The secret of getting more readers, you thought it was good writing? Hell no. Listen, no matter how good you write there is no guarantee, no matter if you use the most popular genre or coupling, nothing is ever guaranteed. Don't think that people will find you automatically, they won't and you will never be discovered.

By the way, getting more readers doesn't have anything to do with being good, though being good helps a lot. No matter how your story might or might not be, there are certain ways to get more readers regardless anything. 

Advertise: As sad as it is the only fast way to get more readers is to advertise your fic, no matter if it is or not, as long as it appears on the first page I can rest assure that people are gonna keep on clicking. So, the only way is to accumulate as much karma as possible and bid for a day, not only once but a few times, like once a month or something. Maybe that way you might get enough subscribers/upvotes and your story might get featured, that's even better.

Request graphics/ review: If you want more readers go for a popular shop. I know for myself that sometimes I go to those graphic request shops and go through the posters they made, if a poster is nice or title of the story interesting I might click on the story link or even look it up on AFF if there are no links. Also, if you happen to get a good review the shop might advertise you on their first page. If you get a bad review... well then you have to work on your fic more. I am 100% people go through the reviews to see what to read; probably they give a try if the fic gets good marks.

Apply for recommendation shops: Some people might think it's lame to recommend their own fics... Bull. Have you ever watched TV? Who advertises iPhone? Isn't it the company itself? Who recommends it? The company itself and then the users. So if you are too ashamed to recommend your own works then who will read them? No one cares. I once came across a recommendation shop where the owner said "Don't recommend your own story, that's lame". She just proved to be a childish y brat, nothing else. By the way, I have a recommendation shop *wink wink*

Socialize: Having friends pays off in many ways. I don't mean you should go and blindly send million friend requests, NO. You go and comment on fics, not those super popular or vain fics but those with better than average grammar but not many subscribers (like it usually is). Leave interesting and constructive feedback, those writers who write serious stuff or really good stuff, you can see they have clearly dedicated a lot of time to it and they appreciate long constructive comments hella lot. They might go to your profile and you check out your stories too, since you were nice to them. I suggest you only do this with the stories/writers you really like, otherwise it might feel like waste of time.

Don't update too often: Yeah, don't do like I did it with this guide, I got inspired and posted bunch of stuff right away. It's a big no no if you want to get some limelight. Post a chapter once/twice a week and keep it short so you can post as many chapters as possible. Every time you update you get on the 'Latest Updated Stories' list on the front page, or your story gets bumped up in its own category. It's always a plus.

Communicate with your readers: Reply to their comments, be nice and they might check out your other stories/recommend you to friends. Being nice often pays off, not always though.

Other: Have an extremely original title, awesome poster & background, make sure your first page is not too crowded and write a catchy description.

There is Internet outside AFF: Twitter, facebook, pinterest, tumblr, livejournal, wattpad, other fanfiction sites etc. Post your fic all over the Internet or talk about it all over the Internet. Ask your friends to talk about it too, make people come to your story. You think this is too extreme? Why? Well, it's your story so you do what you want. The following attitude helps, though: