Want to learn how to drive more blog traffic? I’ve got you covered.
The blogging game has changed. AI disruption, SEO volatility, and shifting algorithms have made it harder than ever to get eyes on your content.
But there’s good news: It’s still possible with the right strategy.
In this guide, I’ll walk you through 30+ actionable ways to drive traffic to your blog through search, social, email, and more.
These are the exact tactics I’ve used to reach hundreds of thousands of monthly readers—and they still work today.
Search engine optimization (SEO) strategies
The best way to consistently drive long-term traffic to your blog is through organic search.
That’s because, unlike social media traffic, which spikes and fades, search traffic tends to compound over time.
Every so often, Google will throw out an update that doesn’t work and causes problems. This happened with Penguin. Which they later sorted out. And it happened with the HCU (which was nothing to do with content quality)—they still need to sort that one out.
But in general, SEO traffic will tend to be the most consistent.
Here are some search engine optimization (SEO) strategies that can help you to rank your blog content and drive more organic search traffic to your site.
1. Target ultra-specific, low-competition keywords
It’s getting harder and harder to rank on Google for common search queries.
Artificial intelligence (AI) has flooded the internet with content, making the SERPs more competitive than ever.
At the same time, Google has shifted its focus toward authoritative sources, making it tough for smaller, niche bloggers to compete.
The answer: Stop trying to rank for competitive keywords if you aren’t able to compete for the same broad topics that everyone else is covering.
Instead, focus your attention on ultra-low-competition, long-tail keywords that hardly anyone else is targeting.
These kinds of keywords might only get a fraction of the monthly searches broader keywords get, but you stand a much better chance of ranking for them—and getting traffic.
Here’s how to go about it…
First, open up Google and start typing in a broad, competitive keyword that you’d like to rank for if you could, and look at the suggestions that pop up.
For instance, let’s say you have a blog about personal finance. ‘Retirement planning’ is a popular query that would probably drive a ton of traffic.
If we type that in, autocomplete brings up a bunch of suggestions like ‘Retirement planning for business owners’, ‘Retirement planning for couples’, and so on.
These are long-tail keywords. They’re already a little better, but they’re still too competitive—so let’s go one step further.
Open up SE Ranking’s keyword suggestion tool and enter some of the long-tail keywords we just found.
In the Keyword Ideas report, you’ll see a huge list of ultra-specific, long-tail keywords that have very low competition.
For instance, I can see in the report that ‘retirement planning checklist for couples’ and ‘retirement planning for married couples’ have virtually no competition, making them easy to rank for.
These are the kind of keywords you want to target as a new blogger to drive long-term traffic.
Note: It doesn’t have to be SE Ranking. You can use any other good keyword research tool to get long-tail suggestions.
2. Reverse-engineer your competitors
If other sites in your niche are getting a lot of traffic, it makes sense to do what they’re doing. After all, if it’s working for them, there’s no reason it shouldn’t work for you.
That’s where competitive analysis comes in. You can use SE Ranking for this, too.
Sign up, enter your domain, and open up the My Competitors tool. Then, hit Find My Competitors to bring up a list of sites in your niche that get the most traffic.
Next, open up any competitor site in SE Ranking’s competitive research tool for a complete SEO report on their performance.
You’ll be able to see which keywords, blog posts, and backlinks are driving the bulk of their traffic. You can then use those insights to reverse-engineer their strategy.
For instance, if you see that one particular blog post/keyword is driving tens of thousands of visits a month to their site, you can create a similar blog post yourself (but make yours even better) to try to rank alongside them and steal some of that traffic.
Likewise, if you notice they’re getting a lot of referral traffic from another website, you can target that website in your outreach/link-building campaigns.
Basically, you’re looking at what worked for them and doing the same—cherry-picking the best bits from their strategy and incorporating them into your own.
3. Optimize every post with the right tools
Writing great blog content isn’t enough, you also have to optimize every post you write for search engines to give them the best chance of ranking and driving traffic.
You can use any content optimization tool for this. Frase and SE Ranking are both great options—their built-in content editors and writing assistants make on-page optimization fast, easy, and effective.
Start by entering your target keyword in the content editor.
The tool will then analyze the top-ranking content for that term and generate a brief with everything you need to compete: recommended word count, suggested terms to include, link suggestions, and content structure guidelines.
