Blogging

6 simple ways to drive traffic to your blog

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bloggign-tips-for-beauty-bloggers6 simple ways to drive traffic to your blog

I have to say that I’m pleasantly surprised by your response to introducing the BLOGGING category here on Thirteen Thoughts. You guys seem to really like these posts, so I’ll keep them coming.

A few months a go, I started working on building up my blog traffic and I had great results. In addition to trying to connect with other bloggers I also started implementing a few simple tactics that have helped me grow my audience. Today I’ll tell you all about these simple steps to driving more traffic to your blog.

TWITTER

Okay, so sharing your content on twitter is a bit of an obvious step if you want to drive more traffic to your blog. While I love Pinterest and Instagram I never really got into Twitter, but with over 300 million active users, I couldn’t just ignore it. Few months a go I installed a Revive Old Post plugin and I noticed that my Twitter referrals grew significantly. Revive Old Post is basically a plugin that tweets out your posts automatically- you set it up once, and don’t have to worry about it. The plugin is also pretty easy to customize; you can choose how often you want your tweets to go out, which categories you want to omit, and you can even include hashtags to be automatically added at the end of your tweet. Ever since I’ve installed this plugin, I get more retweets and it’s really a perfect solution for someone like me (someone who doesn’t have time to constantly tweet).

PINTEREST

I really don’t know where I’d be without Pinterest- it drives more traffic to my blog than any other social medium. I think that the key to having your content shared on Pinterest is not only a good quality content, but also a good image, one that preferably contains some text. Another great thing about Pinterest are Group Boards. There are quite a lot of Group Boards for Bloggers, where you can share your posts with other bloggers and discover theirs. PinGroupie is an awesome website where you can search for Group Boards using specific keywords. After you found a Group Board you’d like to join you will have to request an invite- this will usually mean that you have to follow the board and/or the person who created the board and either email them or leave a comment requesting an invite to join the board. I actually just created my own Group Board for Beauty and Lifestyle Bloggers and if any of you guys would like to join it, make sure to follow me on Pinterest and send me an email at paula[@]thirteenthoughts.com including your Pinterest account link. Group Boards definitely have a lot of potential and can bring tons of traffic to your blog, but it’s always important to remember not to spam and follow the board’s rules.

SEO

One of my favorite WordPress plugins is Yoast SEO plugin. This plugin basically guides you through writing an SEO-friendly post; it allows you to formulate a meta description, it analyzes the text you write and calculates how readable your posts is, it also checks for your keyword and links included in your posts, and gives you an SEO score based on all those factors. This way you know what to change and/or add in order to make your post more SEO-friendly.

LINK TO YOUR PREVIOUS CONTENT (AND THAT OF OTHERS)

Whenever you mention your previous content in a new post, make sure that you reference it with a link. This is something that will not only be appreciated by your readers, but it will also send a signal to search engines about that older content.

Linking to other blogs is also a great way to build traffic. When someone notices that their content was referenced somewhere, they will almost always want to see who mentioned them. This can often lead to building new connection and relationships in the blogging world. This is actually how I made a few blogging friends; one of my posts was mentioned on their blog, I made sure to visit them and leave a nice comment thanking for the mention, and both me and the person linking to my blog have gained a loyal reader/follower.

INCLUDE YOUR BLOG LINK IN YOUR EMAIL SIGNATURE

If you’ve been blogging for a while now then you most likely receive a ton of emails and this is also a good opportunity to link back to your blog.

WRITE POSTS THAT ARE AT LEAST 300 WORDS LONG

When writing a post, make sure that it’s at least 300 words long, this way it’ll be much easier for search engines to find your content. Optimizing the length of your post/article means that it should be longer than 300 words.

As I mentioned before, these are simple tactics that I’ve been following for the past couple of months and I have noticed a big difference in not only my page views, but also the number of users returning to my blog has increased by around 15%.

If I were to tell you to only try one of the above things, it’d definitely be taking advantage of Pinterest since that’s what gave me best results.

87 Comments

  • Reply
    Dagmara Klich
    October 14, 2015 at 10:00 am

    So many people recommend Pinterest to drive more traffic to the blog and I just can’t get hang of it, I think I’m too old, lol! x

    Mummy’s Beauty Corner

    • Reply
      Paula @ thirteenthoughts.com
      October 15, 2015 at 8:51 am

      Haha no way Dagmara! Pinterest is great not just for bloggers, but also for finding things like dinner ideas, DIY for your kids, decor ideas, it’s really awesome, you should try it! I feel like I’m too old for Twitter lol!

