3 Secrets to Explosive Blog Growth

You are probably reading this because you call yourself a blogger. While I don’t know your particular motivations for blogging or what niche you are in, I do know this: you have a message to share.

And you’ve chosen blogging as the means to deliver your message.

People have used a variety of means to deliver messages over the course of time: email, fax, rotary phone, horses, the old fashioned runner.

{Thinking about the runner makes me thankful I live in the day of the blogger!}

Blogging is an excellent way to communicate a message to your intended audience but here’s the thing: an unread message sort of defeats the point.

The goal of this post is to give you three keys for growing your traffic…and thus help deliver your message to your target audience.

To see blog traffic growth, you need to understand traffic sources. Knowing these 3 main traffic sources will help you develop a blog strategy that works!

 

Understanding Traffic

To grow traffic, you need to think in terms of traffic sources. There are three main sources for traffic. If you understand these three streams you’ll be able to plan an effective strategy for your own traffic growth.

First a word of caution: It is not wise to put all your eggs in any one basket. Working on all three simultaneously will ensure your traffic doesn’t completely tank when, say, Facebook changes their algorithm or Google decides to penalize you.

 

  • First, there’s Search Engine traffic.

Every day people search Google 3.5 billion times… and that is just one search engine! Tapping into search engine traffic is directly tied to your use of keywords. There are plenty of articles and entire books and courses on SEO that you can read…and be overwhelmed by!

To optimize this traffic source:

  1. If you are on WP, I recommend you start by using the WordPress SEO plugin by Yoast. This plugin simplifies SEO for you and covers the most important elements.
  1. Use these 12 free keyword tools to determine which keywords to use in your posts.

It is important to remember that for most bloggers, search engine traffic will not be the primary source of traffic. In fact, it has been said that social media (see below) is “the new SEO!” While it is wise to pay attention to your use of keywords and spend a few minutes optimizing each post you publish, remember the traffic growth rule and don’t put all your eggs in the SEO basket.

  • The second source of traffic is your earned traffic.

This traffic comes from readers, subscribers, and referrals. It includes guest posts you write for others, shout out links from other blogs and subscribers who’ve found your blog helpful and signed up for updates. All these people have read something by or about you, liked it and given you permission to share more. These people are very important! They are one of your greatest assets and by treating them well, they will likely read future posts and share your content with their friends.

The best things you can do for this traffic segment are:

  1. Create a subscriber freebie to capture emails from this audience.
  2. Consistently provide new, relevant blog content that is useful and sharable.
  3. Look for guest post opportunities on other blogs within your niche.

 

If you haven’t created a subscriber freebie, this is the very first thing you need to do. Building your email list is vital to accomplishing your long term goals. Be sure your subscriber freebie aligns closely with your niche and mission. For example, my subscriber freebie is a 5 day mini course on abiding in Christ. This corresponds well with my overall mission to equip believers and help deepen their intimacy with Christ.

Your freebie doesn’t have to be an eBook or course. In fact, quick, consumable, highly useful information is preferable. Examples would be a checklist, a printable, a list of best tools or must have’s, a video or webinar, etc.

Once you have your freebie in place to capture emails, you are ready to start driving traffic through the greatest potential source there is: social media.

 

  • The third traffic source is social media.

This holds the greatest traffic growth potential for the blogger. There are so many different social networks a blogger can be on it can be quite overwhelming. Start with one, learn it well and then move on to another one. I have been blogging over 7 years and I personally only do Pinterest and Facebook with periodic appearances on Google + and Twitter. You can’t be everywhere and you can’t do everything well. So make a list of the platforms your audience hangs out on and then list which platforms you enjoy. From there highlight the ones that appear on both lists. Select one or two of these to focus your efforts.

In order to tap the potential of social media, you MUST have shareable content. This is the key to using social media successfully: shareable content!

Let me say it this way: the second thing every blogger should do (after creating their freebie) is master the art of creating sharable content.

 Right about now you are probably asking what makes content shareable. The answer depends on many factors that will be unique to your blog, audience, and niche. Over time you will discover how to answer this question for your own blog. However, regardless of your topic, the main ingredient of shareable content is USEFULNESS. Think about it: you probably naturally share content you find useful. So does everyone else!

 Christian Bloggers Bootcamp walks you step by step through finding and creating your own shareable content. In this 6 module course, I guide you through 15 assignments to discover, develop, and share your message on social media. One course participant said, “In May my monthly page views was 2600. In June, while taking CBB, they jumped to 16,000!”

This course will give you a plan for growing your blog and will help you master shareable content. I encourage you to check out the course details and what others have to say about it here.

As my gift to you, take 10% off the course price using promo code: AJ10%

Regardless of your niche, remembering the three traffic SOURCES will help you develop a strategy for traffic GROWTH.

So, go deliver your message … no running required~ wink.

Christian Bloggers Bootcamp

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4 Comments

  1. I’ve read several of your posts now. I’m so thankful I’ve found your site. I recently (January) started a blog of my own, and I’ve been looking for all the information I could find. I’ve found a lot of good info, but it can be hard to find viewpoints from a Christian perspective on the subject. You do such a good job – your site is do well put together – but most of all, it’s with God at the center. Thank you.

    1. Thank you for your kind, encouraging words. I agree with you on the Christian perspective thing! In fact, it’s why I started Christian Bloggers Bootcamp, to provide great blog training without the worldly wisdom. I’m praying you blog for the Lord and shine brightly for Him! Thanks for stopping by.

  2. Thank you so much for this post. I am a new blogger and I have just been soaking up as much information and knowledge as I can. I love learning more everyday and your post was extremely helpful. I’m very grateful. Thank you again. God Bless you.

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