As you write inside the editor, you get a real-time content score, showing how well-optimized your post currently is and telling you what you need to fix.
It highlights things like missing keywords and headlines and offers tips to help you improve grammar and readability.
Once your score is in the green, you’ll know your post has the best possible chance of ranking and pulling in long-term organic traffic.
4. Publish helpful content with personal insights
Since Google’s HCU update, it’s been trying to weed out low-value, AI slop from the SERPs. It wants to show searchers original, reliable content from real human experts.
Yes, it’s true that they’ve essentially used the algorithmic equivalent of napalm when they needed surgical precision. So, I’ll try to keep my anti-Google feelings contained for this part of the post.
Anyway…
What does this mean for bloggers? It means it’s no longer enough to write generic answers to questions that AI could answer better.
Now, if you want traffic from search engines like Google, you have to provide something AI can’t—genuinely valuable content packed with your original thoughts and unique insights.
But it’s important I be clear here:
Google cannot tell the difference between good content, bad content, or flat out AI slop. But usually people can. And its the engagement signals from users that can influence how Google ranks content.
So, it’s humans you need to impress with your content.
To do that, try including anecdotes, case studies, or lessons learned from your own experiences in the posts you write.
Instead of writing ‘How to grow an email list’, write ‘How I grew my email list to 10,000+ subscribers (and what I’d do differently)’. Real-life stories like these build trust and set your content apart.
If your blog post sounds like it could have been churned out by ChatGPT, it is less likely to rank well. But if you can mix genuinely helpful info with your voice, your data, and your experiences, it will be more likely to rank higher.
Note: You’ll still need to do all of the basic SEO stuff like optimizing your content with tools like SE Ranking or Frase. But, your priority needs to be on writing your content for human consumption. This will lead to more traffic, links, and all of that good stuff.
5. Demonstrate expertise across your site
As I mentioned earlier, Google’s algorithm is more likely to reward content from real people with real knowledge.
So, if you want your blog posts to rank and drive traffic, you need to show that you know your stuff and demonstrate expertise across your whole website—not just in your posts.
Start with your About page. This is one of the first places Google (and your readers) will look to understand who you are and why they should trust you.
Use it to demonstrate expertise by highlighting your credentials, experience, and anything that proves you’re an authority in your niche. Have you been featured in publications? Worked in the industry? Got a track record of results? Say so.
Here’s Blogging Wizard’s about page, for reference.
As you can see, I use it to explain my approach to blogging, outline my experience, highlight publications we’ve been featured on, and establish EEAT (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness).
You might want to add a short author bio to the end of every blog post, too. Link to your About page from your bio and include a headshot if possible. This not only humanizes your blog, but it also reinforces your credibility site-wide.
Note: EEAT is not a ranking factor so this won’t help you rank. But it will give people more reasons to trust your blog. This trust will then in turn lead to more links and returning visitors which is great because these are rewarded by Google’s algo. And there’s a bit more to the “Experience” part than just what you write on a page.
6. Identify SEO opportunities with Frase
One of the easiest ways to grow your blog traffic is by optimizing content you’ve already published.
Frase makes this simple with its Content Opportunities feature.
Once you connect your Google Search Console (GSC) account, Frase analyzes your existing posts to uncover low-hanging SEO wins, like keywords you’re already ranking for but not yet dominating.
It looks for posts sitting on page two or three of the SERPs and shows you exactly which terms to target and how to optimize them to push them higher.
It also flags content that needs attention (like decaying pages that have dropped in clicks or rankings), uncovers underperforming content with high impressions but low CTR, and suggests new keyword ideas based on trending terms.
Armed with that knowledge, you can jump straight into refreshing content that needs attention inside Frase’s editor. You can even prioritize pages by traffic potential and difficulty, so you’re always working on what matters most.
This is one of the most efficient ways to boost rankings and drive more traffic from posts you’ve already published.
Note: You could get a lot of the same insights you get with Frase manually inside GSC, but the process is clunky and time-consuming. Frase does it in minutes, turning raw data into clear, actionable tasks and quick-win opportunities.
7. Refresh old content periodically
Freshness is still a big ranking factor. Google prefers to rank content that’s been posted or updated recently over older articles, especially for topics that evolve over time.
What does this mean? If your blog post is a few years old and hasn’t been touched since, it’s likely slipping down the rankings, which means it isn’t driving as much traffic as it could be.
