Proven Ways to Increase Blog Readership with Free Tactics

Nine months into blogging, I was getting 200 monthly visitors.

I’d published 30 posts. I was posting on social media daily. I was doing “all the right things” according to every blogging tutorial I’d read.

But 200 visitors? That’s basically nobody.

Then I stopped following generic advice and started testing specific strategies. I focused on what actually moved the needle, not what sounded good in theory.

Nine months later, I was getting 12,000 monthly visitors. Same blog. Same writer. Zero dollars spent on ads.

Here are the seven strategies that actually worked, in order of impact.

Strategy #1: Master Pinterest (The Underrated Traffic Machine)

Impact: 40% of my traffic (4,800 monthly visitors)

I ignored Pinterest for six months because I thought it was just for recipes and wedding planning. I was wrong.

Pinterest is a visual search engine, and it drives massive traffic to blogs in almost any niche—if you do it right.

What I did:

1. Created a Pinterest business account (free)

• Gives you access to analytics
• Allows you to run ads (though I never did)
• Looks more professional

2. Designed vertical pins (1000×1500 pixels) I use Canva (free) to create pins for every blog post:

• Eye-catching image
• Bold text overlay with the post title
• My blog logo in the corner

3. Optimized pin descriptions Every pin includes:

• Target keyword in the first sentence
• Brief description of what the post covers
• Hashtags (3-5 relevant ones)

Example: “Learn how to increase blog traffic with these 7 proven strategies. No ads required—just smart, free tactics that actually work. #blogging #blogtraffic #bloggingtips #growyourblog”

4. Joined group boards (now called collaborative boards) I found 5-10 group boards in my niche and requested to join. This exposed my pins to thousands of followers I didn’t have yet.

5. Pinned consistently I used Tailwind (free plan allows 100 pins/month) to schedule:

• 5 pins per day
• Mix of my content (70%) and others’ content (30%)
• Spread throughout the day

Results: Month 1 of Pinterest: 47 visitors
Month 2: 312 visitors
Month 3: 1,247 visitors
Month 6: 4,800 visitors

Best niches for Pinterest:

• Food and recipes
• DIY and crafts
• Fashion and beauty
• Home decor
• Parenting
• Personal finance
• Blogging and business

Worst niches for Pinterest:

• Tech and software
• B2B content
• News and current events

Time investment: 2 hours per week to create pins and schedule them.

Strategy #2: Optimize for SEO (The Long Game That Pays Off)

Impact: 35% of my traffic (4,200 monthly visitors)

SEO took longer to kick in than Pinterest, but it’s now my most valuable traffic source because it’s passive and consistent.

What I did:

1. Keyword research before writing I stopped writing random posts and started targeting specific keywords with search volume.

Tools I used:

• Ubersuggest (free): Check search volume and difficulty
• Google Autocomplete: Find what people are searching
• AnswerThePublic: Find question-based keywords

Target: Keywords with 500-5,000 monthly searches and difficulty under 40.

2. Optimized every post For each post, I made sure to:

• Include keyword in title, first paragraph, and H2 headers
• Write 1,500+ words (comprehensive coverage)
• Add 3-5 internal links
• Include 2-3 external links to authoritative sources
• Write compelling meta description
• Optimize images with alt text

3. Updated old posts Every 3 months, I’d:

• Review my top 10 posts in Google Analytics
• Update them with new information
• Improve SEO optimization
• Add more internal links

Example: I had a post about “blogging tools” from month 2 that was getting 50 visitors/month. I updated it with:

• 5 new tools I’d discovered
• Updated pricing information
• Better SEO optimization
• More detailed descriptions

Traffic jumped from 50/month to 380/month within 6 weeks.

4. Built internal links Every new post linked to 3-5 older posts. This helped Google understand my site structure and kept readers on my site longer.

Results: Month 1-3: Minimal SEO traffic (under 50/month)
Month 4-6: Started ranking for long-tail keywords (200-500/month)
Month 7-9: Several posts hit page 1 (1,000-2,000/month)
Month 10+: Compounding effect kicked in (4,000+/month)

Time investment: Built into my writing process. No extra time needed once I learned the system.

Strategy #3: Engage on Reddit (The Immediate Traffic Boost)

Impact: 10% of my traffic (1,200 monthly visitors)

Reddit can drive hundreds of visitors in a single day if you do it right. The key is genuine participation, not spam.

