It's almost become cliche.

If you've spent enough time around the blogosphere, you have probably heard this countless times.

Content is King.

But that's only a part of the equation.

Because just having great content on your blog won't automatically transform you to the next Linda Ikeji.

Okay, maybe she's not a prime example, seeing as she mainly posts about celebrities and other weird stuff. But you get my point.

Just having great content is not going to suddenly make you viral.

So the new line should be "Content is king, and Traffic is his Army General."

The not-so-new formula is this: Great Content + Traffic = Blogging Success

Feel free to ask Linda Ikeji if you think this formula is rubbish.

Now, for the sake of newbie bloggers reading, let's quickly define "Traffic"

Traffic (when it comes to blogging) is simply the amount of people who visit your site and read your blog posts. If you're interested in being a successful blogger (emphasis on successful), you're going to need to drive traffic to your blog.

There's no way around this.

Because what good is all the great content in the world if nobody knows it exists?

That's like someone who offers a service but doesn't tell potential customers about his service. That will leave you poorer than when you started, without a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out of.

Okay. Enough.

So you see, traffic is really really important. I cannot overemphasize this.

Now, let's talk about ridiculously simple tips to increase your blog traffic today...

1. Create Great Content

This is an absolute no-brainer. Content may be King but Traffic is the General. And no great General will stay in the service of a terrible King for long, before chopping off his head.

I think you can probably find examples of this in the movie "Troy" or any of the seasons of "Game of Thrones"

So yes, we are talking about traffic but you absolutely have to need to have great content on your blog.

A few tips on creating Great Content (I'll create a blog post on this sometime soon and let y'all know about it):

- Start with the headline

8 out of 10 people always read the headline and then as you go further down the post, the numbers reduce. So make sure you spend a lot more time working on your headline than you spend writing the post.

Yes, do this.

When creating your headlines, ensure they tap into a burning need that your reader has. That way, they stop whatever they're doing and read your blog post.

- Craft an engaging, conversational article

Remember when you were studying for Chemistry for WAEC, and anytime you try to read Ababio, you'd fall off to sleep?

Yeah, that was because Ababio was written in a plain, boring, unengaging manner. Almost like he didn't give a f##k about you. Because obviously you needed that knowledge to pass Chemistry, and he had already gotten paid for the book in your hands so basically you had no choice. You just had to suffer through his book.

It's not the same with a blog.

Your readers have the power to choose. If you bore them, they will not continue reading.

So write in an engaging manner. Write like you were talking to one person. Like that person was in front of you and you were having a conversation with them.

Absolutely do not bore your readers.

Okay, enough. Let's move on to the rest.


2. Promote your Content.

Once you have great content, this is the next logical step. Logical, because unless you think your content is shit, you will do this naturally.

I mean, why go through all the stress of creating great content, only to then let it lie fallow and wait till Thy Kingdom Come before the world knows about it.

At the very least, you should have shared your content on Facebook. Then you could always add Twitter to that.

So far, in my experience, Facebook and Twitter are beautiful, amazing places for sharing blog content. Now let's dive into the nitty gritty of this.

Facebook
- When you share your blog post on Facebook, ensure you write something engaging in the post. Like an intro, of sorts.

A lot of posts on Facebook don't get read because Feel free to take a part of your post that connects emotionally with your target audience and use that. Just make sure your intro isn't too long. All you want to do is tell them a bit about what your blog post is about.

- Also, make sure you're a member of Facebook groups within the niche you blog and comment there regularly. Be active in those groups.

Follow Gary Vaynerchuk's "Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook" formula- Give value, give value, give value, before you try to promote your blog post there. Obviously, I don't mean do all of this in one day. You need to have been providing value there for a while before you promote your blog post. That way, you're perceived as an authority, not just one of those annoying people trying to get us to join MMM.

Twitter

- Look for hashtags related to the topic of your blog posts. Find those that are trending, join in the conversation by once again giving a lot of value, before you then promote your blog post.


Email

- If you have an email list, you can easily shoot your subscribers a short and sweet email that gives them an idea of what your blog post is about, and if you don't have an email list, build one.

- Another really cool way to use email is as part of The SkyScraper Technique created by Brian Dean of Backlinko.com. You can find out more about that by following this link: http://backlinko.com/skyscraper-technique


3. Guest Blogging

This one is no secret.

Bamidele Onibalusi of Writers in Charge practically owes a huge part of his success to guest blogging.

So guest blog, and don't just guest blog for any Tom, Dick or Ekaette, but do it for popular blogs within your niche and do it for free. Only ask that you may put your name, a brief description of what you do and your site in your author's bio section.

This way you benefit from the huge traffic already pouring into the popular site. We'll talk more on how to guest blog sometime later.


4. Keyword Research

Ah yes, keywords.. Finally!

