Here we go! Part 2 of my bi-monthly blogging series is all about the tangible steps I took to increase my blog traffic (pageviews) by more than 600% from 2018 to 2019 (if you missed part one about my year-over-year growth, click here)!

I’ve read a lot of these types of post over the past year or so and applied what I learned over a long period of time, so you can trust me when I say that these are the things that actually work. Let me first say that growth happens gradually. Unfortunately, there is no magic pill or overnight cure for increasing blog traffic, but applying these principles and best practices will deliver results over time – my blog is proof! I’ll also say that blogging, for most, is not really for the faint of heart. It takes a LOT of TIME, sweat and tears – but if you love doing it then it can all be so rewarding! That being said, let’s get down to it. Read on to learn how I grew my blog traffic exponentially over the past year.

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How to Increase Your Blog Traffic.

1. Sign Up for Tailwind

This was by far one of the BEST things I ever did for my blog. I kid you not. Tailwind helps you to optimized, plan, schedule and connect with others via both Pinterest AND Instagram! It’s the only application currently out there that can automatically post to Instagram for you and it is so, SO useful. But let’s talk about Pinterest specifically. It’s like the Google for blog and influencer content. When you think about it, everyone on Pinterest is looking for the kind of content bloggers are putting forth and it has MILLIONS of users EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.

Before Tailwind, I pinned ALL of my posts to Pinterest as part of my blogging routine, but never saw the engagement and click through rate that I see now using the optimization tools Tailwind offers. It’s seriously a game changer and I could write a whole post on it with the in-app methods I’ve used to grow! The catch is that it does cost a monthly subscription. I currently pay $14.99 to use all the tools I need, but if you sign up via this referral link, you’ll get your first month free to try it out! I promise you, if you’re serious about increasing your blog traffic, $15 a month is SO WORTH IT.

2. Make the Most of Your Instagram Profile

You’ve probably already heard that your Instagram profile matters – and it definitely does. Everyone and their brother advocates for being concise, relatable and informative about your brand in that small space below your photo. But what not everyone tells you is how to use that clickable link in a way that actually adds pageviews to your website. To put it simply, if the link in your profile does not lead to somewhere on your blog, you’re doing it wrong! Some people use it to go to their LiketoKnow.it page, some people use Link Tree and I’ve seen others make the mistake of just not using it at all. But, why link anywhere else when you can provide all the information they need on one neat and tidy page ON YOUR BLOG? Let me explain.

When I first started seeing people use Link Tree – a platform that gathers all your essential links (to your website, email sign up, affiliate page, etc.) it immediately struck me as weird. Why would you give all that traffic to someone else when you can easily host a similar page on your own site? Click here to see mine! All you have to do is create a new page on your blog and host all the links you want to provide your audience with there. That way, every single click on the link in your Instagram profile goes to a resource page that YOU get credit for in your analytics. Then, just copy and paste that page’s link into your Instagram profile to make it clickable. Make sense? Good, go make one right now!

3. Consistency is Key for Increasing Blog Traffic

BE CONSISTENT! This is one that I hear all the time, but it’s worth mentioning because it’s VERY IMPORTANT. So far, in the year 2020, my consistency has been sporadic (for good reason – but Astill!) compared to mid to late 2019 – and it shows in my numbers! The key to staying consistent in posting to your blog and social channels is creating a content calendar, knocking things out and scheduling them in advance (again, this is where Tailwind comes in so handy)! When I’m on top of things, I have at least a month and a half of content for both Instagram and my Blog planned out on my double acrylic wall calendar in my office and I try to schedule things during the weekend – a week in advance. That way I’m not playing catchup and I’m always ahead. I’ll write a post on my content creation process later on!

4. Find Your Niche

This one was another big one for me. When I stopped trying to force my way through the blogosphere doing what I wanted and, instead, started paying attention to what my audience wanted, I started to see a steady uptick in numbers. What do I mean by this? Well, when I first started blogging, my main objective was style and travel. At that time, G and I were newlyweds – dual income, no kids and were going on lots of adventures and had a sizeable amount of discretionary income to spend on clothes, plain tickets, etc.

During that time, blogging was still pretty new and not as saturated as it is today. As time went on, I started to struggle to keep up with the competition and my content really just wasn’t resonating like it used to – then Fischer came along and it totally changed the game. So, finally, I started to look at my content and what was working/not working.

How to Find Your Niche.

You can easily do this by checking out several things: Google Analytics, the analytics page on your blog dashboard and, my personal go-to: Pinterest analytics. It’s all right there for you: demographics (age, gender, location, interests), as well as what posts on your blog are more popular than others. In terms of Instagram, use those analytics too, but also just pay attention to what your audience resonates with more! What do people comment on and respond more? For me, motherhood content, AFFORDABLE style and home décor/homekeeping really started resonate and it took me a while to realize – but I’d finally found my niche! The moral of this story? LISTEN TO YOUR PEOPLE and get out of your own way. Another way to look at it: what do your friends and family come to you most for advice about? That may be where you want to start!

5. Write Evergreen Content to Increase Blog Traffic

As a part-style blogger, this one was hard for me to wrap my head around, but once I did, it made such a huge difference for me in terms of blog traffic. Evergreen content is the kind of content that stays relevant regardless of the time of year, economic climate, etc. – aka – it doesn’t go out of date. Need an example? My most successful evergreen blog post is a recipe for chocolate chip lactation muffins that I posted back when I was starting to see a dip in my milk supply while nursing Fischer. It’s one of those things that’s always relevant because there are ALWAYS going to be breastfeeding mamas out there looking for ways to be proactive about their breastmilk – that’s just a fact! Examples of non-evergreen content would be something like my “Amazon Fall Fashion Finds”. Not only will these style items go out of date once Winter rolls around, but the links may not always work because product listings expire all the time.. Which brings me to my next point.

6. Revitalize Old Content

It’s not as high on my priority list as it probably should be, but whenever I get a moment I try to revisit old content on my site and revitalize it. Whether that be updating links, re-pinning, reworking SEO, changing the title or all of the above, reworking old content is a great way to make the most of the hard work you’ve put into your outdated posts!

Quick Tip:

As a quick note, I didn’t put it on here because I already do it and this post is about things I changed or started doing to increase my traffic – but a big part of receiving traffic is making sure your posts are SEO optimized! If you use WordPress, I recommend installing the YOAST SEO plugin. As you write each post, it gives you tips and suggestions for changes and improvements you can make to your content so that it has a better chance of being seen by internet users. On that note, keywords are also very important. Look for a future post on all things SEO and keywords!

Alright friends, I hope you found this post helpful and that you’ll use it moving forward as you endeavor to increase your website traffic. As always, please feel free to leave me feedback, ask questions and reach out via my contact page!