The following bite-sized website traffic gems have been put to good use by many now well-known and respected online entrepreneurs to significantly increase traffic to their blogs.
Your turn.
Read, digest, and, most importantly, make them work for YOUR blog and YOUR audience.
Ana’s Ultimate Tips to Increase Blog Traffic
1. Create list posts (preferably with a twist).
2. Write a tutorial.
3. Give away your very best content and then some.
4. Be current – write about tomorrow today.
5. Don’t write about your cats, dogs, boyfriends, kids.
6. Be timeless – write a post that will remain current for years.
7. Write with “everybody is entitled to my opinion” attitude.
8. Write about your kids.
Yes, I know… Write about your kids… don’t write about your kids… Make up your mind, Ana!
First, I wanted to make sure you are actually reading the post.
Secondly, here’s the point: do what works for your blog and your audience. What works well for a blog on raising children won’t go very well with the readers of a financial publication.
9. Write about other bloggers’ best posts.
10. Make your own “best of the best” list.
11. Become an expert in your niche.
12. Break news.
13. Make news.
14. Write short, laconic posts.
15. Do interviews with the “cream of the crop”.
16. Use polls, giveaways, and other eye candy.
17. Write long, conclusive posts.
18. Respond to all comments.
19. Respond to all emails.
20. Write about pros and cons of an issue.
21. Write on a controversial topic and close comments.
22. Make readers depend on you by sharing your expertise generously.
23. Write about blogging.
24. Blog about writing.
25. Take an alternate position.
26. Write a post for beginners.
27. Ask experts to make comments on your best posts.
28. Write an advanced post.
29. Encourage your readers to tweet, like, and +1 your posts.
[share][/share]