  • Reply
    Biana Perez
    October 14, 2015 at 10:14 am

    These are all great – I’m really trying to boost my pinterest! xo, Biana –BlovedBoston

  • Reply
    Kim Petersen
    October 14, 2015 at 10:55 am

    These are great tips! I especially love that you talked about SEO, that seems to be a big thing for a blog! Great post! XO -Kim
    http://www.thethirtysomethinglife.com

  • Reply
    Nina
    October 14, 2015 at 11:10 am

    What a great useful post.

    Nina
    http://www.ninasstyleblog.com

  • Reply
    jenna cantillion
    October 14, 2015 at 11:10 am

    I’ve been doing all of these lately so hopefully I’ll start receiving more traffic soon!

    Jenna | Beauty And The Style

  • Reply
    Kinga Glowacka
    October 14, 2015 at 11:31 am

    These are so helpful, thank you for sharing! I’m only just getting started with my blog, really, so I’ll definitely use these tips! <3

    Kay
    http://shoesandglitter.blogspot.com

  • Reply
    Ashley Elizabeth
    October 14, 2015 at 11:35 am

    Awesome useful info!

    http://www.ashleyelizabethbeauty.com

  • Reply
    Sophie Sierra
    October 14, 2015 at 11:53 am

    So many amazing tactics and forward thinking ways listed here to improve traffic Paula, I LOVED reading this and always enjoy your super useful, informative and insightful knowledge and mastery on all things blogging; your category on posts like these just showcases one of the millions of elements of talent you radiate when it comes to all things blog! You’re definitely my guru for sure :D ;)

    I’m so excited you set up your own group board on Pinterest too love! I’m a bit rubbish at Pinterest, still not totally to drips with it yet and I always forgot to go on there too much, but it seems like such a kick ass way to get the traffic zooming in ;) <3

    Sophie | soinspo xo

    • Reply
      Paula @ thirteenthoughts.com
      October 15, 2015 at 3:10 pm

      Aww thanks so much Sophie, leaving the sweetest comments as always!! You’re seriously the best!!

      Ahh I know it took me a while to get a hang of Pinterest too, but I’m planning to work on a post explaining how I use it to grow my blog :) Thanks so much again Soph, Love you! :*

  • Reply
    Kelsey
    October 14, 2015 at 12:03 pm

    I’m definitely going to be sending you an email about joining your Pinterest group! Pinterest is the one social media that I have yet to use to drive traffic to my blog… whoops! Thanks for sharing all your “secrets” :)

    Kelsey | http://www.abalancingpeach.com

  • Reply
    Anastasia Swanson
    October 14, 2015 at 1:48 pm

    Your content is awesome so I am not surprised you increased your blog traffic after doing the things you listed in this post. I am following you on pinterest and twitter now.

  • Reply
    Jasmine Talks Beauty
    October 14, 2015 at 2:11 pm

    I definitely need to join some groups on Pinterest as I’m definitely not getting as much as I could out of it as a blogger xx

    Jasmine Talks Beauty

    • Reply
      Paula @ thirteenthoughts.com
      October 15, 2015 at 3:16 pm

      Oh definitely try them out Jasmine! Your photos are so pretty, I’m sure they’d do great on Pinterest. ;)

  • Reply
    Emma Louise
    October 14, 2015 at 2:41 pm

    I find Twitter to be most effective. I struggle with Pinterest so i need to look into it more x

    Emma | Emmys Beauty Cave | Blanx Teeth Whitening GIVEAWAY

  • Reply
    Abigail Whitehead
    October 14, 2015 at 2:50 pm

    This is really helpful, never thought of using Twitter plugins before, usually I have to take time out of my day when i’m working or at University to tweet, so this will save me the job! Great post, love your blog!

    http://blushandnoise.blogspot.com

    • Reply
      Paula @ thirteenthoughts.com
      October 15, 2015 at 3:27 pm

      Thanks so much Abigail! Scheduling out automatic tweets has definitely helped me quite a bit too! ;)

  • Reply
    A Little Dose of Makeup
    October 14, 2015 at 3:22 pm

    Thanks for the tips! x

    A Little Dose of Makeup

  • Reply
    Liz | Lipstick & Confetti
    October 14, 2015 at 4:24 pm

    These are such great tips, thanks so much for sharing!

    xo, Liz

    http://lipstickandconfetti.com

  • Reply
    Justyna F
    October 14, 2015 at 4:25 pm

    Need to check out that SEO at last!….:)

  • Reply
    Andrea - The Tiny Telescope
    October 14, 2015 at 6:28 pm

    Great article! I love Yoast plugin for SEO and I have been thinking about focusing more on Pinterest.