Imagine you want to learn how to do something so you go to Google, and type for example, "How to make eba", you're going to get a list of pages that have content surrounding the theme of "eba making". Some might be exactly what you're looking for, others might just talk about the different types of eba.

You will notice though, that the pages at the top of the first page of that Google Search result page will either be an exact match for what you typed in or will be the closest match to what you typed in.

What you typed into that Google Search bar = The keyword (s)

So basically, keywords are what people are looking for. If your post directly addresses what they are looking for, your post will stand a higher chance of being displayed on that first page of a Google search, moreso if your post title and content is the closest to an exact match to their keyword.

So let's remix what I earlier said a bit.

Content is King, Traffic is his Army General and Keyword Research is his most trusted Adviser.

You can use tools such as Google's Autosuggest and Google's Keyword Planner to come up with keywords for blog topics. Actually, if you're serious about driving traffic to your blog, this is a definite must.

I mean, what better way is there to drive traffic to your blog than to post about topics people are already looking for?


5. SEO

For newbies, SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, which is a fancy way of saying you basically make it easier for search engines to both find and rank your content.

So you've done your keyword research, and created great content, but you still can't see it on search engine result pages.

You might need to tweak it a little bit, like so:

- Make sure the keywords appear closer to the beginning of your title and keep the character count in the title at about 60- 70. Any more, and you stand the risk of having Google chop the rest of your title and replace it with "..."

- Have only one H1 heading in your content. There should be one main heading for each article which should contain your keyword.

- Use long-tail versions of your keyword in your subheadings

- Avoid filling your article completely with your keywords. This will grant you no love from Google or worse, your site might just end up in the Internet's kirikiri or Yaba Left if Google is feeling magnanimous.

- Images in your content should contain alt text and your alt text should have your keyword. That way, they also rank in Google's Image search and the search engine doesn't have to keep wondering what your image is.

For now, these will suffice.


There you have it. 5 ridiculously simple tips to increase your blog traffic. Do all these and you should see a jump in traffic and probably even start to get your own share of haters.

When they come, remix Chamillionaire's "Ridin" song and sing to them like so:

' They see me blogging, They hating
They trolling, trying to stop me getting traffic, trying to stop me getting traffic (3x)

My blog is so dope on Google Ranking
My Content is great and my SEO is amazing
My SEO is amazing (3x)'

You get the idea. Any comments, questions, and even trolls are welcome in the comment box.

My name is Tomi Joshua, and when I'm not getting my fix from online marketing at www.fayarspark.com, I'm remixing song lyrics and blogging at 500nairawriter..com

Nice writeup on increasing traffic!!

Please help me review my site http://macksonwakama.com

Many thanks

Cool.

You can also check out fantastic ways you can increase your blog traffic here.

Op is dat all

' They see me blogging, They hatingThey trolling, trying to stop me getting traffic, trying to stop me getting traffic (3x)My blog is so dope on Google RankingMy Content is great and my SEO is amazingMy SEO is amazing (3x)'
these lines got me.....nice one

I'll try these.

Simple indeed

Nice education

Yh. Ridiculously hard you mean to say?

heheheh

BTW

see my signature

Op you are good. I have a question though, any idea(s) on what to put in place before applying for adsense and be sure of it's approval?

These are not any simple RIDICULOUS ways at all!

it's indeed an interesting read. I loved the way you added humor to the long post.

Yoshy:
Op you are good. I have a question though, any idea(s) on what to put in place before applying for adsense and be sure of it's approval?

simple.
see what I outlined below:

1. purchase a domain name so as to get rid of ..com or . .

2. design your blog in a sane manner- pay attention to the colour combination and the way you arrange your blog posts. Google hates it when people get lost in ur blog.

3. read up the Google Adsense terms and conditions. e.g they don't want u to promote crime, sex or drugs on your blog.

4. ensure what you want to blog about will add value to the lives of fellow humans.

5. u needn't be as good as whole Soyinka but ensure your writing skill is above average.

6. write enough contents. (nobody till date knows how many you should write but I got my google Adsense approval for my blog: www.nomadicnegro.com after writing just 13 posts).

7. ensure you have these pages on your blog:
about us, privacy policy and contact us.

8. try ensuring your readers are responding- either through comments or likes and shares.
with this, Google will assume you are really adding value.

9. lastly, never form the habit of copying other people's posts. even if you would, try rephrasing them but ensure you link back to the original owner and acknowledge him/her.

that's all I can say for now bro.
you can check out www.nomadicnegro.com to see how nearly arranged it is.

I'm almost sure you'd get approved after doing all these

[quote author=OBALORLA post=52820932]


simple.
see what I outlined below:

1. purchase a domain name so as to get rid of ..com or . .

