Getting Traffic to Your Blog Post: 5 Key Things to Consider

Why blogs matter

Blogs are far more than just written posts, they are strategic assets in every marketing teams toolkit. It isn’t enough to just write content, you need to ensure you get traffic to your blog too. The importance of writing blogs lies in three core areas:

Visibility and Discoverability

 Blogs improve search engine rankings by adding fresh, keyword-rich content onto your website.

Each post creates a new indexed page. This gives you more chances to appear in search results and AI responses. Businesses that blog consistently generate up to 67% more leads than those that don’t.

Authority and Trust

A well-maintained blog, supported with well drafted content showcases expertise and thought leadership.

When customers see valuable, educational content, they perceive your brand as credible and trustworthy.

Engagement and Relationship Building

Blogs allow you to speak directly to your audience, answer their questions and provide solutions to your audiences challenge.

The purpose of blogs

Educate and Inform: Share insights, tutorials and industry updates that help your audience solve problems.

Drive Traffic and Leads: Blogs act as magnets for organic traffic and can convert readers into customers.

Support Marketing Channels: Blog content fuels social media, email campaigns, and even AI-driven discovery tools like Copilot or ChatGPT.

The Bottom Line: Blogs are not optional, they’re foundational. They give your brand a voice, improve discoverability, and create lasting value across all marketing channels.

Why Just Writing a Blog Isn’t Enough

Simply writing words doesn’t guarantee anyone will read them. In fact, writing isn’t even the first step to crafting a successful blog.

A well-crafted blog needs to be written, found, shared, and engaged with to deliver real value. That means being intentional about how you position it, promote it, and optimise it for discovery.

Top 5 things to consider

Here are five essential things to consider when getting traffic to your blog:

1. Identify Keywords with REAL Potential

Before you write a single word, start with keyword research. We’ve said this before and we’ll say it again: it’s pointless to start writing if you haven’t completed this integral step.

Why? Because keywords bridge the gap between your content and the people searching for it.

The goal is to identify terms people are actively searching for, ideally long-tail keywords (phrases with three or more words) that indicate specific intent but aren’t so competitive that you’ll never rank. It’s a balancing act, but once you start, it becomes clearer.

When researching, focus on:

• Search Volume: Are enough people searching for this term to make it worthwhile?
• Competition: Can you realistically rank for it, given your domain authority and resources?
• Search Intent: Does the keyword align with what your audience truly wants? Are they looking for information, a product, or a solution?

How to Determine Keyword Intent

Intent is about understanding why someone typed that phrase into a search or AI engine. Are they curious? Ready to buy? Comparing options? Getting this right means your blog will meet your audience’s needs.

Start with a seed keyword that matches your topic. A seed keyword is the starting point for research, a broad term that describes your main topic. From this, you can generate related keywords, variations, and long-tail phrases.

Do a quick search for your chosen keywords and look at the first page of results:

• If most links are “how-to” guides or explainer articles, the intent is informational.
• If you see product pages or pricing tables, that’s transactional.
• If results include lists like “Top 10 tools for…”, the intent is commercial.

Top Tip: Pay attention to the words in the keyword itself. Phrases like “how to”, “guide”, or “tips” signal informational intent. Words like “buy”, “best”, or “review” suggest purchase intent.

Once you know the intent, match your content to it. If people want answers, create a clear, helpful guide. If they’re comparing options, write a detailed comparison post. Aligning your blog with intent makes it relevant—and relevance drives traffic.

Tools to Help

Use tools like Google Keyword Planner, SE Ranking, or Ahrefs to dig into keyword data. This process sets the foundation for discoverability because if your blog isn’t optimised for what people are searching for, it’s unlikely to be found.

2. Know your Audience

If you don’t know who you’re writing for, your blog will miss the mark.

Understanding your audience is the foundation of creating content that resonates and gets shared. It’s not just about guessing, it’s about building clear audience profiles.

Start by asking the right questions:

• What problems are they trying to solve?
• What language or tone feels natural to them?
• Where do they spend time online?

These answers help you shape everything from your headline to your call to action.

How to Identify Audience Profiles

Begin with data you already have. Look at your website analytics, social media insights and email engagement. Who’s interacting with your content? What topics get the most clicks? This gives you clues about interests and pain points.

Next, segment your audience into profiles or personas. For example:

• The Researcher: Wants in-depth guides and actionable tips.
• The Decision Maker: Looks for comparisons and ROI-focused content.
• The Beginner: Needs simple explanations and step-by-step advice.

You can also use surveys or polls to ask your audience directly what they want.

Tools like Google Analytics, HubSpot, or even LinkedIn analytics can help you dig deeper into demographics, behaviours and preferences.

