36 Real Ways to Increase Blog Traffic
As bloggers, no matter which stage of our journey one is at, we are constantly looking for different ways to increase blog traffic. In this
Menu
Menu
Hi everyone, my name is Anna.
Today I want to share with you how my 2 blogs changed my life and how you can get started too in just a few moments!
The short story is that I had all the odds against me building a successful blog:
I didn’t know if I can make it. I thought I don’t have enough time to work on the blog. I had no idea how to get started.
Yet, I felt that it was the right thing to do.
So I started my first Art Blog in 2017, and this decision changed my life forever!
Do I think you should start a blog? Hell yes!
But it’s only up to you to make it work and become your own boss. I know you can.
Now, let me show you how.
There is nothing better than having a plan for success!
When I started my first blog I had no plan or strategy, and only after spending about $1,500+ on online courses I knew what to do. If I had all the knowledge earlier, I would’ve achieved success faster.
Blogging is EASY… Once you get the hang of it.
Yet at the beginning, it’s like a crazy house!
I want to help you have a plan right away, so you at least have a direction in which to move towards.
And here is an overview of the first 6 steps:
Side Note: This page includes affiliate links, which means I might get a commission from your purchase at no extra cost to you. This is what helps me work on the free content and freebies I produce for you guys, so thank you for that! Still, I Only included the things I use myself and stand behind 100% (learn more)
Can you blog about anything you want? Absolutely!
There are probably many other people out there who will share your passion with you! But how big is that audience exactly?
The thing is, success is different for everyone:
Either way, you would love to make some side (or full-time) income from this as well, right?
I will assume you said “Yes”.
You can make money blogging in any niche! If you want to make enough to quit your job and change your life forever – you need to be a little more strategic.
As a Passion Blogger, you will choose a niche that is hot (people are searching for it and always want to know more) + that you are passionate about.
Hot Niches usually have to do something with Health, Wealth, Relationships and Self-Improvement.
People want to be happier, wealthier, slimmer, smarter, have better relationships and so on. And you have to give them what they want if you want to succeed.
Think about your passions and hobbies and check if it applies to any of the above.
For example, Your Art Path (my first blog) is an art blog for beginner artists. It’s full of tutorial articles and products (self-improvement, smarter, skilled). Some of the articles and products are about how to achieve art career goals (wealth, happier).
Its main category is Entertainment, so it doesn’t fall under the 4 categories above, yet I still try to incorporate them in my writing and products.
Here are some things to consider in this step:
Your niche shouldn’t be too broad: Health.
Or too niched down: Losing weight with yoga for moms over 40+ who gave birth 3+ times.
Somewhere in the middle: yoga for women.
Remember though, your blog is fluid, and you can decide to move in a different direction later on!
When you are all set on the niche, choose a great blog name and you will be ready to get going!
Related Articles:
A blogging platform is the technical foundation of your business. This is where everything begins, so you need to go with a service that you can scale later.
I started out without any guidance and picked up a hosting platform that was.. well, not the greatest. My site suffered from that and I ended up having to transfer it on my own.
Transferring your website is not a task for light-hearted, that’s why I want to really emphasize the importance of a great hosting platform!
There are many absolutely amazing platforms out there, and they can get pretty expensive at times, especially when you don’t see a return on investment right away.
My choice? Bluehost.
I currently have their 3-year subscription and I couldn’t be happier!
Here are some things I love most about Bluehost:
Now, it’s time to actually set up your blog.
It’s such an exciting time because in just a couple of minutes a new website will be born!
If you decided to go with Bluehost and WordPress then the following step-by-step guide is for you!
Let’s begin by signing up for a Bluehost Package.
You will be presented with many options, and I have the Choice Plus WordPress Hosting package. But at the beginning it’s best to go with “Basic”, you can upgrade later!
You can click on “get started now” to be taken to a couple of options, or if you are looking for a plan like mine then in the top menu click on WordPress -> WordPress Hosting.
If you decide to use the free domain for 1 year from Bluehost, then you can enter it in the “New Domain” area. Or if you already have one purchased from a different provider, then you can enter it on the right.
If you haven’t decided on your blog name yet, you can click “Choose Later” at the bottom of the page.
In the fields you can fill out your information, or if you have a Google account you can sign in with it to save yourself some time.
This is where you choose the lengths of your plan. As you can see, the longer the plan the cheaper it is.
After this trial period, the monthly price will go back to normal, so it is your only chance to use the discount.
If you are serious about blogging, then I suggest going with the 36-month plan, because it offers the best value for your money. If you are just dipping your feet in the water, then the 12-month plan is still affordable!
There are going to be some additional options for your plan. They are not necessary, and I personally had all unchecked.
As you can see, with my plan the Domain Privacy Protection is Free, however, in some other plans, you will have the option to pay extra for it.
