Without targeted traffic, you WILL fail online! 
Do you feel happy when you see or hear the word “SEO?”
Or do you run away, worried about Panda or Penguin slap?
What does it really take to attract organic traffic from Google and other search engines?
Do you think it’s difficult to optimize your blog pages and content?
This is one of the questions, which my tribe (email subscribers) asked me to address.
And I’m happy to write this post today. Are you ready to read it…?
It doesn’t matter what you do at the moment; content writing, graphic designing, blogging, social marketing, consulting, career consulting and so on, you need targeted traffic – and organic traffic, which comes from Google is the best.
If you’ve been a bit confused about the direction of SEO lately, your blog and how you can gain targeted traffic, take a closer look at the 9 cool ways to trigger it.
Please don’t skim through this page, read every damn word. Or I’d arrest you. Lol!
You’ll discover new insights about search engine optimization, which you’ve NEVER heard of in your life – It’s a guarantee. Get started now!
1. Get your blog ready
It’s a waste of time trying to drive traffic to your blog, when you’re not ready for it. If you implement the tips here, your blog would receive 100s of organic traffic in a short while.
But are you ready for this traffic. Bear in mind that Google spider tracks repeat visitors. When someone visits your blog page from a search engine, the IP address will be recorded.
When the same person visits again, the initial IP would match with the current IP. Google would instantly see your blog as being resourceful and valuable.
You’d receive more targeted traffic after many days. Repeat visitors are the key to winning the SEO game. {Tweet this}
Quick fix: Make sure your email subscription box is visible. The RSS feed for email should be prominent as well.
You need a way to capture the reader’s email address so you can keep in touch and build a relationship. You want repeat readers, not one-offs, which is the ultimate goal.
2. Forget about search engines
Now, I’m sure you’ve been advised time and again to write for the people, not search engines?
A simple experiment to help you focus on the people is this: take your mind back to the time when search engines didn’t exist.
Let’s assume Google is dead, how would you write your content? If you sell a product or service on your website/blog, who are you marketing to? Is it Google or potential buyers who have credit cards to actually buy what you’re selling?
Of course, potential buyers!
Now, take your mind off a piece of script called “search engine spider” and gaze upon that person who has money to buy from you. Write your article as though Google doesn’t exist.
This single act is the best way to write quality articles, which are natural and helpful to your readers. But what about keyword research and density, does it matter? Read next line….
3. Use keywords for insight only
When I research keywords, I’m not trying to optimize for them, especially now that Google isn’t solely interested in that kind of practice.
What I do is simple. I only use keywords to get insights about my ideal reader.
I really want you to understand the concept here. Every keyword has a message it conveys. It tells you the thoughts of your target audience at a particular time.
For instance, if you find a keyword like “get rid of bad breath fast,” it shows that the person who searched for such a term is desperate for solutions.
Probably, they have been embarrassed by their boyfriend or relation. If there is a solution, you better make it quick.
So, when you write your content, write with a tone that sounds “fast” and “authentic.” Don’t try to promise results in 30 days – the searcher would hate you for life.
Use keywords for insights. Get blog posts ideas by researching key phrases. But never stuff or pad content. I hope this advice helps in your keyword research, next time.
4. Update your ‘archive’ posts regularly
Don’t allow your previous blog content to die. If you’re not generating organic traffic from your older posts, it’s your fault.
Try updating the ‘archive’ posts regularly. Add more subheads and bullets points to pre-existing content and hit the publish button.
Google spider would crawl, index and serve them up to your target audience. I’ve used this strategy to grow my blog’s readership in the past 4 months. It doesn’t fail.
5. Double-mask your headline
Do I need to tell you the importance of a catchy headline? I don’t think so. But I can show you how to attract more traffic with your headline – double-mask the headline. That sounds weird, right?
Hmm, in this concept, to double-mask simply means to write the same keyword twice, without making it look like a spam. For instance, if you’re writing a blog post about social media, you could double-mask thus:
Example 1: Social media: 5 tips to market your blog through social media networks
Example 2: Content writing tips: 3 things content curation will do for you
6. Reference authority posts
Google respects authority sites in every niche.
And if you’re just starting out, it’s going to take years to build authority with your blog. Take the easy route – reference a detailed post on A-list blog.
But don’t overdo this or you would lose readers to those sites. Link out where and when necessary. It surely can improve your SEO ranking and bring in more free traffic.
7. Write a list post
Do you complicate or simplify content writing? List posts are easy to write. You don’t have to make list “50” especially when you don’t have the time or ideas, 7 or 10 is Okay.
A list post would attract social media shares from readers. You may not ask them to share it, but they will – everyone loves list posts.
Make it a part of your blogging goal. Lest I forget, since I started writing list posts, my blog’s traffic has almost tripled. My readers also love this kind of posts. It opened my eyes to a new blogosphere.
Example 1: Top 7 tips to build an email list from scratch
Example 2: 10 best writing techniques from my copywriter friend
8. Interview an SEO expert
Do you know any SEO expert? You can leverage on their influence to drive organic traffic. Most experts who work at Google would be willing to answer your questions if you dare send them.
Be brief when asking your questions. SEO experts are busy people. The ‘secret’ is to get their names on the blog post headline and few times on the post.
No, you’re trying to stuff the interview post. It naturally will appear, since you’re interviewing them.
Matt Cutts has almost become a high volume keyword. Why not interview him? You think it’s difficult to get Matt on phone or via email?
Don’t make excuses your second nature. Try first. Don’t assume it’s impossible. And if Matt is too busy for you, what about Ruud Hein (searchenginepeople.com)?
9. Alternate your anchor texts
Don’t use the same anchor texts when building links to your website or blog. Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) is the new SEO rule.
Target other similar keywords and use them for your anchor links.
Thousands of websites and blogs where penalized for over-optimization. The same anchor text was used on multiple sites. That’s not healthy for your webpage. Always alternate.
For instance, if you’re linking to a blog post about branding, try using ‘brand, branding, brand image, brand building, build a brand, brand marketing and so on for your anchor links. Did you get that?
10. Bonus: Don’t waste time on easy links
If you want quality links that can affect your ranking positively, then stop looking at the quick ways or shortcut. It doesn’t work like that.
The best links are not easy to come by. If a blogger friend obliged to add your link on their blogroll, that link isn’t going to count at all. Is that true or false?
See the magic – only use valuable and unique content to build your links. Don’t go for link exchange sites or try to trick Google through the backdoor.
Guest posting is a great way to build backlinks. Try your best to link from the guest post itself, not the traditional author profile (bio).
Make your link appear above the fold – it’s going to impact your ranking positively in subsequent Google’s algorithm changes.
Say your mind…
Did you enjoy this post? I promised to dazzle you with new SEO tips, especially in this post-panda and Penguin era. Please leave a comment below. Let me know what you think. I’ll reply as quickly as possible. See you there!
Photo Credits: Benthomasrockstar | Jimmybrown | Schristia