That’s why I’d recommend making it a habit to update your existing content at least once a year.
Look for outdated stats, broken links, and old information that’s no longer relevant or correct.
When you find a post with any of the above, update it to add new insights and bring it up-to-date. Add internal links to newer articles, and tweak your headline or meta description if needed.
Keep in mind that you don’t have to rewrite the whole thing. Even small updates—like adding a new section or image—can signal to Google that the content is fresh and still relevant, and bag you a quick SEO win.
And if you’re using tools like Frase or SE Ranking, they’ll help identify which posts are losing traffic, so you know exactly where to focus your efforts.
8. Run technical audits regularly
Even the best content won’t rank as well as it could if your site has technical issues holding it back. That’s why regular SEO audits are essential.
Start by checking out the Pages section in Google Search Console.
Look for errors like 404 not found pages that should be redirected, or pages accidentally set to noindex that you want ranking. Fixing these small issues only takes a few minutes, but it can have a big impact on your visibility.
For deeper insights, use a dedicated SEO auditing tool.
SE Ranking has a robust site audit feature that scans your whole site for problems like broken links, crawl issues, and duplicate content.
If you prefer a more engaging approach, Morningscore turns auditing into a game, rewarding you with points for fixing problems and leveling you up as you improve your site.
I’d recommend running a full audit at least once a quarter. Catching and fixing issues early ensures your content performs at its best and delivers maximum traffic.
9. Stay in your lane and keep topical focus tight
The dumbsterfire of an algo update that Google named the “Helpful Content Update” (HCU for short) was not what they claimed it was.
And it was ironic that their guidance that was released with this update was extremely unhelpful.
Anyway, this update wasn’t what they said it was. It was later revealed at Google’s 2024 Creator Summit that the update had nothing to do with the helpfulness of content.
They just gaslit publishers into thinking their content wasn’t good enough when they have no idea how to algorithmically determine what is or isn’t quality content.
In reality, the update graded based on how well they stuck to their core topic. Google would of course choose what it thought the site’s core topic was and judge them accordingly. In the Content Warehouse API leak, there is reference to a modifier known as the siteFocusScore.
Sites would then be demoted in search based on how far they strayed outside of their lane.
So, what does that mean for bloggers and creators like us?
We’ve got to pick a topic and stick to it.
No more multi-topic blogs or authority sites. We pick a single niche and we stick to it.
But this does get a bit tricky for certain topics. It seems that Google has issues with complex and nuanced topics.
Take Blogging Wizard as an example. Blogging is a diverse topic. Related topics like email marketing, social media and WordPress are all relevant for me to cover on this site.
Does Google see it that way? No. Like their Penguin algorithm when it was first released, this particular update is also heavily flawed.
So, my best advice would be to focus on a topic that is very clear cut and easy for Google to understand.
10. Optimize your site speed with NitroPack (if it is too slow)
Page speed is part of Google’s algorithm but it doesn’t work in the way most people think.
A faster website doesn’t mean better rankings. This part of the algo works more like a demotion rather than a boost. And it’s usually only applied to sites that are super slow.
So, if your site is fast already. You can skip ahead to the next tip. If not, it’s time to get that addressed.
Slow-loading blog posts frustrate users and cause them to leave. These are all negative engagement signals that can cause you to lose rankings.
And if you’re not ranking, you’re not getting as much blog traffic as you could be.
How slow they have to be for Google to take issue, is impossible to say, but it’s worth addressing performance issues regardless. Mainly because its good for users.
NitroPack is one of the easiest ways to speed up your blog if it’s built on WordPress. It’s an all-in-one performance plugin that handles all speed optimizations for you automatically, including caching, image optimization, code minification, and more.
Just install the plugin and run through the initial configuration. The plugin will take care of everything from there.
For even better results, combine NitroPack with a fast, lightweight theme like Astra or GeneratePress.
The best way to think about NitroPack is a one-click button to fix performance woes. If your host is a bit problematic, it’ll be the most efficient way to speed things up without moving hosts.
That said, it is better to build your website on a solid foundation. In which case, consider choosing a fast and reliable web host optimized for WordPress, like WPX Hosting.
Note: Some web hosts do restrict the types of performance plugins that are allowed to run on their servers. And if you use a host like WPX Hosting, you probably won’t need NitroPack.
