Blogs rank among the most effective marketing tools for organizations, according to reports. They also provide a great opportunity to earn passive income. However, to reap these benefits, your content needs to be found and read by an audience. In this article, I’ll offer tips to increase blog traffic for beginners and those seeking guidance.
 Blogging Tips for Beginners to Increase Traffic
1. Identify and Understand Your Audience
One of the key strategies for increasing blog traffic is to know your audience well.
Surprisingly, even some prominent companies overlook this. It makes sense that businesses often fail to see themselves from their customers’ perspectives because business owners are typically very busy!
Consider these questions about your audience:
– Who is my ideal customer or client? Without this knowledge, you can’t write effectively for them.
– What problems might this person face?
– How can I address these issues with my products or services?
– What types of blog posts would interest this reader?
Answering these questions will simplify generating content ideas and writing blog posts. Most importantly, you’ll find that readers will want to engage with your posts because you write about topics that matter to them.
Social media is another excellent tool for understanding your blog audience. For instance, Facebook Insights can show you what topics interest your audience. Instagram offers similar metrics. Additionally, social media can be used to create surveys to learn more about your audience’s preferences and challenges.
 2. Share Valuable Content
Once you understand your target audience, you can start creating high-quality content that resonates with them. Readers turn into customers or clients when you provide useful information tailored to their needs.
One of my favorite tips for writing blog posts is to exclude anything that doesn’t add value to the reader.
To write valuable articles, consider these tips:
– Focus on topics that help the reader solve a problem.
– Think about what the reader might want to learn next as you write.
– Share original content. Specific examples and firsthand knowledge are excellent resources.
– Reference content from articles that rank well since it indicates their value to Google.
– Include graphics and other useful images.
3. Write Readable Posts
Since many people have short attention spans, there’s debate about whether blogging is worthwhile. However, people will take the time to read or at least scan content that interests them.
Writing readable articles can encourage visitors to stay on your site longer and read more of your content.
To create easy-to-read blogs:
– Use headings, lists, diagrams, and images.
– Write short paragraphs and sentences. Limit paragraphs to one to three short sentences.
– Use Grammarly’s readability suggestions when editing.
 4. Implement an SEO Strategy
Understanding SEO (search engine optimization) is crucial for beginners looking to increase blog traffic. Several SEO strategies can help achieve this goal.
You must use SEO to inform Google that your content is worth ranking, helping people find your articles through search.
– Conduct keyword research using tools like Keysearch to find the right keywords to target in your blog posts. Choose keywords with low competition and high search volume (at least a few hundred searches). I use Keysearch for every blog post I create!
– Use your keywords appropriately. Naturally include them in your title, headers, meta description, and alt text. Avoid keyword stuffing, as it looks spammy to Google and readers.
– Include internal links. Link to other relevant pages on your site within your blog posts to keep visitors engaged longer and improve SEO.
– Gain backlinks. Backlinks (links to your site from other websites) signal to Google that your content is valuable. Obtain backlinks by pitching to HARO and writing guest blog posts.
– Connect your site to Google Search Console. This tool lets you monitor your metrics and evaluate your site’s performance. It helps you understand what works and what doesn’t. You can also request Google to index new articles after publishing.
After developing and implementing a consistent SEO strategy, you’ll start to see positive results. SEO can be complex and time-consuming, but it becomes more intuitive with practice and is an effective, cost-efficient method for boosting organic traffic.
 5. Optimize Website Speed
A recent study suggests that the ideal loading speed for conversion is between 0-4 seconds. If your blog takes 5 seconds to load, users are likely to bounce or leave. Use PageSpeed Insights to evaluate your website speed and identify any issues.
Here are ways to maintain fast loading speeds:
– Reduce image file sizes before uploading them to your blog.
– Limit each article to one video.
– Cache webpages.
– Avoid unnecessary plugins.
 6. Start an Email Newsletter
While SEO targets search engines to reach your audience, an email newsletter is another way to distribute your blog content. I delayed starting an email newsletter, thinking it would be too time-consuming. Don’t make the same mistake! An email newsletter is an excellent way to grow and maintain your audience.
Blog visitors often visit only once, finding an article through Google or social media, reading it, and then leaving. An email newsletter keeps people updated on your blog and business. You can send newsletters as frequently or infrequently as you like, with many choosing a weekly or monthly schedule. When you publish a new article, send a preview to your email list with a link to the full post.
Tip: Offer a free resource to entice readers to join your email list. For example, a beauty brand might offer a list of ingredients to avoid, or a travel blogger might provide a packing checklist. Canva makes it easy to create such freebies.
Use Flodesk to build your email list. Flodesk’s user-friendly, customizable templates allow you to create opt-in forms for your giveaways, asking recipients to subscribe to your newsletter. Include the opt-in form in your blog posts and on your website.
 7. Promote Your Articles on Social Media
Blogging is a long-term investment, and it takes time to see results. Promoting your posts on social media is an effective way to increase traffic. You can do this even if you have a small following. Share your blog posts on platforms like Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Personally, I find Pinterest most effective for promoting my blog.
Pinterest acts more like a search engine than a social media platform. Users actively seek detailed content, making them more likely to click and engage with your blog posts.
 8. Be Consistent
Consistency is key to driving traffic to your blog. Writing an excellent, SEO-optimized post occasionally won’t attract Google’s attention. Google values regular and consistent content, deeming your blog relevant and valuable. Create a schedule and stick to it.
Plan your content ahead for the next month or quarter, and then reassess. Consistency doesn’t mean daily or weekly posts; it can be bi-weekly or monthly. However, to start gaining traction, aim to publish a new blog post 2-4 times a month.
 Conclusion
I hope these beginner-friendly tips for boosting blog traffic are helpful. Writing articles and running a blog require significant effort, but the results are worth it. By creating valuable content with your audience in mind, implementing an SEO strategy, promoting your posts on social media, and staying consistent, you’ll achieve great results!
Remember, blogging doesn’t guarantee immediate success. But by applying my advice, you’ll see results within a few months and create evergreen content that continues to generate income passively.