7 Writing Strategies to Boost Traffic on Your Blog

Every blogger wants to boost traffic on their blog, but not everyone has the right online writing strategies. They can make all the difference.

Contrary to what newcomers to the blogosphere believe, blogging can be tough. It takes time, money, and experience to build a findable business blog that people want to read and follow, not to mention passion and determination. Then, you still need to deal with the competition. Most niches and industries are saturated. New blogs pop up every day. Still, there are ways to attract more online visitors.

Want to increase traffic to your blog? Need more leads, customers, and sales? Here are seven things that you can do that will have an impact.

Writing Strategies: 7 Ways to Boost Blog Traffic

1. Optimize old blog posts.

Is every single post on your blog completely and correctly search engine optimized? SEO isn’t what it used to be. Today, over/under optimization can hurt your rankings and traffic. Comb through your old posts. Check for title tags, URLs, and meta descriptions, as well as keyword density and links. Following on-page best practices is among the best online writing strategies. While you’re at it, ensure that your content is still relevant.

2. Update more often.

Every blog post is an opportunity to rank, drive traffic your site, and sell, so regardless of what some might tell you, more content is better. Two to three updates weekly is usually sufficient, but if you really want people and search engines to take notice, once or more daily is the way go. That is, if you have the time and resources – and have something valuable to say. At the very least, the average small business should be blogging once per week.

3. Write response posts.

Responding to controversial blog posts in your niche can drive traffic to your site. Once the original poster catches wind of your article, there’s a good chance that he or she will respond to it on their blog. Be careful, though, as this is one of the writing strategies that could backfire. Another good way to boost blog traffic (apart from effectively replying to comments) is to write posts that address topics and issues in the comments left on your blog.

4. Comment on other blogs.

Leaving comments on other blogs in your industry can drive a ton of targeted web traffic – among other things. A lot of people actually read the comments that are left below blog posts and will click through to the commenter’s site if they come across one that is interesting. To attract readers, leave comments that are a reasonable length (by commenting standards), thoughtful, and enticing. Leave your blog’s URL in the comment.

5. Get renowned bloggers to guest post on your blog.

This one tops many other online writing strategies. Why? Well, first off, you save time and money, since you do not need to write or outsource the post. Secondly, the guest blogger will probably share the content with his or her audience, which will drive traffic to your blog. How do you get well-known bloggers to guestblog for you? Approach strategically. Build relationships. Ask nicely. Offer something of value.

6. Use headline formulas.

Are prospects clicking your headlines? The headline is the most important element of your blog post. It’s what gets people to your content from search engines, social media sites, and other blogs. It makes sense, then, to use headline formulas that are proven to be effective. Using tried and tested formulas will not only get you more clicks, but it will also save you time and effort, especially if you are writing a lot of content.

7. Mention influencers.

Finding these writing strategies helpful? Ok, here is one more. Cite, quote, and mention influencers in your posts, and let them know that you have included them. For example, you can list the top blogs, experts, or resources in your industry and turn it into a quality blog post that your audience and search engines will appreciate, like this one by Kristi Hines. If it is useful, it will probably get a lot of shares. You get traffic, links, and exposure.

Have some online writing strategies to share? How did you manage to boost traffic on your blog? Let me know in the comments.