11. Improve your website’s UX
The smoother and more user-friendly your website is, the longer visitors will stay on your site, and the more likely they’ll be to come back.
Not only does this help boost your traffic from repeat visits, but it also sends positive engagement signals to Google, helping you rank higher and drive more traffic from search.
You can start by improving readability. Use clean fonts, short paragraphs, and plenty of white space. Stick to a simple, mobile-friendly design with a fast-loading, uncluttered layout.
Adding a table of contents to your blog posts makes it easier for readers to navigate long articles and find what they’re looking for quickly.
Want to go deeper? Use a heatmapping tool like Mouseflow to see where users click, scroll, and drop off.
You might discover that key content is getting buried, or that clunky design elements are driving people away.
12. Internally link between posts
Internal linking is one of the simplest and most effective ways to improve your blog’s SEO.
Internal links help search engines crawl and understand your site structure. They also spread link equity to key pages and boost your chances of ranking.
And it’s not just about SEO. Smart internal linking also improves the user experience by guiding readers to related posts, keeping them engaged, and increasing time on site.
That kind of engagement sends positive signals to Google and helps build reader loyalty, both of which help with long-term traffic.
Whenever you publish a new blog post, look for opportunities to link to and from existing content. Anchor the links on relevant keywords so Google understands the connection between the two pages.
You can do this manually or use a plugin like Link Whisper to speed things up—it automatically suggests relevant internal links as you write.
Just remember to vary the anchor text that you use across your site for your internal links. If you reuse the same anchor text for one post, Google may choose to ignore some of those internal links.
13. Turn unlinked mentions into backlinks
Backlinks are still one of the biggest factors behind higher rankings—and higher rankings lead to more long-term traffic.
They also drive direct referral traffic from other websites, especially if the link is placed in a high-traffic article that’s relevant to your niche.
There are plenty of link-building strategies you can use for this, but most are slow or unreliable. One low-effort, high-impact tactic that still works well, though, is turning unlinked mentions into backlinks.
Sometimes, other websites will mention your brand, content, or product without actually linking to you. All you have to do is find those mentions and politely ask them to add a link on your brand name—and bingo, you’ve just built a new backlink.
Use link building tools like SE Ranking or web monitoring tools like Brand24 to uncover these unlinked brand mentions.
Once you find one, visit the page to confirm it’s relevant and live, then reach out to the author or editor with a friendly email.
Keep it short and to the point, and show your appreciation. The chances are, if they already mentioned you, they’ll be happy to add a link.
14. Clickbait your post titles
With AI-generated answers, featured snippets, and other SERP features taking over the top of Google search results, zero-click searches are more common than ever.
That means fewer people are actually clicking through to blogs, even when they rank on page one.
To combat this, your titles need to stand out. The best way to do that? Make your headlines irresistibly clickable.
Use curiosity gaps (‘You’re Probably Making This SEO Mistake’), numbers (‘7 Ways I Tripled My Blog Traffic’), and emotional hooks (‘The Brutal Truth About Blogging No One Tells You’) that your target readers won’t be able to ignore.
The more your titles stand out, the more clicks you’ll get. Plus, higher CTRs can lead to better rankings, too, which means even more long-term traffic.
Note: There is balance to be found here. If you hype up your content too much in the headline, you’ll just annoy people. So, to find balance, think about it like this: your headline is a promise and your content needs to deliver on that promise.
16. Add schema markup
Schema markup is a type of structured data that helps search engines and AI tools better understand your content.
Aside from boosting crawlability, it also enhances how your blog posts appear in the SERPs, which can lead to higher click-through rates and more long-term traffic.
When you add schema, you make your posts eligible for ‘rich results’. Think star ratings, FAQs, and snippets. These stand out in the SERPs, making users more likely to click through to your post.
Schema is also becoming increasingly important for AI optimization. As large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT and Google’s AI Overviews scan the web for content to surface in their answers to prompts, structured data helps them parse and understand your posts more accurately.
As a result, implementing schema makes it more likely that your content will show up as a citation in AI search results, which can drive more traffic to your site. And AI-driven traffic is going to be super important going forward.
You can add schema manually or use WordPress schema plugins like Schema Pro.
17. Optimize for AI crawlers
Over the last year or so, AI search tools—like Google’s AI Overviews and ChatGPT’s web browsing—have become much more popular. For that reason, traffic from AI searches is set to play a much bigger role in how people discover blog content than before.
