task as it seems. This step by step plan to drive traffic to your new blog will give you the steps to make a new blog thrive.

Know Your Audience

Before you write your first post, it’s vital that you know who you’re writing for. It’s important that you know as many details about the person you’re trying to reach as you can figure out. Ask yourself these questions:

Are they male or female?
What is their rough age?
Do they have kids?
What do they do in their spare time?
Where do they do most of their shopping?
Why should they read your blog?
What are you going to do for them?

Once you have answered these questions, you have a solid base line for what topics you should write about. Honing in on a niche for your blog will help you to attract the exact visitors you want! This is key in not only building first time traffic, but also in turning those visitors into regular readers who provide consistent traffic to your blog.

Keyword Research

I can’t say enough about how properly following SEO practices can help you drive traffic to your new blog and increase your pageviews. If you can obtain organic reach, then you stand a solid chance at creating a loyal fan base. However, the first step for SEO (Search Engine Optimization), is to get the right keywords. I highly recommend that you check out this Learn to Blog Hangouts post on how to use Webmaster Tools for Keyword Research.

Gain Newsletter Subscribers

Please set up your newsletter right away. Think about a printable, small e-book, video, or something that you can give your audience for becoming a “member of your VIP audience.” Then write to your subscribers at least once a month. Be sure to connect the blog to your newsletter platform (such as Mail Chimp or Constant Contact) so it sends the newsletter while simultaneously publishing the article to your website and auto-posting on social media.

Your newsletter subscribers are your LOYAL fans. They are the ones who will stick with you through the good and bad times of blogging. They are also the ones who will help you share your blog posts faster than anyone else (and yes, that sometimes includes faster than your personal friends and family members).

Pick One or Two Social Networks

I recommend that you get social media channels set up across ALL of them with your blog branding ASAP. Although, it would be nice to do something on every social network, I encourage you to only pick one or two social networks to focus on growing and interacting with your audience on to start.

Every social network has advantages. Look back at the questions you answered above when you determined who your audience is, and focus on the social platforms where your reader is going to be. Be sure to learn how to grow it the right way, so you can build community on social media.

Visit Related Niche Blogs

I know there are some people who will tell you that commenting is a dead thing, and there are a lot of blogs who no longer have comments enabled, but that doesn’t mean you can’t find ways to connect with the authors of other blogs in your niche. If you can’t leave a comment on their blog, reach out on social media and connect with them there.

These ideas are sure to help you increase your traffic in a lasting manner. Keep in mind that you don’t want to put all your eggs in one basket. It’s important to connect with other bloggers and test new things to keep your blog fresh. This will help you get started, but the quest to nurture and drive traffic to your blog will continue forever.