Domain Privacy Protection is the only one I recommend getting (in case it’s not included). Since when you purchase domain hosting from any provider, all of your public information becomes associated with the url.
Pretty much, anybody can look up this information about you. We don’t want that to happen, and so we need the DPP to hide that information.
All that’s left to do is filling out your payment information and agreeing to terms and conditions.
That’s all.
Before anything else, make sure to create a secure password (and write it down somewhere!).
Then, you will be able to go ahead and pick a theme to start working on your blog! This is a super exciting part 🙂
Be sure to do some research, so that your theme won’t be slowing down your website, while still having all of the configurations that you want.
A lot of other bloggers will probably recommend some paid themes. I don’t actually see the point in them, because of my favourite page-builder Elementor (which I used to design this site, this page and even all of the email opt-ins).
As to the theme – I use OceanWP for my 2 blogs (the free version), and together with Elementor – I love it!
If you created a website using a different hosting plan on Bluehost, you can get help from them in installing WordPress by contacting support or doing it yourself by following this guide.
If you used WordPress Hosting just like I did, your cPanel will look like this:
Now you can go to My Sites -> Manage Site ( an option pops up when you hover over the thumbnail).
Under the “Security” tab make sure the Free SSL Certificate is ON.
Just below this, you will see “Coming Soon Page”. Leave it on for now! You are going to turn it off once you are done designing the site and publishing some content.
This just means that when people enter your website’s url, they will see something like this:
Don’t worry, everything is going according to the plan! This will soon be a unique professional-looking website.
Now, click on “Log In to WordPress” in the upper right corner and you should be taken straight to behind the scenes of your site. You should be seeing something like this:
This is where we begin setting up your site! Click on “Business”.
If you choose “Personal” by mistake, don’t worry, it doesn’t make a huge difference.
Then, a new question will appear. If you are taking this course you should select “Yes” to updating your site with news and blog posts.
Now you will be asked to make a design decision, whether you would like to display more recent news or updates as your homepage or a static welcome page.
Either or is fine, but I personally find a well-designed landing page to be better than just blog updates! At the end of the day, it’s your call. If you decide to design it on your own, then I suggest using Elementor Pro for the job. I used it to design my 2 blogs from scratch!
The next step is to choose whether you would like a pre-designed “Contact Us” page and it’s up to you!
And you are going to be presented with Jetpack. It’s a great plugin to get started with for beginners.
However, I personally don’t use Jetpack and have never used it. I have a couple of plugins that do all of the things that I need, and so I don’t see why I would need it (especially the limited free version).
I’m really excited for you because of what’s about to happen: site design, content creation, growth planning and so much more!
But first, pat yourself on the back because you deserve it. The first step to launching your successful blog has been taken.
Before you begin inviting people over to check out your new awesome blog, you need 3 things:
Yet, there are thousands of websites created all around the world every month. How do you make yours stand out?
You can, of course, choose a theme and edit it as much as you can, but that still will only set you apart by little.
I prefer designing my website from scratch!
Things to keep in mind: technology doesn’t like me, I don’t know how to code, and a year ago I thought my website looks amazing as is (let’s be real, it didn’t).
Then a blogger friend of mine recommended a plugin called Elementor. There is a free version available in your WordPress Dashboard -> Plugins.
It was pretty great, but didn’t have all of the options I was looking for. Until, I tried Elementor Pro.
It’s a premium version of the same plugin that allowed me to design my own menu, sidebars, footers, email opt-ins, headers and pretty much everything you are looking at right now. I even designed this page with it!
Do you need this plugin? YES! Can you live without it? Probably…
If it seems too overwhelming right now, that’s totally OK.
Maybe begin by going to WordPress Dashboard -> Appearance -> Customize and start playing around with design options you have built into your theme. That should be a good start 🙂
Also, don’t spend days trying to make it perfect, you will end up redesigning it again anyway. Trust me. Been there, done that.
Just browse around other websites and blogs that you like and take inspiration from their designs!
All blogs are different. There are millions of ways to design a blog, and a million different topic ideas to set you up from the rest!
Yet, there are some pages that are present on all. Some of them because of legal reasons, and others because of aesthetics and authority building.
I want to quickly go ahead and cover some of the pages you should get started with!
I’m not a lawyer, and all of the written below is not legal advice. The best policies or other legal pages are written by professional attorneys.
At the beginning of your journey, you should be okay with templated pages though.
Privacy Policy Page is required when you begin collecting data from your readers. They need to be informed of what data you collect and how you are protecting their privacy.
Even if you think you are not collecting anything, Google Analytics or other plugins collect it for you. Also, if you ever add ads to your site you must have this page.
If you make income from your blog it’s a must-have page. For example, if you have ads or affiliate links you need to tell your readers about it.
