14 Easy Ways to Drive Traffic to Your (New) Blog

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14 Easy Ways to Drive Traffic to Your (New) Blog

I get this question all the time: “How do I get people to read my blog?”

Whether you’ve just started a blog or you’ve been blogging for a while, you can’t just expect people to find you without any effort on your part!

Once you’ve got (at least) a handful of value-packed posts, driving traffic to a new blog, or boosting traffic to an existing one, involves three main activities: community building, SEO, and promotion.

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Sunday Link Love: Cultivating Community, Legal Checklist for Your Blog + Pricing Tips

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Sunday Link Love is a recurring series of hand-picked digital marketing and entrepreneur lifestyle links from around the web.  The links are very, very rarely affiliate links, but if any are, I'll say so. Along with sharing my recent favorites, it's also a way for me to keep an extra-personal touch to my blog. Social media is great, but my blog is still my home base!

On my mind... I just spent the past week in Montgomery Alabama for a client, so my head is swimming with ideas and to dos. It's always fun getting to revisit where I lived for a few years and see what's new.

What I'm loving... Summertime adventures are well underway! Not only traveling, but local Pittsburgh events are popping up more and more. I finally got to attend the Arts Fest last weekend and had a blast. 

What fun events are going on in your city this summer?

pittsburgh arts fest umbrellas

 

Reading... That Night by Chevy Stevens. After traveling and socializing all week, I buried myself under the covers and read for awhile this weekend. It's a good mystery/thriller, so I was drawn in quickly.

Now on to this week's round up!

Marketing + Entrepreneur Lifestyle Round-up:

» Ever heard of welcome email? Not sure what to include or why it's key for you, your brand and your subscribers? Read this.

» As you probably know, my mission is to help you harness strengths, personality, and energy to easily + authentically market your work to exactly the people who need it. That includes building your community. Check out this free workbook from Ashley Beaudin and her post on how to cultivate more community in your brand.

» Coming up with blog post ideas is SO hard sometimes! This list of 32 blog posts ideas from the Blog Stylist can definitely give you some inspiration.

» Building your subscribers can be such a challenge. Especially when dealing with the sting of unsubscribe notifications and spam complaints. It doesn’t feel great when people unsubscribe. That’s natural. Here are 4 email marketing hacks to help you not only deal but minimize them.

» Need help coming up with ideas for tweets and keeping your social media content fresh, relevant and helpful? Marketing Solved is sharing a great free calendar with 31 days of content to share on your social media.

» May was Mental Health Awareness month. My days have been non-stop busy lately which definitely has a huge impact on my mental health. I feel guilty when I need to take a break, but the quality of my work suffers greatly if I don't. This post by Indigo shares 10 great ways to build self-care into your work day.

»  The legal aspects of running a blog can definitely be overwhelming! Jackie created this great and simple checklist to make sure you're keeping your blog legal and legit.

» Pricing is key when it comes to growing your business. If you’re not getting the results you want from your sales, read this post on perfect pricing tips.

 

My life lately according to Instagram...

[embed]https://www.instagram.com/p/BU8CcR_h4X7/?taken-by=danielleadairz[/embed]

[embed]https://www.instagram.com/p/BUk3nlJBfXR/?taken-by=danielleadairz[/embed]

[embed]https://www.instagram.com/p/BUawTFgB--d/?taken-by=danielleadairz[/embed]

Join me on Instagram for a behind the scenes look at my business + life plus tips to grow your blog and business.

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Danielle Zeigler

I’m an SEO specialist + digital marketing strategist with over 14 years experience in the industry. I’m here to tell you it IS possible to tackle your marketing with authenticity, grace and ease, and still get results.⁠

⁠

I work with passionate business owners and marketing directors who are 𝘁𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗿𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗼 𝗔𝗹𝗹 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 and spreading their efforts too thin. They want to know what's working, what's not working, and where they should really be spending their time and money.⁠

⁠

But I'll be honest- I'm not here for the people chasing vanity metrics. My philosophy is grounded in 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲-𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 and what I've dubbed #SEOwithSoul. I don't believe in hacks and "beating algorithms" as a long term strategy.⁠

Sunday Link Love: Scheduling Your Work Week, Improving Squarespace SEO + Getting Testimonials

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Sunday Link Love is a recurring series of hand-picked digital marketing and entrepreneur lifestyle links from around the web.  The links are very, very rarely affiliate links, but if any are, I'll say so. Along with sharing my recent favorites, it's also a way for me to keep an extra-personal touch to my blog. Social media is great, but my blog is still my home base!

