Blog Traffic for Beginners: The Ultimate Guide in 2024
“What you do after you create your content is what truly counts.” - Gary Vaynerchuk
So you’ve done the most amazing thing – started a blog, launched it and the only person reading it, is your Mum, or possibly your Nan too (gotta love our Nans)…
But now it’s time to get serious and get your blog some traffic!
Traffic is at the heart of every blog, because without it, all the awesome content you write and put out there, isn’t getting seen…
Are you sitting there thinking you have no clue how to get traffic to a new blog, how long it takes and how to even check you’re getting any traffic at all…
Well, don’t worry, because in this post I’ve got you covered lovely…
I’m going to let you know all the things you can do to make your blog “traffic worthy” and answer all of the most frequently asked questions when it comes to getting traffic to a blog!
So let’s dive right in and look at blog traffic for beginners, in this ultimate guide.
“This post does contain affiliate links throughout and if you make a purchase using one of my links, I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you”
What is Blog Traffic?
So before jumping into all the things you can do to increase your blog traffic, let’s take a look at what blog traffic actually is…
Put simply, Blog Traffic is the volume of people on the internet who visit a website!
These visits (web traffic) are then measured and this determines how successful and popular a website is.
How is Blog Traffic Measured?
Traffic is measured using several metrics and ideally, you want to be checking what your blog or website’s up to once a day if not once every other day.
This is how you’re going to get a sense of what’s going on… but first, you need a tool which can actually measure the traffic…
There are two tools I use when measuring my own blog traffic – Google Analytics and Google Search Console.
Both are completely free and give an incredible amount of information you can use.
Google Analytics
First, let’s get you set up with the best FREE analytics platform – Google Analytics.
To get started, click the link above and then click on Start for Free, as shown in the screenshot below and go through the step by step instructions to get it all set up.
Once you’ve set an account up, you’ll then need to add the Tracking Code to your website.
I use a plugin called RankMath Pro to add my tracking code in and this analyses all my traffic. If you decide to use them, they give you step-by-step instructions to set this up.
But if you’re using another plugin to track your traffic, to grab the Tracking Code, within the Dashboard click on the Admin tab (bottom left-hand corner) Tracking Info > Tracking Code.
You can then either grab the Tracking ID, which looks something like this – UA-11111111-1 or you can copy the code below it and then enter it into the <HEAD> of every webpage.
You can see from the above image the Universal Analytics is going to be changing from the 1st July 2023, so you’re going to need to set it up under the new Analytics 4 before this date.
Whichever way you choose is absolutely fine.
If you use an SEO plugin like RankMath, then this can be added within the General Settings > Analytics section.
Just toggle it to ON and then add the code…
If you use a theme, you may have somewhere within it that you can place the tracking code as well (like in the images below)…
I use the Divi Theme, therefore I could copy and paste the code into the Integration tab, in the Add code to the < body > (good for tracking codes such as google analytics) section.
Wherever you add it though, only add it once.
Once you’ve added the code, your blog is then ready to track your traffic!
Tracking traffic is super important.
You need to know as much as you can about your audience.
This is so you can figure out what your audience likes and dislikes, therefore creating the best content you can.
Google Analytics looks at the following reports and then within those individual reports, there’s all the analytics, with things such as an overview, locations, traffic sources, site speed, goals… (this is not an exhaustive list by any means).
The main reports are as follows:
Realtime – the real-time report of who’s on your blog at that actual moment.
Audience – this looks at all the new users, returning visitors and the demographics and interests of them etc…
Acquisition – this looks at all the traffic channels, google ads and social sources.
Behaviour – checks out things like site speed, pages people are checking out, pageviews and bounce rate etc…
Conversions – this is where you set goals up and then you can see what conversions have happened.
Google Analytics has sooooo much information you can delve into and the more content you write, the more you’ll be able to see what your audience love and don’t love.
This isn’t a Google Analytics tutorial, however, but you can find out more by checking out this ultimate google analytics guide and also within this Google Analytics Academy course, specifically for beginners…
The more you use analytics, the more familiar you’ll be and it’ll just become second nature to check in on it every day.
Google Search Console
The other tool I’ve recently started using is Google Search Console, formerly known as Google Webmaster Tools…
The reason I love this tool is because it’s fab for helping me maintain and monitor my blog.
It lets me know if there are any issues, such as redirect errors, usability and page experience issues etc…
I can then go in and fix and validate them so that I can give the best experience I can for my readers.
Within the console, there are many things that can be analysed, including:
Overview – this gives a brief look at the performance, coverage, experience and enhancements overall.
Performance – here shows the total clicks, total impressions, average CTR and average position for things like specific queries, countries, the pages clicked on and the devices used etc…
URL Inspection – this is where any URL from your blog/website can be inspected. It looks at coverage, mobile usability and whether the URL has been crawled successfully.
Sitemaps – here is where all the URL’s show up, which have been added to the sitemaps. All URL prefixes should be added for your blog/website (http, https, https.www and http.www)
Removals – this is not something I’ve touched at all, but it’s there if you want to remove content from Google search.
Page Experience – this looks at the experience users have on mobile browsers.
Core Web Vitals – this looks at how pages on your blog or website are performing.
Mobile Usability – Details are shared here of errors after the pages have been crawled.
There are a few other tabs you can check out, but the above are the main ones and you can find out lots of information from them.
I highly recommend you set up both Google Analytics and Google Search Console, so you have analytics to look at every day.
What are the different types of Traffic?
There are several different types of web traffic and we’ll take a brief look at each of these now:
Organic
Paid
Direct
Referral
What is Organic Traffic?
Organic Traffic is FREE traffic, where people end up on your blog from unpaid sources.
This is usually from search engines such as Google, but can also come from social media platforms (as long as it’s not from paid ads).
I get organic traffic from my Pinterest accounts when it comes to social media, as people check out my pins and then click through on the links within them.
The best way to get as much organic traffic as possible is to write and publish high quality, relevant and evergreen content.
The more great content you write, the more you’ll appear in the search results.
Consistency is KEY with blogging in general, but it’s especially key to getting traction and gaining more traffic.
What is Paid Traffic?
Traffic which comes from ads and promotions, come under the “Paid” traffic source.
This includes Google Ads, Facebook Ads, YouTube Ads, Banner Ads, Sponsored Content and Native Ads to name a few…
Basically, anything which is generated through paid means would be classed as “paid traffic”.
How does Paid Traffic work?
Paid traffic is usually purchased through some kind of ad network and is where you’re “buying” visits to your site, rather than letting it reach people organically.
Let’s take an ad placed on Google for example.
The idea of this ad is it appears at the top of the search results page for a particular search query you are aiming for (as shown in the above screenshot).
When someone clicks on the ad, they are taken to the website you want people to click on and you pay every time someone clicks on the link.
The most popular form of advertising is Pay Per Click (PPC), where an advertiser pays the network or publisher when the ad is clicked.
What is Direct Traffic?
Direct Traffic is where someone lands on your site directly, without clicking on another link.
So when someone types in the URL for your blog or website directly into the search bar.
There isn’t really much to say about direct traffic, apart from the fact that anyone who comes to your site who hasn’t been referred by another comes under the “Direct Traffic” source.
What is Referral Traffic?
Visits to your site that come from links on a different site are classed as “Referral Traffic”.
This is anything that hasn’t come from a search engine.
It could be from an email, a social media platform (not an ad on social media) or someone else’s blog or website.
Links which are placed on other blogs and websites and refer back to your blog is great for link building, which is really important for your blog.
