If you want to increase your blog traffic, you need to start by knowing where your audience hangs out. It’s no secret that social media is one of the best ways to drive traffic, but if you don’t know where your audience is hanging out on each network, it can be difficult to get your posts noticed. If you’re blogging about seagulls, for example, you might want to try targeting the /r/birding subreddits on Reddit.

If your blog is a little bit more established, you can also try targeting the right communities on Quora or in online forums like Facebook groups or Slack channels. These kinds of communities can be a great place to promote your blog because people interested in the topic already gather in one place, and you can often find helpful tips for driving more traffic to your site.

Probably the most important thing you can do to drive more traffic to your blog is invest time in keyword research. This process is the foundation of your blog’s content strategy, and without it you won’t have any hope of getting your posts to show up in response to searches on Google or other search engines.

Keyword research helps you understand the types of words and phrases that your audience is typing into Google on a regular basis. This allows you to write posts that are more relevant to those terms, and it gives you the chance to rank higher in search results for those keywords. This will bring more eyeballs to your post, and hopefully some of them will stick around to read it and maybe even subscribe to your blog.

Once you’ve got a solid handle on your target audience, it’s time to start thinking about how you can connect with them on a more personal level. One of the best ways to do this is by collecting email addresses through your blog and offering a weekly or monthly newsletter with your top posts. You can do this by including a sign-up widget in your posts, adding an opt-in to the bottom of your website, or using a tool such as ConvertKit vs AWeber to manage your list.

If you’re ready to take this to the next level, consider hosting a virtual summit on your topic of choice. These can be a lot of work, but they can lead to a lot of extra traffic when done properly. Just be sure you’re ready to invest the time before you try it. Finally, be sure to prioritize creating high-quality content that your audience is going to love. Promotion is 10x easier when you have a piece of content that’s truly useful and engaging.