Once you know who you’re writing for, tailor your content to their needs. Speak their language, answer their questions, and show you understand their challenges.

When readers feel seen and understood, they’re far more likely to engage, and share your content with their peers.

3. Optimise for Search Engines and AI Discovery

Search engines like Google still play a major role in driving traffic, but the landscape is changing rapidly. AI-powered tools and assistants, think ChatGPT, Bing Copilot, are now influencing how people discover information.

Instead of relying solely on traditional keyword matching, these newer systems prioritise context, clarity, and authority.

They often pull answers directly from well-structured, conversational content, meaning your blog needs to be optimised not just for search engines but for AI-driven discovery too.

This shift makes semantic keywords, clear formatting, and accurate information more important than ever.

To ensure your written content gets attention and stays visible, your blog needs to be optimised for both. We call this SEO 2.0

For Search Engines (SEO):

• Use your primary keyword in the title, meta description, URL, and first paragraph.
• Structure your content with clear headings (H1, H2, H3) and short paragraphs.
• Add alt text to images and ensure your site loads quickly on mobile.
• Link to relevant internal and external sources to build authority.

For AI Discovery (GEO):

• Write in a clear, conversational tone. AI tools often favour content that’s easy to absorb and is helpful.
• Use semantic keywords and related phrases to give context beyond your main keyword. Semantic keywords are words and phrases that are closely related in meaning to your main keyword/phrase. They help search & AI engines understand the context of your content, rather than just matching exact keywords.
• Include FAQs or summaries that AI can easily extract and present as answers.
• Make your content factually accurate, well-structured, and free of jargon-this increases the chance of being cited or surfaced by AI tools.

By optimising for both traditional search engines and emerging AI platforms, you increase your chances of being discovered across multiple channels.

4. Build Backlinks and Internal Links

Link building is a powerful signal for search engines and AI when determining the authority and relevance of your content.

Think of them as endorsements, every link pointing to your blog tells algorithms that your content is credible and worth ranking.

Backlinks

Backlinks are links from other websites to yours. They boost your domain authority and help you rank higher in search results.

The best backlinks come from reputable, relevant sites. How do you earn them?

• Create shareable resources like infographics, research reports, or original data that others want to reference.
• Guest post on industry blogs and include a link back to your content.
• Collaborate with partners or influencers who can share your blog with their audience.

Avoid shortcuts like buying links as they can harm your rankings and credibility. Focus on earning links through value-driven content.

Internal Links

Internal links are just as important.

Linking to other relevant posts on your own site keeps readers engaged and signals to search engines that your content is connected and comprehensive.

For example, if you mention keyword research in one post, link to your detailed guide on that topic. This creates a logical path for readers and strengthens your SEO.

Why this matters for AI

AI-powered tools also consider authority signals when surfacing content. High-quality backlinks and strong internal linking increase the likelihood of your blog being recommended by AI assistants.

5. Share Strategically on Social Media

Social media is an effective way to amplify your blog content, but it’s more than posting a link and hoping for clicks. You need a strategy that grabs attention and sparks engagement.

Start by choosing the right platform.

LinkedIn is ideal for professional and B2B content, Instagram works well for visual storytelling, and X (formerly Twitter) is great for quick insights and conversations. Tailor your approach to each platform rather than using a one-size-fits-all strategy.

Create posts that stand out:

• Use strong headlines in the first 100 characters.
• Add engaging visuals and captions that spark curiosity or offer value.
• Use language that resonates – Instead of saying “New blog post – read here”, highlight the benefit: “Struggling to get traffic to your blog? Here are five proven strategies that work.”

Repurpose your content

Turn your blog into bite-sized pieces; LinkedIn carousels, Instagram reels, or short videos. Share quotes, stats, or quick tips from your post to keep it fresh and relevant. You can use this method to highlight key takeaways from your content and use those as headlines every time you share in on social media.

Timing matters

Post when your audience is most active, and don’t be afraid to share the same blog multiple times with different angles.

Using this blog as an example, one social post could focus on keyword research, another on AI optimisation, and another on social media tips.

Encourage engagement

Ask questions, invite comments, and respond to interactions. Social media algorithms reward posts that generate conversation, so the more you interact, the more visibility your blog will get.

Conclusion

Publishing a blog is not the finish line, it’s the starting block.

If you want your content to drive real results, you need to make it work hard for you. That means strategic keyword research, deep audience understanding, and optimisation for both search engines and AI platforms.

Add smart link-building and social sharing that sparks conversation, and you’ll turn a simple post into a growth engine.

Don’t settle for “just writing.”

Take control of your blog’s visibility. Apply these five steps today and watch your content attract the right audience, build authority, and deliver measurable impact.

Your next blog isn’t just a post, it’s a powerful tool for engagement and business growth. Start implementing now.