Blogs are easy to manage – because all you need to do is upload an 800-word piece of content on your website, right?

WRONG.

There is actually a lot more to blogging than meets the eye.

Whether you are a business owner, a social media influencer, or just a casual blogger, there are countless benefits to having a blog. Blogs are a useful means of humanizing your brand and bridging a connection with your readers. It is also a functional platform for you to facilitate valuable discussion.

As far as business is concerned, blogs are key to boosting your brand image. These days, more and more businesses are venturing into blogs as they have been proven to increase leads, generate more inbound links and also boost your search engine traffic. In fact, a blog can also promote popular products and services.

But what’s the point of having a blog if no one is going to read it anyway?

You will probably have to do a lot more than just pen content to boost web traffic. If you want to increase your readership and grow your web traffic, here are 5 sure-fire tips to boost web traffic!

1. Be as Original as Possible

One proven way to boost your web traffic is to keep your blog content as original as possible. No one wants to read repetitive content anyway. Furthermore, duplicate content could also cause you to be penalised by Google.

When it comes to blogging, always write about topics that you are passionate about. This gives your work purpose and you will be more able to persuade and convey your intent through your writing.

2. Incorporate Relevant Keyword with High Search Volume

Ah, this is where it gets a bit technical.

Unfortunately, passion is not enough to get more organic traffic. You would probably need to do a bit more research about keywords and include them in your blog content. This is where knowledge about search engine optimisation would come in handy.

Search Engine Optimisation (or SEO) determines your site’s ranking on search engines. It is affected by numerous factors, including keywords, internal and external links as well as quality content. The more optimal your keyword density, the higher your chances or getting ranked on the first page of Google search engine results page (SERPs).

SEO has been used by countless companies to drive organic traffic to their website to boost brand awareness. The term “organic traffic” is defined as the number of visitors you get on your website from unpaid search results.

When you want to increase organic traffic to your blog, make sure you do some research on keywords that have low-competition but get a ton of search volume. Incorporate them in your content and your headlines to increase your chances of ranking on page one of Google SERPs.

However, keywords are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to optimizing your website. There are a couple of other factors which could affect your ranking on Google SERPs. These include internal and external links as well as content quality.

3. Include External and Internal Links

Unfortunately, keywords are not enough to optimise your website. You will need to do some internal and external linking.

The idea of “web linking” refers to the inclusion of a hyperlink on a webpage to another page. Internal links are defined as hyperlinks to other landing pages on a domain whereas external links incorporate hyperlinks to other relevant websites outside a domain.

Links are functional mainly because they are a signal to Google that your website content is valuable and informative – therefore, it is worth of citation and will be favoured by Google search engines.

SEO aside, links are also a great way to boost your click-through rate and persuade customers to navigate through your website.

4. Be Strategic about Your Content

Aside from being original, successful content should meet a specific need. This would involve a lot more critical analysis to decipher who your target audience is and what they love.

When blogging, make sure you keep your target audience and purpose of the blog in mind. Include relevant information about your website, products and services as well as links to other relevant articles and web pages that your audience would want to know. In this sense, you could encourage sharing on social media, too!

Moreover, since Google Algorithms have begun shining the spotlight on webpages that provide fresh and valuable content which are relevant to users, always make sure that you craft original content that would appeal to your target audience.

5. Perform Regular Website Audits

Last but not least, regular website audits are vital to ensure the health of your website is optimal. A regular website audit can keep your website aligned with Google’ best practices to enhance the efficiency and web presence of your website.

More importantly, a website audit would be able to pinpoint broken links, duplicate content, slow loading speed, spam and other technical issues that could be deteriorating your user experience and affecting your ranking on Google SERPs. When you get your audit report, make sure you fix all faults on your website to give your users the ultimate web experience.

With a user-friendly website that is also attractive, users, old and new alike, would be more inclined to visit your website.

Save yourself the hassle of a manual website check-up. Instead, use First Page Digital’s free SEO Audit tool to determine SEO-friendly as well as usability rankings, internal link scores, backlink scores, quality of your content, keyword density stats as well as other areas for improvement and changes. Best of all, you can access all data under 5 minutes! Click here to try it out yourself.

Content is King

Even with the rise of social media and advertising, SEO and web traffic still thrive on blogs and content. Whether you are blogging for fun or for business, gaining more traffic and boosting your readership could, no doubt, give you a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment.