There are over 30 million blogs available on the internet. That's a lot of content and a lot of competition. It may even feel pointless to start a blog since it’s almost certain that others out there cover your niche, but don’t despair.

If you run a business or if you're looking to monetize your blog, posting informative, useful content is key to driving more traffic to your website. If you give away valuable information that's been well written, you can establish yourself as an expert in your field. Experts are seen as trustworthy and therefore generate more sales and brand loyalty than others. We’ll tell you how to get there when you are starting from scratch.

Blogging isn't simply about posting content and hoping that someone notices it. You could be the most engaging and expert blogger on the planet, but you will struggle to grow your audience to more than a handful of followers if you lack a good strategy. Your strategy for growing your blog traffic will incorporate several essential steps. Let's take a deep look at each step.

Define Your Niche Then Narrow it

Blogging about anything and everything won’t establish you as an expert. Additionally, focusing on one broad subject also makes it difficult for you to grow your audience. What you need to do is take your chosen business niche and narrow it down even further

For example, let’s say that you run a business selling second-hand cars. Instead of blogging about cars in general, you could narrow the focus to classic cars only. Or perhaps you are an expert in restoring old cars.

In another example, you run an online shop for mother and baby items. Instead of a blog about parenting, you could zone in on a specific parenting style. You may choose to focus on environmentally conscious parenting.

The more specific the niche, the easier it is to become an authoritative and knowledgeable voice for the subject. The end game is to build your audience enough so that you eventually become the go-to website for information on that niche.

A few things to remember when considering your niche:

• Whatever you choose to write about, make sure that you're interested and passionate about it. If it's not a subject you care about, then you may find it difficult to maintain the effort required to write consistent, quality content.

• Don’t narrow your niche so much that you limit the size of your audience. Keep it specific but broad enough that you will still capture a wide readership. If your niche is too narrow, it can also limit your range of topics, so it’s important to find a balance here.

 Who Are You Writing For?

One key element when looking at how to grow your blog traffic is to gain a deep understanding of who you are writing for. Knowing your audience will allow you to determine exactly what type of content to write and in what style.

To find your audience, ask yourself the following questions:

• What is the age range of your audience?

• What is their profession and skill level?

• Are you aiming at a beginner, intermediate, or expert-level?

• What can you teach your audience?

• Are there any other blogs of a similar nature? What are they like and who is following them?

• Is your audience following any influencers or well-known people in your industry or niche?

Once you've established your audience, you will know who you are writing for. This will make it easier to create the right content.

Carefully Consider Your Content

Always keep your audience in mind when choosing which subjects to write about. It's easy to forget this and only write for yourself and what you're interested in. By writing for yourself, however, there is a danger of alienating your audience. To write engaging content, you need to put yourself in your audience's shoes and think about the following:

• What do they need to know?

• What do they want to know?

• What different perspective can you offer on the things they already know?

• What relevant emerging trends can you write about?

Give your audience what they need and want. When you do this, you'll keep them engaged and interested. Not only that, but they'll also spread the word on your behalf, and you'll gain new followers too.

Want to quickly find questions your customers are asking? Try Quora.

Don’t Know What Your Audience Wants? Ask Them!

You can send customer surveys to find out which subjects they want to hear more about. You can also take a look at other blogs and content in your niche to see which articles gain the most traction. Have a look at relevant forums and social media to see what kinds of questions are being asked.

Write Expertly

You won’t establish yourself as a credible expert unless you take the time to research your blog subject thoroughly. Poorly researched and badly written content simply won’t gain the traction or respect you need to gain a decent following.

Long-form content works best. Aim for a well-written piece that comes in between 1,200 and 2,000 words. If it has a higher word count, however, that shouldn't be a problem.

The word count for an article shouldn’t dip under 1,000, though, as Google ranks these articles less favorably. The theory is that a short article can’t contain the necessary information to cover the subject adequately. And a higher word count allows search engines to better understand the theme and determine whether the user will gain a good experience from reading it.

Research Relevant Keywords

Search engine optimization (SEO) is essential if you want to appear in the elusive top spot on a search results page. The way to do this is to incorporate relevant keywords and phrases into your content. There are two types of keywords/phrases that you can use and each has pros and cons:

1. Short-tailed keywords: These are typically three words or less. They have a very high search volume. With that, however, comes fierce competition.

   • Short-tailed keyword example: Ladies running shoes

2. Long-tailed Keywords: These are longer phrases that may have a very low search volume. They are far more specific, though, and therefore tend to have a higher conversion rate.

   • Long-tailed keyword example: Ladies size six high-arch orthopedic running shoes 

You can see how a short-tailed keyword would be a common thing for a person to search for, but the subject remains broad. The long-tailed keyphrase will have fewer people searching for it, making it more specific and targeted. The best strategy is to place a mix of well-chosen short and long-tail keywords and phrases into your content.

Need a keyword tool? Checkout Ubersuggest.

Reference and Reach out

While you're looking to establish yourself as an expert in your field, keep in mind that you're not the only one. Collaboration is better than competition in the blogging sphere, and experienced influencers know this.

When researching other bloggers' content, you'll notice that they'll reference other people's content, link it, and basically support each other. Through doing this, a "cross-pollination" of followers typically occurs. The more you share others' ideas and collaborate, the more your credibility within your niche will grow.

Blogging can be a highly valuable tool to your online arsenal. Take the time to do it right, even if you are starting from scratch. With consistent effort and a straightforward strategy that focuses on quality, relevant content, you will grow your traffic.