[wphostninja]

Some will say you need SEO, others will say you need social media.

The truth is that driving more traffic to your blog requires the use of a variety of tactics that form a complete content strategy.

Here are a few pointers:

You need to ensure your blog's value proposition is clear, focused and appeals to your target audience.
Publish content that solves your audiences problems in the best way possible
Look at specific keywords/topics which you may want to rank for but forget about those keywords until you've written blog posts - This will ensure your content is 100% focused on users and not trying to cram in more keywords.
Leverage the influencers of others in your niche to grow your audience - For example, mentioning influencers in your content (when relevant) and letting them know about it is a good way to start. Take things further with group interviews and other content where influencers can be asked to contribute.
Repurpose your content on different platforms - Could you turn a blog post into an infographic or a Slideshare presentation? Yes, you can! You could turn a blog post into a video or a podcast. This rocks because some people prefer different types of content, and you can then tap into that audience.
Update your old content - for most blogs, old content will drive the most traffic, especially from search engines. Keep these updated and ensure they stay relevant. By doing this, you'll keep hold of that traffic.
Contribute to other blogs - let's be honest, most guest posting won't get you much traffic initially but it drives awareness. Over the long term, awareness will open up opportunities to contribute to larger blogs, and other opportunities you'll never have imagined when you first started out. It's not a magic bullet, but it DOES help.