How to increase traffic to your blog in 2026: My 11 big secrets to going from 0 to over 1,000,000 monthly pageviews

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Want to increase your blog traffic in 2026? Here are my 11 big secrets to growing your blog traffic from zero to 1 million monthly pageviews.

My food blog Easy Peasy Foodie regularly gets over 1 million pageviews a month – my biggest month ever being well over 1,600,000 pageviews.

How did I do it?

In this post I am sharing 11 of my biggest secrets to going from 0 to over 1,000,000 monthly pageviews.

Here’s how to increase traffic to your blog in 2026…

Secret #1: Keyword research

If I had to attribute my blog’s success to any one thing it would be keyword research.

Keyword research helps you find:

1. Keywords that have a good amount of volume
2. Keywords that you stand a chance of ranking for

If you don’t do keyword research, you are likely to end up either targeting keywords which barely get any traffic OR keywords that are so competitive you’ll end up ranking on page 5 (and you get barely any traffic on page 2 let alone page 5!)

Keyword research – done properly – is also a massive productivity hack.

Instead of churning out dozens and dozens of posts which barely send you any traffic, you can write fewer posts but get far more traffic.

For example, instead of writing 100 posts that each send 10 pageviews per day (1,000 pageviews per day total), you could spend a couple of hours doing keyword research, following this method, and write 10 blog posts that send 1,000 pageviews per day. (10,000 pageviews per day total). Less work, for a whole lot more traffic!

But here’s the thing. You have to do keyword research properly.

Keyword research is not ‘write a post and then use keyword research to figure out what keywords to target’.

Proper keyword research starts much further back. It’s about using keyword research to figure out what you should write your blog posts about in the first place.

You do keyword research FIRST.

Then, when you have found enough keywords that fit your volume and keyword difficulty parameters, you score those keywords in order to determine which keywords will drive the most traffic.

THEN you start writing those posts from the ‘highest traffic-potential’ post down.

And the best news? You can do all your keyword research for a whole year in 1 day!

I have used many different methods of keyword research over the years, but this is the one I currently use >>> How to do keyword research step by step

And this is the tool I use >>> KeySearch Review: Is KeySearch worth the cost? [2026]

Secret #2: Topical authority

One thing that you soon notice when you do keyword research is that blogs with strong topical authority more often than not rank considerably above where you’d expect them to rank based on DA alone.

This is backed up by what Google has said again and again about topical authority.

Building topical authority has been the ‘secret sauce’ on both my blogs.

It’s starts by niching down. You can’t develop topical authority on a blog that is very general – like a general food blog all about every different type of food.

But then even within your niche you can develop specific areas of ‘expertise’.

One thing I have done a lot over the years is really lean into things that were doing well.

For example, there was a time when I noticed my leftovers recipes were doing really really well. So I doubled down on leftovers recipes for a while – really leaning into an area that Google was already ranking me well for and building up topical authority around that area.

If you have ‘topical depth’ in a certain area – like leftovers, your new content related to that same topic tends to do considerably better vs  new content in an area you don’t have ‘topical depth’ in – even if a keyword research tool tells you they have a similar keyword difficulty.

Topical authority doesn’t just help you identify new keywords. It also helps you ‘shore up’ old posts. Or in other words, as you build up topical authority in an area, it helps the existing posts on your site that cover that same area rank better on Google too.

Better still, this ‘shoring up’ technique also seems to offer a certain amount of protection against other people who try and cruise in and ‘steal’ your keywords.

READ MORE >>> How to use topical authority to boost your Google rankings and grow your blog traffic in 2026

Secret #3: Content boosts

Another massive factor has been what I like to call ‘content boosts’.

Content boosts are when you write a lot of content in a short amount of time.

I’ve done this several times over the years and every single time it has dramatically boosted my pageviews.

It’s kind of like pressing the ‘turboboost’ button.

It’s not surprising really.

Writing lots of new content in a short amount of time gives you lots and lots of new opportunities to rank.

It also has several other benefits:

• The more content you have, the more Google understands what your blog is about and the more Google trusts your blog… which leads to even more pageviews.
• The more content you write, the more topical authority you have in your niche… which leads to even more pageviews.
• Writing lots of content in a short space of time makes you a better writer… which leads to even more pageviews.
• Writing lots of blog posts in a short period of time gives you more chances of striking it lucky and getting a blog post that goes BANANAS!

READ MORE >>> The 30 Day Blog Traffic Booster Challenge

Better still, if you have lots of new content, you can do lots more internal linking… which means every visitor to your site may view multiple pages – so all your older content gets more traffic too!

Which leads me neatly onto…

Secret #4: Internal linking

I am honestly AMAZED at how many bloggers DON’T do internal linking well… It’s such a quick win, and it’s a double whammy…

1. If you do lots of good internal linking, lots of your readers will read multiple blog posts… leading to more pageviews.