What I did:

1. Found relevant subreddits I identified 5-6 subreddits where my target audience hangs out:

• r/blogging
• r/Entrepreneur
• r/smallbusiness
• r/SEO
• r/content_marketing

2. Participated genuinely I spent 15 minutes daily:

• Answering questions
• Sharing insights
• Commenting on posts
• Building karma and credibility

3. Shared my content strategically Only after I’d established myself as a helpful community member did I share my blog posts.

Rules I followed:

• Only share when genuinely relevant to the discussion
• Add context (don’t just drop a link)
• Follow subreddit rules about self-promotion
• Expect some downvotes (it happens)

Example: Someone asked: “How do I get more blog traffic?”

My response: “I grew my blog from 200 to 12,000 monthly visitors in 9 months using mostly Pinterest and SEO. The key was focusing on one traffic source at a time instead of spreading myself thin across all platforms. I wrote a detailed post about my exact strategy here: [link]. Happy to answer any questions!”

Results: One well-placed Reddit comment could drive:

• 200-500 visitors in 24 hours
• 10-20 new email subscribers
• 2-5 affiliate sales

Time investment: 15 minutes per day.

Strategy #4: Guest Post on Established Blogs (The Authority Builder)

Impact: 8% of my traffic (960 monthly visitors)

Guest posting gets you in front of an established audience and builds backlinks for SEO.

What I did:

1. Identified target blogs I looked for blogs in my niche that:

• Accept guest posts
• Have engaged audiences (check comments)
• Rank well in Google
• Aren’t direct competitors

2. Pitched valuable ideas I didn’t pitch “here’s what I want to write.” I pitched “here’s what your audience needs.”

Example pitch: “Hi [Name],

I’ve been reading [Blog Name] for months and love your content on [topic].

I noticed you haven’t covered [specific gap]. I’d love to write a guest post about [specific topic] that would help your readers [specific benefit].

I’ve written similar content that got [specific results]. Here are some samples: [links]

Would this be valuable for your audience?

Thanks, Sarah”

3. Wrote exceptional content My guest posts were always:

• Longer and more detailed than my own blog posts
• Packed with actionable advice
• Customized to the host blog’s audience
• My absolute best work

4. Included strategic links In my author bio, I linked to:

• My blog homepage
• My best-performing post
• My email signup page

Results: Each guest post drove:

• 100-300 immediate visitors
• 20-50 ongoing monthly visitors (from people finding the post later)
• 1-2 high-quality backlinks (helps SEO)
• 15-30 new email subscribers

Time investment: 6-8 hours per guest post (research, writing, editing). I did one per month.

Strategy #5: Repurpose Content on Medium (The Syndication Play)

Impact: 4% of my traffic (480 monthly visitors)

Medium has a built-in audience of millions. I republished my best content there to reach new readers.

What I did:

1. Created a Medium account (free)

2. Republished my top posts I took my best-performing blog posts and republished them on Medium with:

• A canonical link back to my blog (tells Google the original source)
• A call-to-action at the end: “Originally published on [My Blog]. Subscribe for more: [link]”

3. Submitted to Medium publications I found Medium publications in my niche and submitted my posts. Getting accepted meant exposure to thousands of publication followers.

4. Engaged with readers I responded to every comment on my Medium posts, building relationships and driving people back to my blog.

Results:

• 300-500 views per republished post on Medium
• 20-30 click-throughs to my blog per post
• 5-10 new email subscribers per post

Time investment: 30 minutes per post to republish and format.

Strategy #6: Build Relationships with Other Bloggers (The Network Effect)

Impact: 2% of my traffic (240 monthly visitors)

Other bloggers became my biggest supporters, sharing my content and linking to my posts.

What I did:

1. Commented on other blogs I left thoughtful comments on 5-10 blogs per week in my niche. Not “great post!” but actual insights and questions.

2. Shared others’ content I regularly shared other bloggers’ posts on social media, tagging them. People remember when you promote their work.

3. Collaborated I reached out to bloggers for:

• Roundup posts (“10 Bloggers Share Their Best Traffic Tips”)
• Expert quotes for my posts
• Link exchanges (natural, not spammy)

4. Joined blogging communities I participated in:

• Facebook groups for bloggers
• Slack communities
• Twitter chats

Results:

• Other bloggers linked to my posts (SEO boost)
• Shared my content with their audiences
• Invited me to collaborate on projects
• Became genuine friends and supporters

Time investment: 1-2 hours per week.

