1:Develop good headlines. Headlines are the first thing readers see, and are typically the only thing they see if the article is shared. Your headlines should jump out at the reader and quickly draw their attention. A good headline can dramatically increase your views when shared on a social network.
2: Write articles rich in content. Quality articles will get ranked better in search results. Make sure that your articles address the needs of your readers, and that they can find all of the information they need in one spot. This is the most effective means for increasing traffic to a website; offering people something that they cannot obtain elsewhere, or at least, not to the level of quality that you are offering it.
- Create content that is helpful and useful. Simply cobbling together information from another website will not generate traffic. You need to offer visitors the information they need to achieve a goal, solve a problem, be entertained, find out quality news, or just have a good laugh.
- Avoid content generators. While these were once the delight of a fledgling web industry, they are no longer useful. Putting your own team's creativity online is what is useful.
- Never copy and paste from another website - Google, Yahoo, MSN and other search engines are too smart for this nowadays and will detect copied and unoriginal content, sending you to the bottom of the pile.
3: Address a niche. Good sites address a specific niche or audience and then become an expert in that field. You want your site to be the one resource that your readers go to first. Either start a site based on an interest of yours, or examine the market and find a niche that hasn't been addressed well. Turn that niche into your expertise.
4: Create shareable content. In the world of social media, sharable content is king. Your content should be easily sharable so that your readers can spread the word for you. This is a combination of a good headline and an interesting image, as well as a captivating lead-in. All of this creates a perfect bite-sized chunk of your article that others can share through Facebook, Twitter, and other networks.
- Lists are incredibly popular for sharing on social networks right now. Sites such as Buzzfeed and Mashable make great use of list headlines, such as "10 Ways to..." or "21 Signs That You're...". These quickly draw the reader's eye, and are a great way to deal with shortened attention spans.
5: Vary your article length. You should have long, comprehensive articles as well as short and to-the-point articles. Let the content dictate the size; don’t spend too long belaboring a simple point, but don’t be too brief when detail is called for. research suggests the average length should be around 1,600 words, though feel free to vary as you see fit.
6: Write articles frequently. Your blog will be more successful if you have a steady stream of content. Aim for at least six articles per week. Whatever you choose, pick a schedule and stick to it as best as possible.
- Keep it fresh. For repeat visits, it is crucial to provide regular updates to the website, especially in frequently viewed zones. Add fresh content every few days if possible; at a minimum, weekly.
- Consider outsourcing article writing. If you hate the thought of generating content yourself, or your team is not writing-savvy, consider outsourcing this end of the task. Depending on the length, content, specialization and quality required, prices can start as low as US$5 per article. However, don't neglect attempting to write your own work - who better than you knows your own business, hobby or club and can express precisely what needs to be said?
7: Tag and describe your articles appropriately. The tags, description, and metadata of your article will affect how well it shows up in searches. It also helps people find the articles they need.
- To have a fully functioning and successful website, you need to make sure your tags are in place and your links are not broken. You also need to submit asitemap file to Google to have your website show up in Google's search engines.
- Use keywords effectively. This is called search engine optimization and will help people find your website when they're searching the Web. Make sure the keywords flow naturally with the text and when you are brainstorming for good words, ask around for words that come naturally to people of all ages when looking for your type of site.
- Keywords not only go into headings and page names but also into "meta tags". "Meta tags" are the software code that website visitors do not see but search engines do.
- Don't overdo the keywords; over-stuffing keywords will result in a very low search ranking for your website. Also, be very careful not to place key text inside graphics; search engines cannot pick up graphics.
8: Build good links. Link building is incredibly important for websites. This is the process of creating links that point to your page from other pages. This will happen naturally as you create quality content, but there are some things you can do to help build links yourself:
- Trading links with other websites that are closely related to the subject of your website can bring you more website traffic. These are two-way links because you must provide a link to them, too, and linking to low-quality websites can threaten the credibility of yours. Only link to sites that are dead on topic, and truly help your visitors.
- Link back on related blogs and forums. Find communities that relate to your niche and create a user profile there. Enter in your site information in your profile and make quality posts. This will draw people to your site through your profile links.
- Contact companies that relate to your niche. Getting a company to link to your site for a how-to article, or a blog post related to their product, can significantly increase your traffic. Try to build some links with companies in your niche.
- Set up an RSS feed. An RSS feed allows your articles to be easily linked in a variety of other places. Submitting your RSS feed to directories can really give your links a boost.
- See this guide for more details on building back links.
9: Link to old posts on your own site. Make sure that you are linking to related articles that you've already written. This will help new users find interesting articles from your backlog, and will keep people on your site.
- Add links on old posts to new ones. If you write an article that relates to an old article that you did, make sure to go back to the old article and link to the new one.
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