How to Get Traffic to Your New Blog
Learn to get traffic to your new blog with tested strategies. I applied these techniques and achieved over 2k views in just 6 months, even with a domain authority of 0.
CONTENT MARKETING
Tooba Jamal
8/13/20248 min read
When I started a brand new blog in January 2024, I couldn’t find tips on how to grow it.
All the guides and resources on the internet targeted bloggers who already had some published content and wanted to increase their traffic.
I could find detailed resources on SEO research and writing unique content, but practical advice, such as things to do before going live and free promotion tips for new bloggers, was missing.
Therefore, it took me three months of continuous content writing, audience and SEO research, and social media promotion to learn what works for new websites with low domain authority.
So if you’re looking for answers to any of the following questions, take 8 minutes to read this blog post or bookmark it for later:
How do I get my new blog noticed?
How do I increase my blog post visibility?
How to get traffic to my new blog?
12 Ways to Increase Traffic and Visibility of a New Blog
Before you put effort into your new blog, it’s essential to understand that growing a blog takes time.
Anyone who says you can get thousands of views overnight by using certain SEO tricks or ads is misleading you.
The tips I’ve shared below helped my new blog rank on Google without publishing multiple weekly blog posts and paid SEO tools. The following screenshot shows my blog’s performance on Google when it was 2 months old and had a domain authority of 1.
Here’s how to get your low domain authority (DA) blog noticed:
Pleasing and Fast Website
14.47% of website users leave a website if it takes more than 2 seconds to load, and 57% of users won’t recommend a poorly designed website. I took these statistics seriously and invested time in my website design. While the website design wasn’t perfect, I ensured it was clean and had plenty of white space.
Pick a Niche
I’ve watched countless YouTube videos where blogging gurus offer tips but never mention their own websites. However, if you research their blogs, you might find posts like “6 Treats Dogs Love” and “10 Work-from-Home Mistakes” on the same site. It’s not surprising that even one in a thousand of their blog posts do not rank on Google.
This is because having a niche showcases your expertise to both readers and Google bots. Google values content where the author shares genuine experience, which helps users make informed decisions.
But experience alone isn’t enough. Google also considers authority, expertise, and trustworthiness. With this in mind, choosing a niche for your blog is more important than ever.
You just need to think about the following things to pick a niche:
Skills you excel at (e.g., knitting, writing, cooking)
Professional expertise (e.g., computer science, accounting)
Personal experience in (e.g., weight loss, cancer recovery, career change)
Understand your Audience
After picking a niche, you must understand your audience to avoid crickets. Begin by searching relevant search queries in your niche. For example, if you’re planning to start a career change blog, you can search simple queries like:
How to do a career change
Dos and don’ts of career change
Successful career change
You can now observe top search results and people also ask section to understand your audience. For example, the people also ask section for the query “dos and don’ts of career change” has the following questions:
These questions are the problems of your target audience. You can get further information by following the answers, their content structure, depth, comments etc.
You can also use community forums, social media, and Google Trends, and answer the public for audience research.
Build Authority on Social Media
You can convert your social media audience to website visitors through targeted content. For example, if you’re active on LinkedIn, you can share your motivation for starting a blog and the value you offer to spark interest.
For example, Alex announces his newsletter on LinkedIn, giving him an instant access to an interested audience:
Storytelling is powerful on social media, but bad storytelling can disappoint your audience. Below are the three principles of good storytelling to get you started
Your story must reflect a change
Your story must be about something you experienced
Your story must be clear
Write Blog Posts in Advance
You might’ve already learned about the importance of internal linking for SEO and feel stressed about implementing it from the start.
The good news is, you don’t need to worry about it from the beginning. You can add them later as you publish more content.
However, consistently writing weekly content can be challenging, especially in the beginning. Therefore, prepare at least four blog posts in advance so you’ve some content ready when unexpected events arise. Aim to publish at least one blog post per week until you build a loyal audience.
Brainstorm Content Ideas in Advance
Life can get busy and unexpected events can impact your creativity. Therefore, relying on spontaneous content ideas isn’t the best strategy. Instead, keep a list of ideas to refer to when planning future content.
There are various ways to find new blog post ideas. I’ve discussed four reliable methods for finding blog post ideas on my blog. By using these techniques, you can generate hundreds of ideas without needing a cheat sheet or daily homework.