Backlinking to higher authority sites, which have great reputations and get lots of traffic themselves will also help you reach more people and increase your traffic intake.
If you’re linking to other sites, just make sure that they’re within your niche and the links are related to your content.
How to get Traffic to a new blog!
Getting blog traffic as a beginner blogger can be really hard when first starting out and it’s not easy to know how to go about it.
For me, I feel the best thing you can do when starting out is just create amazing content consistently and share, share and share it some more.
With regards to paid traffic, I wouldn’t even have this on your radar, to begin with.
Just concentrate on researching what people in your niche want and need to know about (keyword research) and then write the best blog posts you can on them.
Optimise your blog
One of the first things you can do to improve your blog’s chances of getting seen is to optimise it!
There’s lots of things you can do to optimise and improve the way your blog works, so we’ll have a look at these now.
Get decent Hosting
It starts with fab hosting because without decent hosting, your site isn’t going to get very far.
I use SiteGround and have done for as long as I can remember.
It’s super easy to use and navigate around (they’ve just updated their dashboard to make it even better) and they have awesome 24/7 live chat support, which is a lifesaver for me at times.
Siteground is super fast and I haven’t had any problems in regards to my site being down or having any issues.
(DISCLOSURE: I no longer use SiteGround anymore, but I still feel it's fantasic when starting out with a new blog or website)
Improve Site Speed
They say that if your site doesn’t load within a few seconds, then you’ll lose your readers.
Therefore the best thing you can do is make sure your site speed is on point.
Some of the things that tend to slow sites down include:
not having a caching plugin
not using the HTTPS version for your site
having too many plugins installed or bad, poor quality plugins
poor hosting
not optimizing your images
not having a great blog theme
The above isn’t all of the things that slow sites down, but they’re some of the main things you can look into and improve.
To check how fast your site loads, you can use one (or all) of the sites below:
It’s important to check regularly so that you can improve anything, as things do change all the time.
Each of the sites advises different things as well, which is why I use a mix of all three.
Make sure you have an SSL Certificate
This is very important to have on your site, because security is vital nowadays for people online, what with all the hackers around trying to get our info.
People want to make sure they’re entering sites that are safe, so by having this, when they see the “padlock” on your site, they’ll know it’s secure to enter.
It’s super easy to install when you use Siteground and it’s FREE!
You just add it under the “SSL Manager” tab within the Site Tools.
Select the domain you want, the “Let’s Encrypt” under Select SSL and simply click “Get”…
It’ll show up in the “Manage SSL” section at the bottom once it’s activated.
Fix any Broken Links
Broken links on your site are never a good thing…
There’s nothing worse than a site full of 404 error pages whenever a reader is trying to access a post or page.
There’s a simple solution though and that’s to use this broken link checker and see what (if any) links are broken.
Just enter in your URL and hit “Find broken links”.
It will then come up with any broken links it can find on your blog.
Hopefully, it will come up as “found 0 broken links”, as in the screenshot above, but if it doesn’t, click on any links it brings up and get them fixed ASAP.
This can really affect your overall traffic and SEO rankings if just left to fester…
So all of the above information in this post so far has been about the basics of traffic and what you can do initially to get off to a good start.
Now I want to let you know about all of the other things you can do to improve your site and get as much traffic to your blog as possible.
All of the things I’m mentioning have really helped me personally to get more eyeballs (and the right eyeballs) on my blog!
On their own, they may not seem like they’ll do much, but putting all of them (or as many as you can) into practice will really push you to the forefront over other bloggers…
So let’s get into it some more lovely 🙂
Pick a “foundation” niche to blog in
This may seem like an obvious one, but believe me, I’ve come across a lot of blogs in my time that I couldn’t work out what the niche was and that made it very confusing.
There was a bit of this and a bit of that (which usually I like) but when it comes to finding out information online, you need to be clear. People who visit your site need to know as soon as they get there, what your blog is all about!
When you first start out especially, you need your blog to focus on one area because this isn’t just great for your audience, but for Google too!
Google needs to build trust with you as a blogger and when that trust is gained, you’ll get moved further up the page rankings, towards that sweet #1 spot.
Have a reliable Blog Theme
You may think that this doesn’t matter or make a difference, but trust me, it really does!
Having a clean, reliable blog theme (with support) is absolutely necessary and means you’re probably going to need to pay for one.
In fact, I highly recommend you don’t use a free theme and make the theme something you definitely pay for.
At the end of the day, your whole blog or website will be running on it so you want it to be robust, aesthetically pleasing and function exactly how you want it to.
The blog theme I use is Divi. It’s extremely reasonable in price and is super amazing.
It’s the best theme I’ve ever used on my websites…
Divi is great for SEO (Search Engine Optimization) because you can create responsive pages, which look amazing on all devices.
You can also integrate SEO plugins such as RankMath (the one I use) and can update all the SEO info from within the posts and pages.
Make sure your blog is easy to navigate around
Another way to make sure people don’t bounce as soon as they hit your blog, is to have easy navigation around your site.
You need to have clear categories, clear structure and make it easy to find things.
I’ve made my blog super simple to get around, with all my categories at the top and then all the legal and disclaimers at the bottom.
For me personally, I find nothing worse than being on a blog or site and not being able to find anything, or having to jump through hoops to get to something.
Simple is way better in my eyes.
A Mobile Responsive blog is key!
Everyone pretty much uses their mobile devices for checking out blogs and social media nowadays…
That means YOU HAVE to make sure your blog is mobile responsive so that it can be viewed on phones and tablets.
You can do this by making sure first and foremost, that the blog theme you’re using is mobile responsive.
When you use a theme like Divi, you can work in and preview what your pages look like in either desktop, phone or tablet mode.
You can even select which mobile phone you want to view it on, so you can check it looks good on all devices…
I recommend whenever you’re creating pages and posts, you check the preview out in the tablet and phone modes as well, to make sure it looks good across all of them.
This is the same for the Gutenberg editor (the default WordPress editor), you can preview your posts in all three modes, by simply clicking on the “Preview) tab in the top right-hand corner.
It will open a dropdown menu and you can click on the option you want to preview…
Good Blog Branding
Branding is another part of blogging you want to pay attention to.
Whatever platforms you’re on, you need to try and keep your branding “on point” and congruent everywhere.
You want people to know who you are and associate who you are with all the platforms you’re on.
This is done with your blog name, logo, fonts, colour palette, your photo and theme etc…
You can see in the image above that my handles on all my social media platforms are the same and I’ve used the same, or very similar photos too so that people know it’s me and my brand.
The other things you need to look at when it comes to your brand are:
Making sure your message and what you stand for is clear.
That you’re targeting the right target audience.
That your brand voice comes across in all your content.
That you’re being YOU and your authentic self.
See which Social Platforms are best for your niche + blog!
Not all social platforms are going to be right for you and your blog!
You need to see where your audience is hanging out and then they’re the platforms you’ll want to be on.
My audience tends to love Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram, so they’re what I post on…
I do have a Blogging for Mums YouTube channel, but this tends to house all the videos I’ve created for my blog posts.
I haven’t created any “stand-alone” videos which are solely for YouTube.
This is something I want to work more on in the future, as I do love to teach in video format.
When you first start blogging, you don’t want to try and be on all platforms.
Not only will this be overwhelming, but you’ll literally be spending all your time trying to create different content suited to different platforms.
