There are two parts to your problem: first you have to attract visitors, and then once you have attracted visitors you need to persuade them to come back again (and again). I would suggest visiting other blogs and where you see an opportunity leaving a comment with a link back to your blog. Such comments must be meaningful, not merely "nice blog, please visit....", which I would consider to be spam.

It's hard to recommend the kind of post that will be popular, but a general rule of thumb would seem to be to write about what you know, if possible from an angle that nobody else is using, and develop for yourself a reputation as an authority on that subject.

One very important point: always reply to comments on your blog posts, because this will encourage others to comment.