>> So,
you have a blog! Do you have traffic? Do you know how to
build traffic to your weblog? There are seven proven
methods for building readership of your blog. They start
with defining the purpose, or life, of your blog. Then,
after you have a blog worth promoting, driving traffic
is crucial to your ongoing success at blogging.
Here are seven tips to help you build and hold an
audience for your blog:
Tip #1: Provide quality content.
On the Internet, whether you are talking about websites
or blogs, a lot of space is given to content. Everyone
directs you to provide quality content. But, what is
quality content? The quality of your blog’s content is
directly related to how well you have defined your ideal
audience.
A successful blog is written with a distinct audience in
mind. In this way, you can provide content that is
unique to your audience’s issues, needs, or desires. If
you create content they like and wish to return to read,
you have quality content.
The second issue is to stay true to your audience and
tone of your blog. If people are reading your blog, it’s
because they like your topic and tone. Try not to stray
from your typical topics and style too much. This will
give your readers a reason to link back to your blog on
an ongoing basis, as will posting on a regular basis.
Tip #2: Blog regularly
If you don't update your blog often enough, blog readers
will move on to other blogs. There are too many blogs
out there competing for attention. Blog readers will go
where they can get enough of what they want.
Successful blogging takes a commitment of your time.
When you begin blogging and wish to capture an audience,
you should be prepared to blog every day. In this way,
you can develop an audience who counts on you to help
them begin or end their day.
This means you should also try to post at the same time
each day. Your readers will get accustomed to your
schedule and check your blog at the appropriate time.
The time of day is not as crucial as the consistency in
your posting.
Since you now have quality content and a regular posting
schedule, it’s time to drive traffic to your blog. Your
readers will do a lot to promote your blog just by
telling their friends. Don’t count on this alone! You
need to do some additional work.
When you post, make sure you set your blog to “ping”
blog tracking sites every time you add a new post. Think
of this as a means to get their attention. The ping says
“Hey, we just added a new post”. An alternative to
automatically pinging from your blog is to use
pingomatic.com. This is a one-stop place to
automatically ping everyone you should notify of your
new post and only takes a couple of minutes to
accomplish.
Tip #3: Mention your blog wherever you can
Mention your blog’s address in your email signature line,
in forums where you post, on your business cards, on
address labels and in conversations with anyone you meet.
Use a tag line under your blog address to further entice
them to visit. Mine reads:
Michele Schermerhorn
http://www.imarketblog.com
A sassy little marketing blog
Beyond just mentioning your blog in writing and
conversation, you must actively participate in the
blogging community too.
Tip #4: Participate in the blogosphere
Get involved in other people's blogs. Visit blogs that
interest you and are in line with the general topic of
your blog. Then, leave thoughtful comments. Almost every
comment option on someone else’s blog will allow you to
post your blog URL and your email address. Help other
bloggers out with traffic and they will help you.
If a blogger really likes your site, they will add you
to their blogroll. A blogroll is generally found on
every blog which understands linking to the rest of the
blogosphere helps drive traffic. A blogroll is a listing
of other blogs. Think of it as a “recommended reading
list”. Don’t be stingy with your blog roll either. Add
those blogs that you read and enjoy to your blogroll too.
Tip #5: Think keywords when you post
Think about keywords with your use of titles, links and
blog posts. Search engines, like Google and Yahoo, like
keywords. The more targeted your keywords, the better
the chances of your blog appearing in search results.
Search results can drive that extra traffic you want.
To increase the value of the key words in your content,
make certain keywords are part of the hot link in your
posts. Don’t use “click here” as the hot link. You will
be wasting valuable real estate in your post. Instead
use the relevant keywords for the hot link, like “a
great marketing idea. This gives the keywords added
emphasis with the search engines.
One last thought on keywords for driving traffic; if you
want a real leg up in the traffic game, in your linking
code add rel=”tag”. This helps Technorati, a major blog
resource, index your blog for their directory. But don’t
stop there! It’s time to submit your blog to blog
directories.
Tip #6: Submit your blog to blog directories
In addition to submitting your blog to the major search
engines, make certain you submit the blog to exclusively
blog directories like blogwise, blogcatalog, or bloghub.
Many people find blogs through these online directories.
When you do submit your blog to these directories,
remember to add a description that will entice your
targeted audience to check your blog out. For instance,
when I post my blog in blog directories, under
description I put “General musings, rants, advice and
strategies from a battle-worn veteran of the Marketing
Wars, online and off”. Your description should help the
potential reader understand your blogging topic and the
flavor of how you write.
In addition to submitting your blog to blog directories,
join a few of the free or inexpensive traffic exchange
sites like blogexplosion or blogclicker.
Tip #7: Use free and inexpensive blog traffic exchange
communities
There are many sites which can be termed “traffic
exchange” sites for the blogging community. It won’t
cost you anything to sign up. At the very least, join
blogexplosion, blogclicker, and blogazoo. Once you sign
up, you have two options to help drive traffic to your
blog. Use both of them!
The first method is to earn credits (guaranteed visitors
to your site) by using the “surf member sites” function.
As you surf through those sites, you will be earning
credits (visitors to your blog). When you find an
interesting post, leave a comment as discussed above.
When you find a blogger you like, add them to your
blogroll and let them know you did.
The second method to drive traffic is to purchase
credits. The cost is very cheap for the traffic you will
drive to your blog. The more traffic to your blog, the
more customers you’ll have. The more happy customers you
have, the more they will tell others. The more they tell
others, the more customers you get. Don’t you love this
dance!
In summary, blogging may not be for everyone. However,
it can be a great method for bringing your unique
perspective to the Internet. You will surely find others
who think the same way you do. Some bloggers will
entertain you, some will inform you, and some will drive
you to tear your hair out. Decide what type of blogger
you want to be and be the best you can. See you in the
blogosphere!
<< |