Start off with one and get good at creating and posting to that platform and then you can introduce another one once you’re comfortable and confident and then another one etc…
I have to admit, social media content planning is not my forte…
I’m getting better at it, but it’s the one part of blogging I’ve found really hard to keep on top of and find it difficult to be imaginative with what I post…
TIP: When setting up the social media accounts you’re going to use, get the handles for your blog name/brand for the ones you aren’t using right now too!
The reason for this is, you want to make sure that you’ll be able to get the name you want.
I did this with all of my social platforms, before I even launched or did anything with Blogging for Mums, because I wanted to make sure all of them were available.
There’s nothing more disappointing than getting down the line and someone else has the handle you wanted.
Share, Share & Share some more…
Once you’ve created that amazing content lovely, you gotta get it out there!
Nobody’s better at sharing your content than you…
Don’t be afraid to share it everywhere – on all the social platforms you have set up for your blog.
You haven’t spent ages writing that amazing blog post for it to just sit there and not be seen.
Yes – you’ll get some organic reach when you hit publish, but you need to share it on your platforms and include it within your email marketing too.
Emailing your list is a fab way to get more eyeballs on your latest posts!
You also want to share it more than once…
Create posts in different ways – be creative with the way you share things.
Create multiple pin images for each blog post and then share a new one each month on your Pinterest account, for your most popular posts.
Install RankMath for Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is at the heart of blog traffic!
You need to carry out SEO on every single post (and some pages too) on your blog so that your blog becomes more visible in the search engines, which in turn means more traffic.
It really has made me look at SEO and traffic in a whole new light and I highly recommend you check it out.
So, back to RankMath…
RankMath is an awesome WordPress plugin, which is completely free and is super simple to use.
It’s a great plugin that is set up for what’s known as “On-Page SEO”…
On-Page SEO is where you concentrate on basic SEO, additional SEO elements, title and content readability (all of the tabs within the plugin).
The “Focus Keyword” is the main keyword you want to rank for your post.
This is ideally used:
within the title of the post
within the URL
within the first paragraph
throughout the post – naturally
You can also rank for “Secondary Keywords” which can be used within headings and subheadings throughout.
Secondary Keywords are other words people are searching for when it comes to the topic you’re writing about.
Using secondary keywords “naturally” and organically within your posts, increases your chance of showing up within the search results.
You also have the meta description, where you can describe exactly what your post or page is about.
You want to make sure you take advantage of this snippet and give a really great description, which includes your focus keyword.
When you’re writing a post within Gutenberg, you can access RankMath by clicking on the tab in the top right-hand corner, as shown in the screenshot below.
This then opens up the options you need to check and see what you can do to get the best SEO for that post.
The idea is to get as many “Green” ticks as possible and put right the “red errors” but I want to say one thing about this SEO plugin…
Don’t get caught up trying to get everything green.
The most important thing is to make sure your posts and content are giving the best experience to your readers, that they read naturally and flow smoothly.
Sometimes the SEO plugins ask for so many things to be “green” and you can get so hung up trying to get 100/100…
DON’T DO THIS!!!
As long as your posts are honest, read great, sound natural (read them out loud to check on this) and flow nicely, you’ll be ok and they’ll get in the search results because they’re amazing.
Google isn’t silly and will not show posts which are blatantly written for SEO purposes only.
You know the ones I’m talking about, as you’ve probably come across them yourself, but they’re stilted, don’t read well and sound like robots have written them.
Avoid this at all costs…
You should always write for your readers only – whether that’s to entertain, educate or take them on a journey, never write solely for SEO!!!
Create the BEST content (every time)
Whenever you’re putting content out there, it’s important to make sure the content has a purpose, is relevant and you aren’t just writing for the sake of writing.
Creating the best content will look different for us all.
Some bloggers can write 1-2 really amazing posts every single week, while others (like me) may only be able to produce a couple of great posts a month and sometimes I don’t even do that right now!
You need to look at how you work best and what you can do with your time.
Figuring out your personal content strategy and being consistent with what works for you and your blog is key!
Don’t beat yourself up if you haven’t produced what you set out to, just keep moving forward and continue to write your content when you can.
Some things to think about, when it comes to creating your best content are:
Have an amazing blog headline/title for the post, which is intriguing and compelling.
Start with a great introduction, which is interesting and makes your reader want to continue.
Engage with your audience through your content.
Take the time to reply to the comments people leave.
Be “to the point” and keep it simple for people to understand.
Don’t overcomplicate things.
Problem solve by answering people’s questions.
Be relevant.
Include “call to actions” throughout your posts.
If you want to learn more, check out how to write the BEST blog post every single time…
Choose topics people ACTUALLY want to know & read about
Research is absolutely necessary when it comes to picking topics to write about…
You need to know what your audience want and need and then create content around that.
You may have the most fantastic blog post, that you’ve spent ages on and perfected, but, if you haven’t done your research and you’ve written a post on something no one wants to know about – it’s all been for nothing.
As time goes on and you grow your blog and email list, you’ll be able to ask them what they want and then produce content and courses on this.
If you’re new and just starting your blog, then you’ll want to go to the places your target audience hang out and see what they’re asking about…
Some places you can check out are:
Quora – you can type what you want to know about in the search bar and see what people are asking. You can get some good ideas by clicking on the “Questions” and “Answers” tabs on the left.
Facebook Groups – these are fantastic places to find out info from people that are really passionate about your topic. Because you usually have to request to join a group (and I suggest you find a few great ones to join in your niche) you’ll find people build relationships and feel comfortable enough to ask questions, because they want and need answers. Go through posts and comments and see if there are recurring things being asked and things you could write posts on. Depending on the group rules, you may be able to share a link to your post, once you’ve written it, but you always, always want to check the rules and never just join groups to post your own stuff! Join in and help people where you can and people will see you as a helpful person with authority…
Forums – forums are another good place to find questions and things people ask over and over. There’s forums around for pretty much everything, so find one or two within your niche and keep an eye on what’s coming up.
Blog Post Comments – comments left on your blog posts are gold! When people have taken the time to read your whole post and leave a comment, you need to pay attention. It can take a while to get comments, so don’t be disheartened if you don’t get any to start with.
YouTube comments – if video is part of your content creation, then you’re going to have a high chance of receiving comments. Check through them and see what people are asking for – you can even say at the end of your videos “let me know what else you want to know about” and then you’re opening the door to people telling you exactly what they want content on.
Write Pillar Posts for each of your main categories
Pillar Posts are those in-depth, cornerstone pieces of content, which are the backbone of your blog.
They’re the posts which should be linked to the most from all your other posts and they’re the ones which are referred back to again and again.
Your regular weekly/monthly blog posts should be extensions of your main category pillar posts, covering a wider area of topics within them.
You should also ensure you’re keeping your pillar posts updated regularly.
It’s important to have at least 4-6 main categories on your blog, that you can write content on.
These will be the main areas you want to talk about and that your content will fall under.
If you sit down and have a think about what kinds of things you can write about and then see what categories you can come up with.
I’ve put a few examples of niches and the category examples for them below, to give you an idea:
Gardening Niche – Garden Basics > Garden Herbs > Flower Tips > Essential Garden Tools > Garden Themes > Veggie Patch Ideas
Make Up Niche – Everyday Make Up > Make Up Tutorials > Under £20 Products > Make Up Styles > Top Make Up Brands > Top Make Up Tips
Parenting Niche – Parenting Styles > Sleep Training > Breastfeeding > Moving on to Solid Food > Healthy Snacks > Activities + Learning
TIP: Just to let you know, these are very broad niches and my advice to you is to niche down as much as possible, because writing a blog for a really broad niche will make it difficult for your blog to be found above all the bigger blogs.