SEO Research
Assuming that your content ideas will automatically rank well on Google is a misconception. So once you’ve got a list of content ideas, you must invest in SEO research before publishing. While reliability, experience, and expertise are crucial to ranking your content, SEO is equally important.
Use a combination of free tools to identify low-competition keywords. Some of my favorite free SEO tools are Google Keyword Planner, Ryan Robinson Keyword Tool, and UberSuggest.
If you’re new to SEO, check out these free guides to get started:
How to do keyword research for SEO
Avoid Generic Content at All Costs
The Internet is saturated with generic, copy-pasted content that's easy to spot.
As discussed above, Google’s E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) factors are crucial for creating unique content. You can keep a checklist to make sure your content meets the criteria.
For example, I used my career change experience and one-on-one communications with other career changers to make my content impactful.
Internal and External Linking
Internal and external links help Google understand the context of your content. However, the links must be highly relevant and of high quality. When citing research or statistics, link directly to the original source rather than to a secondary blog discussing the research.
For example, the following blog post discusses research on Slack users by Salesforce. While I found the following blog post in Google SERP against my query “How many users use Slack”, I must find the original source and link that to my content.
For internal links, aim for 3-6 links with a contextual anchor text. Internal links help Google bots to connect and categorize multiple pages on your website. In addition, it also keeps your readers engaged and drives traffic to other pages.
Keep Looking for SEO Opportunities
SEO doesn't stop once you've published content. You must keep looking for opportunities by:
Identifying the keywords your blog post ranks for.
Optimizing it for that keyword and aligning it with intent.
Updating your content with relevant information to keep it fresh.
Use tools like Ahrefs webmaster tool is free for website owners to track website performance and see the keywords your content ranks for.
If you already rank for a keyword on the first or second page, you can likely improve your listing by using the keyword in important places such as H1, H2s, URL etc. You can also search for the keyword you're ranking for on Google to understand user intent better. Analyze the top-ranking pages and adjust your content to match their quality and relevance.
Social Media Branding
Use your target audience's preferred social media platforms to spread your message. Share your blog posts, tips, and tricks that are helpful to them.
Pinterest is an easy platform to begin with, but use it only if your target audience is active there. If you have an existing following on other platforms, consider strategies to engage them and drive traffic to your blog. Regularly sharing testimonials can also enhance your credibility.
Backlinking
Quality backlinks enhance your website's domain authority and SEO. These are links from high-authority websites, which also drive traffic when their readers click through to your site.
However, don't fall into the trap of buying backlinks. Paid backlinks aren’t high quality and can undermine your website's credibility. Instead, use platforms like Help a B2B Writer and guest posting to get high-quality, relevant backlinks.
Learn from Competitors
To improve your content, start by searching for the keywords you want to rank for on Google. Pick the top 3-4 websites in a similar niche and study their content. This will give you an idea about what resonates with your audience.
Identify their best-performing content and identify areas for improvement. For example, if you search “how to play chess”, you'll find many beginner-level guides to get started with chess.
Most blog posts are listicles discussing chess tips, principles, mistakes etc. To stand out, you can create more in-depth and appealing content. For example, people willing to learn chess are looking for time-effective ways to learn chess, so you can write blog posts like “The best chess books”, “affordable chess clubs in Ohio”, “No-brainer guide to memorizing chess rules” etc.
FAQs
How to start a successful blog?
Start a successful blog by finding a niche you specialize in. Speak to others about why you started a blog, share your story to get others involved, and use the techniques I shared in this blog post.
How can I promote my blog?
Use your friends' circle and social media accounts to promote your blog. Use SEO and write content so good that others want to share your content. Guest blogging is also a good way to promote your blog and expand visibility.
How do I get my new blog noticed?
Getting a new blog post noticed takes some time depending on your niche. But, you can increase its visibility by promoting it on social media, investing time in SEO research, writing valuable content, and matching searchers' intent.
What Next?
Blogging is a long-term game. But, with the right approach and strategic mindset, you can accelerate its growth. Blogging is one of the best ways to expand your visibility and get new customers.
Growing a new blog might feel intimidating, but a little time and effort will make it easier and faster.
Want to strategically expand your online visibility? Contact me today to craft a content marketing strategy that fits your needs.
