My 3 Step Approach to Increase Blog Traffic

It seems like every week I receive an email from someone asking for advice on how to increase blog traffic. And I totally get it. We all want to get tons of traffic. In fact, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want more pageviews. But the thing is, growing your blog isn’t easy. There isn’t a quick fix that’ll instantly get you tons of new visitors. You have to work consistently to grow your blog.

So what can you do to increase blog traffic?

This is where it gets a bit tricky. There are tons of techniques and advice out there to help you increase your traffic. But as someone who has been around in the blogging world for awhile now, I think it ultimately boils down to 3 things: providing value, being authentic, and putting yourself out there. Do those things and you’ll be well on your way to growing your blog. Then you can implement other techniques to further increase your traffic. But the fact is, you should be doing those three things first as they’re at the heart of every successful blog.

Let’s take a look at my 3 step approach to increase blog traffic.

Provide Value

Perhaps the most important thing to do if you want to grow your blog is to provide value. You can follow every other piece of blogging advice out there, but if you aren’t providing value, you won’t get anywhere. People will stick around and share your blog with others if they get something out of it. That’s why providing value is so important for increasing blog traffic.

Now, what is valuable content? Well that depends on your niche and and your unique blog. What’s seen as valuable to one person, might not be valuable to another. However, if you keep your niche in mind, you can easily come up with topics that will provide value.

Here are some examples:

A food blogger can provide value with the following posts:

• Lasagna recipe (recipes)
• How to cut an avocado (tutorials)
• My 5 favorite kitchen tools (resources and tools)
• Kitchenaid mixer review (reviews)

Meanwhile, a fashion blogger can provide value with posts such as:

• 10 ways to wear neon colors (tips)
• How to pack a cohesive vacation wardrobe (tutorials)
• Jeans and a t-shirt outfit (inspiration)

Providing value doesn’t necessarily mean teaching people something, as shown above. Value can be inspiration, advice, comedy, or a myriad of other things. The key thing to ask yourself is is “Will my reader take something away from this post?” If the answer is yes, then you have provided value!

Be Authentic

Providing value is one thing. Being authentic is another. People can spot a fake person a mile away. If you’re blogging for fame or money, people will see right through that. A good blogger provides value because they are passionate about the topic at hand. In other words, they share because they care.

When it comes to publishing blog posts, be as authentic as possible. Don’t sell out and write reviews on products you’d never in a million years use. Don’t write certain blog posts because everyone else is. Write blog posts that you personally have interest in writing.

Success looks different for everyone. What works for one person, won’t necessarily work for another. So do your own thing. Be you. And do you know what’ll happen? People will be drawn to you. And when people are drawn to you, they’ll keep coming back. They’ll share your posts. As a result, your blog will grow!

Put Yourself Out There

So you’re creating valuable content and you’re being authentic. Think that’s enough? It’s not. After all, all that value you’re creating isn’t going to help anyone if they don’t know it exists. That’s why it’s super important to put yourself out there.

Now I know putting yourself out there can be scary. But it really shouldn’t be! By connecting with fellow bloggers, not only will you increase your blog traffic, but you’ll also likely make new friends.

How do you put yourself out there when it comes to blogging? Simple. Let people know you exist. End of story. Maybe that’s commenting on blog posts. Or maybe it’s participating in Facebook groups. It could even be telling your friends and family that you’ve started a blog. Once people know you exist and if you’re providing them with value, they’ll keep coming back and they’ll share your content.