30. Write about Google.
31. Write about Twitter.
32. Bookmark all your posts.
33. Interview parties with opposing views.
34. Research a topic and post your findings.
35. Integrate references to sports in your posts.
36. Post with personality.
37. Run relevant ads that are even better than your content.
38. Write exclusively about a certain theme for a week.
39. Ask a question everyone else is afraid of asking.
40. Run no ads.
41. Use your skills to help a non-profit – pro bono.
42. Update an old post with new ideas.
43. Post your photos on Flickr.
44. Crowdsource your next post idea to your readers.
47. Make it easy to share what you are doing.
48. Encourage visitors to subscribe to your RSS feed.
49. Give visitors a good reason to opt in to your list.
50. Coin a term or two.
51. Pioneer a great topic and then encourage others to blog about the same thing.
52. Don’t overwhelm visitors with too many options.
53. Write a list of 101 people, blogs, topics in your niche.
54. Create a mock head-to-head competition among bloggers.
55. Mention some useful, but little known resources.
56. Make a post that solves a problem.
57. Make a post that inspires.
58. Encourage your followers to help you dominate top blog lists.
59. Write a post that causes controversy.
60. Do a 30-day challenge.
61. Write a long comment.
62. Start a blog meme.
63. Share your blog statistics with your readers.
64. Pick a topic by reading business book titles.
65. Pick a headline by reading top Dugg stories.
66. Start a discussion in your blog comments.
67. Answer your readers’ questions in a post.
68. Challenge your fellow bloggers by writing something nearly borderline about them and close comments.
69. Share link love and expect some back.
70. Add to the list started by another blogger.
71. Be complimentary.
72. Do your market research on Amazon.com.
73. Write about stuff that most people want to read about (like Google’s latest slaps).
74. Disprove a myth.
75. Write a post about something merely good, but not great.
76. Constantly read other blogs, leave comments, look for ideas.
77. Edit yourself without mercy.
78. Create cornerstone content.
79. Skip introductions and get to the meat of the posts – your readers do.
80. Point out something ironic or contradictory.
81. Write a series of posts.
82. Come up with a more efficient way of doing something.
83. Create a widget or plugin.
84. Make your content unmissable.
85. Be everywhere, all at once.
86. Take in other people’s ideas, learn from them constantly.
87. Tell a story through pictures.
88. Focus on unmonetized, but high-trafficked searches.
89. Combine some of your best older posts into a new series.
90. Treat every day as a new beginning, because you’ll always have new readers.
91. Be patient.
92. Post on the weekdays because more people will read it.
93. Change up your posting style every once in a while, like do reviews, etc.
94. Showcase some of your best posts in a Squidoo lens.
95. Post on the weekends because there are fewer bloggers who do it.
96. Leverage April Fool’s day with an outrageous truth.
97. Write about how things have changed in your niche.
98. Invite your readers to do guest posting for you.
99. Answer your readers questions with more questions.
100. Aggregate ideas, tips, etc from numerous places/blogs into a blog post.
101. Attend a live event and broadcast about it.
102. Write “Dear Abby” posts.
103. Don’t be boring.
104. Write a post about a scam.
105. Write about everything under the sun so that you don’t bore your readers.
106. Alternative to a link exchange: get a group of bloggers together and write reviews for each other’s blogs.
107. Turn off “nofollow” to encourage comments.
108. Be very focused on one topic, in deep detail, so you become a recognized expert in it.
109. Be opinionated.
110. Answer very specific questions in deeper, more specific ways than currently exist.
111. Help people who are just starting out.
112. Don’t interrupt your posts with a lot of links.
113. Connect with your blogging peers and share ideas.
114. Create a guide for your niche.
115. Write an interesting analogy.
116. Write posts that includes tons of trackbacks to other blogs so that other blogger will notice you.
117. Make a post simplifying a complex problem.
118. Create a huge list of your best posts.
119. Give credit to those who inspired your post.
120. Respond to criticism in a post (i.e. criticism of you, your company, of the way you squint your eyes, etc).
121. Make a “[blank] for Dummies” post.
122. Tell a great story.
123. Put some thought into post formatting – increases readability.
124. Check out your competitors’ archives to see if some of their old posts can be turned into an updated version on your blog.
125. Write a post that uses the words “futile” and “desperate“.
126. Write something to inspire and motivate your readers, especially if you don’t do it on a regular basis.
127. Don’t try to be all things to all people.
128. Review your analytics to see what keywords are bringing in traffic and make more posts on those topics.
129. Contrast two or more positions in your post.
130. Write about obscure stuff that appeals to an obsessed minority.
131. Post about what’s popular and why it’s beneficial.
132. Invite a couple of bloggers with opposing opinions for a duel on your blog.
133. Tell a joke (preferably funny one).
134. Browse thesaurus to spruce up your posts.
135. Don’t make your readers pull out a dictionary to understand your posts.
136. Make a post about frequently asked questions in your niche.
137. Make a post about questions that should be asked about your niche, but nobody thought of asking.
138. Create an exhaustive list of jargon for your niche – with definitions.
139. Make a post alleging conspiracy.
140. Don’t always focus on your own niche to find readers.
141. Write about how to use a product in an unconventional way.
142. Poll your readers on a topic and post results.
143. Don’t promote yourself or your products at the expense of the readers’ attention.
144. Write a post about a blog, which is popular, but provides poor content – explain why. You’ll open Pandora’s box, but create traffic.
