Driving traffic to your blog isn’t just about creating great content—it’s about making it easy for your audience to find it.
In this guide, you’ll learn nine actionable ways to get your posts in front of the right audience and increase your blog traffic.
Let’s get started.
1. Write Content on Topics People Care About
Finding and writing about topics your target audience is interested in can help you rank in search engines and keep readers engaged once they arrive at your site.
How do you find the right topics?
Here are a few easy (and free) ways:
- Use Google’s People Also Ask section: Search for a broad topic in your niche. For example, type “personal finance tips” into Google. Scroll to the “People Also Ask” section (if there is one) to find common questions people are asking.
- Study trending news stories: Use tools like Google Trends to find hot topics. Be sure you focus on ones that are within your niche.
- Explore forums like Reddit & Quora: Browse forums or Q&A platforms where your audience spends time. This is where you’ll find a lot of discussion of pain points and topics that other tools might not show you.
You can also use paid tools like Semrush’s Topic Research tool to find popular blog topics.
Simply launch the tool and enter a topic related to your niche.
Select your country and click “Get content ideas.”
The tool will then present a list of relevant topic cards based on your input.
Each card includes the search volume, which tells you how popular a topic is. Higher search volume means more people are interested in that topic.
Expand the card to see more details like headlines and questions.
Sort topic cards by volume, keyword difficulty (a measure of how hard it is to rank in the top 10 results for a term), or topic efficiency (which considers both volume and difficulty) to find the best ones.
And turn on the trending topics option to see what’s starting to gain traction.
Create and publish high-quality content on these topics to attract more visitors to your site.
2. Target Keywords You Can Realistically Rank for
If your site is new, small, or within a competitive space, choosing keywords with low difficulty gives you a better chance of ranking.
How do you find low-difficulty keywords?
With Semrush’s Keyword Magic Tool. This gives you access to a database of more than 26 billion keywords.
Simply launch the tool, enter a broad term related to your niche (e.g., “travel bag”), and select your target country.
Add your domain to get personalized metrics.
The tool will then provide a list of related keywords along with key metrics for each. Like:
- Volume: How many people search for the keyword each month
- Search Intent (Intent): Why users search the keyword
- (Keyword difficulty (KD %): How hard it is to rank in the top 10 results for the keyword
- Personal Keyword Difficulty (PKD %): How hard it is for your exact website to rank in the top 10 results for the keyword
To identify low-difficulty keywords for your domain, use the “Personal KD %” filter.
Set it to “Easy” or “Very Easy.”
This will give you a list of terms you can feasibly rank for.
You can also apply a “Volume” filter to identify low-difficulty keywords with decent search volumes.
Simply set the starting range of the Volume filter to “1,000” (or what you consider a good search volume for your niche).
Manually review the list to identify keywords that are most relevant to your blog. And click the checkboxes next to each one.
You can then create a list or export the keywords as a file to share with your team.
3. Build Topical Authority
Building topical authority can increase your blog’s chances of ranking higher because Google may see your site as more trustworthy.
This is where topic clusters come in.
A topic cluster is a group of interconnected pages on your blog.
Each topic cluster consists of a pillar page (which provides a broad overview of a main topic) and multiple cluster pages (which explore specific subtopics in more detail).
These pages are interconnected with internal links (links that direct to other places on your site).
For example, a pillar page on Disney World planning could be supported by cluster pages that cover these topics:
- Disney World packing list
- Disney World restaurants
- Disney World itinerary
Semrush’s Keyword Strategy Builder can speed up this otherwise manual, time-consuming process.
Enter one or more of the keywords you found in the previous section (different topics that are somewhat specific work best).
The tool will generate a visual map showing suggested pillar and cluster pages.
Scroll down to the table to view each topic cluster. Which specifies your pillar and cluster pages. As well as the corresponding keywords and their respective metrics (like search volume, search intent, and keyword difficulty).
Pick the topics that seem the most promising based on the displayed metrics. And then start creating content.
4. Make Your Content Interesting and Helpful
Content that’s useful and intriguing is more likely to be shared on social media platforms and other communities, which can drive more traffic to your blog.
It’s also more likely to naturally attract backlinks (links on other sites that point to yours).
And that can lead to better rankings and more organic traffic. Because Google views backlinks as endorsements for your website’s reputability.
How do you make your content interesting and helpful?
Here are some tips:
- Challenge conventional thinking: Question common beliefs and present bold, fresh perspectives that make readers think differently
- Focus on sharing something new: Stand out by providing unique insights or actionable information that other blogs lack
- Incorporate expert input: Add credibility and depth by including insights from subject matter experts
Further reading: Quality Content: What It Is + 10 Actionable Tips for Success
5. Publish Consistently
Regular publishing can lead to more keyword rankings that translate to more traffic to your site.
