Blog traffic is hard earned. It never comes so easy. And once you get some (or a lot of) traffic, you should see that you don’t lose it!
Blog traffic leak is one of the biggest problems of the era. Generating targeted traffic is a challenging task for any blogger. But then to retain the generated blog traffic is another part of the story, equally, or even more important than the former.
While you can read a lot about generating blog traffic, you should also realize that it is more important for you to “preserve” the traffic you already have. It doesn’t matter if you have 10 or 100 visitors per day or 10K visits - if you don’t manage to “keep” those visitors, you have lost the battle.
All your blog traffic generation strategies and efforts have gone in vain.
One of the most important metrics that can tell you how fast you lose your blog traffic is your bounce rate. It tells you how fast people close the window or click the back button as soon as they enter your blog.
Some of the most common reasons for losing blog traffic are the following:
- Poor site design. Awful colors, fonts etc. that are disturbing to the eyes.
- Over promoting environment. Too many ad banners, flashing. Too much adsense.
- Irrelevant content. The title should deliver what it promises!
- Irrelevant content. Suppose you rank for irrelevant keywords in SERP and if people came to your site looking for cameras and if you’re writing about blogging, you will lose such blog traffic immediately.
- And in general anything that amounts your visitors to “run away”!
But it may also happen that you might be driving away your blog traffic, for reasons apart from the ones mentioned above! And they are silly reasons 
It could be just a simple thing that will make you lose the hard earned blog traffic.
In this post I will share a couple of simple (silly, yes) things that many bloggers, even some big ones are doing. Since I found a lot of blogs doing it, I thought I should bring it up.
Have a control of external links
That simple! Don’t use too many of them. Instead, include many internal links. I am not saying that you should not link to any other blogs or websites.
But keep those links to a minimum. Don’t overdo it.
If you write a 500 word post with 10 links on it and if 8 links point to external websites, you are driving away your blog traffic. That’s for sure.
Links to external websites not only mean links to external blog posts, but also adsense blocks, amazon blocks, affiliate program links, etc.
Also if you’re using too many social media profile buttons, again your are driving away your blog traffic.
If you have a Youtube video that accompanies your blog post, embed the video inside your post, instead of simply giving a link to it. If you link to it, your blog traffic goes to Youtube, watches your video and then watches a couple of more related videos and then watches a bunch of cat videos and thats it.
Internal linking strengthens your SEO, so link to your own relevant blog posts more than links to other websites.
Open links in new tab
This one is super silly. It doesn’t matter if it is an internal or external link, always make sure that you set it to open in a “New tab”. There is so much potential to this silly thing.
Whenever I read a blog post, if I come across links I usually right click on the link and choose to open it in the new tab and continue reading the original post I was reading. This applies to any number of links I come across. I open them up all (the interesting ones I mean) in a new tab, finish reading the original post, and then go ahead and read those posts that interested me.
But not everyone will have this right click habit. You can’t expect your readers to do the same.
That is why you should make those links (internal and external) open in a new tab.
You can do it in three ways. If you’re using TinyMCE Advanced Plugin and if you select a block of text and try to add a link, you will get a pop up as shown below:
After you insert the link in the “Link URL” box click the “Target” drop down and choose “open in new window” as shown above. The additional advantage about using this plugin is that it can add rel=”nofollow” to external links with a click.
Or if you don’t use this plugin, insert the link as usual by selecting the text. And you can select “Open in new window” on the WordPress pop up.
Or, After you’ve inserted the hyperlink, switch to the “HTML” view of the post editor and then add target=”_blank” in your link code.
Blog traffic takeaway
That’s it from me. Two simple things that can count a lot on your blog traffic. Even the slightest things you ignore or take light can result you in losing your blog traffic.
Next time you make a post, make sure you take of these two simple things.
I’d love to hear what you’ve got to say on this? Please leave a comment!
Hello Jane! Great tips there! This may help bloggers to realize how important traffic in their site. I will surely remember what you have thought here. Thanks for the ideas!
Glad that I could give you some practical advice Richard!
Amie Marse says
Hmm, I have to say that I disagree about the open new tab thing. I do tend to agree if it’s an external link but I find a lot of visitors freak out when there is a new window open. I guess it depends on who your traffic is that you are targeting. If you cater to internet newbies that freak out over things like pop ups or new tabs opening, etc it’s probably best to keep the link on the same tab. If you have a more technically savvy group - make it a new tab. It’s a thinker. Thanks though - I know the #1 thing that I see everywhere is the fifty different ways to share. On top of that, especially in WP people don’t get rid of the duplicate code so the pages load slower, urgh.