Schema markup helps, but there’s more you can do to prepare.
Start by following traditional SEO best practices. If you’re ranking well in Google or Bing, there’s a good chance your content will be cited or surfaced by AI tools pulling from those engines.
Next, make sure you’re not blocking AI crawlers in your robots.txt file. LLMs like OpenAI’s GPTBot and Google-Extended need access to your content to include it in responses—blocking them means missing out on future traffic streams.
Also, avoid client-side JavaScript rendering, which most AI crawlers can’t interpret. Stick to server-side rendering to ensure your content is fully accessible.
One more thing: AI needs your content to be easy to parse. So, structure posts with clarity. That means using subheadings and FAQs to isolate helpful facts, avoiding burying key info in long intros or dense paragraphs, and breaking important takeaways into short, standalone sentences. Lists work well too—they’re easy for AI to summarize and reference.
To track your AI visibility, use a tool like SE Ranking. It shows where your content is being referenced in AI results so you can stay ahead of this fast-changing landscape. And it comes with loads of other useful SEO tools.
Social media marketing strategies
Social media is the next best channel for driving long-term blog traffic, after search.
However, it’s not enough to just fire off a few social media posts with a link to your latest blog posts each month. That’s not going to work.
You need to focus on building an audience, first. That’s where social media excels.
In this section, I’ll show you how to drive real traffic to your blog through social, the right way.
19. Turn your blog posts into YouTube videos…
YouTube is the second-largest search engine in the world, right behind Google.
So, if you’re only publishing content in written form, you’re missing out on a huge potential traffic source.
A smart way to expand your reach is by turning key blog posts into simple YouTube videos. Screen recordings, slide decks, or talking head videos all work fine.
At the end of each video (and in the description), direct viewers back to your original blog post for more information. This can send highly-targeted traffic back to your blog—people who’ve already engaged with your content and want more.
Then, take your video and embed it into your blog post. This will keep readers on the page for longer which is a good thing for search engines like Google.
Over time, your YouTube videos can also rank in search results alongside blog posts and show up in recommendations on YouTube. This will all help to build a steady stream of long-term traffic that supports the growth of your blog.
20. …and share short-form clips across platforms
Once you’ve created a YouTube video from a blog post, don’t stop there—break it down into short, snappy clips and post them on short-form platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts.
Pull out key tips, surprising stats, or important moments from the longer video—anything that hooks attention fast. Keep each clip under 60 seconds and add captions, since most people scroll with the sound off.
In your caption or overlay, include a clear call-to-action pointing back to the full blog post for viewers who want to read more. You can also drop the link in your bio and mention that in the clip.
This approach increases your visibility and helps you drive even more traffic to your posts from multiple platforms. The more touch points you create, the more opportunities people have to discover your blog.
21. Share posts on Facebook by adding links in the first comment
Facebook is another great place to promote your blog and drive traffic back to your posts.
But there’s one big problem: Facebook’s algorithm isn’t kind to users who post a lot of links.
So, if you’re constantly sharing blog links directly in your Facebook posts, chances are your reach is getting throttled as Facebook assumes you’re spamming. I learned that the hard way.
One workaround that still works well: Promote your blog posts on Facebook, but don’t put the link in the post caption itself.
Instead, drop it in the first comment and write ‘link in the comments’ in the caption. This tends to get better reach and engagement because Facebook doesn’t treat it like a typical link post.
The only issue is that doing this manually for every post is a pain. That’s where social media publishing tools like SocialBee come in.
It lets you schedule Facebook posts and the first comment at the same time, so you can automate the whole thing and still play nice with the algorithm.
22. Turn posts into Twitter (X) threads
Twitter is another decent social media platform for bringing steady, targeted readers to your blog.
One of the best tactics for driving traffic from Twitter is to repurpose blog content into value-packed threads.
Try breaking your best posts down into bite-sized tips, examples, or steps. Then, post them as a connected series of Tweets.
Start with a strong hook to grab attention, then lead readers through the key points. At the end of the thread, include a clear call-to-action: Something like ‘I go deeper in the full blog post here’, followed by your link.
It’s a natural way to promote your blog—and when the thread delivers real value, people will click through.
Remember: The more useful your thread is, the more likely it’ll be shared and saved, creating an evergreen trail of discovery that brings new traffic to your blog long after the thread goes live.