On my mind... It's this beauty's wedding weekend! By the time this goes live on Sunday, they'll have been married, with Aaron and me by their sides as a bridesmaid and best man.

bohemian wedding bridal shower

What I'm loving... I upgraded my Fitbit to an Alta HR and am loving the sleep cycle tracking! Ever since reading The Sleep Revolution, I've been making sleep more of a priority. Some days this week that meant sleeping in until 9am, but I noticed I was more productive throughout the day. Does anyone else have guilt around sleeping in, even if you set your own hours?

Reading... I just finished listening to the audiobook You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life by Jen Sincero. It was nothing I haven't already heard from Danielle LaPorte, Brene Brown, Jess Lively and all the other inspirational women, but it came at a time when I needed the reminders around the energy you bring to your life. I always need the reminders. 

A few observations from listening to the book:

  1. Despite having read books with the same overall message, I still listened to it and enjoyed it. So if you're worried about there already being people doing what you want to do, this is an example that there's room for everyone. You have a unique view, and if you're spreading goodness and helping people, your message is needed over and over.
  2. The day I started listening to this book, I met someone at Starbucks who was carrying the book. We started talking about business before I noticed he had it, but after seeing it, I had to mention the coincidence. He later sent me another audio book to pay it forward. The Law of Attraction at work, possibly?

 So anyway, on to this week's round up!

Marketing + Entrepreneur Lifestyle Round-up:

» Ever struggled with explaining your life as an entrepreneur? Especially with your loved ones? The next time someone asks you to make plans during your work hours ask them to read this insightful and caring post on loving someone who is self-employed.

» With springtime comes spring cleaning, and as an online entrepreneur that can include updating your website images. If you're planning a photo shoot this season, before heading out with your photographer check out these great wardrobe do's and don'ts for your personal branding photos.

» "Is Squarespace bad for SEO?" is one of the most common asked questions relating to SEO. Kaitlyn shares 5 specific ways that you can start improve your SEO on Squarespace (or any other platform for that matter) today!

» I love running my own business yet like most online entrepreneurs managing my time can sometimes definitely be a real struggle. Reading Lauren's post on effectively scheduling your work week has helped me tremendously!

» If you follow me on Instagram, you know that in the last couple of months I've done quite a bit of traveling both for pleasure and business. And it doesn't seem like it will be slowing down anytime soon. Now don't get me wrong - it's been amazing but these 10 tips on how to continue building my blog while traveling have been a life saver!

» Want to improve your strategy on LinkedIn and win new business? Follow these 9 easy steps from Conversion Minded.

»  The know-like-trust factor is one those online terms that get easily thrown around as the latest "must-have" in order to make your business a success. Megan from the Crafting Creative gives an amazing spin and explains that the "know" part of the know-like-trust-factor actually isn't actually about your audience knowing you.

» Are you so excited to jump into the next project that you often forget to get constructive feedback and testimonials from your clients?  Here's the wake-up call you need.

 

My life lately according to Instagram...

[embed]https://www.instagram.com/p/BT780IXBqdr/?taken-by=danielleadairz[/embed]

 

[embed]https://www.instagram.com/p/BTbhgdCBpSd/?taken-by=danielleadairz[/embed]

Join me on Instagram for a behind the scenes look at my business + life plus tips to grow your blog and business.

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Danielle Zeigler

I’m an SEO specialist + digital marketing strategist with over 14 years experience in the industry. I’m here to tell you it IS possible to tackle your marketing with authenticity, grace and ease, and still get results.⁠

⁠

I work with passionate business owners and marketing directors who are 𝘁𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗿𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗼 𝗔𝗹𝗹 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 and spreading their efforts too thin. They want to know what's working, what's not working, and where they should really be spending their time and money.⁠

⁠

But I'll be honest- I'm not here for the people chasing vanity metrics. My philosophy is grounded in 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲-𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 and what I've dubbed #SEOwithSoul. I don't believe in hacks and "beating algorithms" as a long term strategy.⁠

Sunday Link Love: Perfectionism, Instagram Following + Managing Your Inbox

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Sunday Link Love is a recurring series of hand-picked digital marketing and entrepreneur lifestyle links from around the web.  The links are very, very rarely affiliate links, but if any are, I'll say so. Along with sharing my recent favorites, it's also a way for me to keep an extra-personal touch to my blog. Social media is great, but my blog is still my home base!