Create Evergreen Content
We just talked about writing pillar posts for your main blog categories.
Your pillar posts should also be evergreen.
That means, they should remain relevant and stand the test of time!
They can be updated and added to, but the fundamentals remain the same, even in years to come.
Of course, you can and should have posts that are seasonal and on-trend, but your evergreen content will be able to help people and make sense, no matter what time of year it is.
You’ll probably want to create a piece of evergreen content for each blog category.
These posts can be long and include all the information and then other posts can branch off of them.
Be consistent with creating Content + Blogging in general
In order to stay on people’s radar, you want to be consistently writing and publishing content.
I have to say, since starting this blog (I’ve had a few others) I’ve really struggled with being consistent.
I launched Blogging for Mums at the end of March 2021, although I initially wanted to launch around March 2020.
In that time, we’ve had a pandemic (as I know you’re very aware) and my boys have been home A LOT (two lockdowns)…
My blog just couldn’t be my focus, as there was too much going on at home.
I was only posting as and when I could.
My children came first and although I’m very much one for making sure we put our blogs up there high on the priority list, it just didn’t happen because this was a massive unexpected upheaval in everyone’s life!
As you can see from the date of this post, it’s been 4 months since the last one.
Now things are starting to slowly return to normal, I am definitely putting my blog to the forefront.
So I definitely say be consistent, because although I have been getting lots of pageviews and traffic, it’s nothing compared to what I would be getting if I was posting every week or two…
Google loves nothing more than fresh content and you will get rewarded by them the more you publish awesome content on your blog.
Do your Keyword Research
Keyword Research is really important when it comes to your content.
You need to make sure you have a “Focus Keyword or Keyphrase“ for every single post.
Sometimes your focus or primary keyword may be just one word, such as “muffins, holidays or vegetables”…
Other times, your focus key phrase could consist of a few words, such as “chocolate muffin recipes, holidays to book in the Winter or vegetables for stews”…
The keyword or key phrase is simply the search term you are looking to rank for within the search engines (Google, Bing & Yahoo etc) so that when people search for it, your post hopefully comes up!
It’s the most important term out of all the words and phrases you’re looking to rank for.
TIP: When it comes to your cornerstone content, you don’t need to worry so much about targeting more competitive keywords, like you would when writing your other blog posts.
You also need have some “Secondary Keywords”.
These are other words and phrases which compliment the focus keyword or phrase, or are different variations of your focus keyword.
I want to show you 3 places now that you can find keywords and keyphrases plus – they’re all free to use.
1. Google Autocomplete
A great way to find secondary keywords ad phrases is to use Google’s Autocomplete.
We’ve all used it and it’s a great way to find some popular search terms.
You can see how to set this up below:
Step 1
Click on the little “cog” icon in the top right hand corner.
Step 2
Secondly, click on the “see all settings” tab.
Step 3
Finally, make sure that the “Autocomplete with trending searches” has the “Show popular searches” selected.
Once you’ve carried out the above steps, you’ll be ready to use the autocomplete tool!
You can see how this works in the screenshot below.
These are the popular terms people are searching for, so you can looking at using some of these within your posts as headings and subheadings.
Once you’ve carried out your Google Autocomplete search, you can then head over to the Google Keyword Planner.
2. Google Keyword Planner
You can then click on the “Discover new keywords” box and you can start adding in some of the autocomplete phrases and click on “get results”…
You can then see all the results which will come up with “high, medium and low” results.
The “medium” competitive phrases would be good ones to go for and create content around and include within your posts.
People Also Ask
The final place I want to let you know about for keyword research is the “People Also Ask” section on the Google search page…
This is a fab place which shows you what people are searching for in relation to what’s been typed in the search bar initially.
You can use these search result questions as titles for your blog posts and also within your posts as headings.
Ubersuggest
This is one tool I’ve just started using and it’s called Ubersuggest.
It’s a great tool and you get 3 free keyword searches a day, which I feel is enough when you’re starting out.
You can do a free 7 day trial too, which let’s you explore and use the whole of what Ubersuggest has to offer, but I haven’t tried this out and don’t feel the need right now!
You will need the paid version, if you want to unlock all the features and information relating to the keywords, such as historical keyword data, percentage of clicks in the SEO results and age groups of people who search the keywords etc…
I love that even with just the 3 free searches a day, you can still get enough info on some great keywords to rank for.
You get 5 tabs under the “Keywords” section on the left:
Keyword Overview
Keyword Ideas
Keywords by Traffic
Competing Domains
Content Ideas
Keyword Overview
This gives you an overview of how the keyword you entered is performing.
It shares data such as the Search Volume, SEO Difficulty, Paid Difficulty and Cost Per Click…
All of the tabs above will have the basic data shown here within the overview.
Keyword Ideas
This tab will give you all the keyword idea suggestions for the word or phrase you’ve entered in.
You can choose from the “Suggestions, Related, Questions, Prepositions or Comparisons” options and get all the information.
The SEO Difficulty is the tab to look at, as you need to see what keywords are going to be easier to rank for.
The keywords which are shown as green are the ones you’ll want to aim for because they’ll be the easiest to rank for and the lowest competition.
You can go for some of the amber ones too, depending on the level of competition, but the red ones will be far too competitive and you’ll struggle to be seen in the search engines if you try and rank for these.
Keywords by Traffic
Under this tab, you can find keywords that are driving traffic to a particular site or page URL!
You can also find the most profitable SEO keywords too…
Competing Domains
Here you can analyse your competitors and find out the keywords that they’re using and ranking for.
Simply enter in a domain for a blog that’s in your niche and see what other competing domains come up.
You can then click on each domain and view the common keywords and keywords gap to see what keywords are being used and competed for.
Content Ideas
The final tab under the keywords section is the “Content Ideas”.
Here you can find ideas and popular content already on the internet.
You’ll be able to click on links to articles and YouTube videos relating to the keyword you entered in and you can see how many social shares they get (currently only Facebook and Pinterest).
So that’s it for my basic rundown of Ubersuggest.
It really is a great added tool for my keyword research.
Simple Blog Post Layout & Structure
This is one of those things I can’t stress enough and that’s to keep everything simple on your blog posts, especially the layout.
When your readers are reading through your article, they want to understand it, take in the info and have clarity on what’s being said.
It’s also important to be congruent with your posts, so people know what to expect.
Have the same layout for each post you write, as the more people read your posts, they’ll become familiar with how they’re set up.
It’s important to include the following as well, making the posts easier to read and skim through:
Headings
Subheadings
Bullet Points
Paragraphs
Short Sentences
Images to break up text
Simple & Clear Blog Structure
As well as having clear, structured blog posts, it’s important to have a clear and structured blog as a whole.
There’s nothing worse than an overloaded blog, full of crazy, all over the place stuff!
Keep it simple, easy to navigate around and easy for readers to find your blog posts, freebies and content…
Have a homepage that links to your blog, the most important freebie, blog posts and legal pages.
Have a brief bio to share with people who you are and what you’re about.
Share the places people can connect with you, your fave tools and resources too!
People want and need to know this.
Beautiful, bold & clear images
I don’t know about you, but beautiful images are a must when it comes to blogs!
Aesthetically pleasing photos and images not only make people want to click on your blog, posts and content, but they make it look more professional, interesting and a place where people want to hang out.
I’m always drawn more towards an image, than a giant sea of text, so you’ll always find images and screenshots throughout my blog posts.
