On the 9th of January, this year(2022), I taught a group of young Church adults in Anambra State on the Concept Of Digital Marketing, Content Creation, and Blogging. It was a class numbering in hundreds.

A day or two after the class, I was getting feedbacks here and there… Some appreciative, some commending, and others – the action takers, saying they were almost done setting up their first blog. It was a busy moment for me as I kept answering to questions and helping others dive into action as most didn’t know where to start.

Setting up a new blog these days is as simple as a basic/grade 2 pupils reciting the English Language Alphabets… Easy? Yes.

But… setting up a blog isn’t just enough even if you know what to write. Mm. Your blog is up? Beautiful! Your writing style is cool? Waoh! Your traffic is..? Getting people to read your wonderful article, and I mean, a huge number of them, has always been a problem to bloggers and website owners.

Does it has to be this… stressful? Ah! Not really.
Let me share with you 5 SIMPLE WAYS TO DRIVE TRAFFIC TO YOUR BLOG or WEBSITE FOR FREE.
Fear no more. I shall guide thee.

1. GO FOR SPEED: MAKE YOUR SITE MOBILE FRIENDLY

I hate blogs/websites with snail-speed. I know you do, too. Speed WINS… a 1000X. The loading time of your blog determines if people will stay or not… and, boy, you’ve got 5seconds to win over your visitor or let them try somewhere else. Pusue after speed all the days of your blogging and you shall have many a visitor coming over and again…
And moble friendly!!!

Optimizing your blog or website for mobile accessibility is key… KEY? Yes. Key in the hands of your visitors, fans, customers that let them have easy access to your blog at the speed of… lightning, and without uneasiness. In a random gathering of 100 people all may own smartphone devices but only about 3-7% of the crowd could have access to a Laptop/Desktop computer. So… we go mobile because the people got mobile.

Here’s a data from Statista

Mobile accounts for approximately half of web traffic worldwide. In the fourth quarter of 2021, mobile devices (excluding tablets) generated 54.4 percent of global website traffic, consistently hovering around the 50 percent mark since the beginning of 2017 before consistently surpassing it in 2020.

NIGERIA: WE ARE NOT LEFT OUT.
In 2021, 48.12 percent of the Nigerian population accessed the internet via mobile device. This share is projected to grow to 659.7 percent in 2026. In 2021, the number of mobile internet users in Nigeria amounted to over 101.7 million. – Statista
Decide quick, else your visitors will and their decision might not be in favor of you.

2. WRITE COMPELLING HEADLINES

If your blog post must perform well, your choice of headline matters. Traffic to your post will vary depending on the power of your headline. If you fail to make it impactful and clickable, every other marketing step that you take will be a total waste of time.

Avoid click-bait headlines like… (Click here here to see how I made N10k every hour; Click to see what JJ okocha said about bloggers). Such headlines are nothing but cheap ways to sort traffic. It sure won’t help in the long run.

TIP NUMBER 1

Use Numbers and Data when writing your headline. Instead of writing “Five Ways To Prepare Ofe Akwu Like A Pro, For The First Time,” Try something like, “5 Ways To Prepare Ofe Akwu Like A Pro, For The First Time.”

BUT WHY?
Here’s something I found on Neil Patel’s blog:

TIP NUMBER 2

When writing a headline use rationales like.
Tricks
Tips
Reasons
Lessons
Ideas
Secrets

Here are examples:

• 4 Tricks that will give you first place on Google SERP
• 7 Tips to improve your writing skill
• 3 Reasons why most bloggers fail in their first 6 months
• 6 Lessons I learnt as a newbie blogger
• 5 Ideas that made me $1k each every month
• 2 Secrets that will help you succeed in print business
• The difference is obvious.

3. ALWAYS SOLVE A PROBLEM

One of the fruitful ways I get Ideas to write is by visiting forums, asking questions, and using facebook groups to see what people are struggling to solve… and then present the answer in a blog post.

An effective method for growing your blog is solving your readers’ problems. Understanding your audience, their needs, desires, and problems is key to building a relationship. Solving problems is an important component to creating a trusting relationship with your audience.

Know Your reader.

Get to know your ideal reader. Understand their daily life, relationships, finances, likes, dislikes, and struggles. These details will help you develop a list of problems you can help the reader solve. Jot down a description of your reader and the hurdles they face every week. Start your help list with these challenges.
Reach out to your readers and ask about their challenges.

No Harm Asking

“Email a select portion of your mailing list
Write a post and ask questions
Create a survey (there are many tools for this)
Include a comment form in your post and ask for responses
Share in Facebook groups“

4. SET UP YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA PROFILES

In less than 10mins you can set up Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram profiles and start sharing things that interest you. Social media isn’t just for Hi’s and Hello’s with no endpoint.

