Updated July 2024:
When starting a new blog or website, many have the goal to make money first. I know I certainly did. However, in order to make any money, you have to get readers to actually visit your site.
After all, what’s the point of working hard at something if no one is going to see it? With that in mind, there are many ways to generate website traffic, especially for free.
While paying for ads that generate website traffic can be a viable option to grow your business, most beginner bloggers don’t have the budget for it.
Until you do have the budget, we think it is a good idea to focus on free ways to get more traffic. Today I want to focus on 6 Easy and Effective Ways to Grow Your Blog or Website Traffic.
Create Helpful Content First
When I started my first health and wellness website, my goal was to create an affiliate marketing website.
And I did just that. I promoted sexual health products and other pills that I didn’t really believe in. Guess how many sales I got? Absolutely none…
It wasn’t until I started focusing on creating the best possible content for my readers that I started to see any money come in.
I stopped focusing on what I wanted and started focusing on what they were asking for. I also began to only promote products and services that I not only believed in, but used myself.
Learn from my experience and create helpful honest content that engages your readers and the money will flow.
Otherwise, you will just keep spinning your wheels. Now that we have that out of the way, let’s focus on the ways I have increased my website traffic
1. Google SEO
Google SEO or Search Engine Optimization is when you write content that contains keywords and phrases that Google detects and will rank on its search engine.
The goal is to have your articles rank on the first page of Google. After all, how often do you scroll past the first page of Google when searching for something? I certainly don’t
I could write an entire article about this topic (If that’s something you’d like to see, leave a comment below and I’ll do it)
One of the ways that worked for me was to focus on longer, less common keywords and phrases that don’t have very much competition.
Here is an example of an article I wrote that became the #1 search result on Google.
2. Guest Posting
Guest Posting is when you reach out to other websites in your industry and offer to write a guest contributor article for their website.
So why would you want to write a free article for one of your competitors?
Well, it may not seem like it but by reaching out to other blogs or high authority websites related to the topic of your blogs, you can get more people clicking over to your website.
In your guest posting article, you will have a direct link to your personal website usually at the bottom with your name and who you are. Some guest posting opportunities let you directly link back to your website in the guest post itself.
This is known as backlinking and will also give your website more authority, which shows Google that your website is trustworthy enough that other websites are linking to you.
It’s sort of a win-win situation.
You get website authority and additional traffic to your blog, while the site you are posting on gets a free article.
It does take some persistence as most sites will either tell you no or not respond at all. But if you can get a handful of people to accept, that could really pay off in your benefit.
Guest posting opens you up to new audiences that may have never found your blog on their own.
I recommend starting sending at least 50 emails offering to write a Guest Posting article. Also, make sure to link to the content you’ve written for validation.
3. Email List
As much as I love using Google SEO and Pinterest to get traffic, they could very well close down and we would lose our audience if we weren’t collecting their email addresses.
But because we collect our readers’ email addresses, part of that fear is eliminated.
I like to send out a monthly newsletter that tells any updates for the month, as well as new articles I have written. This is how you get more traffic
Remember that these readers on your list are your #1 fans, so treat them with respect and not spam them.
We recommend a free service until you grow your email list enough.
Check out Mailerlite (the one service we use) for more information and to create a free account.
4. Start A YouTube Channel
Many successful bloggers use Youtube not only to grow their website traffic but also as a viable additional stream of income.
I know it can be uncomfortable to get in front of the camera to make videos. I get it.
But you don’t have to get in front of the camera if you’re uncomfortable. You can create helpful PowerPoint-style videos with just a simple voice-over.
All you need to do is take the content from an article you have written and turn it into video format. You can then link to that article in the video description which will get more traffic to your blog.
Also, having your home page address in your Youtube channel bio can also get more readers to your blog.
Create a Youtube Business Account here.
5. Pinterest
Pinterest is in my opinion the best form of free traffic to build your website or blog. My wife Helena creates these amazing-looking graphics that are displayed on Pinterest.
Here is one of her recent “pins” that has received thousands of clicks:
When Pinterest users click on these graphics, it takes them directly to an article we have written, which is free website traffic. Take a look at some of our Pinterest stats above to see how we’ve grown our past nutrition blog via Pinterest. It definitely works.
Create a free Pinterest Business Account here
6. Tailwind
Tailwind is a scheduler that helps you promote and market your online content and automatically launch it to platforms like Pinterest and Instagram.
Even though Tailwind is not free like Pinterest by itself, it is well worth the cost in my opinion, Plus we write it off as a business expense, so it’s a no-brainer.
We have used it to grow our Pinterest Account tremendously, and because of that growth, our website traffic has also increased.
One of the reasons why I love Tailwind is that it makes uploading content easy and saves you time and energy. While at the same time, it lets you use tools that can help your website grow.
My favorite and one of the most popular features are tailwind tribes, which are groups of creators that exchange and share each other’s content and connect with one another.
A new game-changing feature that I have to mention is Tailwind Create. This is an automatic image creator that simplifies the way you create graphics to share with your followers.
Tailwind Create alone has saved us hundreds of hours in productivity.
Tailwind also analyzes what are the best current practices and notify users of changes in Instagram and Pinterest to let your content grow organically and keep it fresh.
It also teaches through blog posts and webinars how to best take advantage of all its features.
Honestly, the benefits far outweigh the cost and is an expense we have no issue paying each month because it just flat-out works.
Tailwind plans start at 14.99 per month and you can sign up here for free. Tailwind also has a free trial period so you have nothing to lose.
Final Thoughts On Getting Free Traffic To Your Website
While there are numerous ways to get free traffic to your website with the amount of social media platforms online, these are the ones I have used with success.
If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment below or email me directly at nick{@}successinsteadofstress.com.
Thanks for reading,
Nick Hazleton