10 Ways to Boost Blog Post Traffic

Stats can be blogger crack. We may say that we don’t care if anyone is reading our posts, but honestly if you didn’t care, wouldn’t you just write in a private journal?

It can be frustrating to spend time writing and creating visual content for a post, only to have very few people read it. Whether you’re blogging for a brand or your own small business or blogging is a personal passion, here are 10 ways to get more eyeballs on your blog posts:

Join a post link up. Whether you’re a fashionista or a foodie, there’s a link share up for you. Google the type of list you are looking for. I typically link up to Fashion Friday and I also like The SITS Girls Saturday Sharefest linkups.

Join a private Facebook blogger group. I am one of the co-founders of the Nashville Women Who Blog Facebook page and I know there are hundreds of similar groups. The next time you are at a blogger networking event, ask around to see if anyone is a member of a Facebook blogger group. Ours hosts a weekly request to ask for help boosting a particular blog post (whether it’s via a ReTweet or sharing on Pinterest.)

Use a social share button plugin. If you use WordPress (and you should), there are several free plugins for social share buttons. Make sure they are easy to find and clean and simple. No need in being obnoxious with them! I prefer to have mine at the beginning of a post and use Shareaholic and I also use Frizzly for hover-over share buttons that appear on my images.

Sign up for RebelMouse. This is a new concept to me that I found via fellow Nashville blogger Scarlet at Families Connect. It’s a cool way to share all of your social media content on one clean looking page. You can also turn on notifications to alert fellow bloggers when you share their content.

Add your blog post to your email signature. No doubt you email multiple times a day. Why not include your blog URL or feature your most recent content? Wise Stamp is a great custom email signature program to check out.

Write a collaborative round-up post. Interview bloggers in your niche about a particular topic and then encourage cross-promotion.

Create a “best of” Pinterest board highlighting your posts. Pinterest is one of my top three sources of blog traffic. Consider creating a Pinterest board dedicated to your favorite posts or perhaps a subset of posts (such as guest posts.) Here’s an example of mine, Best of Blonde Mom Blog.

Utilize your Instagram bio. I love Instagram but I hate that you can’t hyperlink in your text. Change your bio link to reflect your latest blog content.

StumbleUpon. Back before the days of Pinning, StumbleUpon was hot. It can still be a fantastic way to boost your traffic. Promote your own content sparingly, however, or you can be penalized or even flagged for spam.

Repurpose your post. Think of each blog post as a mini content marketing for your brand. How can you get the most mileage from one post? Here are some ideas:

Make a sharable graphic featuring a quote from a post and promote it on each of your social media channels.
Take a lengthy post and break it down into a series.
Ask a question related to your post and share on social media, with a link to to the blog post.

Being a successful blogger can mean many things to many people, but I don’t know any blogger who wouldn’t like to gain more engaged readers. Listen to your readers, check your stats (but not too much) to see what content resonates best, and focus in on what you write about best!

Do you have any additional tips to increase blog post traffic? Let me know in the comments below!