Bloggers or website owners struggling with ‘traffic issues’ can leverage social media as a powerful tool for customer acquisition.

HOW TO SET UP FACEBOOK PAGE FOR YOUR BLOG

Facebook lets you promote your brand with Facebook Pages.
Don’t confuse your personal profile with your page profile because it’s a violation of Facebook’s policy to use your personal profile for business. If you’ve already made the mistake of using your personal profile for business, you can fix it by converting your personal profile to a business page.

Here’s what you need to set up your Facebook page:
Profile Photo: This should be a 170 x 170 px logo. Facebook says you may get better results with a PNG instead of JPG.
Wall (“Cover”) Photo: This should be 820 x 312 px image if possible, but requires a minimum of 400 x 150 px.
Page name
Location
Hours of operation
Type of business
Summary of your business
CALL TO ACTION – CTA
You have the opportunity to create a CTA with Facebook’s “create an offer” tool at the top of your business page.

What action do you want visitors to take when they land on your page? Will you offer a product discount or a free ebook in exchange for an email signup?
For example, Topazdom Technologies‘ main call to action on its Facebook page is, “WhatsApp.”

SETTING UP INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT

Before you set up Instagram for your business, be sure your Facebook business page is filled out correctly. Since Facebook owns Instagram, you use the same platform to create your Instagram business account profile.

Begin by creating a business account profile and then converting it to a business page. This is an important step because it allows you to:
Enter your business phone, email, and physical location
Place a “contact” button on your page so customers can reach you
Gain access to your page’s Insights

WHAT YOU NEED TO SET UP YOUR IG ACCOUNT

Logo: You only have a 160 x 160 px circle to show off your logo. Unlike Facebook, users can’t click to enlarge the image, so be sure it’s clear and recognizable.
Business Description: You have 150 words to describe your business, brand or service. Hashtags are welcome, but they’re also linked, so they take users away from your page. Use them wisely, if at all.

Your Website’s URL: This is the only chance you’ll have to include your URL. Make a decision on whether you’ll include your site, a landing page, or an email subscribe form.
Social Accounts: Instagram gives you the chance to connect your other social accounts, like Twitter and Facebook. Be sure that you connect matching business accounts if you use this feature.

Once you’ve set up a basic business account, you’ll convert it to a business page and fill out your page profile. Here’s how:
Log in to your business’s public account (you can have up to 5 Instagram accounts).
Access your account settings with the gear icon.
Select “Switch to Business Profile.”

Select “Continue as” to connect to your Facebook account.
Choose the Facebook page you want to connect to your Instagram account.
The information from your Facebook page will then automatically be added to your Instagram page.

Be sure your contact information is current (phone number, email, location) so customers can get in touch with you.

SETTING UP YOUR TWITTER ACCOUNT

Twitter allows you to set up multiple accounts, so if you already have a personal account it’s okay to add another for your company. Twitter profiles are short and simple, so choose your words carefully and have your SEO keywords ready.

WHAT YOU NEED TO SET UP YOUR TWT ACCOUNT

Profile Picture: This should be your logo and the recommended size is 400 x 400 px.
Header Photo: This should be 1500 x 500 px.
Username: This is formatted like @yourcompanyname.
Description: You have 160 characters to describe your company. Consider whether you want to include a second URL and/or your SEO keywords here.
If your company is of public interest (related to music, journalism, business), you may want to take it a step further and get verified by Twitter.
Getting verified proves that you are who you say you are and helps build trust with your audience.

Social media can be a fun, rewarding, and profitable adventure if you approach it wisely. The first step is filling out your profiles with care. Treat them as if they are individual landing pages for your business.

5. PUBLICIZE YOUR WORK/CONTENT

Wow! It has been quite a sweet ride. Alright. You’re done with 1,2,3,4 and here we are at five. The last, but not least. Thank you for staying with me.
At this stage, all you do is share your content strategically via the social media pages you created. You can decide whether to use Organic Reach or Paid Ads.

Note: Just dumping your blog post on your social media handles without properly engaging your audience will amount to no good. It’s far beyond dumping links and sharing texts. You can ask your friends what they think about your blog or a particular post you made.

IN SUMMARY:

Getting a significant amount of dedicated readers take time and hard work. You have to keep trying new ways and experimenting new methods.
Although the 5 ways mentioned above don’t require a dime to pull of, in order to reach a wide audience and rope in new people to your blog, or buyers (if you sell materials on your blog), Paid Ads is the sure way to go… But you don’t have to panic. You can start small and scale…

If you made up your mind to go the ‘Paid Advertisement Way, i.e, to run ads on social media,’ I can help you win with your budget… Your website/blog deserves a cool following… You and I can make that happen.
Were you able to find help in this article? Let me know what you think.