How to increase your blog traffic

Once you've created your website, come up with a kick-ass blog topic and you've published your first posts, the big question is – where are all the readers?

You can't just expect people to magically find your blog and start reading it. You have to promote it!

Here are the best and easiest ways to get more readers for your blog:

1. Promote your blog on social media

   
   

   Credit: NBC
   As with any business nowadays, you're not likely to get noticed if you don't have social media accounts.
   We recommend setting up pages/accounts for your blog on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and even LinkedIn (you're essentially your own business anyway, right?). Design these accounts in a similar colour scheme/theme to your blog so your brand is consistent and easily recognisable.
   Use them to share new posts and tag fellow bloggers/influencers/companies who might share your content and help it to reach an even bigger audience.
   You could also dabble in some paid advertising to help your blog reach a wider audience, or run a competition to generate more likes. Once you've got the followers, keep them interested by posting on a regular basis (not just for new blog posts).

2. Connect with other bloggers

   Make yourself known to other people who blog about similar topics. Despite the fact you're technically a competitor, you're likely to be pleasantly surprised by how supportive the blogger community can be.
   Many bloggers even have a 'links' page on their site which they use to link to loads of their friends within the community in return for a link on your own blog. This will help massively with your SEO (that's search engine optimisation – how likely your blog is to pop up in Google searches).
   If you engage with other bloggers and share their content, they'll likely return the favour – you could even work on some collaborations!

3. Respond to news stories on your blog

   
   

   Credit: Warner Bros
   If something happens in the news which is related to your niche, get involved. This is what we refer to as 'newsjacking' and it can work a treat for getting you some great exposure.
   For example, if you blog about cheap student cooking, keep an eye out for things like the reveal of our latest Student Money Survey. Students might spend an average of £92 a month on groceries, but you can tell them how to spend less (while eating better food!).
   You can get on social media to say your bit with relevant hashtags, get involved in discussions and even reach out to journalists to say you're available for comment.
   If you're really great at owning your niche, journalists might even come to you.

4. Create viral content

   Creating viral content will help you reach a new market and, in turn, increase your readership.
   This might be easier said than done, but the key to creating viral content is to tap into controversial or highly-discussed topics related to your niche blogging field – as you can imagine, this often involves newsjacking, as mentioned above.
   As this is your niche, you'll be passionate, opinionated and knowledgable about it, so you'll be able to post an opinion that people want to read, share and talk about.