23. Automate social sharing with SocialBee’s RSS feeds
It’s a good idea to share a link to any new blog post you publish across all your socials as soon as it goes live. This helps drive some initial social traffic that’ll help it to get indexed and rank.
The problem is that manually promoting every new post you publish on social media is a lot of work. That’s why I’d recommend automating the process. SocialBee makes this super simple with its RSS feeds feature.
Just open up SocialBee and click Content > RSS > Add RSS. Then, paste in your blog’s RSS feed URL, and choose which social profiles you want your posts to go out on.
From there, SocialBee will automatically create posts each time you publish something new and share them across your connected social media profiles. You can also tweak how often posts go out, customize the captions, and fine-tune how your updates are shared.
The result: A consistent flow of traffic from social media to your blog, without needing to manually post a link every time you hit publish. Set it up once, and let it quietly support your long-term traffic goals in the background.
Note: If you want more control, you can also manually create and schedule social media posts at your optimal posting times through SocialBee’s content calendar.
24. Re-share evergreen posts periodically
Evergreen posts are those that don’t have a shelf life—they stay relevant over a long period.
The chances are that a lot of your blog posts fall into the evergreen category, and they deserve to be shared on social media more than once. Despite that, most bloggers forget to promote them after the initial push.
Start making it a habit to re-share your top evergreen posts every few months. A good social media scheduler (like SocialBee) can automatically recycle your best-performing content across your chosen platforms on a schedule you control.
This helps you surface older, still-useful posts to new followers who may have missed them the first time around. It’s a low-effort way to keep traffic flowing to posts that continue delivering value, and that’s what long-term blog growth is all about.
A good rule of thumb: re-share key evergreen posts on social media once a quarter. You can even update the captions to reflect current events or seasonal hooks if you want to keep things feeling fresh.
25. Add pillar posts to your social biolink page
Your social media bio link is valuable real estate, so don’t waste it on a single generic link to your blog homepage.
Instead, use a biolink tool like Shorby to create a simple landing page that features links to all your most important blog content in one place, and add a link to that landing page in your bio.
For instance, you could link to all your pillar posts—the in-depth, high-value articles that target key topics and drive the bulk of your long-term traffic—in your biolink page. This is the content you want new readers to see first.
That way, whenever someone visits your social profile and clicks the link in your bio, they’ll land on a curated list of the posts you want them to see.
It only takes a few minutes to set up your biolink page. Just add the links as clickable buttons, choose a theme/layout, and customize the page title/description if needed.
26. Add social share buttons to make your posts more shareable
If you want more traffic, make it easy for your readers to spread the word.
Adding social share buttons to your blog posts is a simple but effective way to encourage organic sharing.
When someone finds your content valuable and they see a one-click option to share it to Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or elsewhere, they’re far more likely to actually do it.
You can use social media share plugins like Novashare to quickly add customizable social sharing and buttons to your posts.
For best results, place them in areas where your audience will see them, and make them as eye-catching and clickable as possible.
Related reading: How To Get More Social Shares: The Definitive Guide for Bloggers
Email marketing strategies
Email is one of the most reliable and consistent ways to drive blog traffic and improve reader retention.
Why? Because unlike search and social media, you’re not at the mercy of algorithms—you own your list. Once someone subscribes, you can bring them back to your content again and again.
This is why you should take every opportunity you can to encourage people to join your email list. SEO and social media is how you find your ideal audience. Email is how you keep them coming back.
Here are some proven email marketing strategies you can use to get started…
28. Create a lead magnet to grow your list faster
Email marketing can drive plenty of blog traffic, but it only works if you actually have a list to send emails to.
That’s where lead magnets come in.
A lead magnet is a free, high-value resource you offer in exchange for someone’s email address. It could be a free digital product like an in-depth guide, ebook, checklist, swipe file, mini course… anything that your audience might want.
The goal is to make it so helpful that people want to give you their email just to get it.
Once they do, and you have them on your list, you can send them marketing emails to keep bringing them back to your blog again and again.
It’s a traffic source you own, independent of algorithms, and it keeps working in the background as long as your lead magnet keeps converting.
29. Keep your opt-in forms short and sweet
Opt-in forms are how people actually join your email list. The more well-optimized they are, the more likely people will be to fill them out and subscribe.
When more people subscribe, more people return—and that steady stream of repeat visitors adds up to long-term, compounding blog traffic.
