How to Get Traffic From a Blog: 3 Ways to Start Networking

How to Get Traffic From a Blog – Getting Featured on Blogs

There is one very important reason you should have your site featured on blogs these days as the internet continues to rapidly expand.

In this post I will share the why and how of getting blog features and all the benefits it can bring your small business, no matter your niche. Whether you are just a blogger yourself wanting to know how to get traffic to your blog, a handmade artist or entrepreneur, this trick alone can actually make your success happen! Keep reading to learn how to get traffic from a blog.

Where is My Traffic?

You work on the perfect pictures, that catchy title, nail the description, post on all your social medias and then sit back with satisfaction excited for your customers or reader to interact with your new post or buy your product. But for a lot of us we don’t get lucky enough to just land the sale or get tons of viral re-shares on our own.

So where in the world is your traffic then?!

Well, it’s out there. Yes, I just stated the obvious elephant in the room and now you’re asking – how on earth do I get the traffic from “out there” to on my website??

The key to getting your traffic from the massive “out there” void to interacting with your brand, product or service is simply this, back links, back links, back links!

What is a back link?

Let’s start with the basic so we are all on the same page.

A back link is a hyperlink coming from one web page to another site. You want the other site to be yours!

Alternative names to back linking are also known as link building, link backs, hyperlinks and inbound links (IBL).

Whether your site focuses on writing blog posts (any blog posts, DIY, lifestyle, beauty etc.), a product page or a pitch page, back links will definitely bring your site benefits.

What does a back link do for my site exactly?

So why are they important and what good do back links do for you?

1. Free traffic

First and foremost, although it may sound obvious, when you have a back link to your website, on another site, you are automatically positioning yourself to scoop up any traffic that comes to the site of your featured link back. In other words, free traffic! Yay!

2. Back links show Google and other search engines you are trustworthy.

The number of back links a website has is in a good indicator of its popularity with a search engine. It is easy to get a higher ranking in search results when using a back links, which is what makes back links the one important reason you should have your site featured on other blogs to pull your ranking within search engines algorithms.

Let me put it another way…

Think of Google as a person and your site as a person. Google has just met you and doesn’t know anything about you.

Like any relationship we give pretty much anyone a clean slate, but won’t trust the new person to do anything super important for us until we know they are reliable and capable. Google is more likely to rank you higher in search results if the see you have weight to your site because other trusted and verified sites are backing you up! They are saying, ‘HEY! This site is legit and has something good to bring to the internet!’

3. Brand exposure

Another great reason to be featured on blogs or other websites is for the benefit of branding. Brand exposure is important. We all want more readers on our blog, more sales in our shops, or more clients to sign up for our services, but we know no one likes a constant sales pitch especially when it’s coming from the person making the sale or collecting the email subscriber.

Having another site write about you, feature you or just drop a quick mention of your blog, product or service will psychologically keep people’s minds open. If the brand who is mentioning you also happens to be trusted and is putting their business’ integrity on the line by backing your site, odds are people will be much more inclined to listen and act on your call to action.

Usually, when working with other sites that have overlapping similarities in your niche, customers or followers will notice you more than once if you really work to put yourself out there, which highlights the trust and validity of your brand.

How to back link

Okay, so now you understand what a back link is and why you should have them, but you’re probably asking, “how do I start trying to connect with other websites?”

Well, first I like to mention that even if you have a stellar blog, service or product not everyone will want to work with you. Just know that up front and don’t expect to get a response from everyone or you will be disappointed. Most importantly, know that as long as you keep trying to make connections, you will.

The 3 best ways to start networking

Reach out via contact page

Okay, so this is pretty obvious but if you are a blogger looking to guest post or a service or product looking to get featured, start by narrowing down some popular sites overlapping in your niche.

Why do I say overlapping?

Because you don’t want to contact your direct competition. For example, if you sell and make handmade jewelry you wouldn’t want contact another artist that also make and sells jewelry on their site and has made that obvious. If they were contacting you, would you really want to work with them if it could take business away from you? Probably not.

BUT if you made some awesome handmade jewelry you could contact a beauty blog that might be willing to feature you in a post on their favorite beauty and style products or perhaps they have a gift guide they could add you to.

Feature others

It might sound counter productive, but featuring others first can be a great way to build relationships. Many blogs have a ping back notifier build in and will, at the very least, get a notification that you have featured something from their site. If you get them to notice you they might be willing to feature you back! Plus, you can always send a personalized message to them via their contact page to let them know and perhaps start a conversation!

Do a collaboration

This can work really well with a product/ service and blog relationship. A collaboration can be an exchange of products between 2 people for one end goal or a free product sent to a blogger for a review and feature.

Collaborations have many benefits beside just the back links. Usually, they lead to reoccurring partnerships that can help grow your network and inspire you. Check out my example of a collaboration I did where Press Print Party and Abbi Kirsten Collections (me!) used each others products and featured one another.

Bonus note: If you want further help learning how to design a great email to contact those in your industry, grab your free Creative Pitch Cheat Sheet below!

Yes, I would love my free Creative Pitch cheat sheet!

What are your thoughts on back links? Tell me below in the comments.

Wishing you creativity and success!