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It has been six months since I started A Rose Tinted World. But at the time of writing this I have domain authority of 28 and get 5000 views a month on average. Now I do realise that these are not massive views, but I am still proud of the fact that my numbers are organically increasing month by month. I am not setting myself out there as an expert, but here are some of my tips on how to build your blog’s DA and traffic.
How To Build Your Blog’s DA and Traffic
When I started my blog on 14th July 2018 I knew practically nothing about blogging. I knew NOTHING about Pinterest, to the point I didn’t even know know how to use it. I followed lots of people on my personal Instagram, but didn’t really use it as a business model.
In June I’d had an email from a lady that I’d been following on Facebook for a while. I love a bit of frugal living, who doesn’t? Even though I like the luxuries in life it doesn’t hurt to look after the pennies. Emma Drew is a guru of frugal living. She did some Facebook sessions on how to set up a blog. I was at a bit of loose end, being on a hiatus from my career. Wondering what to try next, I was actually thinking of trying a sewing business. Selling my homemade wares. So a website was definitely on my to make list.
I tuned in to see what Emma had to say. She gave some really good advice. I took a lot on board, and decided to start a blog. It turned out to be a massive learning curve for me. And at one point I wondered if I had bitten off too much. But it turns out I can learn new tricks. I got started on blogging.
So. How To Build Your Blog’s DA and Traffic?
Do Some Search Engine Optimisation and Make Your Blog Seen By Google
Before you post a single thing, make sure that your blog has a site map (A plugin like Yoast can generate this for you) and enter this into the google search console.
Research your Keywords for your blog topics. And I again love the Yoast plugin to improve my posts before I publish.
This article from BritMums is brilliant about how to do 90% of your blog SEO with 3 free tools.
Post Good Content Consistently
I usually post 3 times a week, but have posted more if the mood and subject material has prompted me. You can post every day, but you don’t need to, as long as you have good material. Stick to the same posting schedule though, as that way your audience know when to expect your next post. If you are inconsistent they may miss your posts or even worse decide to stop looking for them.
It is hard work. I am certainly not sure I was prepared for how much I would be thinking and planning my posts. But at the same time it is very rewarding. It has given me a heap of confidence and a lot of belief in my own abilities. I’ve had a chance to get some of my creativity in to the blog, most recently in making these children’s leggings.
As for good content? I like to pick ideas that come to me in my everyday life. For example, just recently we were faced with the problem of Elizabeth hitting herself. Have you had to work around events in your life? You may have the answer or life hack that the world is looking for!
But it is also good to look for content that appeals to lots of people currently. Is there a news story trending that interests you or that you have a knowledge of? Write about that.
I wrote this post about the Hotpoint washing machine recall fiasco.
Get Social
The community is really supportive, if you are with the right people. I would definitely recommend setting up some social media profiles for your blog and following some fabulous bloggers.
Twitter is my favourite for finding new blogs to read and comment on. By reading others blogs you can see what the trends are and how other people are doing it. But do be yourself!
Do interact. Join in with Twitter chats. Promote by all means, but read others blogs and comment. Follow the blogs that you love. The act of commenting on blogs is truly the only way to go with blogging. My philosophy has always been “if you have nothing nice to say, say nothing”, so if it isn’t your thing, no need to say you don’t like it. Move on and find one that you do!
Always comment more that 10 words. Just putting “Great Post” is not really enough (and it might be seen as spam and put in the spam folder anyway!) Say why it moved you.
I do love the CommentLuv plug-in. It gives people who comment on your blog a chance to link one of their own blog posts to your site. Call it a little bit of back-link love. And if you have an anti-spam comment filter set up on your blog such as Akismet, it does filter out any unwanted or obviously spammy commenters trying to benefit from your comment luv.
See my list of CommentLuv blogs that give a back link
Promote Your Posts
Now this part can be the hardest bit, but it is so important if you want your posts to get read. I set up my blog to post immediately to Twitter and my Facebook Page, but then there are so many other ways to promote your posts, including
- Pinterest – This brings me a fair percentage of my daily posts. I post practically every day, both manually and with the scheduling tool Tailwind (get a free month worth $15 here)
- Instagram – now this hasn’t been quite so successful for me thus far, but I’m going to put some hard work in. I need to use relevant hashtags and tag more. Why not give me a cheeky follow?
