It's time to grow your blog and increase Canadian traffic to your food blog. One of the great things about the internet is that it allows us to connect with people all over the world. There are no borders when it comes to sharing our blog content.
It's truly amazing when we stop to think about it — in a matter of minutes we can hit the publish button on a post and it's out in the world, the whole wide world.
But what does that mean for bloggers who are creating sponsored content for brands? Is reaching the whole world a good thing?
Can we find out what percentage of the bloggers' audiences are Canadian? How to Increase Canadian traffic to your food blog?
This was a question that came up maybe once a year. Now it's coming up several times a month.
Why?
Increase Canadian Traffic to Your Food Blog
Brands are now more interested than ever in reaching a Canadian market. This also goes for US brands who are launching product to the Canadian market, sometimes before they even launch in the US.
Just as bloggers have gotten savvier at working with brands, brands have gotten savvier at navigating digital media and social marketing. They want to be much more targeted with their marketing dollars.
Think of it this way: if a brand is launching a new product to the Canadian market, they want to target all their initial marketing efforts at potential consumers. In other words: Canadians.
Where awhile ago a brand would have paid a Canadian blogger a few hundred dollars for a recipe post and been quite happy, now they realize that there's a very good possibility that upwards of 85 percent of that blogger's readership is actually in the US and will never see the product they just paid to have promoted. That's not a good ROI for a brand!
Most Canadian bloggers do have a much higher percentage of American readers than they do Canadian readers. So how do you go about increasing your Canadian traffic to make yourself more appealing to Canadian brands?
Before we dive into this post, we're going to warn you: some of the things we mention may not be appealing to you. If earning revenue from your blog is a considerable part of your income you'll have to weigh your options carefully and decide how you want to proceed.
Where Are Your Hosting Servers Located?
While by no means the only factor, or even the most important factor in targeting a specific location, where your host servers are located can influence your traffic. Servers located in Canada can help you improve your Canadian traffic.
Something to note: having a Canadian hosting company doesn't mean the server that hosts your site is located in Canada. Many Canadian hosts use servers located in the US. If having a Canadian server is important to you, ask your hosting company where their servers are located and if it's possible to have your site on one that's located in Canada.
Do You Have a .ca Domain?
Having a .ca extension for your domain can help with Canadian traffic but if you already use a .com extension, it's probably not worth changing. If you have the option, you may want to purchase the .ca version of your site and redirect it to your main .com site.
Do You Mention Canada Anywhere On Your Website?
FBC's traffic is usually between 62 and 65 percent Canadian. And for good reason: Canada is mentioned virtually everywhere on the site. It's in our name, it's frequently used in some of our most trafficked pages. We make no bones about the fact that we are about Canadian food and Canadian food bloggers.
Most of our members make virtually no acknowledgement of the fact that they're Canadian — some by design and some because they've never given it much thought. Perhaps the easiest way to boost your Canadian traffic is to simply start talking about Canada. It can be as simple as showcasing some Canadian recipes or mentioning ridiculous Canadian winters or profiling some local producers.
Do You Tell Google Who To Target?
Did you know that you can actually tell Google which country you'd like to target? In the Search Console, select the Search Traffic menu option. Then choose the International Targeting sub-menu option. You'll see an option for Language and Country. Choose country and then select Canada as your country of choice. Et voila! Now Google knows who you want to see your content.
Now of course, you need to weigh the pros and cons of all these options and decide the best course of action for you and the type of blogging you do. If most of your brand opportunities come from Canadian brands or international brands wanting to target Canadians, it may be worth considering some of these options.
In the end of the day it is always your choice what audience do you want to attract. It is important to increase traffic to your blog, have higher pageviews and sessions for your food blog.
Do You Share Canadian Products on Your Website and Social Media?
It is always your choice what products you want to share on your website or social media. But we all know there are lots of Canadian big brands, local brands that we love and restaurants that we like. Of course, we know some smaller local brands won't have a budget for sponsored posts but many of them will grow one day. Think about your options and how you can work with Canadian brands or share them on your website or social media. Reach out to brands, talk with local businesses or mention them on social media.
Do You Attract Canadian Audience?
As a food blogger you know Canada has very well known traditional foods, for example Butter Tarts, Saskatoon Berry Pie, Nanaimo Bars, Montreal Bagels, Poutine and more! Don't forget about Canadian foods that you can blog about!
Increasing Canadian Traffic To Your Food Blog will be beneficial for your website.
Do You Promote Content in Canadian Groups/Communities?
There are many Canadian food or restaurant groups you can join (for example Facebook Groups). Don't spam these groups with your recipes but add valuable information, add your opinions or just be helpful. Become a member and actively participate in discussion.
In the end this is a great article that you can read 15 Proven Ways to Drive More Traffic to your Blog, it is not necessarily focused on Canadian traffic but it is still beneficial for any website.
More Reading
- Marketing and PR
- Ways to Increase Social Media Traffic for Food Bloggers
- 18 Ways to Make Money Food Blogging
- 4 Simple Steps to Achieving Your Blogging Goals
- How to Increase Your Blog's Pageviews Per Visit
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