Business & Finance Blogging

Increase Blog Traffic with These Three Tools

Did you know that you could increase blog traffic, aside from using social media? It's true. All you have to do is think outside the box. But don't worry—we've done the dirty work for you. See below for a list of unique ways to increase blog traffic:

1. HARO: Help a Reporter Out (HARO) is an online platform used by bloggers, PR professionals, journalists, and writers to find sources for news pieces. Twice per day, HARO sends an email to registered individuals. The email contains HARO queries that relate to people's specific preferences—information that can be narrowed down upon registering for HARO.

But how does HARO work to increase blog traffic? Let's say you have a business blog and are searching HARO for guest blogging opportunities based on your industry. You may come across a particular query that piques your interest, one requesting guest bloggers. You can then send a response to the individual who posted the query, asking if you could be a guest blogger. If the query writer agrees, then you have just landed a guest blogging opportunity!

When your guest blog is published on the query writer's blog, you gain exposure to a completely new market. The query writer's blog readers can then visit your blog after viewing the guest post.

Another way HARO can help increase your blog traffic is if you submit your own query, requesting guest bloggers for an upcoming series on your blog. When you submit a query, you categorize it so that only individuals interested in that particular topic will stumble across your query. So, if you had a travel blog and wanted to find guest bloggers to participate in a blog series on European Travel Providers, you might create a query on HARO requesting guest bloggers in the travel industry. Inside your query, you can put the link to your blog, directing interested travel bloggers to your site to see if they're interested in guest blogging.

2. Icon or Page Tab on website: If you have a blog and don't have a link or button on your website directing site visitors to visit the blog, you're missing a huge opportunity to increase blog traffic. We suggest making a tab in your navigation menu for your blog, placing a link to the blog as a subpage of a tab, or adding a blog button somewhere obvious on your website. We're currently having our website redone, and we have a link to our blog on our homepage, inside several interior pages, and in our website navigation menu as its own tab.

Website visitors might not know that you have a blog, which is why it's essential that you make it obvious to them that you have additional resources for them to browse through. They'll be more likely to visit your blog and see you as an expert in your industry. And who knows? You may receive new customers thanks to your blog.

3. Ticker on website: If your blog is a large part of your online marketing strategy, then you may want to consider adding a blog ticker to your homepage or an interior page of your website. For those of you who are unaware of what a blog ticker is, it's essentially a newsfeed that pulls in recent blog posts. Whenever you publish a new post, a link to the post automatically feeds into your blog ticker on your website, updating in real time.

Discover simple marketing strategies to attract and convert prospects. My bimonthly ezine, Sumer's Secrets is packed with tips on how to improve your web copy, promote your website, and market your brand.  Sign up and receive a FREE report on creating web copy that will increase sales and site traffic.

?

Leave a reply