But also…

2. If lots of people are spending a long time on your blog clicking around and viewing multiple pages, that sends positive user signals back to Google which in turn will help you rank better… which will lead to more pageviews.

To take advantage of this ‘secret’, you should ensure that every single post on your website links to several other posts on your site.

As you write each new post you should be looking for opportunities to link to other posts on your website.

When you publish a new post, you should link from 2-3 existing posts to that new post.

One of the easiest ways to do this is to add a ‘further reading’ section at the end of each post. You should also link naturally throughout your post, wherever it makes sense.

However, don’t go too far the other way and add too many internal links to your posts.

Always ask yourself, ‘Would this link be helpful to my intended reader?’

READ MORE >>> How to use internal linking to boost your SEO

Secret #5: Writing genuinely useful content

This should be a given, but sadly it is not.

All too often I come across content which is full of pad and waffle / doesn’t answer the question / is vague and confusing / has a terrible structure and jumps around all over the place.

And it’s not just me saying this. Google has repeatedly said the same thing.

In Google’s help document entitled ‘Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content’ they say…

“Google’s automated ranking systems are designed to present helpful, reliable information that’s primarily created to benefit people, not to gain search engine rankings, in the top Search results”

One of the biggest secrets to ranking well is to put yourself in the shoes of the actual human who will be reading the blog post you are writing and ask yourself…

“Why did this person type this search query into Google?”

“What is the problem they are trying to solve?”

“How can I best help them solve this problem?”

“How can I structure my content to make it easy to read and easy to fix the problem?”

“What actually needs to be in this blog post and what is unnecessary pad and waffle?”

Then write that!

If you write content that is genuinely useful, your readers will stay on your website (and not ping back to Google for a better answer), they will stay on your website longer, they will read other posts on your website, and they will come directly back to your website in the future. All of which will send positive user signals back to Google and so boost your rankings, and consequently your traffic.

READ MORE >>> How to write helpful content that ranks on Google – lessons from the Helpful Content Update

Secret #6: Not following someone else’s formula

Google has said repeatedly that they want to rank ‘unique’ content – content which ‘adds to the conversation’ and provides ‘substantial additional value and originality’.

However, often SEO ‘experts’ will claim that they have discovered the blog post writing ‘formula’  or ‘recipe’ which they claim is ‘essential to follow’ if you want to rank for a certain type of content. Or else they will promote tools which encourage you to include everything that the top ranking posts include.

The problem with both these approaches is that, by definition, they will not produce ‘unique’ or ‘original’ content that ‘adds to the conversation’ and provides ‘substantial additional value’.

This ‘write to a formula’ approach to writing content will result in posts which are very similar to every other blog post that is targeting the same keyword!

I believe this ‘write to a formula’ approach is one of the reasons why so many seemingly ‘good’ blogs have been demoted in the past couple of years.

This strategy almost certainly worked in the past. But in an era of AI, you need a different strategy. AI can write to a formula… What Google is looking for is the kind of content that can’t be written by AI – fresh perspectives, new angles and unique takes.

Google have been super explicit that this kind of ‘unoriginal’, ‘formulaic’ content is not the kind of content they want to rank in 2026 and beyond.

Secret #7: Prioritizing UX

Another thing Google have been clamping down hard on is UX. In fact, the HCU which hurt so many bloggers so badly, was eventually dubbed the HCU(X) because it clearly hit bloggers who did not prioritize UX.

UX is so much more than site speed.

It’s about ad density, ad positioning, popups, clear navigation, the readability of your blog posts, even the look and feel of your website.

Take a long hard look at your website and try to put yourself in the shoes of a reader… does your website deliver a really great UX.

Is it enjoyable to use? Is it easy to find things? Does it look professional?

Or is your reader being constantly bombarded by ads, popups and interrupted by glitches?

UX is especially important if you have ads on your website.

All too often bloggers prioritize RPM… Unfortunately the things you need to do to increase your RPM are exactly the same things that will hurt your UX.

If you work on increasing your RPM, you’ll likely negatively impact your UX, which will hurt your Google rankings and therefore your traffic – resulting in LESS revenue.

It’s much better to dial back your ads – sure you’ll have a lower RPM, but fewer ads will give you a better UX which will boost your Google rankings and therefore your traffic – resulting in MORE revenue in the long run.

READ MORE >>> 22 easy ways to improve your blog’s user experience

Secret #8: Regularly updating old content

Google have said repeatedly that content quality is a major ranking factor. And ‘quality’ is not just about each specific blog post. It’s also about overall content quality.

In other words, if you have a lot of poor quality content on your website, that will drag down the rankings of your good quality content too.

So, the next big secret to growing your blog traffic is to regularly update old content… and to delete content which is no longer relevant or not worth updating.

READ MORE >>> How to update an old blog post (and why you should!) + CHECKLIST
READ MORE >>> Should you delete old blog posts?

Secret #9: Focusing on E-E-A-T

Authority has always been an important ranking factor for Google… and in 2026 it is even more important than ever.

Why?

Because AI content generation is getting ever more sophisticated – there are now tools which will write you an entire blog post in one click. And that blog post is actually pretty reasonable. Which means the internet is being flooded with a deluge of ‘pretty reasonable’ blog posts.

And that’s why ‘authority’ is matters so much in 2026.

Google needs a way to sort the ‘pretty reasonable’ blog posts from the ‘truly great’ blog posts… A way to sort the ‘entirely written by a bot’ content from the ‘written with actual human involvement and expertise’ content.

Of course, this has always been true to an extent… and in the past Google mainly used backlinks as a way to sort out the ‘authoritative’ content from the junk.

But backlinks are a very crude way to measure authority… and a way that has been massively abused over the years.

In fact, in recent years, Google have explicitly said backlinks are not as important anymore, as they have better ways of judging a website’s authority.

However, over the last few years, Google has become more and more adept at understanding TRUE authority… authority that can’t be manipulated by buying links and other black hat techniques.

And that’s why focusing on E-E-A-T (and building topical authority) is really important if you want to rank well and increase your traffic in 2026.

READ MORE >>> 15 easy ways to improve your website’s E-E-A-T

Secret #10: Not underestimating the power of email marketing

You may be surprised to see email marketing in this list, but it is one of the biggest secrets to boosting your traffic – especially in 2026.

Why? Because email marketing – when done well – does a number of rather awesome things to boost your SEO.

For example…

1. Email Marketing improves brand recognition and trust

2. Email Marketing increases branded searches

3. Email Marketing helps you understand your audience better

4. Email marketing gives your E-E-A-T a boost

All of which will boost your SEO and so boost your traffic in 2026 and beyond.

READ MORE >>> How to use email marketing to boost your SEO

Secret #11: Implementing True Productivity

My final secret is perhaps the biggest of all… and that’s ‘True Productivity’.

What do I mean by ‘True Productivity’?

Well, most of what people call ‘productivity’ is really ‘efficiency’.

Or, in other words, finding ways to do what is on your to do list faster and more efficiently.

The problem with this approach is that it assumes two things to be true:

1. You have the right things on your to do list in the first place
2. It is possible/desirable to do everything on your to do list

In almost every circumstance, neither of these things are true.

So, when you apply traditional ‘productivity’ techniques, all you end up doing is getting faster at doing the wrong things… And because you have far too many things on your to do list… and because lots of those things shouldn’t be on your to do list, you end up working super hard but not actually getting anywhere.

True Productivity is about ensuring you have the right things on your to do list in the first place. And it’s about accepting that you will NEVER get everything done that you would like to, so you need to pick what to spend time on and what to cross off your to do list altogether.

When you apply True Productivity principles to your to your blogging to do list, you ensure you remove a lot of ‘nice to do’ things off your to do list, and replace them with the things that actually move the dial… like all the things in Secrets 1-10!

Only then – when you actually have the right things on your to do list – is it worth applying those ‘efficiency’ techniques… to help you do the things that will truly move the dial, so you can work less and earn more!

You can read all about ‘True Productivity’ in my ebook Blog Smarter Not Harder.

Conclusion: Traffic is only half the equation

There are 11 key secrets to increasing traffic to your blog in 2026: keyword research, topical authority, content boosts, internal linking, writing genuinely useful content, not following someone else’s formula, prioritizing UX, regularly updating old content, building E-E-A-T, not underestimating the power of email marketing, and implementing True Productivity. When you focus on these 11 things, you have the ‘secret formula’ to increasing your blog traffic in 2026 and beyond.

But blog traffic is only half of the equation. Most people do not want ‘more traffic’ in and of itself… most people want what ‘more traffic’ will bring them… in other words, ‘more income’.

Income is the other half of the equation. If you want to know how to increase your income in 2026… and future proof your blog, you need to read this >>> What is the best way to monetize a blog in 2026

Over to you!

Do you have any additional secrets you think I should have include in this list? Let us know in the comment section below!

More on this topic…

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• 17 reasons why your blog post is not ranking on Google (And how to fix them!)
• 17 SEO mistakes to avoid in 2026
• How will Google’s AI Overviews impact bloggers in 2026? How to not only survive but positively thrive as a blogger in the AI era!
• How selling digital products will boost your SEO
• How often should you blog in 2026 to become a successful blogger?

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