Strategy #7: Create Shareable Content (The Viral Potential)

Impact: 1% of my traffic (120 monthly visitors from viral posts)

Most of my content got modest traffic. But 2-3 posts went semi-viral and drove thousands of visitors.

What makes content shareable:

1. Actionable listicles “10 [Things] That [Achieve Specific Result]”

Example: “10 Free Tools That Doubled My Blog Traffic”

2. Contrarian opinions “Why [Popular Belief] Is Wrong”

Example: “Why You Shouldn’t Blog Every Day (And What to Do Instead)”

3. Personal case studies “How I [Achieved Result] in [Timeframe]”

Example: “How I Grew My Email List from 0 to 2,000 in 6 Months”

4. Ultimate guides “The Complete Guide to [Topic]”

Example: “The Complete Guide to Blog SEO for Beginners”

What I did:

• Created 1-2 “shareable” posts per month
• Made them longer and more comprehensive than usual (2,500+ words)
• Designed custom graphics
• Promoted heavily on social media
• Reached out to influencers: “I wrote this guide on [topic]. Thought you might find it valuable.”

Results: My post “How I Made $1,000 from Blogging in Month 6” got:

• 4,200 views in the first week
• 300 shares on social media
• 87 new email subscribers
• 12 backlinks from other blogs

Time investment: 8-10 hours per “shareable” post.

What Didn’t Work (Save Your Time)

I also tried strategies that flopped:

Facebook groups - Posted my content, got zero engagement. People don’t want blog links in groups.

Twitter - Spent hours tweeting, got minimal traffic. Works for some niches, not mine.

Instagram - Beautiful photos, engaged followers, but almost zero blog traffic. Instagram keeps people on Instagram.

Commenting on high-traffic blogs - Spent hours leaving thoughtful comments hoping for traffic. Got maybe 10 visitors total.

Link roundups - Submitted my posts to weekly roundups. Rarely got featured, and when I did, traffic was negligible.

Your mileage may vary, but these didn’t work for me.

My Actual Traffic Growth Timeline

Month 1: 200 visitors (mostly friends and family)
Month 2: 180 visitors (friends stopped checking)
Month 3: 350 visitors (started Pinterest)
Month 4: 890 visitors (Pinterest gaining momentum)
Month 5: 1,650 visitors (first SEO traffic)
Month 6: 3,200 visitors (Pinterest + SEO compounding)
Month 7: 5,100 visitors (guest post went viral)
Month 8: 8,400 visitors (SEO really kicking in)
Month 9: 12,000 visitors (multiple strategies compounding)

Traffic sources at month 9:

• Pinterest: 40% (4,800)
• Organic search: 35% (4,200)
• Reddit: 10% (1,200)
• Guest posts: 8% (960)
• Medium: 4% (480)
• Other: 3% (360)

The Strategy That Matters Most

After testing everything, here’s what I learned:

Focus on one traffic source until it works, then add another.

I spent months 1-3 mastering Pinterest. Once that was working, I added SEO. Once SEO was working, I added Reddit and guest posting.

Trying to do everything at once meant I did everything poorly.

My recommended order for beginners:

Months 1-3: Pinterest (if your niche is visual) or SEO (if not)

• Master one traffic source
• Get your first 1,000 monthly visitors

Months 4-6: Add SEO (if you started with Pinterest) or Pinterest (if you started with SEO)

• Now you have two traffic sources
• Aim for 3,000-5,000 monthly visitors

Months 7-9: Add Reddit and guest posting

• Diversify your traffic
• Build authority and backlinks
• Aim for 10,000+ monthly visitors

Months 10-12: Optimize and scale

• Double down on what’s working
• Update old content
• Build on your momentum

The Real Secret to Blog Traffic Growth

Here’s the truth nobody wants to hear:

Growing blog traffic takes time, consistency, and quality content.

There’s no hack. No shortcut. No magic formula.

But if you:

1. Create genuinely helpful content
2. Optimize it for search engines
3. Promote it strategically
4. Stay consistent for 6-12 months

You will see growth.

My blog went from 200 to 12,000 monthly visitors not because I found some secret trick, but because I showed up every week for nine months and did the work.

You can do the same.

Pick one strategy from this post. Master it. Then add another.

In nine months, you’ll be writing your own “how I grew my blog traffic” post.

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About the author: Sarah Chen is a digital marketing consultant and SEO specialist who has grown multiple blogs from zero to 10,000+ monthly visitors. Her blogs collectively generate over 500,000 monthly organic visitors. She specializes in sustainable, free traffic strategies that don’t require paid advertising.