Your blog is the center of your content marketing strategy. The content you produce, publish, and share is a bargaining chip that you must use wisely. Whether you want to increase traffic organically or by paid advertising, you will still need to produce valuable and relevant content. No matter how much you spend on Google or Facebook advertising, you will never rank #1 if your content is not the best and most relevant.
Below are a variety of proven ways that you can increase your traffic without too much extra effort.
Create a pillar article that is extensive and covers everything that your audience would want to know on a given topic. Instead of posting several short blogs, combine them into one larger, easily digestible post. Pillar articles should be well thought out and cover a topic in totality. When done right, a pillar article will rank well for several different searches relating to the same topic.
When you have a solid pillar article published, all you need to do is refresh it with new content. If users are finding your articles helpful and they are being read regularly, make sure to update them with new information. Google loves to see articles that are fresh and new, but instead of writing a new post you only need to refresh certain parts and republish. In the eyes of Google, updating the publishing date is the same as publishing a new article. You can add images or content, or you can remove outdated information. This all counts as refreshing content and counts toward your SERP ranking.
Searching for keywords that rank for your audience and then finding content that ranks high is an easy way to develop quality content. Simply search your keyword and see what appears. That content is ranking high for a reason, so while you need not copy it – you should try to emulate it or even improve upon it in some way. You can turn high-ranking articles into listicles, or add images, graphs, videos, or polls to content in order to modify it. If a listicle includes 50 points, publish one with 75. One-up your way to the top of the page!
Remember to focus first on people, and Google second. Find out what your audience wants to know and read about by conducting research on your competition. What are they offering? Perhaps your competition is offering free templates or trials of their service. If you’re offering free eBooks and not finding success – perhaps you need to take a stab at copying your competition’s offerings. Maybe you’re focused on writing tutorials because you think that’s what your competition want – but maybe they really just want a free trial of your service. Give the people what they want!
Adding images and infographics into articles is important. Not only do images increase traffic, but articles featuring images are more appealing when shared on social media. Blocks of text don’t make for compelling shares on social media, but if you include relevant images and a visitor shares your content, you're far more likely to get noticed. Time and time again, articles with lots of quality images rank much higher than articles with few images.
If you’re going to create content, stick to a schedule. Don’t set goals that are too lofty – like creating every day. Start by publishing one to two times per month – and stick to it. Develop a repetition that customers can get used to. When you consistently put out quality content your audience will notice. If your content is good enough – they may even take note when you skip a scheduled post!
This is simple and you may already do this –but add social sharing buttons on all of your content. Making it easy for your readers to share content is one easy way to gain free exposure and social proof. If you're putting out thoughtful content, your readers should want to share it. Let them do the heavy lifting for you so that you can focus on improving future content.
Writing guest posts on other blogs can be valuable, if not only to form a partnership but to demonstrate your authority. Ideally, you could find a blog with a large audience similar to your own. While you may have to pay to play, it may be worth it to invest in this strategy. Being viewed as a thought leader is invaluable, and associating yourself with those who already are thought leaders only opens the door to more curious visitors.
Investing in promotion does not have to be expensive. Spending as little as $10-20 on Facebook can significantly boost your reach. Before you pull the trigger, even if you spend only a few dollars, be sure that the content is fine-tuned and fleshed out.
Create a blog, but one-upit with access to premium content. If you already have a well-established blog, offer your audience access to premium content if they are willing to sign-up for an email list. Once they agree, you should create a page with different downloadable lead magnets such as eBooks, webinars, checklists, and white papers. This not only adds value to your website, but you also access leads that are willing to engage with your content. Strike those leads while they are hot.
Engage with your community on top of your audience. Even if you aren’t hosting webinars, you can still participate in them consistently. You may not be hosting events, but you can surely still go to them as a volunteer or as a participant. Just by showing up, you're showing that you care. By networking with like-minded individuals you're sure to learn a few things, which you can then share with your audience. On top of this, you may find opportunities for collaboration or cross-sharing content. Sometimes digital marketing requires you to step beyond the computer screen.
Creating discussions is a great way to gauge interest and develop user-generated content. Maybe you don’t quite know what to write about. We suggest just asking your audience what they’d like to hear. Use LinkedIn Groups, Reddit communities, or Facebook to ask questions. You may be surprised at what users tell you. This is an easy way to generate feedback and interest in your brand. It shows that you care and that you want to provide value.
Thanks to Joe Caston, Founder and CEO of CapSumo for contributing this blog post to TMA. CapSumo is TMA's conversion rate optimization partner. Generate more leads by seeing who visits your abandoned web-forms with CapSumo. Instantly grow your email list, get more leads, and increase sales with the #1 conversion optimization toolkit. Works with almost any form and works with your existing sales and marketing tools. Easily follow up with interested leads and turn them into loyal customers.
