Part 1: How to Generate Consistent Traffic to Your Blog
A great blog won’t do you any good unless you can get consistent traffic flowing to it. A few simple steps can get people to your blog. The more you put into traffic generation, the better your chances of converting the general public into loyal readers and potential clients.
In this post, you would get to know everything about traffic generation. This post might be long but it is worth your time if you really want to generate consistent traffic to your blog. It is also required of you to do all the things you find in this post. Having a knowledge alone is not enough. Practice makes perfection.
Here is how to generate consistent traffic to your blog…
1. Analytics
The first step is a simple one, but it is one that may make all the difference. Before you do anything else, you need to set up a way to track website traffic and statistics. We recommend using Google Analytics – it is free, easy to set up and easy to use. To set up your analytics, you must first sign up for a Google account (a Gmail account works just fine).
Go to https://www.google.com/analytics and click on the “sign up now” button on the top right corner of the page. You will have the option to sign up for a Google account (if necessary) or proceed with the setup. You’ll be asked for your website address and will be given a snippet of code to insert into your site. Once you are setup with Analytics, the sky is the starting point.
You can track everything from unique visitors to time-on-site to PPC ad success. At the beginning, you’ll probably want to focus on how much traffic you are getting and where it is coming from. You will be able to tell if you are getting traffic from referring sites (such as your blog, social media posts or affiliates) or from organic traffic (searches for your name or other keywords). This data will be crucial as you move forward with specific marketing campaigns and tactics.
Traffic analysis is the foundation to successfully managing your marketing efforts. You’ll know what is working and what isn’t. Go install Google Analytics right now!
2. SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
This is the process of getting your website recognized more frequently when people perform searches on sites such as Google or Yahoo. Better SEO rankings mean you get seen by more people… and that’s a free way to increase traffic to your website. There are three easy ways you can increase your SEO rankings: keywords, inbound links and local search listings.
a. Keywords
The first thing you should do is write down all of the keywords associated with your business. Try to think like someone who needs your product or service, but doesn’t know where to go. What would they type into their search engine? If I was looking for a local mechanic, I might type in “mechanic in Ajah, Lagos.” If I was searching for a reasonably priced webmaster, I might type in “cheap webmaster.” Try to determine all of the possible (intuitive) combination you might get.
The next step is to go to the Google Keyword Tool: https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal and enter in the keyword phrases you thought of when you were listing possible combination. You’ll be able to see how many people searched for those phrases and how much competition there is surrounding those keywords. You’ll also see similar keywords that you might want to target in your SEO strategy.
Once you know the best keywords to use on your site, it’s time to put them to work for you. Search engines like to see your keywords in important places – places like the title (the text that appears in the browser tab at the top of your screen), headlines, sub-headlines and even the content that is towards the top of the page.
The more keywords you use, the more search engines will take notice. But be sure to integrate your keywords into readable sentences and avoid “keyword stuffing.” If I have a headline of “Seun plumber plumbing Mesa toilet repair broken pipes Lagos,” visitors to my site will not be impressed (and neither will the search engines, by the way).
Another good way to implement keywords into your site is by posting articles or other relevant pieces of content that are keyword rich. Search engines also love updated content, so don’t hesitate to add new articles regularly that will bring more keywords to your site.
b. Inbound Links
Inbound links build your reputation and credibility among search engines (and potential customers for that matter). These inbound links (often called backlinks) also allow search engines to more easily find you, rank you and get you on the search lists. Not all backlinks are created equal. However, links that come from legitimate sites are best. If you are linked from a very popular site – even better. But purchased links from “link farms” might actually do more harm than good. It may sound daunting, but you can build a solid base of backlinks the right way if you are patient and consistent in your efforts.
The first step is to set up links from all of your own domains. Your blog, Facebook pages, Twitter accounts and any other social media outlets should all include links to your website. When you post entries on these outlets, include links to your site, as appropriate. When others “retweet” these links, you get exponential exposure. You can also ask partners and affiliates to add links to their websites. It’s probably a good idea to return the favor too. Consider a section on your website that highlights the “products I use” or “services I recommend.” or “Blogs I Read”. You’ll be amazed at how this will not only help your SEO rank, but it will increase your referrals too.
When possible, try to insert keywords into the anchor text (the text that acts as the link, such as click here or learn more). A keyword rich link might read The Ajah Plumber or My Web Design Business. This will greatly increase your keyword credibility and skyrocket your search engine rankings.
c. Local Search Listings
If you provide products or services to local customers, a local search listing is a great way to increase your search engine exposure. When someone is looking for a localized provider, Google will often send them to their local listings. To put your business on the map (literally), go to www.google.com/places. Select “Add New Business” to enter your business address, details, category, photos and more. Google will have to confirm your address with a phone call or a postcard sent to your address. Once confirmed, you’ll begin appearing in local searches and your rankings will improve significantly.
Keywords, inbound links and local search listings are a great way to get your website recognized in organic searches. And the best part? It’s totally free!
This post is longer than these. In order not to bore you, I have decided to continue the remaining part in one of my future post. To this effect, you should go ahead and act on what you have read above. Then wait has you will get the update of the remaining part in some few days. To get the update, you should subscribe and become part of my subscribers. You can also be my friend on Facebook or follow me on twitter.
UPDATE: You can continue reading the part 2 of this post here – https://www.makemoneyonlineng.com/generate-consistent-traffic-blog-2/
