3 Insanely Easy Ways to Drive Traffic to Your Blog (and make more moo-lah!!)
Last Updated on 4 years by Iva Ursano
You know, truth be told, when I first started my blog back in 2014 I had no clue what I was doing. Not a clue. Just write, Iva, you’re a good writer. Just do lots of that. You will write good things and people will flock to your website in droves. Traffic will be insane and you will be the star of the world wide web.
So, needless to say, that didn’t happen.
It actually took me awhile to catch on to this blogging craze. I was so naive. There was so much to learn and do and know and omg. How I wish someone would have just waved a magic wand and poof! Your blog is now a traffic magnet.
What’s wrong with my blog? Where’s the traffic?
This question went through my head a million times a day. What exactly is wrong with my blog? Where’s the traffic and the cheers and yells of all the raving fans? Little did I know, there was nothing right with my blog! It was all wrong.
Apparently, starting a blog doesn’t mean you just make a pretty website and start writing and hope the internet will explode with your awesomeness. Who knew? Certainly not this girl.
So anyway, I kept plugging away for a couple of years, ok honestly almost 3, before I finally decided it was time to get serious and figure out how on earth this whole blogging things works and how do I make it right!!
Cue the learning process
I’m gonna be honest with you, I’d rather stick needles in my eyes than read blogs on how to blog and drive traffic to your site. For real. But it donned on me, if I want to get this up and running the way it’s supposed to, then I got some serious learning to do.
And minus the needles, I started reading and learning, and downloading free pdf’s and you name it, I did whatever it took to figure out this blogging business.
I’m gonna break it down for you simply here so you don’t have to go through the same anxiety and disappointment (and frustration) that I went through. Grab your coffee, or beverage of choice, and let’s get cracking. Time’s a wasting!
This blog is for you if….
This is for the beginners who already have a blog and really don’t know what to do with it or, like me, don’t know why there’s no traffic. It’s also for those who are at the “I’m thinking about starting up a blog site”. I talk in plain English so you can easily understand.
I’m no techy guru by any stretch of the imagination so if you want simple, you’re at the right spot.
This is for you if you are ready to take your blog to the next level and start growing it to insane heights. How high it grows is entirely up to you and the work/effort/dedication you put into it.
Before we start, you should know I am a WordPress User. I have a paid theme (I think it was like $35, a one time payment) and also know that this blog does contain affiliate links which means I get a small commission if you click through the link and make a purchase.
Ok that’s out of the way….
The things I’m gonna cover here are:
- proper blog format
- SEO stuff (see how un-techy I am?)
- other social media platforms
Tip #1- The Blog Format.
First and foremost, if your blog is written like crap, your title is crap and the whole thing is full of errors, no one is gonna want to share it. Capiche? (cue, more needles in my eyes please) This was my first mistake. Oh, I knew how to write but you’d never know it by looking at my blog. It was horrifying.
- Try to write 1000-2000 words, depending on your topic. Make small paragraphs, 2-3 lines each. Keep in mind, many people are reading articles on their mobile devices now (think 5″ screen) and to read one big long paragraph is painful. Break it up.
- Add a great and engaging title as well as main/feature image. We have short attention spans. If your pic and title don’t capture our attention in the first 5 seconds, we’re gone. Lemme give you an example. Example 1: How to Make Your Blog Better. Example 2: 4 Insanely Easy Ways to Drive Traffic to Your Blog and Make More Moo-lah!
Which one would you click on first and want to read? Your title word should all be capitals like the example I just showed you.
- Add internal links to other posts you have that are relative to your current post. I add 2-4 depending on the length. If you have affiliate links you may want to strategically place them in here too! And don’t forget to have an affiliate disclaimer in place. Mucho importante!
Tip #2- The SEO stuff.
Learn it! For real! Right now! Do it! Thank me later.
So I had no clue what SEO was for the longest time. I’ll confess, I was a little close minded when it came to this thing. What the hell is SEO anyway. Search Engine Optimization. Search. Get it?
People go on the web to “search” for things. They plug in words (or phrases) in the search bar and hit enter. How do you expect them to find you if you don’t come up in the search Google shows them? I had no clue.
Google Keyword Planner is my best friend. It is a pinned tab on my computer, always there ready and waiting for me. Google it. Get it. It’s free. Figure out what your blog is about, then go to the keyword planner and find words that rank high in the search.
You also are going to add these keywords for your image description and in the alt text part, the caption and the description of your image (this option will show up when you have chosen your feature image). Keywords are going to be your best friend. Trust me on this one.
I recommend adding at least 2-3 images throughout your blog and keyword the poop outta them too!!
On the right hand side of your blog in WordPress, you will see a Tag section. Keywords go there. Find the good ones, long tail ones as well.
If you don’t already have Google Search Console, get it. That little beast will be your best friend. I’m not gonna go on about this one as I’m still learning the ins and outs and trust me, there is much to learn about Search Console.
Tip #3- Social Media Platforms
Find them and use them. Set up accounts, if you haven’t already, on Twitter, StumbleUpon, Facebook (as a page not just your personal profile), and Pinterest (aka lottery winnings). Join Facebook groups. Find blogging world groups. Don’t look for ones that have tens of thousands of members. I prefer the ones that have anywhere between 300-3000 members. They have daily share threads.
That’s where you want to be. Connect, collaborate and network.
Get Tailwind!!! Thank me later! This is the power tool I use with Pinterest to get my pins in front of more peeps and drive MASSIVE traffic to my blog.
No one is going to find you if you don’t put yourself out there in share world. You NEED groups. You need collaboration. You need to connect with other bloggers. You need to share your stuff out so people can read it and find you and love you.
Making Money Online
Though there are probably a million trillion ways to make money online, the easiest way is through ads. Don’t snub your nose just yet. There is some serious money to be made in ads on your site. I started out with Google Adsense but once my traffic increased I was able to switch over to Ezoic and my earnings tripled.
Ezoic truly is the bomb in my opinion. I tried other ad agencies but keep going back to them. They haven’t failed to disappoint me yet.
No miracles here.
Let’s be real. This isn’t gonna happen overnite. Trust me on that. I had to go through ALL my blogs and edit each and everyone of them for SEO, change images, change titles, you name it, I did it. Ya, it’s a helluva lot of work but lemme tell ya, it’s SO worth it.
Nothing good comes easy (only chocolate, really). How bad do you want to grow your blog, drive traffic and make money? I’ve sat at the computer, some days, for up to 14 hours fixing my blogs. That’s how bad I wanted to grow my blog and my business.
.Happy Blogging! Pass the wine please.
Peace and Love
Iva
(this post contains affiliate links so if you make a purchase I make a small commission)
Very inspirational! Thank you!
Thank you Gloria. Glad you liked it xoxo
great post about drive traffic to blogs..
Thank you hope it helps you!! :)