If you sell your products or offer services, then you need this page. In case of misuse of information and services provided on your page a professionally written terms of service allows you to limit your liability.
“About Me” , “About Us” or simply “About” page is a really powerful tool on your blog. On it, you share your story, the mission of your blog, and let your readers get to know you better.
This page will help you build trust with your community, which will lead to better relationships, and ultimately, to your blog’s success.
Your readers and potential business partners might want to contact you. You should make it as easy as possible by creating a contact page that will allow them to send you an email.
In most niches, you can find tools and resource you love and use. This page is a great way to share your favorites with readers! Most of them will also have an affiliate link, which is also great. Things to link to: tools, software, books, merchandise, equipment, etc.
Begin with “About” page!
It’s a great way to get your blog going 🙂
Start by going to your WordPress Dashboard -> Pages -> Add New
Here you will be able to write a title for your About Page, add text, images, videos and so on.
It would be a great idea to spend the first 5 minutes just pressing buttons and familiarizing yourself with WordPress layout and options!
It’s a bit of a learning curve, but it’s really simple once you get the hang of it.
Images are the icing of your blog – they help support your brand, make it easy to read your content and share it.
Make sure you include only relevant images to the topic you are writing about.
On your about page, it’s good to have an image of yourself. This little thing helps build trust in you from your readers. Show them that you are a real person!
To add an image, press on the image icon, and then either “Upload” or choose existing files from “Media Library”.
When you click on the “plus” icon on the left, there will be many more content options for you to choose from!
Explore them 🙂
And when you are ready hit “Publish” and your page or article will appear live on your blog. Or click on “Preview” to see what your page will actually look like before you publish it.
In my Free 10-Day Start a Blog email Course, I also cover the 5 Tips to Write a Stunning “About Me” Page as well as many other cool advices. If you are interested, subscribe below:
Join the Free “Start a Blog” email course I created for you!
In it you will learn how to choose a blogging niche and a name, when you can expect to make money, how much it costs to run a blog/month, how to get free traffic and so much more!
What you will soon learn about me is that I’m a geek for planning! I believe it to be the key to my success, that’s why I included it even before content creation.
I understand that you can’t plan for everything that happens in life, but having a basic plan will help you achieve your goals faster!
There are 3 things I love to plan: editorial calendar, traffic and income.
This is where you plan what and when you will be writing about on your blog for the next month(s). It’s way easier than having to sit down the night before you need to post and trying to come up with an idea and writing in one go!
Take 15 minutes out of your schedule and brainstorm topics you want to write about, as well as look at the bigger picture – what journey are you taking your readers on?
Is the second article somewhat related to the first? Are you covering a completely different topic each week? Or are you switching topics each month? Does all of your content begin with “10 Tips to…” or can you mix it up so it’s every second article?
Might sound like a boring task if you are not into planning, but you will thank me later 🙂
Let me tell you a secret, even when you write the most amazing piece of content there is on the topic and hit “Publish” NOTHING actually happens.
You need to go ahead and tell the world about your new creation! You need to invite people to visit your blog.
I do that through Pinterest. I share pins I create for each article on there and that’s how people come to visit my site. Without Pinterest traffic – I would’ve thought that a blog can’t be a life-changing business that it is.
But here is the real secret: I automated my traffic.
I don’t go on Pinterest 30 times a day to save my Pin and invite people in. I prefer spending that time creating value through content for my readers!
I am now able to spend 15 minutes a week scheduling Pins to publish on their own to Pinterest through Tailwind.
Tailwind allows me to schedule pins, which automatically bring me traffic and I don’t have to worry about anything. Sometimes, I even schedule 1-2 months ahead and leave for vacation. It’s absolutely amazing for your blog’s growth and I wasn’t able to achieve this sort of traffic through any other social media platform or tool.
Or you can do paid advertisement (which I don’t recommend at the beginning) and even then it won’t pay off as much as Tailwind will.
You might think I’m crazy for telling you to plan your income, but it’s so important! Every business plans approximately what they will be able to make in a year and how.
And if you didn’t get the memo by now – your blog is your business.
Yes, it requires investment. But so much less than if you were to start any other business, and you can still make way more money than others would.
It’s crazy if you think about it, but even if your expenses per month will be $100, and you are able to make $200 in the first few months – that’s an awesome investment! Don’t you think?
To make this happen, you need to know how YOU are planning to make money. There are so many different ways:
You can play around with all, or choose a few to focus on and then expand. See what you like more and what works best for your audience.
I’m just going to tell you this one fact I wish I knew before I got started blogging: all of these income streams can be maximized by one thing – Email.
Whaaaaaaaaaat?
Yup, not Pinterest, Instagram or YouTube – Email.
Think about it, what will happen to all of your subscribers when your favorite social media (SM) changes its algorithm or disappears? They are all lost!