It makes it easier for the information to be consumed and it improves SEO rankings because you’re creating a better browsing experience and keeping readers on your blog for longer…
TIP: Make sure to always complete the “alt text” too, as this helps with SEO…
We’re visual beings and therefore we find it easier to digest information and resonate more, when an image is attached.
I get all of my images from Canva, because that’s where I create all my graphics and pin images for everything I do.
They have a huge gallery of thousands of images (alongside all the other amazing features it has) and I just love the tool soooo much!
Make sure your images are relevant to the topic you’re talking about.
Slapping any old images onto your blog and within your posts isn’t going to cut it – no matter how gorgeous they are…
They have to relate to your niche and content.
Every image tells a story so pick your images wisely.
If you don’t use Canva, here are some other places you can check out (both free & paid) to get some awesome images:
Always check the terms and conditions for the images, due to copyright and how you allowed to use them.
Include Videos in your posts
Adding videos to your posts not only gives your readers an alternative format to view your content, but it also creates another traffic source via YouTube, if you’re uploading there.
You’ll have people who visit YouTube who can then come to your blog (via inks in the description and within the videos) and vice versa – by coming to your blog and then visiting YouTube…
I find creating videos alongside my blog posts (where I can) creates that extra value for my readers.
Some people prefer to watch something being done and also sometimes, being shown exactly how to do something is necessary…
Add Internal Links
Interlinking between your posts is so, so important for traffic!
You want to link to all the relevant and cornerstone posts as often as you can.
NOTE: Your cornerstone content should have the most internal links pointing TO them against all the content on your blog because they’re the backbone pieces of content.
The aim of blogging is to keep people reading as much of your content as possible.
You want them to stay on your blog and read as many articles as they can.
This helps hugely with SEO because the longer people stay on your blog, this tells Google it’s a fab place to be, with amazing content…
Add External Links
This then leads me on to talk about External Links…
These are also really important for getting more traffic and for SEO purposes.
You want to link to authority websites in your niche, as this will help you rank better in the search engines.
It also gives your readers even more helpful information.
One of the authority blogs in my niche that I love is Start A Mom Blog.
As well as linking to authority sites, you’ll also want to be linking to the best tools, resources, products and courses you have and use.
If something really helps you and makes your life easier, share it with your readers – they’ll thank you for it!
If this is the first post you’ve read here at Blogging for Mums, the 4 tools I love are:
Just remember, when you link to an affiliate link, you must disclose that you get a commission from this (and yes – they are my affiliate links above) 🙂
Include Social Share Buttons
You need to be making it easy for your readers to share your content with others…
There’s so many places you can add social share buttons, without being OTT and in your reader’s faces!
Social share buttons can be placed above your content, below your content, or even in the middle of your content.
Floating sidebar social share buttons also work really well.
If you haven’t got any social share buttons on your blog, go ahead and place some on there.
If you want to know how to get these buttons on your blog, a great plugin you can use is Social Warfare.
Mix it up with longer & shorter blog posts
You’ll probably hear lots of conflicting info when it comes to “blog post length”…
And there really is no right or wrong way.
It’s been said that longer blog posts tend to rank better in search engines and is better for your SEO!
Posts should be at least 300+ words to rank well, but anything around the 2500 mark will rank the best…
With all that said though, really it all comes down to what your target audience likes, relates and responds well to!
I think the best thing to do when starting out, is creating a mixture of the two.
Write some long-form posts (which are usually your cornerstone/pillar posts) and see how they resonate with your audience.
These will be the ones that are jam-packed full of info that is educational, super helpful and of awesome quality.
A few of my long content, pillar posts are:
They’re also the ones which are regularly updated to keep them fresh.
Then, also write some shorter posts and see how they perform.
These can be more fun and light, such as a quote post or funny story.
A couple of my shorter posts are:
Testing and time are the only ways you’re going to find out what’s best for you and your blog.
One thing I do want to say is this… don’t ever write a post (any post – long or short) just for the sake of it and because you feel you have to put something out there.
Everything you write and publish should have a purpose and give your audience something, whether that be entertainment, education or sharing your journey…
Roundup Posts are awesome!
Roundup posts can do wonders for your blog traffic.
People just love to read posts that share the best expert tips, the best tools they can get their hands on and influencers opinions and points of view on a certain topic.
The Ryan Robinson blog below has a perfect example of a roundup post for his best blogging tools!
As an example, if you’re going to be speaking to experts and asking them a question, make sure the experts are truly experts and influential within your niche.
You also want to try and find people who will happily promote your post that they’re featured in, as this is how you’ll introduce your blog to their readers…
Here’s a great example of an expert roundup post 12 Social Media Marketing Predictions From the Pros from Social Media Examiner.
Update your posts regularly
To stay up to date and relevant, you need to be going through and updating your posts regularly.
Things can change so rapidly, that’s its important to remain on top of things and give your audience the best, most accurate information!
Updating your content also shows you care enough to put the time and effort in and are thinking about your reader’s needs.
Refreshing your content also helps hugely with SEO ranking.
Your aim is to get on page 1 on the search results, so continually updating content when it’s needed will help with this massively.
The problem is, bloggers don’t really want to take the time to update old posts, but you should, as it will put you above and beyond everyone else.
I know that for me personally if I’m searching Google for information, I ALWAYS check the publish date.
I want to know that the information I’m looking at isn’t decades-old…
Unless I’m really aware of the blogger or website and love them (in which case I don’t mind how old their content is) I tend to only check out posts within the last 2-3 years tops and anything undated – I don’t tend to touch at all…
But that’s just me!
Guest Blogging
Guest blogging is a great way to gain more traffic, build authority and get your SEO rankings up!.
Generally, this can work one of two ways:
You can reach out and ask whether you can guest post on high quality, influencer/expert blogs
You can get approached by experts/influencers with high quality sites to guest post on their blog
If you’re approaching the right people within your niche (the relevant and authoritative ones) – this can be so beneficial to you, because you’re getting eyeballs from a bigger, wider audience.
Writing a relevant, valuable and amazing piece of content for someone else’s blog (and audience) can work wonders.
They’ll see that you are awesome and have helped them out with your post and they’ll want to check out more about you – by heading on over to YOUR blog…
This result is called Backlinking and having a post you’ve written on a high traffic/ranking and credible authority site, means your blog will get higher rankings in the search engines too!
Once you’ve written a few posts and have gained a bit of traction on your blog, why not reach out to one of the bigger bloggers in your niche and ask if you can write an article for them.
TIP: Sometimes, bloggers may email their lists or have a section on their blog where you can submit a request to guest blog, so keep an eye out for these and make the most of them.
Most bloggers will allow you to include a link to your website within the post (not all though, so you do need to ask them and get the go-ahead for this) so make sure you use this opportunity if it’s available.
You may also be able to include a call to action within the post, which you can link to an awesome freebie, showing this potential new audience what you have to offer…
Networking and reaching out to authority sites will help get your blog on the map and it’s all about building relationships and connecting with others within your industry.
There are a lot of blogs and sites that do accept guest posting, so check some of them out, but just make sure you’re approaching people in your own niche and market!
Try to respond to your Comments & Emails
Doesn’t it feel great when you’ve taken the time to comment on your fave blogger’s post and they reply…
This even applies to your social media channels too!
It feels amazing to know that they actually checked your comment out and took the time to respond.
Well… this works on your end too, with your blog comments, emails and social media platforms.
Not only is responding to your readers comments courteous, it helps to build rapport and relationships with them, which can last for years to come.
It’ll also encourage people to stick around as they know you’re a real person behind the blog, there to help and listen to them!
