Want more traffic? Here are some tips for attracting more visitors to your site:
Tell people in your social networks about your new post.
Promote your posts across your social networks with WordPress.com’s Publicize feature, which will automatically tell your Twitter followers, Facebook friends, LinkedIn connections, and more as soon as you publish a new post.
Make your content visible to search engines.
If you want your post to be indexed by search engines such as Google and Bing, set your blog privacy settings to make your blog visible to all search engines. The internet is full of theories as to how you can raise your post’s visibility in search rankings: none will contest that original, high-quality content with a few well-chosen tags are the best way to get started.
Pay for traffic to your site.
Web applications like StumbleUpon can bring visitors to your posts with rates starting at $.10 per visit. If you’ve published a great post and you want some feedback from visitors, this can be a good way to get the ball rolling. Companies looking for broader distribution of their posts, including getting their content in front of journalists, may want to try services from companies such as PR Newswire. Read more on paying for traffic.
Bug your real-life friends.
Encourage friends and family to read your blog: send them reminder emails when you update and talk to them about it when you meet in person. Better still, encourage them to sign up for updates using the Follow Blog Widget. Having a small audience of people you care about is better than having a million visitors and not knowing any of them.
Use appropriate tags.
Attach appropriate categories and tags to your posts so people can find them in the WordPress.com Reader. But be careful not to use too many tags — less than 15 tags (or categories or both) is a good number. The more tags you use, the less likely your post will be featured in the Reader.
Read and comment on other blogs.
Check out other blogs to find bloggers who share your interests. Then, subscribe to their blog and get to know them a bit. When you read a post that moves you in some way, leave a comment. Read more on comments and creating online conversations.
Link to other blogs.
Blogging is all about engaging with others and interacting in online discussions. When you link to a blog post, the blogger will likely find your blog through their stats, Technorati, or a Pingback, and come to see what you had to say. They may even subscribe to your site and leave a comment, as we suggested you do above!
Let people know about your posts.
If you’ve written a post with someone in mind, drop them a short email with a link to it.
NOTE: This approach works if used very sparingly, maybe once a month per blogger. You don’t want to annoy anyone or seem like a spammer.
Blog regularly.
Blogs that have more frequent and regular posting schedules tend to develop an audience quicker. If you need inspiration, check out the resources on The Daily Post, like these how-tos on editorial calendars or serial posts. Our daily writing prompts can offer a jump-start, too.
Relax! It takes time.
Even if you do all of the above, you won’t develop a huge following overnight. Building a sizable audience of engaged and loyal readers takes time. Many of the bloggers you admire have likely been at it for years. Stick with it, and don’t get discouraged by a slow start.
If you’re interested in learning the ins and outs of blogging, take a free course at Blogging U. Blogging 201: Branding and Growth is a two-week course focused on growing your blog and online presence.