Whether you’re a news journalist, lifestyle blogger, freelance copywriter, or you just have a passion for creating content; there are a few things you should know in order to promote your published work if you really want to extend your reach. In order to get the most out of your post, it’s necessary to promote it in places where readers find it relevant, interesting, and helpful. Your blog, just like a business, needs to be well-marketed in order to bring people in and keep them engaged. You aren’t writing content for nothing, right? Increase the awareness of your blog and give it the exposure it deserves.

Here are 6 simple & free tips for increasing traffic to your blog:

1. Use Social Media

Promoting your blog on social media should already feel like second nature to you. If you aren’t already publishing your posts through Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, and other social media platforms, start now. Leverage these networks to your advantage to gain traffic and engagement.

As soon as you hit “publish” on your blog post, make a habit of pushing the post’s link through Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. For added traffic, create an account for your blog on Pinterest and pin to your boards that are relevant to your blog’s topics. Programs like Hootsuite, Buffer, and SproutSocial are great resources for social media management.

2. Be Consistent.

Staying consistent is one of the most important factors to making your blog successful. Nobody knows your brand better than you do, so don’t compromise it by posting things that are irrelevant or incompatible to you and your brand. Also, search engines love webpages with quality content that is fresh and persistent. In order to keep a steady increase in your blog’s traffic, you’ll want to publish content at least 3 times per week.

3. Engage with other Bloggers

If you want visitors on your blog, try visiting other blogs and starting a conversation. Commenting on other blogs (and including a link back to your own) will promote ongoing engagement with other bloggers in your online community. It’s also important to reply to comments on your own blog so that your readers feel their comments and opinions are valued. The more connected they feel, the more likely they are to visit again.

4. Optimize Each Post

Keywords are important in your blog’s content. Using the Google Adwords Keyword Planner tool can help you find great keywords to be using in your blog posts that are both relevant to your topic and stand against your competitors. Also, avoid overkill by placing too many keywords into your content so that readers are distracted and turned off by your difficult-to-read blog posts.

5. Guest blogging

Another great way to gain some exposure is to write guest posts on other blogs with a similar audience. If you’re a fashion blogger, submitting a guest post on another fashion blog chock full with photos and outfit inspiration will encourage readers to check out your blog and potentially follow you. Be sure to include a brief bio about yourself and a link back to your blog for easy access to readers.

6. Utilize Multimedia in Blog Posts

Is your blog visually appealing? Would you want to look at it if it wasn’t yours? One way to bring readers in is by having attractive imagery and videos that readers can engage with. Visual content can be  just as important as the content you are writing. Also, referring back to #1, if you have great corresponding photos that are relevant to your topic, pinning the photo to your Pinterest account can be very beneficial.

There are a plethora of resources available online if you’re seeking new ways to drive traffic to your blog. Although great content is key, it’s not always sufficient. Bringing extra attention to your blog is simple and necessary. Follow these 6 steps and you’ll be well on your way to gaining readers and increasing your overall blog traffic.