145. Run a contest, offer a cool (but not expensive) prize.
146. Visit your readers’ blogs and post comments.
147. Dissect an argument in a post.
148. Gather a bunch of creative commons images about your niche and make a gallery-post (with credits, of course).
149. Narrow your blog focus.
150. Write a “tag” post and have other bloggers who you tagged add to a list.
151. Make a post about what in your niche is being done wrong and how to correct it.
152. Offer an ethical bribe for commenting or subscribing.
153. Make friends with power users on Google+, Facebook, etc.
154. Make friends with forum and message boards addicts.
155. Make friends with influential bloggers and social media leaders.
156. Create a post that leaves your readers hanging till a later post – it’d better be good!
157. Create a list of “bite-sized” tips for your niche.
158. Write part 2 for any of your posts that are extremely popular.
159. Submit your sitemap to Google Webmaster Tools.
160. Put together a list of the most tweeted/shared posts in your niche.
161. Dress your blog (design-wise) like you would for your first date.
162. Collect inspirational quotes from other bloggers in your niche; compile them in a post.
163. Invite a well known blogger in your niche to contribute a short guest post.
164. Use a human voice.
165. Use a translation plug-in to translate your blog into other languages.
166. Ask other bloggers (preferably more influential ones) to review your blog and make a post about their findings.
167. Tell your readers to change the world and give them examples of how they can do it.
168. Turn your blog posts into articles (use EzineArticles plugin).
169. Write a press release about your blog.
170. Add a forum.
171. Interlink your blog posts.
172. Keep tweaking your template to optimize readability.
173. Write a post about a generally unknown secret in your industry/niche.
174. Be a comedian – “They’ll be standing in line for that old honky-tonk monkey shine!”
175. Ping the comments you leave on other blogs.
176. Always work on improving your blog.
177. Join a blog carnival.
178. Submit your site to Alltop.
179. Answer questions on Yahoo!Answers via a post on your blog.
180. Answer forum questions by linking to a post that has the answer.
181. Add your RSS feed to MyYahoo, IGoogle, Netscape, Bing.
182. Install OnlyWire plugin – simultaneous posting to many bookmarking sites.
183. Start reciprocal guest blogging: you guest post on their blog, they guest post on yours.
184. Ask your readers to email you links to their best resources and make a post about it.
185. Write an “attack post” by setting up an argument and them shooting it down.
186. Share the secrets that made your blog successful to enable your readers to do the same.
187. Make your blog DoFollow and submit it to DoFollow directories.
188. Twit your blog posts, blog your tweets.
189. Come up with a series of posts unique to your site.
190. Post linkbait.
191. Assign a theme to each day of the week and write about it on that day on a weekly basis.
192. Review your blog’s stats (weekly, monthly, yearly) and write about the results.
193. Do a Twitter search on a particular subject, compile them in photoshop and do a review of the trend.
194. Compile YouTube videos on a specific topic into a VLog and post it to your blog.
195. Walk your readers through a day in your life, use photos, videos, but put a fun/funny spin on it.
196. Write a post about things you can learn from “…” (insert a popular personality in your niche market).
197. Write a summary of a long report, white paper, ebook – make it an easy bullet-like format.
198. Compile a list of niche-related news over the past week, month, etc; keep adding to it over time making it into a series.
199. Create a sense of urgency in your title, make readers think they will miss out if they don’t read it.
200. Be undeniably interesting for years.
201. Write stuff people want to read and share.
202. Pray… (always a good idea)
*****
I hope you enjoyed this wealth of information.
If after reading this, you can’t increase your blog traffic, you are in deep trouble, my friend.
Just in case you don’t know me well enough, I have to let you know that I didn’t come up with all these tips all by myself – I wish I were smart enough.
I read, I learned, I collected, I digested, I presented.
Now it’s up to you to read, learn, digest, and implement.
One more thing before you run off: do me a favor and help other people learn how to increase blog traffic: plus one, tweet, and share this post on FB.
And if you REALLY want to get on my good side, why not mention it in your upcoming post? I’d love that.
Hi Ana
You covered everything very beautifully. I have not seen a complete checklist like this before.
you’re extremely generous with your knowledge! I have so much to learn, but your delivery is very inspiring.
I like the 202 point 😀 That is amazing!
Thank you Ana for sharing this information with us.
You have an awesome weekend,
You are so very welcome, Adam – thanks for coming by and enjoy the rest of this week! ? ☕️ ?
No. 40, run no ads. How it supposed to bring more traffic to my blog?
Great question, Clara.
Ads annoy people, thus they are much less likely to visit your site again. The other side of the coin, not running ads is yet another reason for your visitors to come back. It increases your direct traffic, in other words.
Ana,
I’m not quite sure how I stumbled upon your blog but I’m sure glad I did. Your willingness to share what you have learned is unbelievable. For you to take the time to update previously created postings to make them relevant today shows how much you care about your readers. Thanks for making my weekend an educational experience.