Use an email capture tool like ConvertBox to create awesome opt-in forms that convert like crazy. Keep form fields to a minimum to maximize conversions—just asking for an email address and a first name is usually enough.
Also, be thoughtful about where you place them. That might be in your blog’s sidebar, header, footer, or inside your content.
You might even make your opt-in forms pop-ups or slide-ins that show up when readers have been on the page for a certain length of time, or just before they’re about to leave. The key is to get their attention without being too annoying.
30. Promote your best posts in a welcome sequence
When someone joins your email list, don’t just hit them with a one-time ‘thank you for joining our mailing list’ email. That’s a missed opportunity.
Instead, set up an automated welcome sequence using an email marketing tool like Kit or MailerLite.
Your welcome sequence is a pre-written series of emails that goes out automatically after someone subscribes, introducing them to your brand and your most valuable content.
Use the sequence to drip-feed your best evergreen blog posts and guide them through your greatest hits right out of the gate.
Not only does this send consistent traffic to the posts that matter most, but it also builds trust with new readers by showing them the kind of value they can expect from your blog, making them less likely to unsubscribe later.
31. Set up a newsletter to keep readers coming back
An email newsletter is one of the easiest ways to drive steady traffic back to your blog.
You can use newsletter software to set one up. Kit and MailerLite are both popular options.
Once you do, it’ll automatically deliver regular updates reminding subscribers about your latest blog posts and send consistent traffic back to your site.
There are tons of newsletter templates to choose from to make sure your newsletters look the part. And you can A/B test different designs and copy to optimize them and maximize your opens and clicks.
Note: Kit has a better free tier than MailerLite. But the core email newsletter functionality (specifically the editor) is far better in MailerLite.
Other ways to drive traffic
We’ve covered how to drive traffic through SEO, social media, and email—but it doesn’t end there.
These extra strategies can help you reach more readers, build authority, and create new traffic streams that compound over time.
32. Build a community around your blog
One of the best ways to drive sustainable, long-term traffic is by building a community around your blog.
A loyal audience won’t just visit your blog once and disappear—they’ll keep coming back. That kind of repeat traffic is gold, especially when search and social algorithms become unreliable.
You can host a simple community on your own website using a community platform like Skool or Thinkific.
These are particularly nice options because they make it easy to sell things like online courses at the same time.
There are also WordPress membership plugins that allow you to add gated community spaces to your blog, like comment sections and private forums.
Alternatively, some bloggers use third-party community spaces like Facebook Groups, Patreon, and Discord instead, and link to them directly from their site.
The key is to create space for your regular readers to interact with you and with each other. That builds trust, boosts retention, and turns casual visitors into loyal, long-term fans.
33. Pitch guest posts to earn referral traffic (and backlinks)
Guest posting is one of the oldest blog growth tactics—and it still works.
By writing for other blogs in your niche, you can tap into their audience, drive targeted referral traffic back to your own site, and build high-quality backlinks that improve your rankings over time.
The key is to be picky about where you post. Some sites aren’t worth the effort.
You need to target sites with a large social presence or large email list. Ideally, both.
Look for blogs that get a healthy amount of traffic, already attract your ideal readers, and accept guest contributions. Then, pitch useful, relevant topics that align with their content. A good blogger outreach tool like BuzzStream can streamline the process.
Try to include a link to your blog—ideally to a related post or lead magnet—either in your author bio or naturally within the content (if allowed).
This strategy takes a lot of time and effort, but every guest post you land is a long-term asset that could bring in referral traffic and help with SEO for months or years to come.
35. Publish original research
Publishing original research is one of the most powerful ways to attract backlinks, press coverage, and long-term blog traffic.
Why? Because data-driven content attracts backlinks and shares like nothing else.
Journalists, bloggers, influencers, and other creators are always looking for credible stats to cite in their own content—and if you’re the original source, they’ll link back to you.
You don’t need a huge budget to run research projects either. You can create simple surveys using tools like Google Forms or Typeform, get your audience to fill them out, then publish the results as a blog post with charts, takeaways, and expert commentary.
You can also analyze your own internal data (from traffic, sales, email, etc.) and turn those insights into publishable studies.
The result is evergreen, link-worthy content that keeps getting cited—and clicked—long after it goes live. It builds your authority, pushes you up the rankings, and fuels long-term traffic growth.
