How can I get more traffic to my blog or website? There are many ways to get more web traffic, but some are better than others.
Looking at popular blogs will give you an idea of what they are doing right and give you insight into different strategies and tactics you can take for your content strategy.
Let’s take a closer look at 8 ways to increase website traffic, with insights from popular blogs and brands.
1. Get the story first
Business Insider is one of the fastest growing finance, media and technology blogs in the world.
Generating more than 49 million website visitors per month, it definitely has important knowledge to uncover about its content strategy.
Here are some key takeaways from this high performance website:
Create great digital content fast
From the beginning, the focus was primarily on digital content, making news sites obsolete. Do not print content. We are not broadcasting any content.
They knew where their target audience was going and were ahead of the curve.
Today the need to create digital content is very simple. So why is their existing content strategy different?
timeliness
Business Insider always gets insider information first. They stay ahead of the latest news stories, always following clues and updating articles with new facts as quickly as possible.
They don’t thrive on evergreen content, but it works for them. Instead, we aim to get stories first, attract first clicks, and quickly distribute trending content.
This means you can have an ever-present content strategy by creating timely content and distributing it on the right platforms.
Having evergreen content is great, but I also have something to say about creating fresh, “trending” content.
This is because users are looking not only for answers to age-old questions, but also for content related to what is happening around the world.
2. Publish with purpose
Arianna Huffington’s blog of the same name, the Huffington Post or HuffPost, was never meant to be a business. Yet, since its inception in 2005, the site has rapidly climbed the ranks to become her one of the most popular blogs in the world.
The Huffington Post was a huge success with web traffic and notoriety. With thousands of daily visitors, it has become a well-known political blog.
So what makes the Huffington Post such a traffic success? They publish with a purpose.
The Huffington Post originally started as a political news site that informed the public about important global issues. This was the founder’s direct reaction to a corporate-controlled, money-hungry news site. This resonated with people.
Finally, the website provided unbiased news stories and opinions from both sides of the aisle.It met the public’s need for honest and candid political dialogue.
avoid burnout
The Huffington Post’s move from purpose to profit is a somewhat cautionary tale. Burnout is inevitable when you lose sight of the value you’re trying to deliver to your audience.
Huffington experienced this when the site grew much faster than originally envisioned. It became business too.
Many content creators find themselves in this predicament.
Create content focused on keywords, conversion rates, and cost of clicks. Unfortunately, we forget that traffic and conversions are often proportional to how much your audience cares about your content.
Before creating content, ask yourself these questions:
- Did you directly ask your audience what they would be interested in reading?
- Do you know their pains, fears, needs and desires?
- Do you have data to back this up, or are you assuming it’s what they want?
- What is the main purpose of this content?
- What is the ultimate goal you want to achieve with this content?
- What action do you want users to take when reading this content?
Don’t stray too far from the purpose of your content. Focusing on pleasing Google and optimizing clicks will pay off, but not enough to keep users engaged and engaged with your content.
3. Attract Trustworthy Sources
If Business Insider is the king of world news, TMZ is the drama queen of Hollywood news.
TMZ is known for breaking down some of the biggest stories in celebrity gossip and entertainment.
TMZ didn’t give us much insight into their traffic stats and strategy, but a little research revealed a big secret about their success.
Secret: “Trickster”
As a content creator and writer, I was interested in where TMZ sources its writers (and how they find the most compelling stories).
Their website only revealed that they were hiring a handful of “field reporters” and “researchers”. But who would tell them the hottest celebrity gossip?
The answer I discovered is “tippers”. Tipsters are their “in the field” people. People going to dig the inner scoop.
These people do not work directly for TMZ, but are encouraged to contribute their expertise and publish sensitive information to the magazine. As a result, they usually receive payouts or notoriety.
The concept of a “tipper” sounds strikingly similar to another kind of content strategy: professionally produced content. TMZ has created a low-cost, consistent content creation model based on incentives. And you can do the same.
Content created by experts
This can take the form of expert interviews, wrap-up posts, webinars, podcasts, guest posts, and video content.
The idea is to incentivize industry professionals to create content for the site, showcase new content ideas, and share content with their audience.
You can hack this strategy for your site by inviting experts to create content for you or have them participate in content you’re creating.
Open your site to guest posts, video posts, exclusive interviews, or expert quotes. This allows you to create more content and expand your reach.
Plus, a little ego boost goes a long way.
4. Increase Referral Traffic
The Verge is a jack of all trades publication that covers everything from entertainment to technology to science to product reviews.