You know what else? When you are posting things on SM you are fighting for the attention of your subscribers with tons of other blogs, businesses, celebrities and even people’s friends & families.
Sure, sometimes you get their attention – but that’s not always the case.
On the other hand, when a person subscribers to your newsletter, you get special treatment. A picture on Instagram takes their attention for 1 second, and an email stays there until they are ready to pay attention to you.
Email is how I was able to retain my blog’s visitors, build a community, get to know them and eventually make enough income to quit my day job. Without email, it simply wouldn’t be possible for me.
That’s why I believe that the best thing you can do for your blogging biz from day 1 is to set up email opt-ins. You can even build an audience before you launch and that will guarantee your success!
I’ve tried many different email providers in the past, but my by far favorite of all is ConvertKit. Did you know that the company was built by a blogger? No wonder it includes everything we need and no fluff.
Some people also recommend MailChimp when getting started. It’s pretty good if you absolutely can’t invest in a different software because first few subscribers are free.
However, they are sort of against affiliate marketing (which is one of the biggest ways you will be making money as a blogger). So they won’t be perfect if you are planning to start making income blogging right away.
As a last resource, you could get started with them and then transfer all of your email subscribers and automation emails to ConvertKit.
Doesn’t matter what software you end up going with, make sure it allows for automatic responses, tagging, forms and landing pages creation. Main takeaway: start collecting emails right away.
So you’ve decided on a niche and a name for your blog, got a hosting and domain provider, designed your website and even got a few must-have pages in place.
Then, it’s time to get to the fun parts and actually begin creating and promoting content!
When coming up with ideas for your articles, make sure people are going to be interested in them. You can do it by entering a few keywords in Google or Pinterest and seeing what pops up.
For example, if I were in a health niche looking for ideas, I would enter a few keywords in Google and Pinterest to look at suggestions:
There are many ideas to choose from as you can see! Then I would go ahead and dig a little deeper, check what other blogger’s in the same niche wrote about and think how I can make mine better.
Note: the tool I use to see how many searches/month does one keyword get on Google is called Keywords Everywhere. It’s free, you can look it up if you are curious.
This same process works for any niche!
Here is another example if I were blogging about recipes:
Then, I would come up with a name for my article, something like:
And so on…
Sometimes I brainstorm a few ideas before choosing a winner!
Then, I write an outline for an article (it helps me focus). Like this:
Title: How to Lose Weight Fast as a Stay at Home Mom
Intro: Moms are Superheros! We take care of everything and everyone at the house, and sometimes it costs us our own health.
(things we do wrong to ourselves for the sake of family, no time to go to the gym, favorite jeans don’t fit anymore)
Middle: 5 little things to fix this problem (food, mini-exercise, supplements, etc)
Ending: you are a super-mom, everyone needs you, but they also need you in the best shape! (more motivation and summary of the middle chunk).
Sometimes it’s more refined than this, and sometimes I just begin writing without an outline.
I try to make sure that all of my content is a minimum of 1,500 words. This is enough to provide value, and also gives me a chance to optimize for SEO (search engine optimization).
Usually, they are about 1,500 – 5,000 words long. It might seem like a lot, but when you know what you are talking about – it’s pretty easy!
The next step is adding images or/and videos to support the article. I usually create pins for my articles in Canva (free).
Like these ones:
And then I share them myself and ask readers to share as well.
By the way, if you found this guide helpful and are still reading, please give it a share! Much appreciated 😉
By this time you should have your blog ready to go! Now it’s time to write some stunning content continuously and start earning some income.
There are a few ways bloggers make money:
I know I mentioned them before, but to get started making income right away, you need to focus on ads and affiliate marketing.
Keep this in mind as you write more content. After your first 10 posts, you should be comfortable with WordPress and you will have a better understanding of what blogging involves. Then, look into ads and affiliate marketing.
And make sure to check out my post on how to make your first $100 blogging!
Until then, good luck 🙂
The hardest times of blogging are the beginning, when you have to figure out every piece of the puzzle.
I hope this guide was helpful and you are ready to take over the Internet with your new stunning content 😉
Cheers,
As bloggers, no matter which stage of our journey one is at, we are constantly looking for different ways to increase blog traffic. In this
Email Marketing is a big part of a blog’s success! Honestly, I don’t know what I would do without my subscribers! You guys are my
“Anna, when should I monetize my blog?” I get this question asked by many beginner bloggers who are eager to get started blogging the right
Copyright © 2019 AnnaSok.com. All rights reserved.
This website includes affiliate links, which means I might get a commission from your purchase at no extra cost to you.
Join over 2,000+ bloggers and get access to my free library of resources! There are mini eBooks, checklists, Canva Templates and more. Whenever I create something new, you’ll get immediate access!:)
Where should I send the password to the library?
*Already a part of the crew? Sign In