So glad you found me as well, Derek; look forward to seeing you around Traffic Generation Café!
Hey Ana 🙂
I would like to ask more about the 21th
“Write a controversal topic and close comments”
If i close comment on a blog post who’s 1st page on google will i lost some rankings ?
Why close the comments ?
Thank and have a nice sunday 🙂
Closing comments doesn’t affect your rankings in any way, Jeremy.
You’d close comments to force people to talk about your post via other venues, like their own blogs, social media, etc. That way you’ll get more exposure all around. Good or bad exposure? That’s a different story.
Great stuff! Thanks! Now I really need to get to work!
Thank you Ann, you always keep your information so exciting and new. I learn something new each and every time I come to your site. Every time I get an email from you I hurry to get in a place where I can sit down without being disturb so I can read your new post. Keep up all that you do!
You are so very welcome, Linda.
Great work Ana! Thanks
Glad to be of help, Michael.
As a new blogger, I am searching for the best ways to create my blog and to get people to read it. I have found a ton of information online but most of it is concealed in endless amounts of text in an article, I sincerely appreciate the time you took to put this GIGANTIC list of tips together for us. Thank you very much.
I am so with you, Stephen; most of the time, long-form content is just that – LONG. Fewer words inspire more action.
Now all I need to do is decide which I am going to start with. Traffic seems to be everywhere and I would like to direct more of it to my site.
If I could make a suggestion: take a look at where your competitors are getting their traffic from. Chances are, if it works for them, it’ll work for you. Once you establish those traffic sources, you can start branching out into others.
You can learn more about it in my free ebook https://trafficgenerationcafe.com/increase-website-traffic/
Thank you, Ana, I will download that book.
Wow, there’s a lot of great tips here! This is a great reference to keep handy.
Thanks, Marc.
Nice bite-sized tips Ana. Bookmarked it, couldn’t read it all today.
Awesome list of tips Ana! I’m definitely going to have to bookmark this and use it as a reference – there are so many useful points. And I feel inspired to write a similar style of post, with bitesized tips on how to be a better copywriter… Of course I’ll give you a shout out when I do! 🙂
Sounds like a great idea, Konrad; let me know when you publish it.
Simply cool, comprehensive and informative Ana,
First of all, happy new year. It seems I’m late though but, I’m happy to be here after all. I was discussing with a friend some days ago that you’re one of the first bloggers whom I discovered when I started blogging but that, I don’t know what’s wrong because, you no longer update your blog. I’m happy you’re here now and, thanks for giving us your reason for being absent.
This is indeed a very awesome and evergreen post and, I really agree with all the things you wrote here.
Thanks for sharing and, wishing you a more prosperous 2014.
Happy New Year to you as well, Theodore.
That’s one of the perks of running your own business – being able to step away to take care of life if need be.
Much appreciate you coming back to Traffic Generation Café.
Hi Ana, that’s an awesome list! As with most bloggers, I’m always looking for ways to get more traffic and there’s a lot of really good ideas on your list. Thanks for sharing.
You are welcome, Mikey.
What a fantastic list! Very creative!
Thank you, Thad.
Ana, you write in point 5 that one should NOT write about kids, and in point 8 that one should write about kids. What’s now your opinion?
Albert
Ana, would be really interested about your standpoint here. For me publishing about kids is not good. On the internet there are sometimes strange people with strange thoughts.
Albert
There are some people who have great blogs based solely around their family, including their kids. I see a lot of successful mothers who talk about their personal life, kids, husbands, pets etc.
I would think that if you don’t have a blog that is based around motherhood or parenting or family or your personal life, then leaving the kids out of it would be a good idea.
If a niche calls for getting more personal with your readers, then it’s perfectly fine, Bellaisa; I agree.
Personally, I am with you – the less people know about my personal life, the better.