So, make it a habit to publish according to a steady schedule. Whether it’s twice per week or once a month.
As your posts start ranking higher, they gradually bring in more traffic. And this compounds over time as you add more high-quality content to your blog.
To keep up a regular publishing cadence without sacrificing quality, use Semrush’s ContentShake AI app to generate first drafts.
Launch the app and follow the prompts to enter information about your business. Then enter a topic you want to write about or choose one the tool suggests.
Configure your settings. And tick the box next to “Add an extra SEO boost” to further optimize your content. And the one that automatically adds stock images.
Then, click “Create article” to generate the first draft.
Once the draft is ready, click “Go to Editor.”
Review the article carefully and edit it to ensure the AI-generated content has a human touch. Which you can do by adding your own perspective, ensuring it matches your brand voice, and verifying that it adds value for readers
6. Optimize Your Content for Search Engines
Fine-tuning your content with search engines in mind increases the likelihood of your pages ranking highly on search engine results pages (SERPs).
This applies to both new and existing content.
Start with your title tags.
A title tag is an HTML element that provides the webpage’s title to search engines and can be displayed in search results. Like this:
Also add meta descriptions to your pages.
A meta description is a short summary that can appear below the title in search results to give users a quick preview of your page.
While not a ranking factor, a compelling meta description can improve your click-through rate.
(Google can choose its own title and description to display. But it’s still worth optimizing both.)
And don’t forget to include alt text for your images. This describes images to search engines and visually impaired users.
To streamline content optimization, use Semrush’s On Page SEO Checker.
Start by entering the URLs you want to optimize and their corresponding keywords. Then click “Collect Ideas.”
Once you’ve set up your project, head over to the “Optimization Ideas” tab.
Here, you’ll find specific suggestions for each URL you’ve added.
These ideas can include technical fixes, content updates, and more.
Implement these recommendations to improve your pages and increase their chances of ranking higher on search engines.
Further reading: On-Page SEO Checklist: The Complete Task List for 2025
7. Improve Your Site’s Technical SEO
Fixing technical SEO issues on your site can help all your content (including blog posts) appear in search results, which could drive more traffic.
This is because ensuring a strong technical foundation ensures Google won’t run into problems related to finding and storing your content. And because Google wants to prioritize websites that offer a great user experience.
Use Semrush’s Site Audit tool to improve your site’s technical SEO.
It performs over 140 on-page and technical checks to identify issues that might be affecting your ability to rank. And it provides actionable recommendations to fix these issues.
To get started, launch the tool, enter your domain name, and click “Start Audit.”
Follow this configuration guide to set up your project and run an audit. (You can also use the default settings for now.)
Once the audit is complete, you’ll find SEO issues grouped into categories.
Click “View Details” under any category to explore specific issues.
Or head to the “Issues” tab to view a full list of errors, warnings, and notices.
Address these issues to potentially boost your rankings and drive more traffic to your blog.
8. Share Your Content on Social Media
Using social media platforms to promote your blog posts can drive more traffic to your blog—you don’t have to rely only on Google.
Share both new posts and older content, focusing on platforms where your audience spends their time for the best results.
For example, if you run a marketing blog, your readers are likely marketing professionals. That means LinkedIn might be the ideal platform to share your content.
But if you run a fashion blog, Instagram would likely work better (since it’s a highly visual platform).
Sharing doesn’t have to come from just your brand account, either. Team members can also share content.
Leigh McKenzie, Head of SEO at Backlinko, often shares newly published blog posts from the Backlinko blog using his personal account on LinkedIn. Which is a great place to reach Backlinko’s target audience.
While you can manually create posts on any platform, ContentShake AI makes it easy to repurpose your blog content into social media posts with just a few clicks.
After generating (and editing) your blog post using ContentShake AI, click “Promote.”
Select your preferred social media channel, fill in any additional details, and click “Create post.”
The tool will then generate content for social media.
Review the post and make any adjustments that are right for your brand and audience.
9. Create an Email Newsletter
Email is a powerful marketing channel for sharing blog posts with people who’ve opted in to receiving messages from you.
Email is especially good for reaching highly specific segments. And it allows you to maintain relationships.
To grow your email list:
- Publish lead magnets that can only be accessed when users provide their contact information
- Ask existing readers on your blog to subscribe to your list
- Promote your email list on social media platforms
Then, craft messages that highlight new blog posts or popular articles you think your email subscribers will enjoy.
Like in this example from Search Engine Land:
Implement These Tactics to Increase Your Blog Traffic
You now know how to grow your blog with great content and effective promotion.
And you can use Semrush’s tools at every step to streamline the process.
Sign up for a free trial today.