- LinkdIn – apparently this can be good for posting your blog links. I haven’t tried this yet.
- Twitter. I do promote my posts on there with a scheduler. But I also retweet other blog posts that I find interesting, and always thank other bloggers for retweeting my content. I follow some great bloggers. Follow me.
- Facebook – again I do neglect my own Facebook page a little and need to work more on it. But joining Facebook groups relevant to your content can be a great place to promote your own work and find new blogs. Even better, there are Facebook groups that can help you find blogging job opportunities and help you to crowdsource for your future posts.
- Link Parties. These are great for showcasing your blogs, getting some comments and finding new blogs to read.
- Reddit.
- Mix
- Blog forums. Some let you put a blog link into your forum comments.
Writing Guest Posts for Other Bloggers
Once you do start to write, you will probably discover where your real niche lays. But that doesn’t mean that you can never write about other things. Sometimes writing for other bloggers or other blogs as a guest blogger can be a great place to promote your work, and let you write about other subjects. I have been honoured to write for some amazing blogs, including these
Carly Bloggs – The Toddler Years Series
Jaki Jellz – The Music to the Story of My Life Series
Mrs Mummy Harris – Favourite Family Films Series
This year I do hope to offer up some guest posts from other bloggers on my own blog so watch this space!
With a mixture of all the above and a lot of hard work I have improved my blog, views and domain authority to a point where I feel really comfortable pitching to brands, and working with brands to promote their products. I hope that you too can use these tips to work at how to build your blog’s DA and traffic. If you need any other help, do comment below, or find me on my social media.
Why not pin me for later!?
Enjoyed this? Why not read New Year, New You?
or D.I.Y. and Home Renovations in 2019
Thanks for this. I’ve just added myself to Reddit. That one went under the radar xx
Thank you. Yes, I started using Reddit this week. Not sure how much traffic will come from there but always good to find out! Thank you for reading! x
Congrats on achieving so much on your blog in such a short amount of time, it looks like you did your homework properly. Loads of helpful advice here, I haven’t entered my site map into Google and have no idea how to do that! Is it easy to do and do you have to upgrade yoast? I agree that Twitter is great for meeting and supporting other bloggers, I love the community feeling there sometimes. #blogcrush
I think that Yoast helps walk you through submitting a site map from what I recall. Though I really did struggle and got lots of help from other bloggers when setting up. I seem to recall needing a google account to set it up. X
I love your tips and ideas, Twitter is one of my favorite places to interact with other bloggers and my readers. I can’t remember what life was like before I had it! #BlogCrush
Thank you. Yes, I must admit, Twitter is probably my most interactive place.
You have done brilliantly in such a short time well done great tips Thanks for linking to #Thatfridaylinky hope to see you next week
Thank you Nigel. See you next time.
I need all the help I can get! Can’t get used to Linkdin though so don’t use it #KACOLS
I’m not into LinkdIn at all. Have an account but haven’t used it for years. Still, worth a thought if other areas aren’t performing well. Thank you for reading.
Some great tips, building traffic is truly a mix of so many factors, being social and yes commenting is key #KCACOLS
Thank you.
Thank you for the tips! I really want to work hard on building up my blog this year. Reddit has definitely gone under my radar so I’ll look into that. I have the Yoast plugin but at the moment it confuses me somewhat so I need to spend some time working it out properly! Fingers crossed!! #KCACOLS
Some of these I have only just started with too. I think Reddit is good for craft blogs, but not sure where to put links for other things? Will keep on trying it though. Hope some of these things work well for you, and good luck with building the blog.
These are great tips! You’re doing an awesome job, and I’m so happy that you wrote a guest post for me!
Thank you so much for reading and for such a lovely comment Ruth! And many thanks also for the opportunity to write for your brilliant blog. You’re the epitome of kindness in the blogging community that I refer to in this post.
I haven’t tried Reddit and will go check it out! Thanks for sharing. #MMBC
I’ve had mixed success so far but I will keep on with Reddit I think. Thank you for reading.