  • Reply
    Danielle Beautyblog
    October 14, 2015 at 6:47 pm

    Saved! This is so helpful, now I just need to actually do it! My Pinterest is a mess and I’ve been thinking of getting Twitter for a while and definitely going to look into the SEO plugin you’ve mentioned!

    Danielle’s Beauty Blog

    • Reply
      Paula @ thirteenthoughts.com
      October 15, 2015 at 8:42 am

      Thanks so much Danielle! I’m not too much into Twitter, but having my tweets set up to go out automatically makes sure that I’m still active and I still get retweets and referrals back to my blog!

  • Reply
    Manique
    October 14, 2015 at 6:52 pm

    Love the post ! Really helpful.
    xx Manique

    http://www.poshmodeave.com/

  • Reply
    Sheila
    October 14, 2015 at 7:16 pm

    this are really, really great tips! Thanks for sharing.

    http://www.splitneedles.blogspot.com

  • Reply
    Miriam
    October 14, 2015 at 7:50 pm

    Thanks for this tips! I didn’t know there are groups in pinterest! I’m also new to twitter, oh social media is hard work! lol

    Miriam ♥ A whole lot of serendipity

  • Reply
    Kaley Were
    October 15, 2015 at 12:20 am

    So super helpful! I’ve emailed you about the group board. Thanks so much for sharing and I hope to chat with you soon.

    kaleywerebeauty.blogspot.com

  • Reply
    Trang Do
    October 15, 2015 at 1:50 am

    Great tips!! Love this post!!
    Xoxo,
    Love from http://www.trangscorner.com {a lifestyle, fashion, beauty, and food blog}

  • Reply
    The Sunday Mode
    October 15, 2015 at 1:56 am

    Would love to read a post more about how to use Pinterest to grow your blog, I’ve never used Pinterest before so I’m a total newbie, aka I don’t even know where to start!

    http://www.thesundaymode.blogspot.com.au

    • Reply
      Paula @ thirteenthoughts.com
      October 15, 2015 at 12:59 pm

      I will definitely write a post about Pinterest in the near future since it’s been highly requested!

  • Reply
    Cheryl Wooodman
    October 15, 2015 at 6:57 am

    Awesome tips, thanks lovely! I have heard a lots of awesome things about Pinterest and i never used to use it, but have big love for it at the moment!! Inspired to get my Pinterest butt on!haha..

    http://www.honestyforyourskin.co.uk

  • Reply
    Jessica Rose
    October 15, 2015 at 9:12 am

    Thats interesting about the Pinterest. I’ve never really noticed any change from this site. Perhaps I’m not using it correctly then!! ;(

    http://vodkaandarose.blogspot.co.uk

    • Reply
      Paula @ thirteenthoughts.com
      October 16, 2015 at 2:47 pm

      I’ll work on a post about Pinterest in the near future and I’ll explain exactly how I use it to promote my blog :)

  • Reply
    Joana
    October 15, 2015 at 11:14 am

    Thanks for sharing these tips, I always enjoy reading your blogging advice posts! :) I love Pinterest and use it all the time to find inspiration or collect beautiful images but I forget to use it to promote my blogposts, that’s something I need to work on. x

  • Reply
    Alina
    October 15, 2015 at 11:30 am

    I’m not sure if you already done a post on Pinterest before but I would love any help I could get with that because I am actually so bad at it, I just don’t understand it at all & I wish I could use it more often x

    Beauty with charm

    • Reply
      Paula @ thirteenthoughts.com
      October 16, 2015 at 2:52 pm

      I haven’t Alina, but I’m definitely planning on doing one because I got a lot of questions about it after writing this post!

  • Reply
    Marina Laduda
    October 15, 2015 at 1:32 pm

    Pinterest has never done anything for me, but I should probably join some of those groups. Sounds like it must work for some people!
    Sounds like WordPress has so many plugins.. but I don’t use WordPress. Gah! Now I need to find one of those SEO thingys.Everything else I already do, yay!

    http://www.MarinaSays.com

    • Reply
      Paula @ thirteenthoughts.com
      October 16, 2015 at 2:56 pm

      Joining group boards really helps quite a bit. Aww sorry about that Marina! I use WordPress myself, so that’s the only thing I know how to work with! So happy you’re doing everything else pointed out in this post though! ;)

  • Reply
    Another Ranting Reader
    October 15, 2015 at 3:26 pm

    Please could you give some advice on using Pinterest for blogging? That would be really helpful! Also, I’m thinking about joining Twitter to promote my blog – do you think that it’s a necessity for blogging?