Launched in 2011, it publishes a mix of new articles, guidebooks, podcasts and featured interviews. A common marketing adage is “wealth is in the niche”.
The Verge doesn’t have a clear niche, which begs the question. How can they rank content and generate so much traffic?
Verge’s traffic comes in via referral sites. The site primarily references blog product reviews.
These referral sites not only send traffic to The Verge via external links from your content, but they also increase your blog’s prestige.
affiliate marketing
The Verge’s content strategy reveals a great opportunity for websites to generate traffic from non-organic sources. This is especially true for affiliate websites.
Suppose the purpose of your website is to promote affiliate products. In that case, creating content that grabs attention from other industry-leading websites can greatly benefit your traffic strategy.
Not only will visitors to these websites become more interested in your content and products (more likely to convert), but high-authority backlinks can add an SEO boost to your site. There is a nature.
What this looks like is creating content that provides value for your favorite referral sites, content that:
- Review products.
- Provides a comparison of your product against your competitors.
- Browse other articles on the website.
By publishing content that provides value to other sites in your industry, you have the opportunity to create additional traffic sources beyond organic search.
5. Publishing User Generated Content
Lifehacker’s tagline, “Do everything better,” is a bold claim that users can pave their way to success in life. (Ironically, you’re doing the same with your content strategy here.)
This blog offers helpful, often time- and money-saving tips that will help you work more efficiently, live longer, and live a happier life.
Many of their articles are quick posts revealing a bulleted list of hacks or tips or two.
Lifehacker doesn’t rely on keywords to come up with click-worthy content ideas. Instead, generate a cornucopia of blog topics by asking your readers what they would like to read.
How do I come up with blog post ideas?
Despite the myriad of SEO and idea generation tools, website owners still struggle to find topics that drive traffic and keep their audiences engaged.
That’s because many people, myself included, overcomplicate the process.
We try to guess what the reader wants. First, dig into your search data to see which keywords are getting the most volume. Then try to mimic the content your competitors are creating.
Readers often tell them exactly what they want. All you need to do is ask.
If you have an existing social media presence, you can easily reach out to your target audience and get their input on topics they care about.
You can also get ideas from the comments section, email replies, reviews, or feedback from past clients and customers.
Don’t overcomplicate it. Start with your readers and create a list of topics they want to read about. Then use your SEO tools to identify the right keywords to target in that content.
6. Get the facts
VeryWell Health was founded in 2016 and has quickly become a go-to source for health enthusiasts and trainers. They are great at multiple aspects of establishing a popular blog, but nothing more than creating a well-researched and accurate blog.
The first step when writing an article is fact-checking. This is the foundation for creating blogs that people can rely on and trust.
This includes checking resources, spelling, grammar and punctuation.
Think about when you’re reading a blog and there’s a grammatical error, a link to an outdated or broken resource, or a purely false fact. Unfortunately, this makes it easy to stop repeaters.
But there is an easy fix. You can easily avoid these pitfalls by using tools like Grammarly, or by using a second eye for fact-checking and copy-editing.
And remember, giving your readers reliable tools and resources is a reliable way to keep people coming back.
7. Establishing editorial guidelines
Treehugger is a great example of establishing editorial guidelines.
With the structure created by founder Graham Hill and his growing team, they established a foundation for research and made it faster for consumers to get the information they needed.
By creating a vigorous and thorough standard operating procedure (SOP), brands can avoid the aforementioned problems and streamline the editorial process.
In this way, businesses can publish blogs quickly and efficiently.
8. Build in interactivity
If you use social media, you’ve probably taken a quiz on Buzzfeed or read an engaging article.
The amount of interaction we see through content, social media comments and site reactions is unparalleled.
They are prime examples of creating interactive spaces for readers and consumers. Through their site, you can have a comprehensive and enjoyable experience.
Additionally, allow your followers to rate articles on related subjects such as ‘LOL’ and ‘Win’. This allows readers to feel like they are part of a like-minded community.
You can learn from Buzzfeed. For example, creating an interactive feature for your blog can foster a sense of community.
You can do this by keeping your information well organized and leaving the option to add comments and questions to your blog posts.
final point
Bloggers have been doing it right for years when it comes to increasing website traffic.
Taking the time to understand why popular blogs perform well will give you an idea of what you need to do to improve your blog.
Using these insights for your blog can provide a steady stream of dedicated visitors to read what you create.
Other resources:
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