After years of struggling to crack the Google code, recent updates have left bloggers fed up. With no reliable way to drive traffic from search engines, many bloggers are shifting their focus to these alternative avenues to bring visitors to their sites.
If you want to continue to see year-over-year growth, Google can’t be your only focus. It’s an ever-changing traffic source over which you have no control. Placing all your eggs in the Google basket will, at some point, leave you frustrated, upset and ready to throw in the towel.
But there are other ways to get consistent traffic to your blog. Learn how to maximize both traffic and revenue without having to “please the Google gods.”
What to focus on instead of Google
If you’re ready to diversify your blog traffic and continue to see growth, leverage some of the traffic avenues below. All of these are underrated but highly effective ways to drive traffic and push your blog to new levels, whether you’re just about to start an amateur blog or are a seasoned pro.
Newsletters
If you’re not already collecting emails, you should be. Likewise, if you have a list you don’t communicate with regularly, now is the time. Not only can having an email list drive regular traffic to your blog, but it’s the one avenue that you have complete control over.
Email lists are a wonderful way to showcase your personality, market directly to people who are already familiar with your blog and sell products like e-books or subscriptions that offer alternative income streams. Plus, email promotion doesn’t rely on algorithms and updates to be effective.
Social media
If there was ever a time to dedicate yourself to a platform, it would be now. People are looking for ways to truly connect with others. More and more, they’re searching for realistic photos, videos and posts from real people, not AI. Social media is a great way to get people back to your blog or sell products on individual platforms.
The trick to maximizing your social media presence is to choose one platform and really go all in on your area of expertise. Answer questions, connect with followers and build trust.
This is an up-and-coming social media platform, and many new bloggers have seen significant success using it to drive blog traffic. Much easier to use than other social media platforms, Flipboard takes the URLs of your existing blog posts and puts them into a magazine-like format.
Flipboard is similar to Pinterest in that you post your content to magazines — just like boards — but it’s less time-consuming since there’s no need to create platform-specific images or content.
Storyboards are a great way to easily share collections of content. A storyboard is like a roundup post in that it is made up of a collection of URLs around a theme, but they only take a few minutes to whip up. With Flipboard, the fresher your content, the better and, if you’re consistent, you can get tons of eyes on your blog in just a few minutes per day.
Pinterest can be a bit tricky to crack, but it has been a consistent traffic source for many blogs for years.
Even if you got frustrated and quit or reduced your Pinterest focus in the past, it’s easy to jump right back in. Pins from years ago are still doing well and new pins will only grow. If your content is visually appealing, Pinterest can be a stable source of traffic. As with other social media platforms, being consistent is key to success.
“Google updates destroyed the search traffic to our site Fire and Saw, but by pivoting to social media it is still a viable business,” says blogger Dan Morris. “The two main social channels we drive traffic from now are Pinterest and Facebook. As a result, we’ve also changed the type of content we publish. We focus more on short, 200- to 300-word newsworthy or attention-grabbing articles rather than lengthy articles that cover an entire topic”.
How to build a following
Many bloggers have spent the years “writing for Google.” This means including specific headings and formats many of us were told would help search engines prioritize our content. But these days, most of these suggestions have been flipped upside down. What worked a year doesn’t work now, and worse, may actually hurt traffic.
So, instead of writing for the Google bot, focus on writing for the reader. Cut out the fluff, the extra headings and any tips that aren’t extremely pertinent to the blog post at hand. When you write for the reader, you connect with them more. This connection makes them want to come back again and again.
If you have a blog post on slow cooker honey mustard chicken, there’s no need to give random facts about where you got the chicken or how to save money when shopping for chicken. Instead, speak to the user who is looking for a slow cooker chicken recipe. They want to know if chicken breasts or thighs work, if they can freeze the dish for later and what to serve it with. Write with user intent at the forefront of your mind and ditch the rest.
Diversify your income
There’s no denying it: Being hit with a Google update means lost traffic and, even worse, lost advertising income.
Driving traffic from sources other than Google search is one way to avoid this problem. But there’s another great solution: Stop relying solely on advertising revenue to keep you afloat. Instead of constantly struggling for more and more pageviews just to get eyeballs on the ads on your pages, why not turn the pageviews you already have into whole new income streams?
Get better at affiliate marketing, collecting emails and selling your products like e-books within your posts. With multiple income streams, you won’t go into panic mode every time Google announces another big update or your advertising RPMs dip.
Maximizing Traffic
Excelling on Google isn’t the only way to profit from your blog. If you’re sick and tired of the constant stress that comes with updates, try shifting your focus to other traffic sources and other ways to earn money besides advertising. You’ll gain a more stable income and the peace of mind that comes from not giving a shit about Google.
Shelby is a Certified Strength Coach who has been blogging since 2017. Her blog, Fitasamamabear.com helps make healthy food and strength training at home easy for busy moms. Her ultimate goal is to help moms increase energy, keep up with their kids, and feel confident in the skin they’re in.