Building a consistent traffic base is the most frequent conundrum that modern bloggers face. With more competition than ever before, it takes a cleverly honed approach for a blog to truly succeed. Boosting traffic is the most basic concern of any blogger, but the obtainment of a solid following can seem elusive. However, the formula for attracting legions of fans is not enigmatic. In fact, there is a straightforward recipe for dominating the blogosphere. This nifty guide reveals the secrets of viral blogging by pointing out the key pieces that your blog just might be missing.

1. No Search Engine Optimization

Killer material is useless if no one knows where to find it. 2014 has brought a new slew of SEO tactics to build upon the already rich strategies of increasing visibility. Keywords, great user experience, value to customer, and whether or not your page is crawler accessible all contributes to how your blog and page will rank. On-page optimization is an in-depth process, so it’s best to follow this visual Moz tutorial if you’re just getting started. Using these maneuvers guarantees instant attention, but it is wise to provide visitors with a reason to stay on the page. Resorting to garbled bricks of random keyword segments is a surefire backfire that will only diminish credibility and respect and draw the attention of Google penalties.

2. Lack of a Specific Demographic

It is always important to determine your target audience; otherwise, the overall feel of a blog might end up being disjointed. To avoid aimless dissonance, simply research the unifying characteristics of your readership. Identifying a trend will give the blogger a chance to cater their writing to the needs of their devoted followers. All of the blog entries should be connected with an underlying theme that makes cohesive sense, and the overarching message should be designed to attract a designated group of online users. A business should always find new ways to reach their core foundation of fans. One such successful is Target. They created a nich-specific page that targets everything their customers are interested in: fashion and entertainment. Target’s blog knows the type of people who shop at their store are likely the same type of people who will visit their blog. They’ve targeted their exact audience while providing usable content for readers.

3. Infrequent Activity

Blogs that exist without regular updates quickly become old news. To maintain a continuous level of intrigue among the prospective audience, it is wise to update as often as possible. The standard Internet expectation is at least one post per day, but you can instead still do very well with only posting once a week—as long as your content is truly top-notch. By maintaining a constant flow of new information, a blogger can expect a similar flow of reader interest. So, make exciting posts all of the time, and keep the people guessing. Remember to constantly emphasize originality and free expression!

4. Poor Social Media Integration

Content simply cannot go viral without the proper Web formatting. A blog must be outfitted to support every basic social media platform. It is incredibly easy to implement connectivity with Facebook and Google+. In fact, the entire gamut of social media networks can be incorporated through quick coding. There are endless online services that can help with the inclusion of social media for free.

By having every major platform built into the blog, a content provider can rest assured that they have crafted a shareable cornucopia of knowledge. Besides just giving users the option to share, why not encourage something specific for them to share? How about a tweetable quote or statistic? This gives users a built-in quote to tweet out, increasing the likelihood that they’ll actually tweet about your article. Crafting a quotable tweet isn’t impossible, as many bloggers have had success doing so. All you have to do is add a “click to tweet” option near the sentence you think is most tweetable or sharable.

5. Low Quality, Boring Content

At the bottom line, a blog is only as valuable as its written material. The cornerstone of a financially flourishing blog is incisive commentary and applicable tips. If your business blog is witnessing a floundering following after trying the aforementioned strategies, then it may be time to amp up the quality of the content itself. Explore new ways of providing cutting-edge analysis and journalism. Acquire extra writers, and keep experimenting with different modes of delivery! Better yet, create content that people will actually find useful. One great example is the blog extension from home automation giant Vivint. Their blog, called “The Neighborhood,” offers tips to go green at home, travel tips, home organization, and more. It’s offers users useful, shareable content.

Every blogger wants to be at the top of the game, but most of them fail to pay attention to the little details that matter. By keeping track of the small stuff listed above, it will be possible for any business blog to bolster their reputation for a keen perspective. The chief aspect of success in the cutthroat world of blogging is to keep it fast-paced and interesting. By adhering to these tenets, it is possible to cultivate a massive surge in traffic.