![\"generating](\"https:\/\/static.gosquared.com\/images\/liquidicity\/19_04_09_Three_Methods\/2x\/19.04.09_ThreeFingers_01@2x.png\")
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Generating blog traffic can be challenging.<\/p>\n
One surefire way to make it even more challenging is to not be strategic about it. You\u2019ve probably read a half dozen blog posts on promoting your blog content<\/a>, but have you ever considered that generating traffic starts well before the promotion phase?<\/p>\n Indeed it does.<\/p>\n Today we\u2019re exploring the structure of your blog as a whole, and how that structure relates to the strategies you should be using to generate traffic<\/a>. <\/p>\n Our hope is that by the end of reading this post, you will be able to identify which method you are currently using in your business and assess whether or not that is the right method.<\/p>\n If not, you\u2019ll be able to choose the method that will produce greater ROI.<\/p>\n The three methods we\u2019re detailing are:<\/p>\n Let\u2019s dive straight into the three different methods! You\u2019ll see that once you nail the structure, you can rely on the right promotion tactics and generate more quality traffic. <\/p>\n A company creates a digital publication full of high-interest, shareable content. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n Think of your favourite digital publications. Maybe you regularly read Thrive Global or Into the Gloss or Techcrunch?<\/p>\n The publisher method is essentially the same thing. You\u2019re curating content around a certain theme or subject, typically quite broad (wellness, beauty, technology), and you feature tons of different pieces within that theme. <\/p>\n A company using this method typically is able to produce a lot of pieces of content, perhaps five or more per week. But more rarely, they might be taking more of a \u201cmagazine\u201d style approach to their publication, and release batches of high-quality content monthly or quarterly. <\/p>\n Let\u2019s take a look at some example websites that are run like digital publications to help you understand this style. <\/p>\n What better example of a publication than a publication? Educationandcareernews.com<\/a> produces a ton of content on college education and entering the workforce. Make no mistake: a publication is still a business. They have a lot of sponsored content to keep revenue coming in, and of course, they also have ads. Next, we\u2019ll see examples from businesses that are selling something other than ad space on their site. <\/p>\n Shutterfly<\/a> \u2014 every mum\u2019s favourite site for printing photo books, homemade calendars and personalised gifts\u2014has their company blog organized like a publication, which they call Ideas. Approximately every other month, Braze<\/a>, a platform for cross-channel personalization, publishes content around a certain theme. These content pieces aren\u2019t targeting SEO terms, and are rather focused on building out the company\u2019s thought leadership. <\/p>\n Unfortunately, many companies choose this method<\/a> even though it\u2019s a terrible waste of money for them. <\/p>\n With The Publisher, you\u2019ll need to rely on more costly promotion methods. It will be critical to build up a large following on the social media platforms used by your target audience. That way, every time you push a new piece, you have an audience waiting and ready to consume it. Partnerships with influencers and press contacts will be important as well. <\/p>\n Of course, you can generate search traffic by targeting some SEO terms, but most companies who use this method rely on their audience and social sharing for traffic. <\/p>\n Feeling like this method isn\u2019t the right fit for you? Not to worry! We\u2019ve got two more on deck.<\/p>\n A company creates a comprehensive library to educate you thoroughly on one topic.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n In stark contrast to The Publisher, The Librarian is much more frugal<\/a>. With this method, you pick a content vertical (something highly specific and actionable) and help your readers become an expert in that area. <\/p>\n You don\u2019t focus on building an audience. You build a library catalogue within a certain niche that is easy for site visitors to navigate through, whether they return or not. <\/p>\n If your product or service stretches across a couple of different areas, then you can create multiple content verticals and fill them chronologically, writing more advanced pieces as you progress deeper into each topic.<\/p>\n Time for the examples!<\/p>\n Sherwin-Williams partnered with Brit + Co to produce 12 pieces of content in a Handy Girl\u2019s Guide<\/a> meant to teach readers how to make stylish home improvements all on their own. This guide, which is an evergreen campaign, is very different from Brit + Co\u2019s usual content style, which is definitely more of a publication. <\/p>\n Appfollow<\/a>, a platform for managing reviews and rankings of mobile apps, has a glossary with every mobile marketing term imaginable. <\/p>\n While Buffer\u2019s social media marketing blog<\/a> has been produced and organized more like a publication, they were smart to later create a Social Media Marketing Library so that site visitors can gain mastery in a certain topic. Is this the right method for you? Let\u2019s see…<\/p>\n When creating a library, you will prioritize content creation logically based on what your site visitors need to learn next on their path to mastery. This means that SEO keyphrases will not trump the logical organization of your library. However, SEO can still have a big impact. Outreach<\/a> can also work really well when using this method. After you\u2019ve created a good chunk of the library, send a personalized email to several hundred people who would get a ton of value out of reading it. <\/p>\n You can rely on SEO, outreach, and eventually maybe word-of-mouth as your library grows in value and reputation. You can also layer social media promotion on top, but use SEO and outreach as your foundations. <\/p>\n A company goes after any SEO keyphrase that is of value to the business, in no particular order. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n When you\u2019re able to get search traffic, you don\u2019t even really need an audience. What if building an audience is a waste of your time?<\/p>\n Camper Report<\/a> is a review site for RV\u2019s. The site\u2019s revenue model is affiliate marketing based on RV and gear sales. The site\u2019s owner (who teaches his SEO-focused method over at IncomeSchool<\/a>) used no social media methods to build traffic initially and is only recently starting to use YouTube. <\/p>\n Here\u2019s another example of a blog using mainly SEO to drive traffic<\/a>, this time the example is from a sales email tool. How to follow suit? Find a keyphrase worth targeting, and get writing.<\/p>\n Check out this ecommerce site\u2019s recent posts and you\u2019ll see that they\u2019re riding the Search Tycoon train. Too corny? Sorry. But seriously, check out these titles<\/a>. \u201cFestival Lookbook 2019.\u201d \u201cFanny Pack Trend 2019.\u201d You get the point. If you\u2019ve got an ecommerce, get like these guys and start writing blogs that promote your products. <\/p>\n If you\u2019re in an uncrowded industry (in terms of search rankings), you can create 1000+ word pieces of blog content going after every high-value keyphrase you find inside of your favourite SEO research tool. If your industry is crowded, however (hello, nearly every facet of marketing), then you\u2019ll need to produce longer pieces of content to have a chance of positioning, while also building backlinks with content partnerships and outreach. <\/p>\n When you have the right method for your blog, it becomes much easier to generate high-quality traffic. Think of these three methods as the foundation of your blog. <\/p>\n Then you can layer other strategies on top to drive new traffic to your blog as a whole, or to individual pieces. <\/p>\n\n
The Publisher<\/h2>\n
![\"publishing](\"https:\/\/static.gosquared.com\/images\/liquidicity\/19_04_09_Three_Methods\/2x\/19.04.09_Publisher_01@2x.png\")
<\/p>\nWhat the Publishing method is<\/h3>\n
Pros:<\/h4>\n
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Cons:<\/h4>\n
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Example sites using this method<\/h3>\n
Media Planet Education and Career News<\/h4>\n
![\"education](\"https:\/\/static.gosquared.com\/images\/liquidicity\/19_04_09_Three_Methods\/2x\/19_04_09_education_careers.png\")
<\/p>\nShutterfly<\/h4>\n
![\"shutterfly](\"https:\/\/static.gosquared.com\/images\/liquidicity\/19_04_09_Three_Methods\/2x\/19_04_09_shutterfly.png\")
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\nKeep in mind that having a publication style does not mean that the content is not organized or categorized in a meaningful way. After their seemingly random recent posts section, they do categorize by topic, such as Photography or Parties. However (as in contrast to The Librarian style, which we will discuss shortly), these categories are not highly niched, nor are they organized logically. <\/p>\nBraze<\/h4>\n
![\"braze](\"https:\/\/static.gosquared.com\/images\/liquidicity\/19_04_09_Three_Methods\/2x\/19_04_09_braze.png\")
<\/p>\nWho this method works for<\/h3>\n
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Ways to generate consistent traffic when using this method<\/h3>\n
The Librarian <\/h2>\n
![\"librarian](\"https:\/\/static.gosquared.com\/images\/liquidicity\/19_04_09_Three_Methods\/2x\/19.04.09_Librarian_01@2x.png\")
<\/p>\nWhat the Librarian method is<\/h3>\n
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Pros:<\/h4>\n
Cons:<\/h4>\n
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Example sites using this method<\/h3>\n
The Handy Girl\u2019s Guide by Brit + Co and Sherwin-Williams<\/h4>\n
![\"librarian](\"https:\/\/static.gosquared.com\/images\/liquidicity\/19_04_09_Three_Methods\/2x\/19_04_09_britco.png\")
<\/p>\nAppfollow\u2019s Mobile Marketing Glossary<\/h4>\n
![\"generating](\"https:\/\/static.gosquared.com\/images\/liquidicity\/19_04_09_Three_Methods\/2x\/19_04_09_appfollow.png\")
<\/p>\nBuffer\u2019s Social Media Marketing Library<\/h4>\n
![\"generating](\"https:\/\/static.gosquared.com\/images\/liquidicity\/19_04_09_Three_Methods\/2x\/19_04_09_buffer.png\")
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\nIf you\u2019ve already created a lot of content, then you can absolutely retrofit this style to fit your existing content, and then go forward more strategically. <\/p>\nWho this method works for<\/h3>\n
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Ways to generate consistent traffic when using this method<\/h3>\n
\nAfter you\u2019ve determined the topics that need to be covered in your library, you should then see whether any of them have a relevant keyphrase that you can include in the headline, URL and first paragraph of your blog posts. Use a free tool like Keywords Everywhere<\/a>, or a paid on like SEMRush<\/a>. <\/p>\nThe Search Tycoon<\/h2>\n
![\"generating](\"https:\/\/static.gosquared.com\/images\/liquidicity\/19_04_09_Three_Methods\/2x\/19.04.09_SearchTycoon_01@2x.png\")
<\/p>\nWhat the SEO Tycoon method is<\/h3>\n
This method is simple to understand:<\/h4>\n
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Pros:<\/h4>\n
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Cons:<\/h4>\n
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Example sites using this method<\/h3>\n
Camper Report<\/h4>\n
![\"SEO](\"https:\/\/static.gosquared.com\/images\/liquidicity\/19_04_09_Three_Methods\/2x\/19_04_09_camperreport.png\")
<\/p>\nSalesHandy\u2019s Blog<\/h4>\n
![\"Using](\"https:\/\/static.gosquared.com\/images\/liquidicity\/19_04_09_Three_Methods\/2x\/19_04_09_saleshandy.png\")
<\/p>\n2020Ave<\/h4>\n
![\"SEO](\"https:\/\/static.gosquared.com\/images\/liquidicity\/19_04_09_Three_Methods\/2x\/19_04_09_2020ave.png\")
<\/p>\nWho this method works for<\/h3>\n
Ways to generate consistent traffic when using this method<\/h3>\n
Additional tips for generating blog traffic<\/h2>\n
![\"additional](\"https:\/\/static.gosquared.com\/images\/liquidicity\/19_04_09_Three_Methods\/2x\/19.04.09_Tips_01@2x.png\")
<\/p>\nTry out these additional tips for growing your blog traffic:<\/h3>\n
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