Hey Ana,
202 tips ?? Wow .. Started to feel like how come there be these many factors will are there affecting the traffic … Wonderful post .. Will take months to even follow them in practice i supposr..
Practice makes perfect! lol
Hi ana,
Really massive post,but thank you for this huge work. Because it comes out in right time.Since from some days my blog traffic is become steady ,i try hard but not increased,hope this list will work for me.Thank you for sharing.
You are very welcome, Sameer.
Hi Ana,
Thanks for this massive list of traffic generation idea’s. The last one ‘Pray’ is what I like most among all those points mentioned above. I do very few things mentioned, need to try other points too…
You are very welcome, Vijesh.
Praying is what gets me through the day.
Hey Ana,
welcome back!!! I thought I recognized this – this was one of my favorite blog posts of yours back in the day… it may even have been the first post I read on your blog.
I think it’s a tremendous idea to re-purpose content like this, particularly when it’s as good as this is (also as due to the nature of blogs old content gets more and more buried other than being linked to). Times change so you can always re-adapt some of the old ideas to the new world along the way too.
Anyways, I for one am glad to see this again, it serves as a useful reminder to consider all of these things,
best wishes,
Alan
I thought it was time to bring it back to the light of day. lol
Funny, I will have to read the rest of these, there is a lot of information here to digest.. Maybe you can expand on each one every day or once a week or?
Question ? Do 5 and 8 not conflict each other. Nice Blog by the way. Something to aspire to in 2014.
It’s definitely enough to keep you busy for a while, Preston – a great starting point to get your creative juices flowing.
No, 5 and 8 don’t conflict each other. It all depends on the type of blog you are running.
I was supposed to ask that question too Preston, good thing I always read comments first.
Thanks Ana for providing very informative post! 😀
lol, Jeric; you are very welcome.
202 ! This really a huge list of productive tips. Bite-sized but they contain more in the inner side.
I’ve made a note of this whole list and started working according to it……. 🙂
Let us know how it goes, Arup.
Feeling great , Just made my first Affiliate sale . Thanks a lot for the tips 🙂
Huge milestone; CONGRATS!
Surely.
Great tips and perhaps the best so far. Brief and to the point, you have covered everything. One thing, you said bookmark all your posts. What wondering what does that do?
I probably need to re-phrase that point, Shalu. What I meant to say was we need to share every post through every channel possible – including social bookmarking.
More on that: https://trafficgenerationcafe.com/how-to-promote-your-blog/
Hi Ana
What a great list of ideas. It should be a good place to start if someone need inspiration for a new blog post. I have used many of the tips myself, but are always looking for new angles on my posts 🙂
Happy holidays Ana
Much appreciated, Thomas; thanks for popping in and Happy New Year to you as well.
If you only chose 5 of these to use, you would be way ahead of the game.
No kidding – doing it is the actual hard part.
Hello Ana,
Very detailed step by step guide written in simple words that anyone can follow. Keep up the good work.
Much appreciated, Melissa.
Well, got my work cut out for me 🙂
Happy New Years Ana
Seems like just yesterday I was fawning over your blog like a highschool kid with a crush, writing linked notes about you and hiding them around the web.
Speaking of fawning, sent you a note…
…and now look at you – all grown up with your own blog expanding like it’s on steroids… lol
Thanks for coming by, Greg; Happy New Year to you as well!
Hey Ana, welcome back! I miss those skinnies!
Nonetheless, I think I am going to link this to my upcoming post.
Hope you had a great time (I bet you do) and talk to you real soon. *p/s drop you a mail at FB.
Take care
Regibald
My New Year resolution: GET BACK TO WORK. lol
I am working to catch up on everything; will try to respond soon.
WOW Ana! Cant believe you’re back! Glad to know that you’re alive lol. Was so worried, even sent you an email asking if all was well, but you never replied, guess remodeling your house kept you very busy.
Just glad you’re back though. Wishing you and your family a prosperous new year! 🙂
Yes, I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming, Siya. I suppose I ran out of excuses as to why I couldn’t get back to work. lol
Thanks for your enthusiastic “welcome back”; just what I needed. Happy New Year to you as well!
That’s a huge list, and I follow many of them (also do not follow many!).
But after Reading your article, I might start following some those which I still donot follow.
It all comes down to finding what works for YOUR business, Sadek, and sticking with it.
Bite sized. I love them!!! They make so much sense. Where do I start? LOL A reservoir of info that is self-explanatory. very resourceful.
Thanks, Mo.
I have just found your blog and am your newest fan, Ana! I LOVE this list. I think most of us have heard of most of the techniques, but it’s great to have all of these in one place. I can see how you got your Alexa ranking to under 15K in 6 months! I will definitely be sharing this one!
Thanks, Kelly.
You are absolutely right: most people already know everything they need to to make their business successful. It’s applying what they already know is where the trouble is.
I think I’ll be linking to this article in the future as it saves me time in the “what to write about” category thanks for making blogging fun and meaningful at the same time.
I’ve used these tips a few times in the past for new post ideas as well, Darnell; works like a charm. lol
Thanks for including this post in your Best of 2013!
I feel very full as I read your 202 bite sized tips to insanely increase your blog traffic! I like it! It is straight to the point and no flowery words to make one number look thorny. Nice job! We have our own understanding and I must say that the points are simple and comprehensible.
I found this post shared on Kingged.com, the Internet marketing social site, and I “kingged” it and left this comment.
Thanks, Metz, and thanks for introducing me to Kingged.
A very exhaustive list. Since it is the end of the year (and I started my blog half a year ago) I am currently busy with number 171 – Interlinking posts. I am also re-reading and re-writing older posts to make them better.
Some of my older posts plainly suck 😀 which reflects how much I’ve learned about writing in the past half year.
You are right, Dani – I am exhausted just looking at the list. lol
Revisiting/updating older content is always a great idea. Many times it’s actually more effective than continuously churning out new content.
By the way, you might like to read this: https://trafficgenerationcafe.com/how-to-write-great-content/
That is a great and LONG list of tips. I will be honest, I read most of them but skipped some.
I am confused that on point 5 you say “don’t write about your … kids” but then point 8 is “write about your kids”. Were you trying to 59. “Write a post that causes controversy”? 😉
lol, Pau; it’s nice to know that some people actually read my posts.
To answer your question: it’s depends on your niche. Being personal might work for some niches, but not others.
Oh great! You made my day 🙂
I got stumbled with this long post with 202 ideas to improve the traffic of a blog.
It is indeed for every bloggers and gonna implement some of the tips for my blog too.
I got this post in G+ shared by Harleena, many thanks to her 🙂
Harleena is awesome and thanks for following her suggestion to visit this post, Nirmala.
Hi Ana,
Oh yes…I WAS wondering what happened to you, and you won’t believe it, was about to send you a seasons greeting with along with a short note just today to ask whether all was well, when I saw a new post here 🙂
A very warm welcome back 🙂
Nice to know about the remodeling project of your house and I’m sure it must be looking awesome because you got down to doing it!
Thanks for all these lovely tips, each one worth reading several time indeed. Wishing you and your family a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. 🙂
Thank you, Harleena – it’s not easy to come back after such a long break, but such a warm welcome always makes a huge difference. Look forward to seeing more of you in the year to come and the warmest wishes to you as well.
Hello Ana, really nice post, and although your tips are just byte-long, you definitely had to put a lot of effort to prepare it – thank you. There is one ‘but’ however 😉 In tip 5 you suggest not to write about kids, in tip 8 you advise to do so 😉 So how is it with children – good or bad topic for a blog? 🙂
Cheers! Darkan
Write about your kids vs don’t write about your kids – it all depends on your niche, Darkan.
Awesome Ana! I first heard about on EO Fire podcast about a year ago… love your blog and this post is no exception. Although I did have to Google “laconic” 🙂 –Aaron
Thanks for coming by, Aaron, and glad to hear my college education is paying off (I am Russian with English as a Foreign Language degree).