    Thank you!
    Jemima x

    anotherrantingreader.blogspot.co.uk

    • Reply
      Paula @ thirteenthoughts.com
      October 16, 2015 at 2:58 pm

      Yes Jemima, I’m going to work on a post about Pinterest soon! I don’t think joining Twitter is necessary, I know bloggers who don’t have Twitter accounts and that didn’t stop them from having a massive audience, but having a Twitter account helps since there’s ton of people who are active Twitter users which are also potential readers. It gives you more exposure.

  • Reply
    Sam
    October 15, 2015 at 4:45 pm

    I am so bad when it comes to Pinterest so would definitely love to see how you actually use it to grow your blog traffic! All of the other tips are really great too though, especially scheduling on twitter! xx

    Sam // Samantha Betteridge

  • Reply
    Amaryllis @ The Tasty Other
    October 16, 2015 at 3:04 am

    Very useful tips! Thanks for sharing these, Paula!

  • Reply
    Lucy Barnes
    October 16, 2015 at 5:49 am

    Ooh very useful! I didnt know that about the 300 word posts! Thank you :)
    Love,
    Lucy xx
    http://www.lucyfbarnes.weebly.com

  • Reply
    Hillary Harrison
    October 16, 2015 at 3:43 pm

    I just immediately incorporated a few of these onto my blog! Thank you for this super helpful post. :)

    http://www.averycharmedlife.com

  • Reply
    One Nerd, One Blog
    October 18, 2015 at 3:56 am

    Super helpful post! I also love to use twitter, it’s so quick and simple!

    onenerdoneblog.blogspot.co.uk

  • Reply
    Charlotte C
    October 18, 2015 at 1:36 pm

    Thankyou for the tips! Very helpful :)

    Charlotte~ http://allthingsmakeupbeautyandlife.blogspot.co.uk/

  • Reply
    charlotte carter
    October 19, 2015 at 12:08 pm

    Such good tips, great post lovely!

    http://www.alifeofacharlotte.com/

  • Reply
    AmélieJolie
    October 19, 2015 at 4:15 pm

    This was so helpful. I’m having such a hard time with pinterest. Thank you for the tips! I love your blog. :)

    http://www.ameliejolie.com

  • Reply
    Nereyda Gonzalez
    October 20, 2015 at 1:53 am

    Thanks for sharing these and for inviting me to your board Paula! I need to get in the habit of linking my posts to Pinterest more regularly. I suck at twitter, it’s so busy for me but I do have my posts automatically tweeted. Thanks for sharing!

    Nereyda│ This Girl Is Obsessed

  • Reply
    caroline johnson
    October 28, 2015 at 10:11 am

    Really helpful post- thank you for sharing!
    Caroline x
    elle-jay.co.uk

  • Reply
    Richel V. // richelgoes.com
    December 20, 2015 at 8:41 pm

    I’m still confuse on how to use Pinterest. I’ve seen one of your posts about that so I’ll read up on that next. Thanks for this post! Really helpful! :)

    Love, Richel. | Richel Goes Places

  • Reply
    CJ
    April 2, 2016 at 8:58 am

    Great article as always!! :)

    Cj | From Manila with Love : Beauty, Life & Feminism

  • Reply
    Sinead Crowe
    July 20, 2016 at 9:06 am

    So helpful! Just going through all of your posts, desperately trying to figure out pinterest!

    Sinead x

  • Reply
    Arianna Thomopoulos
    July 25, 2016 at 10:28 am

    THIS WAS SUPER HELPFUL THANK YOU, I HAVE A MODERN RELATIONSHIP & LIFESTYLE BLOG CALLED http://WWW.THEMODERNDAYGIRLFRIEND.COM THANK YOU FOR THE INSPIRATION!

  • Reply
    K&K kana and kaoru
    April 15, 2017 at 2:49 am

    Thanks for the pro tips!! There are so many social networks to take care of, but I’ve now learned from you that the best thing to do is wisely get the help of some tools that are already out there :)

    -Kana from http://www.kanaandkaoru.com

  • Reply
    haus of crochet
    April 16, 2017 at 1:50 am

    Thanks for all the tips! Pinterest is also a big traffic driver for me, and I’ve recently started to get more into Twitter as well. I’ve noticed that posting a picture with your tweet and using a few hashtags has helped my content getting noticed there.

    Romina | haus of crochet

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