Relationship building and trust are huge when it comes to bringing people back time and time again to your blog.
It’s also a MUST if you want people to sign up for your opt-ins and purchase your products.
Leave comments on other blogs and platforms
As well as responding to comments on your blog/social media, it’s important to comment on your fave blogs and platforms too.
Blogging isn’t a one-way street – it works both ways.
If you want people to do it for you, it’s only fair you repay the favour and comment on others.
This doesn’t mean just going and typing random, unmeaningful comments everywhere.
You need to actually know the blog/blogger and follow them etc…
It’s not ethical to just go and make comments you know nothing about on people’s blogs.
You need to have a vested interest in what their blogs are actually about and it needs to resonate with you.
Font sizes matter…
Do you know that most people don’t actually read every single word you write!
In fact, probably not even half of what you write.
Yep, unfortunately, we’re living in a world of “skimmers”…
People don’t always have the time to read everything and they just want to be able to get the gist of what’s going on.
At least at first anyway and if they like what they see, they’ll carry on reading or bookmark it for later.
This means font sizes and heading sizes all need to stand out, making it easier for your readers to see and digest the information!
Luckily, if you’re using a good blog theme, these changes are simple and easy to make – across the whole of your site.
Just a click of a few buttons and it’s done…
In the screenshot below, you can see you can either type in the desired size or move the slider across!
I have my body font set to 18px and my body line-height at 1.6em.
My header text size is set to 50px with the line-height being 1em.
I can just move the slider and hey presto! I can change the font size to whatever I want and once you hit that publish button, it will become live across your whole blog…
But from a data point of view – the reason it’s best to use larger font sizes is because it’s better for SEO!
Google looks at how long people actually stay on your site once they arrive – therefore using readable, good size fonts will keep them there for longer (alongside fantastic content as that’s #1).
So what font size is best?
So I know you want to know which font size is best and the answer is – there is no set font size to use.
You need to see what works best for you and your blog and this can sometimes mean trialling different font sizes to see what gets your stats up and what doesn’t!
I would say on a general note, the best font size to use within your blog post text is 18 pixels with a line-height of 1.6em.
Whatever you use, always remember to check and see what it looks like on mobile, tablet and desktop.
The other great thing about Divi is, you can change and set the font sizes to be different across each device.
This will override your theme font settings but can be adjusted on individual posts and pages, where you use the Divi builder.
Host a Webinar with a leader
Another great way to boost traffic to your blog is to host or co-host a webinar with a thought leader/expert/influencer within your niche.
They’re such an amazing way to engage with people and reach a wider audience.
Webinars are also fab because it gives readers a chance to hear and or see the people they want to learn from.
They’re great for addressing a big problem (which you can solve for them with a freebie/product at the end).
It’s a more personal and interactive experience and can really give your traffic a big boost!
Webinars work because, at the end of them, you can leave that link to a freebie or product landing page and generally (if you’ve put on an amazing, value-packed webinar) a large proportion of those attendees will sign up!
That traffic then goes straight to those links on your website.
Go on Podcasts
Podcasts are becoming evermore popular and they’re produced on practically everything you can think of.
It’s something I really want to add to my own content strategy at some point in the future for Blogging for Mums.
I love listening to all kinds, but my favourite categories include entrepreneurial, climate change and health & nutrition…
The same as with guest posting like I talked about above, if you listen to some awesome podcasts – reach out and see if you can feature on one.
It really puts yourself out there and gives you the chance to build your following and audience to another level!
Hosts almost always ask for their guests to say where the listeners can hear more about them at the end of the show.
This is ideal to plug your socials and blog URL…
If you have your own podcast, interviewing and chatting with influencers can also be great for your credibility.
If you’re providing valuable “expert” advice, readers are going to want to check more out on you, hence heading over to your blog and platforms…
Create your own Facebook Page
Depending on what niche you’re in, having your own Facebook page could be a fab traffic driver to your blog – especially via freebie opt-in links!
People love a freebie and you have great opportunities to offer them within a Facebook page, using the header and within comments on posts.
People love to check out what brands and people are all about and Facebook is the place to do this.
You can share all kinds of content and information about yourself and it’s where fans feel comfortable enough to share their opinions and voice concerns.
You can really strike up a conversation on a Facebook page and build relationships/networks with people from all over the world.
Create Pin Images for Posts and Freebies
Pin images are a must in any blog and because we’re visual creatures – a beautiful pin image always goes down well!
I briefly mentioned creating pins further up in this post, but will go into a bit more detail here.
I tend to create 3-4 pin images per blog post and then I upload one to Pinterest as soon as I publish the post, followed by scheduling the other 2-3 within Canva.
I also like to create a pin image for any new freebies I put together and upload those to Pinterest as well.
If you can design a new pin image monthly for your most popular posts, this will keep your content fresh and drive traffic back to your blog.
Pinterest for Traffic
Pinterest is a great platform to utilise alongside blogging and it’s actually classed as a search engine – not social media!
I absolutely love Pinterest and one of my guilty pleasures is scrolling through and finding nail designs (I love having my nails done) apple pie recipes (yummy 🙂 and new blogging hacks (you’ve always gotta be learning)…
But for my blog, it’s one of the best ways to get traffic!
My target audience (mums who want to start a blog and earn money) hang out on Pinterest, therefore it’s somewhere I can pin images for my blog posts, freebies and content, which link back to my blog…
Let’s look at the basics of a fab Pin!
There’s a few core things you need to include in your pin images, to ensure you’re maximizing your pinning opportunity.
If you do these, you should see good results, with your pins reaching a wide audience.
So let’s take a quick look at the 7 elements of a Pin…
#1 - Great Pin Image/Video
First things first is a great pin image or video.
You want an image/video which is going to stand out and capture people scrolling through their feeds.
A good pin image needs to:
Be clear with what it is you want your pin to say
Text must be easy to read (bold fonts, not scribbly fonts)
High quality images
Include your Logo and URL
A Preview Image (if it’s for a freebie)
Stay on brand as much as you can with colours + fonts
The initial thing people will see is the image, so this needs to represent what your pin is about and capture their attention immediately.
It needs to entice and create curiosity – making them click.
#2 - Good Pin Title
Next up is the pin title…
Your pin title should be using the keywords that were researched when putting your blog post together.
You can type into Pinterest’s search bar as well, to see what kinds of things are being searched for.
In the image above, I typed in “productivity tips”.
The things that came up were “productivity tips students, productivity tips for moms, productivity tips time management and productivity tips life hacks”…
Now you could definitely use these keywords to write separate posts on, or you could include them as headings and subheadings within a post!
A good pin title should:
Include Keywords
Be relevant to the blog post
NOT be keyword stuffed
Capitalize the first letter of each word
Have the most important keywords in the first 30 characters (as these are what show up)
TIP: With every post you write, when you’re creating multiple pins for them, always play around with the title and test different ones out to see what gets the most clicks and drives the most traffic!
#3 - Great Pin Description
Your pin description is one of the most important parts of a pin for SEO.
It needs to entice and bring your reader in so that they click the link.
At the end of the day, that’s the aim of the game…
Describe whatever it is your pin represents, to help the reader decide whether it’s relevant to them.
So what makes a great pin description:
Be to the point and not too long (2-3 sentences is about right)
Include your relevant keywords in the first 30-60 characters
DON’T keyword stuff your description
Have your blog or brand name in the first line
Include a Call to Action
You can include the URL within the description too, but it won’t be clickable. This is mainly for Story Pins, because you don’t have anywhere to enter a URL
#4 - Add Alt Text
The alt text section is where you can add a simple description to explain what can be seen in the image.
