Seven Simple Methods to Build Blog Traffic
There is currently a blog created every second! Unfortunately,
most of them will never receive much traffic. "Write it and they
will come" might work if you are the Dalai Llama, The Pope, or
George Bush, but you're not, are you? And even their blogs would
need some publicity.
Here are a few tips to build blog traffic. There are many more
techniques available, but this is a good solid start.
1) Write great content
This should go without saying, but you need to write interesting
"stuff." What is interesting varies depending on your target
audience, and you should know your target audience; hopefully
you are one of them.
But great content, although necessary, is not sufficient. You
might be writing fascinating material for guppy breeders, but if
they never see it, who cares? That's why we have additional tips.
2) Have a link from your Web site
You probably have a Web site. If so, absolutely have a prominent
link from your Web site to your blog! Why wouldn't you? I don't
know, but many people don't. I hate it when I know someone or
some organization has a blog and they make me look hard for it.
Most people will give up, if they even ever hear about the blog.
3) Mention your blog in your e-mail signature
Most of us use email a lot. An e-mail signature, a small section
of text or HTML automatically appended to each email, is an
ideal place to mention a blog.
You need to use common sense however. If your blog is on bizarre
sexual practices, you probably don't want to include it on your
business email signature. Personal blogs, unless related to
business and with the company's blessing, don't belong in a
business email signature. Professional blogs however, absolutely
do. Use common sense!
4) Have an easy to remember URL
My home blog's URL is http://demop.com. One night over dinner
with a client, he mentioned he often typed in TheTedRap.com by
mistake. Later that evening, I spent about 10 minutes online and
twenty dollars purchasing the domain TheTedRap.com and pointing
it at http://demop.com/TheTedRap
Traffic increased immediately - apparently he wasn't the only
one making that mistake!
If you have a long and difficult blog URL, like
www.quismoabccorp.jobs/codered/Americas/baldnessremediesbyjoe,
strongly consider a either moving your blog or getting another
domain and pointing it at your blog.
5) Good Blog Post Names
Search engines love blogs, and much blog traffic comes from
search engines. Google alone feeds The Ted Rap several hundred
people a week, and some of them become long-term readers. Search
Engine Optimization (SEO) for blogs is important, and an entire
book could be written on the subject.
One of the most important search engine optimization tactics is
to give each post a good descriptive name with key words and
phrases in it. If a post is about Saturn and Mars, include the
words "Saturn" and "Mars" in it! A cute title like "Big round
things that revolve around the sun" won't help the search
engines send you new readers, and conversely won't help people
looking for content like yours find it.
6) Leave good comments
When someone leaves a good comment on my blog, I always go look
at that person's blog if they have one. I have found a number of
blogs I regularly read this way. Conversely, often when I leave
a good comment on someone else's blog, I'll notice a few
visitors following that comment back to my blog. Some of them
may become regular readers of my blog.
What is a good comment? Not a simple "I agree" or similar, but a
comment that adds content and value. Don't leave a comment
unless you have something to add.
7) Link to other worthy blogs (or use trackbacks)
Just as when someone leaves a comment, if someone links to my
blog, I notice and go see who is linking. I typically notice
someone is linking through Technorati.com or one of the other
search engines.
If your blogging software supports trackbacks, they have the
same effect as linking.
Most blogs will never have hundreds of thousands of readers, but
these tips will help start a steady stream of visitors to your
blog.