Blogs are dead without traffic. So it’s no wonder why bloggers keep asking the same question over and over again; “how can I get a huge amount of free traffic.” If you’ve recently started blogging and want to get around 10,000 visits per month within a 6-month duration, here are 8 step-by-step footnotes you need to follow:
1. Build your keyword database
Keyword planning isn’t just limited to websites. Blogs also need it in order to get relevant traffic from search engines. Decide on for your priority list and analyze how your selected keywords would perform in the short and long run. You would also need this data if you’re planning to place Google AdWords on your blog. However, for that you are going to need a lot of traffic. So start with the easiest ones. Pick long-tail keywords and do a variety. Just make sure that everything is natural. Google and other big search engines hate spammers.
2. Design an effective content strategy
In the blogging world, you will constantly hear this old saying “Content is King.” Well, it really is. So you have to treat it like a king. First of all, you should already have a niche in mind. From there, brainstorm a few niche relevant categories you will be writing articles about. For example, let’s say you are going to blog about electronic dance music. What kind of categories fit under the umbrella of EDM?
Once you figure out what categories you will cover within your niche, you must then write well researched articles. After each article is finished you carry out proper keyword-optimization. If your article is well written, well researched, and SEO ready, you should publish it.
You should always make sure that your articles aren’t half-assed in any way, shape, or form. People can clearly see if you slapped something together in a few minutes. The bottom line is create honest content.
3. Implement user-friendly & search engine-friendly Mobile Website
Tweak your blog to make sure that it is completely user and search engine-friendly. Your blog should be:
- Cross-Browser Compatible
- Easy-To-Navigate
- Crawlable
- Fast
Make sure that you don’t use too many JavaScript files or inline styles and other elements that make a website/blog slower. You can use SEO analyses tools and online website speed checkers to determine that you are on the right track. I personally experienced a drastic change in my iPhone spy app blog by enhancing loading time and speed. You need make sure that you submit XML sitemap to Google and other search engines frequently so that each of your blog posts get crawled and displayed easily in results pages.
4. Choose the right CMS (Content Management System)
The best CMS for blogs as per surveys is WordPress. It has got many features, themes, and plug-ins and moreover it is preferred the most by blog readers. WordPress include plug-ins that could help you in distributing your content over the web and while making your blog more search engine-friendly. You can’t go wrong with Wordpres, trust me.
5. Go for a pre-launch
When you’re done with the rest of the things, don’t just wait for the right time. Publish your blog so that it gets crawled by search engines and that it becomes visible to your readers. Write welcoming posts. This way you’ll already start receiving some traffic that will certainly increase in the upcoming months.
6. Build quality one-way backlinks (long-term strategy)
If your blog is technology themed, build one-way backlinks to your blog on other blogs, forums, and social media networks. Use relevant keywords for it. This will rank your blog higher in search engines and eventually you’ll get traffic from organic searches. Also submit your blog to blog directories and RSS directories.
7. Blast your blog on social networking sites (long-term strategy)
Social media, in general, is the best way to receive tons of daily traffic. The best social networking sites for blogs are Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Reddit (the best of all), and StumbleUpon. Specifically submit your posts to Reddit. Believe me; Reddit could give you more than 10K visits per month. Do some research on how you can build a strong following on social media networks.
8. Distribute your posts on forums, Q/A portals, article directories, guest blogs and etc
The moment you publish your blog posts, distribute them across the web. Find industry-related forums, Q/A portals, press release sites, guest blogs and other precious resources to distribute your articles.
The above-mentioned footnotes, if followed properly, should give you around 10K visits per month to your blog or even more than that. Make sure that you keep a track of your progress through Google Analytics to measure the ups and downs of your blog’s traffic.
Keep in mind that this article might make it sounds easier that it really is. You get back what you put in, so don’t expect to get visitors to your website if you don’t put any effort in it. Work hard, and don’t give up!