2. design your blog in a sane manner- pay attention to the colour combination and the way you arrange your blog posts. Google hates it when people get lost in ur blog.

3. read up the Google Adsense terms and conditions. e.g they don't want u to promote crime, sex or drugs on your blog.

4. ensure what you want to blog about will add value to the lives of fellow humans.

5. u needn't be as good as whole Soyinka but ensure your writing skill is above average.

6. write enough contents. (nobody till date knows how many you should write but I got my google Adsense approval for my blog: www.nomadicnegro.com after writing just 13 posts).[quote/] Thank you, i have done all these except the privacy policy. Can you please take a look at the blog and tell me what i missed. Www.factextra.com, factextra77@gmail.com

[quote author=Yoshy post=52821188][/quote]

some things are wrong bro:
1. I don't think you have a niche yet
2. I checked one of ur posts and all I saw were quotes... that's not good enough.
3. I checked another post and met nothing on it.

Thank you, Napoleon77.

I'll look at it and send you a review tomorrow.

napoleon77:
Nice writeup on increasing traffic!!

Please help me review my site http://macksonwakama.com

Many thanks

Yes...

For now.

kings09:
Op is dat all

Thanks a lot

OBALORLA:
it's indeed an interesting read.
I loved the way you added humor to the long post.

Thanks man.

I'll get to it and give you a response tomorrow evening.

0lumuyiwa:
Nice thread, please check my blog and give your professional tips.

Olumuyiwaolayinka.

Thanks bro

Well, I think it depends on your point of view.

But, I'll still write more exhaustive posts to break down each of the points, either on my blog or on here.

Chanchit:
Yh. Ridiculously hard you mean to say?

Please could you teach me how to do a signature?

samuelzion:
heheheh

BTW

see my signature

Yeah, Jamie Lannister and the Targaryen.
Thanks for these tips!
Hope to put them into practice.

Any ideas on how to have a wellspring of blog post topics?

Copycracker:
It's almost become cliche.

If you've spent enough time around the blogosphere, you have probably heard this countless times.

Content is King.

But that's only a part of the equation.

Because just having great content on your blog won't automatically transform you to the next Linda Ikeji.

Okay, maybe she's not a prime example, seeing as she mainly posts about celebrities and other weird stuff. But you get my point.

Just having great content is not going to suddenly make you viral.

So the new line should be "Content is king, and Traffic is his Army General."

The not-so-new formula is this: Great Content + Traffic = Blogging Success

Feel free to ask Linda Ikeji if you think this formula is rubbish.

Now, for the sake of newbie bloggers reading, let's quickly define "Traffic"

Traffic (when it comes to blogging) is simply the amount of people who visit your site and read your blog posts. If you're interested in being a successful blogger (emphasis on successful), you're going to need to drive traffic to your blog.

There's no way around this.

Because what good is all the great content in the world if nobody knows it exists?

That's like someone who offers a service but doesn't tell potential customers about his service. That will leave you poorer than when you started, without a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out of.

Okay. Enough.

So you see, traffic is really really important. I cannot overemphasize this.

Now, let's talk about ridiculously simple tips to increase your blog traffic today...

1. Create Great Content

This is an absolute no-brainer. Content may be King but Traffic is the General. And no great General will stay in the service of a terrible King for long, before chopping off his head.

I think you can probably find examples of this in the movie "Troy" or any of the seasons of "Game of Thrones"

So yes, we are talking about traffic but you absolutely have to need to have great content on your blog.

A few tips on creating Great Content (I'll create a blog post on this sometime soon and let y'all know about it):

- Start with the headline

8 out of 10 people always read the headline and then as you go further down the post, the numbers reduce. So make sure you spend a lot more time working on your headline than you spend writing the post.

Yes, do this.

When creating your headlines, ensure they tap into a burning need that your reader has. That way, they stop whatever they're doing and read your blog post.

- Craft an engaging, conversational article

Remember when you were studying for Chemistry for WAEC, and anytime you try to read Ababio, you'd fall off to sleep?

Yeah, that was because Ababio was written in a plain, boring, unengaging manner. Almost like he didn't give a f##k about you. Because obviously you needed that knowledge to pass Chemistry, and he had already gotten paid for the book in your hands so basically you had no choice. You just had to suffer through his book.

It's not the same with a blog.

Your readers have the power to choose. If you bore them, they will not continue reading.

So write in an engaging manner. Write like you were talking to one person. Like that person was in front of you and you were having a conversation with them.

Absolutely do not bore your readers.

Okay, enough. Let's move on to the rest.


2. Promote your Content.

Once you have great content, this is the next logical step. Logical, because unless you think your content is shit, you will do this naturally.

I mean, why go through all the stress of creating great content, only to then let it lie fallow and wait till Thy Kingdom Come before the world knows about it.

