2.73 million blog posts are published daily.
Trying to win traffic to your posts amidst all that competition can seem daunting.
However, there are many ways to get free blog traffic that consistently work to bring you new visitors.
This post offers 79 of them.
Blog Promotion is a free form of marketing. This is the main way bloggers like to get traffic to their blogs – all it takes is your time but no money required.
According to blogging guru Neil Patel, you should promote 70% of the time, and create new content 30% of the time. That means you need many places to promote to.
Consider these comments from a reader—
I fell into the blogosphere, backside first, which made the landing somewhat less painful. When I looked around, it was as if I had landed in a foreign country with a language that I could not make head or tail of. Linky parties? Follow to Follow? Blog Love? Bloglovin’? Throwback Thursday? Sharing on Pinterest boards?
You have to understand, I thought Pinterest was wonderful, but I used it exclusively to pin interior decorating pictures… Round here, I am a pioneer in that respect, most of my friends here have never even heard of Pinterest…When I came to my first “How to create re-pinnable pins” and “How to use Pinterest to increase traffic to your blog,” I was flummoxed.
And Twitter. Until now, I thought Twitter is a waste of time and space. Who can manage to say anything useful in 140 characters? Only one of my friends have ever heard about Twitter and that is because she is a website designer that works from home.
StumbleUpon? Gave up on that years ago, takes forever for a new page to load round here. As for LinkedIn, I definitely do not want anyone to offer me… posts on LinkedIn anymore, reminding me that due to my eye problems I can no longer work as a doctor, so I have closed my account. The extent of my ignorance about anything to do with blogging was somewhat depressing.
[bctt tweet=”There is no need to be depressed! There are many possible ways to get traffic to your blog.”]
79 Ways to Get Free Blog Traffic
- Ask your readers to share your articles in your Call to Action at the end of your post.
- Backlinks By linking to relevant articles, you get traffic to old posts. This is especially helpful for new readers who may not have read them yet.
- BizSugar lets you leave relevant links. Productivity and technology are two of the site’s threads. The site is also fun to use due to the sugar theme.
- Blog Commenting is a great way to draw attention to yourself and your blog. I commented on Jon Morrow’s blog. Someone putting together an expert interview saw my comment and invited me to be on the panel since the interview was on the topic I commented on. In addition to making new connections, my social media presence is enhanced, and I have additional material for my “About” page. You never know where a comment will lead. Never pass up an opportunity to make an insightful comment on a post.
- Blogger Outreach involves contacting a blogger and offering your link or infographic. It could supplement their article. The link to your site, should they accept the offer, will boost your SEO rankings and make you more visible in search engines.
- Blog Shares are like linky parties. Instead of linking a post, you link your blog URL.
- Blogging Directories
- Buffer
- Buzzsumo will enable you to write about popular topics.
- Case Studies provide your reader concrete proof that your methods work.
- Clickable Headlines
- Click to Tweet Include a Click to Tweet in a welcome Email.
- Include a Click to Tweet in your blog post.
- CommentLuv
- Controversial Posts get mega traffic.
- Delicious is a social bookmarking site where users share and organize links for later reading.
- Email your post to people on your Email list.
- Email Signature I sign my Emails with my name and blog URL. It’s easy to put in place under Settings.
- Expert Interviews
- Facebook Threads
- Facebook Page
- Follow to Follow Directories
- Forums Many forums let you leave your link.
- Giveaways Rafflecopter is often used for giveaways. People enter knowing their Email will be used to sign them up to receive the blog posts. It’s a great way to get new subscribers.
- Google+
- Guest Posting
- HARO stands for Help A Reporter Out. If you feel you’ve created content that a reporter would be interested in, send your post to HARO on Twitter @helpareporter.
- Hashtags will enable people interested in your content to find you.
- Hootsuite is a tool that is used for self-promotion.
- Host guest authors. When they share the article, and you will get new eyes on your blog.
- Inbound.org is a forum that allows you to leave your links to your posts.
- Images Articles with images get shared more often. Make sure to click “Set Featured Post,” so the graphic stays with the article when you share it on social media.
- Incentives
- Influencers Mention influencers in your article, link to them, and they may share your article with their masses of followers. When you tag your post, include their name, so when people research them, they will find you. Topsy will help you find influencers to write about.