On my mind... We had an amazing trip! For the first part of our adventure we flew into Orlando (where we had too much fun in the Harry Potter airport gift shop), then stayed with friends in Melbourne. Next we stayed in Key Largo and explored the Keys for 2 days, followed by a night in Ft. Lauderdale. Each location and beach had such a different feel; it was interesting.

In the comments I'd love hear about any adventures you have planned this summer!

marriott key largo

What I'm loving... all of you who nominated me again this year for One Woman Shop's 100 Best Sites for Solopreneurs! This year, they're mixing it up with a voting period to determine the #1 site in each category. I would love your vote! Cast your vote here before 5/25.

Reading... A mix of not sleeping well lately and my vacation allowed me to finish three books over the past 2 weeks. I got partway through Whole: Rethinking the Science of Nutrition, and while it was really interesting, I ditched it to fulfill my fiction craving. I devoured The Death of Bees and You Know Me Well, along with another quick (but funny) non-fiction read called Magical Thinking: True Stories by Augusten Burroughs.

What's on your reading list this summer?

Now, on to this week's round up!

Marketing + Entrepreneur Lifestyle Round-up:

» Inbox zero is definitely one of the many challenges online entrepreneurs face on a daily basis (this includes me!). Holly breaks down her 3 step system that helps her stay on top of her inbox and stay more calm and productive.

» Have you ever spent hours writing a great blog post and then have no idea how to create a killer blog post title? Check out this great 85 fill-in-the-blank blog title template.

» The idea of perfectionism is something I've admittedly struggled with, and Allie's post on progress not perfection was a great reminder to stay mindful.

» My goal has always been to help you stand out authentically in this crowded online space. A big part of that is choosing collaboration over competitiveness, and this post explains 5 reasons why collaborating is good for your business.

» Creating a cohesive branding strategy is definitely one of the biggest dilemmas that multi-passionate creatives can face. Caroline takes a great approach in this post on how to focus your brand when you have a ton of different interests.

» Ever wondered how much to charge for a sponsored blog post? This great guide explains how what to charge really has nothing to do with a number and everything to do understanding the different factors.

» Clearly I'm an Instagram fan - just scroll down a little more and you'll see that it's true. And it's no wonder that with over 500 million active users, it is definitely one not to miss if you want to build your online business. Fiona shares 9 surefire ways to get started on building real followers on Instagram.

» If you've been following my blog for some time you know that I'm a firm believer in running an authentic business. But when it comes to affiliate marketing it may sometimes feel as if your selling out. Nesha does a great job of explaining how to boost your freelance income while still being true to your values.

 

My life lately according to Instagram...

 

It's time for another round of #TheImperfectBoss hosted by @ashley.beaudin! But this time we're mixing it up and focusing on what makes us awesome. What's your super power? Your special strength? . . I've helped dozens of women infuse their personality into their business in order to make it stronger. I'm especially on a mission to help introverts stop seeing their introspective nature as an obstacle to overcome and instead find confidence in their abilities (like good listening skills!). . . If asked the question, "what makes you special?" What's your immediate reaction? Do you shy away? . . . . . #DSrainbow #ExploreInBetween #Wandeleurspark #ABMtravelbug #dametraveler #KeepItWild #MyTinyAtlas #nothingisordinary #finditliveit #RSroadtrip #thehappynow #ABMHappyLife #Flashesofdelight #petitejoys #Livethelittlethings #creatorsofdesire #sheislight #womeninbiz #Calledtobecreative#LiveColorfully #creativityfound #oneofthebunch #findyourflock #tcctribe #elevatecultivate #introvertentrepreneur #introvertedentrepreneur

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Join me on Instagram for a behind the scenes look at my business + life plus tips to grow your blog and business.

/ / Comment

Danielle Zeigler

I’m an SEO specialist + digital marketing strategist with over 14 years experience in the industry. I’m here to tell you it IS possible to tackle your marketing with authenticity, grace and ease, and still get results.⁠

⁠

I work with passionate business owners and marketing directors who are 𝘁𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗿𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗼 𝗔𝗹𝗹 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 and spreading their efforts too thin. They want to know what's working, what's not working, and where they should really be spending their time and money.⁠

⁠

But I'll be honest- I'm not here for the people chasing vanity metrics. My philosophy is grounded in 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲-𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 and what I've dubbed #SEOwithSoul. I don't believe in hacks and "beating algorithms" as a long term strategy.⁠