3 easy ways to boost your blog traffic
Are you spending hours writing interesting blog articles? Are you posting regularly but only seem to have a handful of readers? Are you getting increasingly frustrated that your brilliant blog posts are receiving no traffic?
Maintaining a blog is hard work and a long-term commitment. And of course, if you’re committed to the upkeep of a blog, you want the hours you dedicate to it to pay off.
After all, it’s all very well putting content out there, but if no one’s reading it, what’s the point?
You may well have crafted the best blog in the world, but unless your content can be found online, your hours of research and writing are wasted. Blogging is brilliant for business, but only if your posts are working as hard as you are!
So, to ensure your efforts yield greater results, here are three easy ways to increase the amount of traffic your blog receives.
Internal links
What are internal links anyway?
Internal links are simply a link from one page on your website to another page on your website.
So, an internal link in a blog post might link back to a previous post on a similar topic or to a page about your products or services. Like this link to one of our previous articles about the importance of keeping your online content up to date.
Why bother putting internal links in your posts?
Internal linking has both SEO and content marketing benefits. These two elements are essential for any business and work best hand in hand to boost your online presence.
From an SEO perspective internal linking helps to optimise your website: it allows your site to be indexed more efficiently, gives it greater authority and encourages visitors to stay on your site for longer, as they clink on the links to access other pages on your site.
From a content marketing pint of view, internal linking connects all of the content you’ve created and makes it easier to find. And the easier your content is to access, the more chance you have of it being read.
Quality content
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few years, you’ll have heard that ‘content is king’. However, if content is King, then quality content is queen.
Quality over quantity
Although posting regularly adds fresh content to your website, it’s important that this content is quality. Simply posting for the sake of it, when you don’t really have anything to say, can do more harm than good.
Every blog article you write needs a purpose. What are you promoting? What do you want your audience to gain?
Poorly crafted blog posts with little or no value to your target audience, will only discredit your business and see your prospect searching elsewhere.
Informative, useful content, which isn’t shamelessly stuffed with keywords will see your readership soar and your business gain credibility.
Meta descriptions
What are Meta descriptions?
Meta descriptions are the short, descriptive paragraphs that show underneath your page’s title. They appear when someone searches for your business or particular services.
Each page on your website will have a Meta description and it should accurately describe the content of that particular page.
For example, here’s the title and Meta description for this page:
Title:Â 3 easy ways to increase your blog traffic l We Are Word NerdsÂ
Meta description:Â Spending hours writing brilliant blog posts? Frustrated that you only have a handful of readers? Then read our three easy ways to boost your blog traffic!
Why are Meta descriptions important?
Everyone knows that the content on your site needs to be immediately engaging and relevant to your target audience, but Meta descriptions are an important part of your site’s content too.
Unfortunately, Meta descriptions are often overlooked.
Your Meta descriptions will determine if your prospect even makes it onto your website from a search in the first place, as they act as an advertisement for each individual page. They help to sell your page and therefore act as an important conversion tool.
Every Meta description on your website should be relevant, engaging and persuasive.
Short and sweet
Google only permits 156 characters in a Meta description, so be concise.
Take care not to exceed Google’s character limit or you’ll end up with a Meta description that makes little sense and looks terrible.
If you haven’t been doing these things already, don’t worry! It’s easy to add in internal links, improve your current content and amend the Meta descriptions of existing posts.
We hope you’ve found our three easy ways to boost your blog traffic useful. However, if you would have included something else to increase blog traffic, let us know in the comments box below.
Or, if you’d like help with writing your blog or creating strong Meta descriptions to encourage conversions, get in touch — we’d love to hear from you!
Laura
P.S – Don’t forget to keep your eyes peeled for our next blog on how to write a magnificent Meta description!