At the very least, you should have shared your content on Facebook. Then you could always add Twitter to that.

So far, in my experience, Facebook and Twitter are beautiful, amazing places for sharing blog content. Now let's dive into the nitty gritty of this.

Facebook
- When you share your blog post on Facebook, ensure you write something engaging in the post. Like an intro, of sorts.

A lot of posts on Facebook don't get read because Feel free to take a part of your post that connects emotionally with your target audience and use that. Just make sure your intro isn't too long. All you want to do is tell them a bit about what your blog post is about.

- Also, make sure you're a member of Facebook groups within the niche you blog and comment there regularly. Be active in those groups.

Follow Gary Vaynerchuk's "Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook" formula- Give value, give value, give value, before you try to promote your blog post there. Obviously, I don't mean do all of this in one day. You need to have been providing value there for a while before you promote your blog post. That way, you're perceived as an authority, not just one of those annoying people trying to get us to join MMM.

Twitter

- Look for hashtags related to the topic of your blog posts. Find those that are trending, join in the conversation by once again giving a lot of value, before you then promote your blog post.


Email

- If you have an email list, you can easily shoot your subscribers a short and sweet email that gives them an idea of what your blog post is about, and if you don't have an email list, build one.

- Another really cool way to use email is as part of The SkyScraper Technique created by Brian Dean of Backlinko.com. You can find out more about that by following this link: http://backlinko.com/skyscraper-technique


3. Guest Blogging

This one is no secret.

Bamidele Onibalusi of Writers in Charge practically owes a huge part of his success to guest blogging.

So guest blog, and don't just guest blog for any Tom, Dick or Ekaette, but do it for popular blogs within your niche and do it for free. Only ask that you may put your name, a brief description of what you do and your site in your author's bio section.

This way you benefit from the huge traffic already pouring into the popular site. We'll talk more on how to guest blog sometime later.


4. Keyword Research

Ah yes, keywords.. Finally!

Imagine you want to learn how to do something so you go to Google, and type for example, "How to make eba", you're going to get a list of pages that have content surrounding the theme of "eba making". Some might be exactly what you're looking for, others might just talk about the different types of eba.

You will notice though, that the pages at the top of the first page of that Google Search result page will either be an exact match for what you typed in or will be the closest match to what you typed in.

What you typed into that Google Search bar = The keyword (s)

So basically, keywords are what people are looking for. If your post directly addresses what they are looking for, your post will stand a higher chance of being displayed on that first page of a Google search, moreso if your post title and content is the closest to an exact match to their keyword.

So let's remix what I earlier said a bit.

Content is King, Traffic is his Army General and Keyword Research is his most trusted Adviser.

You can use tools such as Google's Autosuggest and Google's Keyword Planner to come up with keywords for blog topics. Actually, if you're serious about driving traffic to your blog, this is a definite must.

I mean, what better way is there to drive traffic to your blog than to post about topics people are already looking for?


5. SEO

For newbies, SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, which is a fancy way of saying you basically make it easier for search engines to both find and rank your content.

So you've done your keyword research, and created great content, but you still can't see it on search engine result pages.

You might need to tweak it a little bit, like so:

- Make sure the keywords appear closer to the beginning of your title and keep the character count in the title at about 60- 70. Any more, and you stand the risk of having Google chop the rest of your title and replace it with "..."

- Have only one H1 heading in your content. There should be one main heading for each article which should contain your keyword.

- Use long-tail versions of your keyword in your subheadings

- Avoid filling your article completely with your keywords. This will grant you no love from Google or worse, your site might just end up in the Internet's kirikiri or Yaba Left if Google is feeling magnanimous.

- Images in your content should contain alt text and your alt text should have your keyword. That way, they also rank in Google's Image search and the search engine doesn't have to keep wondering what your image is.

For now, these will suffice.


There you have it. 5 ridiculously simple tips to increase your blog traffic. Do all these and you should see a jump in traffic and probably even start to get your own share of haters.

When they come, remix Chamillionaire's "Ridin" song and sing to them like so:

' They see me blogging, They hating
They trolling, trying to stop me getting traffic, trying to stop me getting traffic (3x)

My blog is so dope on Google Ranking
My Content is great and my SEO is amazing
My SEO is amazing (3x)'

You get the idea. Any comments, questions, and even trolls are welcome in the comment box.

My name is Tomi Joshua, and when I'm not getting my fix from online marketing at www.fayarspark.com, I'm remixing song lyrics and blogging at 500nairawriter..com

napoleon77:
Nice writeup on increasing traffic!!
Please help me review my site http://macksonwakama.com
Many thanks

Help me review this site as well http://www.9jaboizgist.com.ng

PLS, how can i add back button to blogger.

Nice.

nice