You have a maximum of 500 characters, but don’t go crazy with tons of words.
Search engines use alt text to help index images, but the main use of it is for visually impaired users who come to your blog.
The screen reader reads the alt text out to the user, explaining what the image is about.
Include the following in your alt text:
Descriptive text
Keywords (but don’t keyword stuff)
Be brief
Be specific
#5 - Add a Destination URL
This is a really simple one, but very important.
You’ll be surprised how many pins I see that don’t have a URL attached to it.
It’s such a waste to create a gorgeous pin and take the time to add in the description etc and then not add the URL to your amazing post…
It’s super easy to add this in, so don’t forget to do it!
#6 - Adding your Pin to a Board
We’re almost there now and this one is also really important, as Pinterest runs on boards and whenever you create a pin and add it to Pinterest, you need to add it to a relevant board.
You can see in the screenshot below, I have many, many boards.
They all have cover images that relate to topics I talk about on my blog!
Every time I generate a new Pin, it gets added to the most relevant of the above boards.
I deliberately keep all my cover images the same, so that they stand out and stay on brand.
This makes it easier for my audience to get to know my blog, brand and style…
#7 - Publishing the Pin
The final element to a Pin that I want to look at is the publish date…
You have two options:
Publish immediately
Publish at a later date
Most of the time, I’m choosing the “publish at a later date” option, simply because when I write my blog posts, I schedule them in advance.
This means I want the Pin image/s to publish at the same time the blog post goes live!
I can then publish more pins immediately in the future when I’m designing fresh ones each month…
Always be building your email list
An email list is gold because those subscribers are your most invested people.
They’re the people who read your emails, download your latest freebie and purchase your newest product or course…
Sharing your new blog posts and content via your emails drives traffic back to your blog!
Put opt-in offer opportunities everywhere on your blog, utilising the sidebar, within your content and at the beginning or end of posts and pages…
Add links in your social media bio’s – to freebie landing pages or particular articles that you feel your audience would love.
You should be creating and doing something every week that builds your email list.
Whether that’s creating a new freebie, putting together an awesome short email series or reaching out to your current subscribers and asking them to promote your products.
Whatever it is – do something that adds new subscribers and nurtures your existing ones!
Test Email Timings
I just wanted to quickly add this into the mix, because I feel that in order to get the most out of your email list, you need to be testing out what times are best for you to email your audience.
There’s no right answer or one size fits all method to this, just send your emails out and see which ones get the highest open rates.
Try sending out in the morning, afternoon and evening and see which times and days send your open rates through the roof!
I’ve found that sending my broadcast emails between 9:15 and 9:30 pm GMT (as I’m in the UK) works really well for my audience, as a lot of them are in the US and on the other side of the world.
These times just seem to get the most open and click-through rates for me personally.
Use “Exit-Intent” Pop Ups
If you’re anything like me, I dislike nothing more than constant pop-ups when I’m trying to read a post.
That’s why Exit Intent Pop-Ups are fab, because they’re those forms that pop up into your reader’s view, as they’re about to leave your page.
It’s that little cross in the browser tab, which as soon as it’s hovered over, up pops that form.
They’re great because they give your readers a chance to read what they want, without being interrupted, because you know as soon as that form pops up, they’re either going to sign up and forget all about your amazing post, or they’ll leave and never come back to read the post or sign up…
Use “Click Links” throughout your posts
Another quick one to improve your reader’s user experience (UX) is to include “click links”…
These are simple links you can add anywhere, that the reader has to actually, physically click on in order to open a pop-up.
This means they’re choosing whether or not they want to click on them to sign up.
Create lots of relevant Freebies
To really entice and attract more readers to your blog, it’s important to create several freebies which can resonate with different types of readers!
Not everyone is going to want the same thing, as everyone has a different problem and pain point they want help solving.
I love putting together freebies and I currently have about 18 across my blog and social media platforms.
They’re in a wide variety, including:
Checklists
Planner packs
Tip Sheets
Infographics
PDF Documents
Guide’s…
And I’m always thinking up new ideas to help my readers as much as I can.
Freebies can be great for driving traffic, as people can’t resist getting something for free, as long as it’s decent, valuable and isn’t a load of rubbish you’ve just chucked together in a rush.
Time and effort should be put into each and every freebie you create.
Keep your Sales & Landing Pages on your blog
It’s really easy to host your sales and landing pages somewhere other than your blog when platforms make it so simple and easy to create them.
I mean, the landing page of mine below is super gorgeous and was created right within ConvertKit.
ConvertKit does, however, allow you to add a custom domain so you can do this and replace the ConvertKit one.
But when you’re hosting them on places like Teachable, Udemy or Thinkific, the traffic is being driven to their sites – and not yours…
It is, however, very easy to create landing and sales pages right from within your blog’s dashboard, especially when you’re using a good blog theme and this means your traffic is getting driven back to your own site time and time again…
Divi has many template layouts you can use, so you don’t even have to build anything from scratch (unless you want to of course).
You can customize them to your heart’s content, to get them exactly how you want them.
Put together a Blog Content Calendar
The best way to stay consistent with your content writing is to have a blog calendar.
Planning out what you're going to write, even if it’s only for the next 3-6 months will ensure you always know what to write about.
I don’t use any fancy tools to do this, even though there are many on the market.
I use a plain old notepad document to take notes when I’m researching and a super simple Microsoft Excel spreadsheet to record my content for the next few months+…
The excel spreadsheet is actually a template that was included in a really awesome course I took recently called SEO Jumpstart.
I tweaked it a bit to suit my needs, but it really helped so I didn’t have to create one entirely from scratch (another great time saver for us Mums).
As you can see in the image above, I have a blog post planned for each category on my blog for each month.
Planning my blog post content out this way really helps keep clarity and stops the “guessing game” each time I need to sit down and write.
Obviously, I’m not always going to stick to a plan perfectly, but it certainly keeps me on the straight and narrow and stops my brain from being in a constant state of overdrive with ideas.
Having planned out my blog post content makes it easier for me to also know what social media content to produce around it.
Don’t bash other bloggers
Ok, this may seem like a weird one to include in a traffic post, but it’s one I want to address…
We all have our opinions and views, which is absolutely fine to share with others (including bloggers on their social platforms and within their comments sections) however, being abusive, knocking another bloggers content or them as a person in any way, shape or form, is completely unacceptable…
You will get a really bad reputation if you’re seen to be bashing anyone online!
When you’re starting out, or at anytime for that matter, you need to be building relationships and networking with other bloggers and circles within your niche.
So no matter how you feel about another bloggers work, do not get personal.
I’ve seen this happen over the years and it isn’t pretty. Once you’ve tarnished your brand/name etc online, your reputation would be extremely difficult to repair.
If you lose people’s trust and they see you’re an unkind person, they’ll avoid you at all costs.
This will dramatically affect you and your blog.
No people means no traffic!
Top Traffic FAQ’s Answered!
To end this post, I’m now going to briefly answer the Top FAQ’s which are asked about traffic!
1. How many blog posts do you need to start getting traffic?
I recommend that when you first start out, have at least 10 blog posts published before you launch.
Then continue to publish posts consistently.
2. What blogs get the most traffic?
There’s many different blogs niches that are very popular and get lots of traffic!
