3 Traffic Generation Techniques Beginner Bloggers Can’t Do Without

When I started blogging an year ago, almost every article out there on the Internet I’d read would say to write great article, promote it using social media, comment on a handful of blogs and wait for the traffic to come.

Seems simple. Right?

Unfortunately, most beginner bloggers follow this but actually, the amount of effort they put doesn’t equal to the amount of output they get.

If you are a beginner blogger, you must have already tried out these steps –tweeting out several times a week, notifying your users on Facebook every post you publish, commenting on related blogs and leaving links on Commentluv-enabled blogs for more direct exposure to the article.

But the amount of time you’d spent and the result you got, was it worth the time? Did you generate loyal and returning visitors with these methods?

If yes, then good – the method worked for you, but if the technique hasn’t worked for you, then you need to rethink.

Almost every internet marketing guru has the same piece of advice.

Why?

Because they assume that, the traffic generation technique that works for their already popular blogs with huge following and massive audience will also work for beginner bloggers.

But these well-established blogs already have a massive following, and each time they tweet out something or share anything, it reaches millions of people and the hence the shares they get is also greater.

Besides, they already have an email list to support and bring loyal and returning visitors to their blog.

But a beginner blogger neither has a huge email list nor massive followers.

So, what technique should they follow to increase traffic to their blog?

Well, before I discuss the techniques to drive visitors to a blog, let me discuss a way to retain them on your blog and bring them back for the second time, third time and always.

Create an email list

When you start a new blog, you focus should be on building an email list.

But most people would be reluctant to give away their email to a completely new blog if they don’t find really great content, I mean content that they find useful.

So, to start attracting emails, you need to have a list magnet on your blog.

Now what this list magnet is?

It is giving away something like an ebook, a report, a cheat sheet or some video tutorials for free if someone shares their email with you.

This must be something in your niche for which people are looking for solutions and they must find a practical solution through your giveaway.

It must not be fluff, otherwise people will unsubscribe immediately even after taking the time to give their email to you.

For example, Jon Morrow gives away a cheat sheet of titles. We all know how difficult it becomes after a certain period to generate new title ideas, and this is what the ebook provides solution to.

Now that you know how to return visitors to your blog again and again, let me discuss the 3 traffic generation techniques beginner bloggers should never ignore.

#1: Guest Posting

Guest posting is one of the best ways to attract high quality traffic to your blog.

Some of you may say, the method is long and boring but it is permanent and builds online credibility.

Many may argue with the fact that guest blogging is dead but Matt Cutts has said guest blogging for SEO and backlinks won’t work anymore.

Guest posting to build your brand and relationship with other bloggers still works to this date.

Let’s say you have a great post. Instead of publishing it on your own blog, why not publish it on some other established blog related to your niche.

If you get the opportunity, leave your bio at the end along with a link to your blog. This will bring

After you drive the visitors, your main goal should be to route them to your mailing list. So, if you can, link to your opt-in page.

#2: Blogger outreach

Guest blogging is good but with that technique alone, you cannot build regular traffic to your blog.

As a beginner blogger, you need to reach out to other influential bloggers and build natural relationships with them.

The best way to reach out to them is using a combination of the following methods.

Interviews: Take interviews of your target influential bloggers either through email, a short video or a podcast. Generally, they’re busy people, so instead of sending them a huge list of questions or an hour interview, a short 7 to 10 questionnaire list or a 10 minute interview, asking them specific questions would increase the probability of their response.

Roundup Posts: Create posts that revolve around the topics such as “best marketing advice from 2014”, “top posts of the week” and write about influential bloggers you want to target.
Now after doing each of these steps, mention them on Twitter or just send them a friendly email letting them know that you’ve mentioned them.

Don’t ask or a share directly. If they find the content good enough, they will share it themselves.

It is also important to stay connected with them naturally on Twitter or other social media profiles they’re active on.

#3: Advertising

Advertising works like charm to pull targeted traffic and build your email list. I know this costs money but it’s worth spending few hundred dollars.

However, make sure you spend money on the right advertising channels. It’s better not to start with Google Adwords, unless you’re an expert.

Instead, try Facebook advertising. Facebook ads can give much higher CTR, if configured properly. However, you need to select proper target audience for your campaigns with related images to capture your audience.

As a beginner blogger, you may be tempted to use every traffic generation technique you may come across, but building a email list using the techniques I discussed above will bring you loyal and returning visitors to your blog.

Try them out and I’m sure you can build a list in the next 2 months.

If you’ve already tried any of the technique, do share with us in the comments below how much they worked for you.