- Infographics get the most social shares on Pinterest which will bring new eyes to your blog.
- JustRetweet
- Kingged allows you to promote, has an active community, and reportedly can get millions of new visitors to your website.
- LinkedIn allows you to post your articles and gives you a place to write new articles in hopes of attracting readers to your site.
- LinkedIn Forums Some forums allow link dropping even if it’s only on occasion.
- Link Exchange If you exchange links with a like-minded blogger, your posts will be seen by their audiences. (Note: If you are subscribed to this blog and would like to be added to the Link Exchange, make a request in the comment section.)
- Link Roundups Try to get your most popular article included in a Best of the Week Link Roundup.
- Linky Parties
- List Posts get shared more than any other type of blog post. This will result in new visitors to your blog.
- Mega Lists beat your competition. Google your headline, and you will know how many tips you need, so search engine users pick your post.
- ManageWP.org allows you to submit your links.
- Meet and Greets are blog parties where you are allowed to leave a link to an article and tell the other guests about your blog.
- Medium Using this content syndication site could draw attention to you and your blog.
- Networking
- Optimize for SEO so other bloggers can find you using Google’s Keyword Planner to get the best tags for your post.
- Optimize Your Images by adding relevant keywords to the “Alt Tags.”
- Pinned Tweet If you go to my Twitter profile, you will see a pinned tweet. It’s extremely easy to pin a tweet. Go to your Twitter profile and click the three dots under your tweet about your best article. Click “Pin to your profile page.”
- Pinterest Group Boards According to Daniela Uslan Pinterest Group Boards are the most successful form of advertising for her along with Facebook sharing threads. (Note: If you are subscribed to MostlyBlogging and would like an invitation to pin to our group board, please ask for an invitation in the comments section.)
- Podcasts
- Promote Other Bloggers in Your Articles, then ask them to share the article with their social media followers.
- Publish at Optimal Times Tweet schedulers and pin schedulers are programmed to help you publish at times your readers are more likely to be engaged.
- Publish list posts. Research says list posts will get shared more than any other type of content, which will bring new eyes to your blog.
- Publish longer posts. Research says you will be found in search engines more easily which will bring traffic to your blog.
- Publish More Often. This always results in a spike in traffic.
- Question and Answer Sessions Q&A sessions are a great way to answer any questions that your followers may have as well as provide information to new readers that may have some interest in your brand but are not familiar with it.
- Quora allows you to link drop if your article helps answer the question.
- Reblog or feature each other’s writing. This is easy if you have a blogging buddy. You will get your eyes on each other’s audiences.
- Reddit allows you to leave your link in certain subreddits.
- Repost old articles on social media. New audiences haven’t seen them yet.
- Reproduce Your Best Content Check your dashboard, Top Posts and Pages, All Time to see what this is.
- Scoop.it While you can’t scoop your own articles, you can suggest that Scoop.it users scoop your article. My articles were scooped, and I really did receive sizable traffic.
- Social Share Buttons Make sure they are enabled, so people can share your articles.
- StumbleUpon
- Thank people who share your work. They will be more inclined to share again resulting in new eyes on your blog.
- Triberr
- Tumblr
- Twitter Lists
- Twitter chats help you reach a new audience using a special hashtag.
- YouTube Many bloggers are using the power of YouTube to draw attention to their sites.
- Viral Buzz Content UPDATE: This site is now called “Viral Content Bee.”
Conclusion: How to Effectively Get Free Blog Traffic
In conclusion, people don’t have to be frustrated by the lack of traffic to their blogs. This list offers 79 ideas for getting free blog traffic. The best part, you can use as many of them as you want until you see the free blog traffic you desire. Also, these techniques can be implemented by all bloggers whether or not they self-host.
Readers, please share, so other bloggers know effective strategies for getting free blog traffic.
Did I miss any? Can you think of additional ways of getting free blog traffic? Which technique on the list do you find the most valuable? I look forward to your views.
Related Posts
These guides will also help you generate free blog traffic:
Ultimate Guide to Blog Promotion
20 Experts Reveal Their Secrets to Blog Promotion
Sources:
Social Media Engagement Tactics
How to Write Blog Posts that Actually Turn Readers into Customers
How to Promote Your Blog and Get More Visitors