36. Start a podcast
Podcasting is another creative way to drive long-term traffic to your blog.
You can repurpose your blog posts into podcast episodes (or vice versa). And each episode you publish is an opportunity to direct listeners back to your blog, thus driving more traffic.
It’s as easy as sharing a link in the show notes and directing listeners to check it out if they want to learn more about what you’ve discussed in the episode (or access bonus content and resources).
As your podcast grows, so does your reach. It becomes a steady traffic funnel that builds over time.
37. Utilize parasite SEO (with a twist)
Parasite SEO is a smart way to earn referral traffic by publishing content on high-authority platforms that already rank well in search engines.
Instead of trying to outrank big sites with your own blog, you leverage the domain authority of existing sites to get visibility fast, then send that traffic back to your site.
Here’s how it works.
First, write a value-packed article or post targeting a specific keyword, and publish it on a high-authority platform like Medium, LinkedIn, Reddit, or even Quora. These are the kinds of sites that rank well in Google.
Optimize your content for SEO just like you would a blog post to give it the best chance of ranking.
And within the content, link back to your own blog in a way that’s natural. That might be as a source or related resource.
Every link you build in this way becomes a source of high-intent referral traffic that supports your long-term growth.
Now, I did mention a twist. The twist is to actually publish content people want to read. High value content that isn’t just more AI slop.
Let’s face it. When most people do parasite SEO, that’s what they’re doing.
Instead, publish high quality content that encourages people to actually leave the high authority site and visit your blog. Better yet, use it to direct traffic to your email newsletter.
Note: Google doesn’t like this and I wouldn’t usually recommend blackhat tactics, but they’ve made it difficult for smaller site owners to do things properly. So, here we are.
38. Feature other creators in your content
Another great way to boost shares and backlinks is to feature other creators in your blog posts.
Mentioning experts, quoting influencers, or linking to helpful content from people in your niche gives your post added value—and gives those creators a reason to promote it once it’s live.
For example, you could include expert quotes in a roundup, link to a useful guide written by someone else, or share insights from creators whose work you admire.
Once the post is published, reach out. Send them a quick message or email to let them know they’ve been featured.
Most will be flattered, and many will share the post with their own audience or even link to it. When they do, that sends new readers your way, turning your content into a traffic magnet fueled by relationships.
39. Buy paid traffic
This isn’t for everyone but I wanted to mention it as another option.
Buying traffic from platforms like Facebook, Bing, Google Search and other platforms can work but there are a few things you need to know first.
In particular:
It’s expensive and you need to be prepared to pay money out without the guarantee that you’ll see anything in return.
And you’ll need enough profit in your business to justify the ad spend.
If you’re focused on affiliate marketing, you can just send traffic to your money posts directly and monitor conversions.
If you have products to sell, you’ll need to build a sales funnel around those products and send traffic to the top of your funnel.
Depending how your funnel is configured, that might be a blog post or a landing page where people can join your email list (usually in exchange for access to a free product, otherwise known as a lead magnet).
Alternatively, you could promote your product directly. It all depends on what works best for what you’re selling.
But generally:
Visitors go in. Customers come out. That’s how it works in a nutshell.
Sales funnels are a huge topic in their own right, so that’ll be a topic for another time.
Note: Always avoid sending paid traffic directly to affiliate offers. Most brands do not allow this and it’s not worth getting in trouble and losing any brand partnerships over it.
40. Leverage the built-in discoverability features of other platforms
Platforms like Medium and Substack have built-in discovery tools that can put you in front of thousands of potential readers who’d never find you otherwise.
For example, Substack makes it easy to tap into its recommendations network and its Twitter-like “Notes” feature to grow your audience.
You can then point those new followers back to your blog, where they can dive into your other content, products, and services.
Note: If you’d like to learn more about it, Kevin J. Duncan has a great beginner’s guide on Substack.
Final thoughts
That wraps up my comprehensive guide to driving long-term blog traffic.
To recap, the best way to get consistent, sustainable traffic to your blog is to take an omnichannel approach.
Organic search should drive the bulk of your traffic, fueled by strong SEO foundations.
But don’t rely on Google alone—email and social media can also drive steady, repeat traffic and help future-proof your blog against algorithm changes.
Need more ideas to keep your momentum going? Check out these awesome blog post ideas to boost your traffic and find out what the best time to publish blog posts is, according to the data.
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