17 Reasons Your Financial Blog Isn’t Getting the Traffic It Deserves

Do you remember tossing pennies into wishing wells and fountains as a child? I know I do. In fact, if I recall correctly, I threw a penny into a fountain last week. Unsurprisingly, I didn’t get the Lamborghini…or the vacation to Jamaica. Come to find out, throwing pennies into fountains is a pretty ineffective way to achieve your goals.

For a while, I tossed my business blog posts into the hypothetical “online wishing well.” And for months, I was disappointed with the outcome. Posts got no traction and I often felt like my hard efforts were wasted. Over the years, I’ve learned that clicking “publish” doesn’t get your blog found. There are dissemination and creation strategies that are just as (if not more) important than simply producing a blog. So how can you double, or even triple your blog traffic today? Here are 17 of the top ways:

1. Post the blog in relevant LinkedIn groups. You can join up to 50 groups on LinkedIn. And many groups have an upwards of 500 members. Just imagine the number of potential views. Post your blog in those groups on a weekly basis.
2. Post at least twice per week or if possible, more frequently. In the Marketing Benchmarks From 7,000 Businesses report, B2B companies that increased blogging from 3-5x/month to just 6-8x/month almost doubled their leads. The average B2B company sees a 45% growth in traffic when increasing total blog articles from 11-20 to 21-50 articles per month.  Also, an average company with 100 or more total published blog articles is more likely to experience continued lead growth.
3. Post between 6 am and 10 am. Studies show that posts get the most traction within this time window, as it reaches all time zones at a convenient time.
4. In LinkedIn, send a group announcement with 400-500 words and a link back to the blog to “read more.” This only applies to those that host a group on LinkedIn. If you do, don’t pass up this strategy.
5. Encourage employees to promote the blog on their LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter accounts.
6. Schedule at least 3 posts on Twitter on the day it goes live. Schedule subsequent generic posts throughout the week, including Saturday and Sunday, to continue driving traffic. Remember to use relevant hashtags to improve traction.
7. @mention target publications and thought leaders on Twitter with a link to the blog post. (Just make sure to not overdo it, as Twitter will view it as spam).
8. Post the blog to Facebook and encourage and engage in conversations after the blog is posted.
9. Post on financial advisor forums like Women Advisors Forum.
10. Post as an article in ProducersWeb. ProducersWeb is an advisor mecca and is a great way to get your content found.
11. Create a Pinterest account and pin the blogs to your boards. I know Pinterest is still an outcast in the financial industry. But there is plenty of opportunity on this platform. Especially with the Boomer female demographic.
12. Imbed a social sharing feature on your blog. According to Marketing Profs, “51% of best-in-class companies use website social sharing tools, compared to 36% of average firms peers.”
13. Optimize your blog for mobile. As of 2012, 45% of Americans have a smartphone. Of that 45%, 50% use social networking sites on a regular basis (Pew Internet). If you don’t optimize your blog for mobile, you risk losing a ton of traffic.
14. Create strategic content sharing partnerships. Are there businesses and/or publications that you could build a mutually beneficial relationship with? If so, this is a great way to reach a much larger audience with your content.
15. Promote your blog in your e-newsletters and other emails. I’ve seen advisors significantly improve their blog traction by simply promoting it in their emails. Give it a try.
16. Utilize strategic keywords and keyphrases. Marketing Profs also shows that 49% of“best-in-class companies” use keyword-based social media monitoring, compared with 39% of their more average peers.”  The Google Keyword tool is a great place to start. Aim to use long tail keywords with low competition and a high search volume.
17. Create an irresistible title. To be completely honest, your blog title is probably the single most important element of your blog. Don’t settle for “okay” when you can make it “irresistible.” Skyword offers some awesome tips for creating fabulous titles.

If you are currently following these 17 rules, you’re a blogging rock star! If not, I recommend giving them a try. Because content marketing is becoming more and more prevalent, it’s important that you do everything you can to get the most out of your blogging efforts. Do you have any other suggestions to share?

Speaker, author, and founder of Financial Social Media, Amy McIlwain has been featured on ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, and her acclaimed book, The Social Advisor: Social Media Secrets of the Financial Industry, continues to be among the best selling business books on Amazon.

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