Secrets of Getting More Traffic to Your WordPress Site

So you set up a blog and wrote something you want to share with the denizens of the Internet. You post it on your blog and twiddle your thumbs as you sit; waiting hopefully for hits, for readers to comment how brilliantly wonderful/significant your post is and to shower you with constructive criticism and admiration. And traffic. Lots and lots of traffic.

That’s…probably not going to happen.

Sorry to break this happy bubble, but that’s not how it works. While your post may be wonderfully significant, you have to make sure the netizens know about it, or it could very well have been a diary entry you keep to yourself.

Directing traffic to your post takes serious dedication. So pull up your socks and pay attention:

1. Deliver Quality Content: Little details have huge significance:

• Introduce yourself to your readers by adding a short & specific About Me page. It gives your blog a meaning and a purpose instead of making it look vague and generic.
• Crisp & catchy headings attract readers so they feel inclined to read through the post.
• Break Monotony. Use plenty of page breaks and images. Witty captions can elaborate your point better.
• Write content which is topical as well as timely. Write it well and edit it if necessary before you post it online.

Ensure that you’re writing and posting regularly. Don’t let your blog go stale. Post fresh content at least weekly, if not daily.

1. Artistic Expression: Make your blog attractive and add a hint of your personality (quirks and all) with themes. There are thousands of themes, free and premium, available out there. Try to choose one which ‘speaks’ about your industry. For instance, use bright, happy colors for lifestyle blogs, greens and blues for nature, or just explore until you hit the right spot. In the world of art, sky is the limit.

Don’t be too heavy handed with that figurative paintbrush though. You need to keep it legible and not-painful to look at.

1. Show it off: Turn on the Publicize option available on WordPress and share your work on Social Media Sites. Link your social media accounts with wordpress for this to work. Once you have done that, every time you post something, WordPress will share it on your social media accounts. No more hassle of doing it individually for every social media platform.

1. Share Your Wisdom: Turn on the Sharing option and let others benefit from your well crafted content. You reduce the risk of someone else simply stealing your content and showing it off as their own AND redirect readers wishing to read more content written by you. It’s killing two birds with one stone.

1. Guest Star on Others’ Blogs: Post on others people’s blogs as guests. You need permission from the blog owner for this to work. Smaller/less popular ones will usually be glad to take you up on your offer.

The more popular blogs are harder to please, since everyone else (who is in the same boat as you) is vying for that opportunity. Even a single guest post on one of the larger blogs can generate huge traffic surge.

If you get denied on a large blog, don’t lose hope. Posting as guest on a few smaller blogs can be equivalent to bagging a guest spot on a large one.

1. Add Your Two-cents When Relevant: Bloggers love reviews in the form of comments. Leave a comment on others’ blogs if you have something relevant to say about the post. This prompts a lot of bloggers to check out your blog and see your work, and many of them will return the favor and comment on your work too!

Note: Don’t spam someone else’s blogpost with links to your own. Add a link only if you think it could help elucidate the original poster’s topic a bit further.

1. Appreciate Those Who Comment: Leave responses to comments on your blog. Your readers would like to know that you appreciate their thoughts on your work. Weird comment-wars on Youtube notwithstanding, great conversations sometimes also take place in comment section.

1. Blog Linking: You get some part of someone else’s blog traffic when you’re linked to them. There is a side-bar on their blog where you show up. Try to link up to at least 1 other blog every time you post and try to build up your numbers from there.

Of course, this method can be a bit of a double edged knife since they would also want to link to your blog, and sometimes you may not want to let them for content quality reasons. Try suggesting edits and linking them up.

1. Forum Posting: Register your presence on a forum relevant to your blog and try to be an active member of that community. It takes a lot of patience and is generally not chosen because of the amount of hard-work involved on blogger’s part.

However, being an active member of a large community forum related to your area of interest can be great. Others may gradually begin to look up to you for advice and visit the links you post on your profile. It gives you credibility.

1. E-mail Notification: Dedicated readers may want to be alerted or notified every time you post something new. E-mail subscription widget allows them to subscribe to your blog. A surprising amount of traffic can be generated this way.
2. Purchasing Traffic: Not literally. You can’t pay people to read your blog. You can, however, pay to get a quick start-up boost. StumbleUpon and Google Adsense will give you a head-start if you have the cash to spare.
3. Press Releases: Consider them if you’re an ace at writing. The amount of interest (and subsequent traffic) it could generate can be phenomenal, given that your story is well written and relevant, and the site you are posting your press release on is popular.
4. Digg it: Social Bookmarking sites like Digg and StumbleUpon are great for bloggers with interesting content to share. Digg works a lot like reddiff. The more people look up your post and peruse it, the greater the chances of it ending up on front page. And once you land on front page, it is traffic jackpot!
5. Power to The Audience: If you have a good reader base, you can ask them what they would like your next blog post to be about. Not only it saves your brain some thinking time looking up fresh topics, but it’s a great way to engage your audience.
6. Optimize Searches: Use SEO plugin and leave it to optimize your content for you. It will go through your content and use relevant terms. It uses keywords to mark you up on search results. You won’t hit a bull’s eye and rank first every time, but if you’re even close, it’s a success.
7. Use Youtube: The audio-visual platform of our generation allows bloggers to embed videos in the posts. A popular video (and content created around it) will generate interest and traffic.
8. Win-win Situation: Attract a sudden splurge in the more fickle traffic with fun contests. Follow through with rewards and quality content and a considerable percentage could actually become loyal readers.
9. Helping Hand: Ask your online friends to share your post. For every friend who shares, people in their own friends’ list see the post, thus exponentially increasing your traffic.

Conclusion:

Final piece of advice: Lather. Rinse. Repeat. Make a plan which works for you and stick to it. It might seem like boring, tedious, oftentimes degrading work, but the end result will make every single moment you spent directing traffic to your blog worth it. It’ll take time and work, so be patient and persevere.

Good things come to those who wait.

Author Bio: Tracey Jones is a WordPress developer by profession with hobbies of creative and technical writing. Presently, she is working for HireWPGeeks Ltd., a leading custom WordPress development company across the globe. She is also happens to be a blogger who loves to write and share creative blogs and articles about web development.