Good post though
Thanks!
Salman says
Yeah .. Even I agree with Amie !!
Its OK if the external link is opened in a new tab but for internal links, I don’t feel like doing so.
Anyways a great share Jane.
Agree with your words “Getting targeted traffic is challenging but retaining them is more challenging”
Thanks for expressing your views Amie! Sure its a matter of preference. Some people get irritated with lots of tabs, but if a link opens in the same tab, I’m not sure how many people will remember to click the back button after reading that post
That will lead to readers going away 
It really depends on webmaster preference but I would suggest to conduct trial and error whether internal links should be open in new tab or not same with external links. Probably the best parameter would be the bounce rate. If it went up with the link being opened in a new tab then readers doesn’t like it or the other way around.
Chadrack says
I agree with you that preserving the traffic you’re already generating is something to work on. To add something to your points, I will say make your content interesting. When your blog readers are engaged with your content they are more open to read more of your posts. Nevertheless, there are many readers who are always in a rush. They only want to read just that article that pulled them in and leave for the next blog. But all in all, working on you content will hold them for some more minutes!
Sure, quality of the content is the prime factor to hook readers.
Hi Sheba,
Great tips because its hardly true the traffic is hard to turn on the blog and the total expense of blog depend on it.Without targeted audience no one able to think or write article on blog.
You got it right, Rizwan
kevin k lau says
I used to do that target=”_blank” with some of my older blogs. Then I ran across an article saying that it didn’t sit well with some readers, that they have to close one more tab, that you are playing with their web browser by opening a new tab-so I stopped doing them.
Looking back, the reason I was doing them was that it made sense for me. As you mentioned here, you too, right click on the link to open a new tab to keep them on your page and not lost their position.
I’m going to start using them again on my blogs. Thank you for sharing.
Kevin, I am sure some will complain about closing tabs - although personally I will complain about opening links in the same tab because I am reading one post with great interest, I clicked on a link that is also of interest to me but I don’t want to break the original post and go somewhere; I want to finish off the original post! So I suggest you start doing it again
jim syyap says
I see a lot of sites during the day. I agree with you, that some sites are just plain overkill. Too many flash scripts, pop-ups that interfere, over-selling. When I come across them, I make a mental note of the site’s name so that the next time I see it-click close tab! Good bye!
Thank you and have a nice day!
Hi Jane probably most of the blogger already develop that “open in a new tab habit” as for me whenever I placed link on my post I always have it open in a new tab so readers won’t get pissed when they have to click the back button. every time they found an interesting link to check on my blog.
Great minds think alike Adam
Thanks Jane. I’ve learned a lot since I started visiting your blog.
James Hussey says
Great tips, Jane - just a mild correction. You mention the TinyMCE plugin - WP 3.2.1 at least will have a checkbox asking if you want to open the link in a new window or tab - the benefit of TinyMCE here is that it allows a nofollow tag if you want to add it.
James thanks for the correction, you’re right
I’ll tweak the post a bit!
Herbert says
At first I wasnt aware the placing link without having them to open on new tab wont have an impact to my blog, but when I found out that it can do harm to your blog’s traffic, i edited almost all of my external links on my blog, Awesome tips Jane, thanks
Herbert! Glad that I could help you saving your jumping out traffic
Extreme John says
I do the same thing too Jane- right click a link and then open it in a new tab. But you’re totally right, not everyone does the same habit. Even I, oftentimes feel lazy to right click on a link to open in a new tab and then I suddenly navigate away from the page I was reading. That really drives traffic away. Great that you’ve shown how to make links open in new tab automatically. You’re awesome as always.
Thanks John, I’m sure most people are like us
We don’t want to lose what we are already reading, right?
Azhar says
I want to say that this post is caring post for the blog readers.All the factors you have explained are valid. Contents must be related to your niche.Some visitors only visit the blog for knowledge.They will never come back if they will found irrelevant and low quality contents on the blog.
Cheolsu says
Hi Jane, Those are some great tips. I always open external websites in a new window. I don’t worry too much about internal links. Getting a decent blog traffic for new blogs is always a challenge. One has to be patient and should constantly work on quality content and link building.
Cheolsu glad to know that you do the same thing too! THanks for stopping by.
Claire says
On the road to high traffic we should all write down the steps that got us there. In the end, we are made out of our mistakes, that’s how we learn. Writing these things down will help in troubleshooting any decrease in traffic. Keep your eyes open and be ready.
Claire, yes, keeping a note of points that could have caused a dip in our traffic is very important. We should always be ready to learn from our mistakes so that we don’t repeat them!
