The blogs that have a thousands of views a month and hundreds of commenters isn't just luck or some huge secret. Its actually just a few out of the box thinkers, creative minds, with great content, and a little hard work.
Here are 10 ways that have helped my blog stats insanely and have helped similar bloggers as well.
*Note that this is not a comprehensive guide on the basics of blog traffic or how to create a blog, yes you need great content! This post is 10 Unique Ways to increase blog traffic, for all the out-of-the-box thinkers out there.*
#1 Host a Giveaway
Its no secret that people LOVE free stuff, so why not give it away? Creating a giveaway is a fantastic way to increase engagement on your blog and rank higher with Google. First up buy a few items that are relevant to your blog. Im a fashion blogger so great items for me to giveaway is clothes, makeup, and trendy items .
Then create a giveaway with the help of Rafflecopter. Rafflecopter does all the work for you, all you have to do is get people to your blog! So tweet, Pinterest, and Instagram the heck out of your giveaway and your golden! Rafflecopter asks readers to follow, tweet about your giveaway, and so on.. get ready to watch your stats go up!
#2 Create a Youtube Channel/ Videos
Youtube generates over 800 million unique visits a month, so why not benefit from that? Create a Youtube Channel! Youtube is a great way to show who you are and your personality. Having a youtube channel associated with your blog is a great way to give your readers variety and unique content. One video can go viral, or get thousands of views! One of mine got 20,000 views in 3 months, its very possible so get started right away! Common videos to start out could be: Question & Answer, A Day in the Life of..., Room Tour, Outfit of the Day, etc. Make sure to link your Youtube channel with your blog!
For this you will probably need a video camera, lighting, and a computer.
#3 Optimize Your Twitter
One of the best things about Twitter is that you can use click through links. (Readers click on your link which takes them to your blog) This alone creates a big majority of traffic to my blog. People on Twitter tend to gravitate towards accounts that have a theme or something common about their tweets.
My personal twitter over 3 years gained only a pitiful 160 followers. But when I created a twitter account solely for my blog, The Fashionable Affair, and connected with other fashion bloggers I had a toppling 600 in just 2 months!
My recommendation is for every "marketing" type tweet (check out my new blog post, follow me, etc) you should tweet 2 "other" type tweets (shoutouts, personal, themed, etc). Tweet about what you love, a great way for readers to get to know you! This way your followers wont feel overly used, and bored. Check out Bitly a website that shortens your links to a more friendly version to share on twitter and keeps track of stats!
#4 Optimize Your Instagram
Along with Twitter, people tend to follow "themed" Instagram accounts. Such themes could be black and white photography, nature photos, quotes, fashion, organic, and so on. When creating an Instagram use hashtags that coordinate with your theme. I try to keep my Instagram, TheFashionableAffair full of fashion and outfit themed pictures, along with the occasional picture of a blog post. Engage with your followers, comment, like, and spread the love and eventually it will be returned. A great example of a themed Instagram account is BcBgGeneration.
#5 In Person Marketing
Picture From Zazzle.com
When bloggers think of marketing they tend to forget the old hand to hand marketing style. A great way to market your blog in person is to create business cards with your logo, header, or name of your blog (and URL) with ALL of your social media links.
Create an eye catching business card such as this Zazzle Card or this Zazzle Card Zazzle is an amazing website to create items for your blog! Hand out a few to your best friends, your family, leave them on bulletin boards, and keep a few with you when you meet new people. Trust me this works incredibly well because people are curious!
#6 Link, Link, Link
A great way to get your blog ranked in Google and at the top of searches is to have your blog linked everywhere. Share your link on social media sites such as Bloglovin, Twitter, Instagram, Stumble Upon, Reddit, and Facebook. Even more importantly (to be ranked on Google) is to get your blogs link on predominate websites such as popular blogs, online magazines, news articles and so on. A great way to do this is to guest post on similar blogs to your own.
If your a fashion/beauty/style and would like to guest post for The Fashionable Affair contact me through my Contact Page for more information.
#7 Get Local
Where are you blogging from? Seattle, LA, NY, or a small town in Minnesota? If you are comfortable, write where you are from in your "About Me" page, and in your Twitter & Instagram bios. Getting recognized locally is actually a great way to boost up your page views! For example a blogger in Seattle got mentioned in Seattle Mag. People love to follow people that are local to them!
#8 Create Pin Worthy Pictures
Pinterest is the golden arena for bloggers. If you can get a picture that is linked to your blog, Pinteres-famous you are golden! Pinterest pictures should be longer than they are wide. Creating beautiful pictures for your blog posts are a great way to increase page views. Click Here for tutorials on how to create great pictures for blogging!
Here are some of Mine:
#9 Reddit, Stumble Upon, Bloglovin
These sites are great help to gain traffic. Reddit initially brought me in a lot of traffic. If you are not familiar with Reddit its basically the face of the internet, the whats-hot-right- now. Submit your link, with a creative and eye catching title and you are well on your way to increasing your traffic. The picture below shows how to submit a new link (Upper Right Side"Submit a New Link) !
Stumble Upon gave me blog traffic initially but not so much anymore. Its a great place to start.
Bloglovin is an AMAZING way to get people to your blog. Bloglovin constantly gets me traffic on a daily basis. Bloglovin is basically like someone subscribing by email to your blog. When someone subscribes to your blog via Bloglovin each new blog post will be sent to your subscribers. Follow Me On Bloglovin!
#10 Get Personal
The difference between good blogs and great blogs is that great blogs tend to splash their personality all over their site. From having pictures of themselves, to seeing inside their glamorous lifestyle (or so I imagined every blogger), to their unique personality in blog posts, is what gets me (and others) hooked to that blog. Start off creating an "About Me" page on your blog where you allow readers to get to know you and what you stand for. Read my About Me page. Its great to include pictures of yourself to give a face to the words. Tweet a few articles you enjoy, an outfit post, your dinner, your cute kitty, and so on. Trust me this gets people hooked to you and your blog. Win-Win!
Also try Google Authorship. Research has shown that users are more likely to click on a search result with a Author Picture, than without.
Blogging takes hard work and dedication, so don't give up just because the numbers are not there (yet)! All good things take time, so instead of stressing out, try some of the tips above! Have a blog you want me to read? Tips and tricks of your own? Success Stories? Let me know in the comments below!
Have Fun Blogging!
-Courtesy