Absolutely brilliant tips Jo, you really have mentioned a few things that I was not aware of. I am forever ignoring my Facebook page so I know I need to work on that a lot more too. In fact the whole social media thing overwhelms me a bit to be honest! But we have to keep on going! Thank you, I will definitely take your tips on board #blogcrush
I agree, the social media side was something I was totally unprepared for. It takes a lot of hard work and organisation. Thank you for your lovely comments, and for reading.
Well done on getting such a high DA only six months in! Blogging is so much fun isn’t it, I’m glad you are enjoying the experience.
I think that is the main thing Nicola. Having fun and being social. If anything more comes of it, then great! Thank you for reading.
Thank you. I do think it is probably down to how hard I do work on things. But I think the more you try, you’ll find a way of promoting your blog that works best for you. Thank you for reading!
Wow it sounds like you’re doing a great job, especially in so little time! Thank you for sharing your tips here. I haven’t written a guest post for someone in ages – I probably ought to get on that! #blogcrush
Thank you Lucy. I am thinking of having a guest post series soon, as I have met some amazing and inspirational bloggers in my time thus far.
This is really helpful, thank you for sharing! I have bookmarked this to come back to. I don’t have access to plugins on my blog yet but once I’m self hosted I should be able to. There’s so much to learn isn’t there! #KCACOLS
It is such a big learning curve. I thought a plug in was an air freshener this time last year! Thank you for reading.
Great post! I’ve lost my blogging mojo a bit lately. got my DA to 20 really quickly, but then kind of stagnated a bit. I definitely need to start putting more effort in again x
Thank you Becca. It’s sometimes hard to think of new material. But that can be a good reason for planning some days out! X
All great tips – I’ve just had my 6 year blog birthday, yikes! #ThatFridayLinky
Thank you. And hopefully in the future my blog will be as brilliant as yours Natalie!
Thanks for the helpful tips I have been struggling with this. Still work to be done on SEO and promotion for me.
#KCACOLS
You are most welcome. I do need to work on my key words. It’s always a work in progress.
These are some great tips, thank you. I am hoping to build up my views etc this year. I really need to get a handle on Pinterest as a lot of people have said how good this is for bloggers.
#KCACOLS
Thank you. Yes, Pinterest is certainly worth getting used to as it really does drive traffic.
Dear Jo,
I am absolutely flaggergasted that you know so much and you’ve only been blogging the exact amount if time as me (I started in June). I need to spend less time with my chickens and knuckle down to it.
Thankyou for sharing your wisdom.
Love from Q
It is maybe a sign that I have had too much time on my hands! Thank you Q x
Thank you. The time that social media takes is possibly the only real downside of it all for me.
Thank you so much for sharing! Great information here, especially for new bloggers. #KCACOLS
Thank you.
Oh you have thought of some wonderful ideas for helping increasing DA as it’s something many of us always want to increase. Thank you so much for linking up with us for #kcacols and hope to see you next time.
Thank you for reading. Hope some of these ideas work!
Great post! Struggling to get my DA past a certain point now but all of these are relevant and I’ll try to follow up on them all, no good with Pinterest though I’ve tried and I can’t see the point 😀 #KCACOLS
Thank you Shan. It is harder once you get into the 20s, but hopefully a combination of these will help!
I don’t think people realise how much work is needed, no. Thank you for reading!
Jo, I’m so glad to read this post. You have provided a few tips that are completely new to me. I never heard of the comment luv plug-in – can’t wait to try it. I also haven’t used Reddit, so that’s on my to-do list for the weekend, too.
Thanks so much
Joan Senio
My Best Friend Adeline
https://kindness-compassion-and-coaching.com
I do hope that some of them work for you Joan! Thank you for reading and your kind comment.
Great tips! Our DA is steadily climbing and I’m super proud – I’m definitely going to try some of your techniques!
I hope that they work for you!
Thank you so much for your tips and ideas. I think most of the social media platforms are handy. But my personal favorite is Facebook and Instagram. Writing for other blogs is also very helpful. I have also some useful suggestions for this topic. You can check my website.
These are some great tips, thank you. This year, I would like to accumulate my thoughts. Many people are saying how good this is for bloggers, so I really need to get a handle on Pinterest.
I really have been slack lately at promoting my posts on social media, and I’m not using all the channels you’ve suggested also! These are great tips, just need to implement them