3 unique, comprehensive methods for generating blog traffic

generating more blog traffic

Generating blog traffic can be challenging.

One surefire way to make it even more challenging is to not be strategic about it. You’ve probably read a half dozen blog posts on promoting your blog content, but have you ever considered that generating traffic starts well before the promotion phase?

Indeed it does.

Today we’re exploring the structure of your blog as a whole, and how that structure relates to the strategies you should be using to generate traffic.

Our hope is that by the end of reading this post, you will be able to identify which method you are currently using in your business and assess whether or not that is the right method.

If not, you’ll be able to choose the method that will produce greater ROI.

The three methods we’re detailing are:

The Publisher: Obsessed with high-interest, shareable content
The Librarian: Wants to turn you into a master in one subject at a time
The SEO Tycoon: Goes after valuable search terms like a hitman

Let’s dive straight into the three different methods! You’ll see that once you nail the structure, you can rely on the right promotion tactics and generate more quality traffic.

The Publisher

publishing content to generate more blog traffic

A company creates a digital publication full of high-interest, shareable content.

What the Publishing method is

Think of your favourite digital publications. Maybe you regularly read Thrive Global or Into the Gloss or Techcrunch?

The publisher method is essentially the same thing. You’re curating content around a certain theme or subject, typically quite broad (wellness, beauty, technology), and you feature tons of different pieces within that theme.

A company using this method typically is able to produce a lot of pieces of content, perhaps five or more per week. But more rarely, they might be taking more of a “magazine” style approach to their publication, and release batches of high-quality content monthly or quarterly.

Pros:

Always something new for site visitors to engage with
Great for establishing thought leadership
Establishes the business as an authority

Cons:

Costly to create content
Typically requires large social media team
Hard to build up an audience that will return to your site

Example sites using this method

Let’s take a look at some example websites that are run like digital publications to help you understand this style.

Media Planet Education and Career News

education careers blog

What better example of a publication than a publication? Educationandcareernews.com produces a ton of content on college education and entering the workforce. Make no mistake: a publication is still a business. They have a lot of sponsored content to keep revenue coming in, and of course, they also have ads. Next, we’ll see examples from businesses that are selling something other than ad space on their site.

Shutterfly

shutterfly traffic generation example

Shutterfly — every mum’s favourite site for printing photo books, homemade calendars and personalised gifts—has their company blog organized like a publication, which they call Ideas.
Keep in mind that having a publication style does not mean that the content is not organized or categorized in a meaningful way. After their seemingly random recent posts section, they do categorize by topic, such as Photography or Parties. However (as in contrast to The Librarian style, which we will discuss shortly), these categories are not highly niched, nor are they organized logically.

Braze

braze blog example

Approximately every other month, Braze, a platform for cross-channel personalization, publishes content around a certain theme. These content pieces aren’t targeting SEO terms, and are rather focused on building out the company’s thought leadership.

Who this method works for

Unfortunately, many companies choose this method even though it’s a terrible waste of money for them.

Market leaders in any industry: You’ll need a big marketing budget to pull this off, and if you’re already way ahead of the pack, this method can help you create future success by turning your blog into a product of its own.
Sites that feature advertisements: An obvious recommendation, sure, but if you’re generating revenue with ads, then treating your blog like a digital publication is usually the best way to get more impressions, which lead to more clicks.

Ways to generate consistent traffic when using this method

With The Publisher, you’ll need to rely on more costly promotion methods. It will be critical to build up a large following on the social media platforms used by your target audience. That way, every time you push a new piece, you have an audience waiting and ready to consume it. Partnerships with influencers and press contacts will be important as well.

Of course, you can generate search traffic by targeting some SEO terms, but most companies who use this method rely on their audience and social sharing for traffic.

Feeling like this method isn’t the right fit for you? Not to worry! We’ve got two more on deck.

The Librarian

librarian method for generating more blog traffic

A company creates a comprehensive library to educate you thoroughly on one topic.

What the Librarian method is

In stark contrast to The Publisher, The Librarian is much more frugal. With this method, you pick a content vertical (something highly specific and actionable) and help your readers become an expert in that area.

You don’t focus on building an audience. You build a library catalogue within a certain niche that is easy for site visitors to navigate through, whether they return or not.

If your product or service stretches across a couple of different areas, then you can create multiple content verticals and fill them chronologically, writing more advanced pieces as you progress deeper into each topic.