11 Ways To Increase Your Blog Traffic

Article Written By: AliceSeba

Blogging for a living can be hard work, and to be honest it gets very frustrating when we don't obtain the traffic we need to keep the blog thriving. You see, simply working hard can't always guarantee that you will receive the traffic you want, while on the other hand, not working at it is a sure fire way to never receive traffic at all. For us bloggers that work too hard at this game, here are 11 successful techniques to help you get all the traffic you need.

1. Make your blog remarkable: There is a good reason this is first in the queue, that is because being remarkable can make all the other concerns fall into line. Everything else on a blog could be missing, but with this at its core it could still be a success.

Be remarkable by:

- Content is king. Inform your readers of every detail, give your viewers exactly what they want and speak to them in a way they almost understand. - The entertaining. Do whatever is needed to keep your readers glued to the page. Make them laugh and cry with you. - Connect with your readers. Speak to them as if you know them personally. Address their worries, concerns and well-being. - Controversy. Being infamous can also have its benefits, even ending in good publicity. Not everyone has to agree with your opinions for you to become well-known.

I have been accused of having an andquot;if you build it, they will comeandquot; attitude with this suggestion and I guess to some extent, it is true. That doesn't mean you can't be proactive in your traffic building as well, but the more remarkable your blog isthe better the long and short term effects of your efforts.

2. RSS: Some may say RSS old news, but there are still many blogs that haven't thought to use a feed. If it is not something you have come across, an RSS feed is simply something that allows readers to stay updated without constantly visiting the blog. The RSS feed alerts readers to every new post via their feed reader or e-mail account. Using a service like FeedBurner.com will make this process a lot easier.

3. Blog and ping: Set up your blog with a list of other websites and services to ping to. This is now possible with most blogging platforms and server software. Building a good big ping list will enable other sites and search engines to spider your site every time there is an update.

4. Blog commenting: Offer to comment or publish content on other blogs or sites related to the same niche. The owner will usually allow you to link back to your own site, providing the comment you have provided is respectful and useful to the site itself. Be as courteous as possible! Make sure your comment is relevant, and don't make it a big advertisement for your own site.

5 TrackBacks: Most other blogs will allow you to post comments about their site on your blog. When you link to their site, a link to your own post actually appears in the comments on their blog. Setting up trackbacks between two WordPress blogs is easy, you simply need to put a link to the relevant post and the rest is done for you. Again, be respectful. If you're going to TrackBack to someone else's comment, be sure that you have written something useful. Simple copy and pasting of their own post really does not count as adding to the conversation.

6. Keep Your Email List Up-to-Date: You probably already know that your mailing list is a valuable asset. Use this asset to the fullest by sending them to your blog to read the posts you think they will find helpful, enjoy, etc.

7. Distribute Content: A great way to get people read more of your content is by getting content out there to more people. You can distribute articles, post videos, guest post on other blogsjust get some good stuff out there and lead people back to read your blog.

8. Affiliate linking: You may have set up your own affiliate program, enabling your affiliates to link back to any page on your site. Try to encourage your affiliates to link to, and write about your blog posts. A recommended system to use is quicksales.com - which is a private label 1shoppingCart solution, enabling affiliates to direct traffic to any page they please. Traffic from your affiliates are cookied, so any purchases made on the day or at a later date will be attributed to the affiliates, and commission will be sent. Conversions on blog posts aren't going to be as good as the sales page, but it gives your affiliates the chance to provide great content to their readers, and benefit from any purchases made.

9. Social Networks: You can use various social networks (Twitter, Facebook, MySpace) to drive traffic to a blog. People you connect with socially are likely to be interested in what you have to say on your blog. Make sure you follow proper etiquette and use your common sense. Also, don't overdo it and get lost in your social networks all dayyou've got WORK and other important things to do. Plus, if you are remarkable, those who use social networks will be doing the work for you and talking about you.

10. Social Bookmarking: Social bookmarking includes sites like Digg, del.icio.us and Stumble Upon, where you can share links to a variety of content. Some people self-bookmark, but realize this could put your account in jeopardy, so read all the rules first. Others choose to work with others in helping each other bookmark. Being remarkable also encourages people to spread the word on your behalf.

11. SEO (Search Engine Optimization): I put this one last, where I know a lot of people tend to put it first. If your goal is repeat visitors who become faithful fans, put SEO on the backburner and SEO your other content pages where you are looking for first-time or drive-by visitors.

The reason why SEO Shouldn't be such a priority, is the fact that good content needs to come first. Spending hours optimizing each page on your blog may turn out to be a misuse of your time. Text that has been optimized for the search engines and certain key words tends to be less readable and repetitive. If you are skilled enough however, you could combine SEO with outstanding content, and get the best of both worlds. Just try not to create everything solely for the search engines.

About the Author

If you're looking to pull more profit out of your business blog, check out the IM Blogging Bootcamp. This 4-week intensive program designed to get you actively and effectively blogging to reach more of your prospects and convert more of them into lifelong customers.

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