If you don’t know where to start and need some ideas, below are some of the most popular ones:
Travel
Fashion
Lifestyle
Food
Pets
Health + Nutrition
Fitness
Gaming
Parenting
Personal Journey
The list above is by no means exhaustive…
3. What are some of the best types of posts to write about?
Some of the best posts you can put together are:
Beginner Guides
How To Guides
Ultimate Guide Posts
Entertainment Posts
Latest News Posts
Recipe Posts
List Posts
Roundup Posts
Product Review Posts
Pros & Cons Posts
One Product vs Another Product
4. How long before a blog gets traffic?
It can take between 3 and 6 months to see steady traffic on your blog.
Google’s algorithm changes all the time, so the best thing you can do is publish fresh content regularly.
5. How many blog posts should I write a month?
There really isn’t a right or wrong answer when it comes to how many posts you want to write a month…
I’ve seen it banded around that the “sweet spot” seems to be 11 posts a month, but honestly, I don’t even make it to 4 a month.
Write what you feel comfortable with and if this starts out at just one or two a month, then that’s great.
You can add more in as you get more used to blogging and managing your time!
Quality posts MUST always come over the quantity of posts, so don’t try and publish lots unless you know you can produce high-value content in every single one you write.
6. Can you make money your first month blogging?
So many people start their blogs thinking “how much money can I make”…
Of course, we all want to make money with our blogs, but your focus shouldn’t solely be on money-making!
If this is you, you need to change your mindset and start thinking “how much value and help can I give my readers”…
Blogging is all about giving value and helping others through your content.
Do this and you will be able to make money with your blog…
With regards to making money in your first month – absolutely this can happen… but it won’t be easy!
Please don’t think you can set up a blog and instantly make cash with it – you’ll be very disappointed if you think this is the way it works.
It takes time for your blog to pick up and get seen on the internet.
The best ways you can start making money within the first month is with:
Amazon Associates
Ads
Amazon Associates
Amazon Associates is a great place to start, as bloggers can sign up for an account, create links and earn referral fees whenever someone clicks on those links and buys!
It’s completely free to join and as we all know with Amazon, there’s something for everyone on there, so no matter what niche you’re in, you should be able to find products to promote…
TIP: Don’t just slap loads of random links all over your site. The best way to use Amazon Associates is to write review posts on products you’ve got and used yourself.
Affiliate Marketing
As with the Amazon Associates program, there’s also tons of other affiliate programs out there in all niches and markets!
Some of the bigger platforms include:
You can join these platforms and find relevant products to promote on your blog.
TIP: Just like I mentioned with Amazon Associates, don’t just go hunting for loads of random products to add links on your site for.
People aren’t silly and will notice if all you’re doing is adding lots of affiliate links everywhere, that don’t have any rhyme or reason to them.
Ads
The simplest way to start making money with Ads!
There’s several ways Ads can work on your blog, a few of them being:
Pay Per Click – where an advertiser pays a fee to a publisher each time one of their ads is clicked.
Display Ads – graphic adverts such as banner ads delivering general advertising and brand messages to site visitors
Paid Reviews – where you get paid to review a product or service on your site
Pop Up Ads – a window that pops up advertising something
I’m not going into them here but wanted to let you know the different types of ads available to you.
Some of the popular ad networks you can check out are:
There’s so many more out there, but these are some of the ones I wanted to mention.
7. How do I increase my blog views?
There’s several things you can do (and set your blog up for) in order to get more views!
Your blog posts and pages should be optimised. Evergreen content should be written and you can utilise your sidebar by promoting your most popular posts and affiliate products etc…
Another way is to make sure your reader gets a fab user experience (UX).
You can do this by ensuring:
your blog is easily navigated
the speed of your site is optimal
your categories are clear
your opt-in opportunities are clear and easy for readers to sign up to
you define your target audience and appeal to them…
If you want a rough number that’s thrown around in the “blogosphere” as being a good number of pageviews, it’s about 100,000 views a month…
BUT… what you need to remember is there’s blogs that get this amount and more and make no money a month and there’s blogs that get under this and make a lot of money.
Pageviews are an important part of blog traffic – but like everything else, don’t get overly hung up on the numbers at the beginning!
8. Is it still worth starting a blog?
The simple answer to this is “absolutely YES”…
Starting a blog is something you can utilise, no matter what…
Whether you’re a mummy blogger like me or a business looking to run a blog for your company, blogging, in general, is totally beneficial.
There’s so many benefits to starting a blog:
It’s a great way to keep your audience updated
You can monetize your blog (affiliate marketing/products and courses etc)
You can get feedback from your audience/customers
Gain recognition and build brand awareness
It’s a great thing to do just for fun as a hobby!
It will help to drive traffic
With millions of blogs being read every single month, I think it’s safe to say they aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.
9. How to use Social Media platforms to get traffic?
Social media platforms play a big part in blogging because they’re such a great marketing tool!
Anyone who’s anyone is on one form of social media, if not them all…
So getting on these platforms and utilising them as much as possible is necessary to up your blogging game.
So here’s some quick tips on how you can use social media to increase traffic to your blog:
Make sure your profiles are branded across all platforms as this will keep congruency and make you stand out. It will also make it easier for your readers to know who you are.
Use the bio to promote your latest posts/videos/product/freebie etc…
You can promote your latest blog posts, freebies and products, linking back to your blog. Social media posts (such as Instagram Stories) can be fab ways to promote yourself.
Most platforms (Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram etc) have an Ad platform which can be used to drive traffic back to your blog
Run giveaways and contests to build relationships and interact with your fans, leading them back to your blog
Send out surveys to ask relevant questions that could lead back to a blog post
Join relevant groups, communities and pages so you can interact, share and help others
Check out analytics and see what times are the best for each platform to post on. Post when you’re getting the most engagement.
Engage with influencers and feature their content. They’re likely to have huge followings and this could be used to your advantage if they like or share something you’ve written/shared about them
10. How do I get people to notice my blog?
It’s certainly true it can take time for your blog to get noticed out in the world.
It doesn’t happen overnight…
So with that said, how can you ensure your blogs being seen:
Connect with other bloggers, so you can build relationships and get yourself known within your niche.
Be present and active on social media. linking back to your blog all the time.
Have lots of call to actions on your blog and other platforms.
Write about relevant things that people actually want to read about.
Don’t be all fancy pants with your blog. Keep things simple!
Use your sidebar less, not more. Just show most recent or most popular posts and sign up forms. I do have a link to my About Me page too, as this is a very popular page on my blog…
Use your unique voice and writing style to stand out. Don’t try and copy other bloggers. It won’t work.
Leverage the power of other people’s traffic by commenting on their blogs, linking to their posts you love and guest posting!
11. Why is my blog traffic not increasing?
It can be so frustrating when you’re working really hard on your blog, putting a ton of time and effort into it and you’re not seeing your results improve!
The answer could actually be really simple…
You’re focusing on creating the wrong type of content!
The best content to write in order to increase your traffic is evergreen posts, as these posts generate organic traffic, which is the best kind to have.
Evergreen posts include how-to guides, list posts, ultimate guides and case studies etc…
They’re posts you can add to and ones that will stay relevant over time.
If you’re always writing seasonal, review or trending posts, there’s no sustainability for this kind of content as it goes “in and out of fashion” so to speak…
Taking your time to keyword research and write deep, meaningful, helpful and valuable content may seem like a lot of hard work, but it’ll pay off in the end with the traffic reward!
So there you have it, the blog traffic for beginners ultimate guide + 11 of the top traffic FAQ’s answered…
I hope you take as many of the tips as you can and implement them into your own blog traffic strategy.