Most of the people now a days make some common mistakes like making the blog more of an adsense based website and not offering reader friendly content. In this way, readers get annoyed and they just get out of the blog. You must avoid these mistakes to gain success in blogging.
Sandy says
Hi Jane,
what you say is soooo true. My Blog is a new, startet in July, and i learn many things about Blogging, SEO, Traffic, Links and Backlinks in last Weeks.
It’s not easy to become visitors and traffic. And when you have traffic, you must save them.
I find your tips very interesting. Thanks for sharing, i will test on my blog.
Greetings from Germany and enjoy the weekend
Lyka Ricks says
Blog Traffic is very essential and we should maintain or increase the traffic otherwise we will lose them. Great and Relevant contents should always be offered, make it meaty. Links are also great to properly inform your readers but some leads to “over drown” ; posts swamp with links that sometimes readers get confuse to get back to the Main Blog.
Ricardus says
This is indeed some great tips here. What some bloggers do is exactly written well over here and that actually indeed drives their bloggers away.
Ellie says
Enjoyed your article on blog traffic. I am not into internet marketing; but, merely looking for ways to popularize my new site on anxiety attacks. You have provided me some very helpful tips. Thank you
You’re very welcome Ellie. Sure the tips above also apply for static and niche websites as well.
Excellent blogpost once again Jane and I do think that the internal linking with an option of link opening in another page is the right option to hold your traffic to your site pages only. Excellent tips and definitely everyone here has something to learn.
Lalit, internal linking is great for SEO and also helps engaging readers (and hence reduces bounce rate). Thanks for stoping by
Nice post on blog traffic. Thanx for sharing this Sheeba and btw, you have really got a nice and clean blog.
Thanks ….. may I know your name, please? I’d appreciate if you could use yourname@yourkeyword in the name field to use both your keyword as well as your name. Hope you understand!
junaid says
hello Jane the tips are awesome for the beginners as well as who are in the business from a long time traffic is a great thing which should be maintained and they should feel homely on the blogs as you said that not more adds are required i totally agree.
Good and very informative post. I will come back to your blog regularly. One thing: I do
not exactly know what do you mean in the second paragraph. Could you please explain
your opinion?
Good point, Jane! While I was reading your article another reason has got into my mind: visitors like knowing you care about their opinions. When bloggers receive comments, they should try to communicate with each commenter.
Amanda Detmer says
I enjoy your site - I would like to talk with you about buying ad space here granted you do that. Hit me up at the email I provided and we can talk about, thanks mate.
Thanks for this post. It really has some helpful tips which helped me because I’m a starter blogger. I just started a blog like 2 weeks ago and I need this kind of advices. Keep up the good work 😉
These are very good ways to ensure that you drive targeted traffic to your site. Once you get the traffic that you require or any traffic for that matter, you need to maintain it or make it more. Losing traffic is definitely going to affect your blog.
Hello. I wanted to give you a note to verbalize my thankfulness. I have been watching your blog posts for a month and have got a ton of excellent tips and appreciated the way you have built your web site. I’m going to make my blog however I feel it is too general and I need to concentrate more on particular issues.
Keeping the traffic is easy, the worst part is getting it in. People just make things more difficult even though they’re extremely simple. Like the target=_blank attribute which a lot of people ignore. There are easy methods to retain traffic, but people don’t know of them probably because they’re too obvious.
Some great advice Jane that I hope to take away and use on my new business site. I hope I can come back and ask more questions on any areas that I am not sure about.
Rogelio says
Can I ask, if I open an internal link in a new page, does it negatively affect bounce rate? What is the opinion on opening internal links for optimal bounce rate purposes?
Thanks.
Some sound advice here that i will apply. I have a question I hope you can help with. My blog is getting hundreds of comments each day, what is the best way to handle them. I do not have the time to read them all and select which to reject or approve.
Rick Castro says
Poor web page design, or sometimes over decorated web page drives reader and visitors away. also, as bloggers and SEO experts always say, a website has to have high quality and well research contents. Contents must also be fresh and updated!
i have used html gadget in menu bar to create menu bar but now my menu bar links open in new tab by default.how to correct it because i want to open in same tab.
Hi Akshay, just add target=”_blank” attribute to your href. That is, target=”_blank” href=”……..” rel=”nofollow”>anchor text
I always enjoy reading your blog post you keep it simple and straight, as you mentioned every blogger understands how hard it is to get traffic not only traffic but targeted once and should also try hard to keep them by updating the blog regularly with interesting posts.