Review Blogging 101: Increase Your Blog Traffic
Friday, October 09, 2009 Posted by Jolly Mom
First, let me say that I'm sorry for not posting this series the last two weeks. Going out of town twice in a period of two weeks was hard. I am definitely NOT a jet-setting mama LOL!
OK, let's get started. After you start your blog, you will want people to actually come and read it, right? Right. The first thing you will want to do is think about what you want to get out of your blog and then with that in mind, begin to write. In the beginning, I wrote a lot of posts upfront and scheduled them to post. That way, I would know that content was going up every day. People want to know that when they come to your blog; there is something there for them. Something new.
There are a lot of ways to get traffic. The hope is that you get people to come to your blog from several different places and they will love your blog and come back for more. I'm not going to lie--getting traffic is work. You will have to spend a lot of time building your readership. Let's get to it.
OK, let's get started. After you start your blog, you will want people to actually come and read it, right? Right. The first thing you will want to do is think about what you want to get out of your blog and then with that in mind, begin to write. In the beginning, I wrote a lot of posts upfront and scheduled them to post. That way, I would know that content was going up every day. People want to know that when they come to your blog; there is something there for them. Something new.
There are a lot of ways to get traffic. The hope is that you get people to come to your blog from several different places and they will love your blog and come back for more. I'm not going to lie--getting traffic is work. You will have to spend a lot of time building your readership. Let's get to it.
- Message boards. Most message boards allow you to add a signature with a link so that every time you post on the board, you can promote your blog.
- Participate in Memes. Profitable Mommy has a huge list of memes so that you can choose which ones fit your blog or you want to participate in. Another option is to start your own meme.
- Read other blogs and comment, comment, comment! This one is huge. Visiting blogs and commenting gets you seen by not just the blog owner, but by their readers. What you DON'T want to do is spam the blog by adding your blog url in the comments section. You want to leave relevant comments. Also, don't just visit the bigger blogs--branch out and comment on the smaller blogs as well.
- Spread the link love. Link out to blogs that you love to read, articles that interest you, etc. The love will eventually come back to you!
- Sign up for Twitter and let your followers know every time you have a new post. You can actually have your new posts automatically fed to Twitter with a program called HootSuite. It's free and easy to use. I use it and highly suggest that you do too--or at least an application like it.
- Start reading about SEO Optimization. You don't need to know everything about it--only the basics. Eventually, it will help Google guide readers to you from searches. Here's a great list of tips.
- Read everything that Darren at ProBlogger writes. Seriously. I spent months on his site. He knows what he is talking about. Learn from him.
- Be a guest blogger on other blogs. This gets your name out there helps your blog gain exposure.
- Host a giveaway of your own to gain exposure. You can give away a small gift card, gas card, handmade item--whatever you can afford.
- Get involved in blog carnivals. These are fun and very specific to niches, hobbies, etc. Here's a huge list of blog carnivals.
- Create a button or banner for your blog and post a way for readers to grab it on your sidebar. Here's a tutorial.
- Keep your readers in mind. By this I mean, always, ALWAYS think about your readers. Do not accept an ad, a product, or do anything that you can't stand behind. If your readers can't trust you, then they will not come back to your blog. It's as simple as that.
- Sign up and/or list your blog at different social networking sites, blogging message boards, etc. Here's a list of some sites that allow you to promote your blog in some way {if you know of others, please let us know in the comments so other readers can visit them as well}:
- Mom Bloggers Club
- The Mom Blogs
- Twitter Moms
- MySpace
- Blog Lines
- 5 Minutes for Mom
- Mom Blog Network
- Mom Dot
- Blogamama
- Entrecard
Tune in next week! I'll be delving into how to contact companies, media kits, and more.
October 9, 2009 12:48 AM
Great tips! You're so sweet for offering this advice! =)
October 9, 2009 9:58 AM
Wow! What a great post! Thanks for all the help!!
October 9, 2009 3:27 PM
Thanks so much!
October 10, 2009 12:11 AM
http://www.MommyBlogs.com is a new website that launched a few months ago. MommyBlogs.com aggregates over 500 mom blogs from around the world.
October 10, 2009 12:43 AM
As a new, 2 day, blogger I really thank you so much for this information. I have been reading your site for awhile and this info might make me grow up to be just like you. lol
October 10, 2009 2:25 AM
Thanks for sharing your knowledge luv.
October 10, 2009 8:06 AM
Oh what perfect timing for me too! My blog will be launching next week and I am sooo excited!! Thanks for sharing some insider secrets LOL :)
October 10, 2009 9:09 PM
Excellent advice! Thanks for sharing. Sometimes it's hard to know where to start & this makes it a little easier! :)
October 11, 2009 7:53 AM
Thank you for this advice! Some of us (er, um) are just not this organized! And I love that you are so I can just come here.
October 12, 2009 9:37 AM
I completely agree with all of your points, that is exactly what I have done to grow my blog from 300 page views my first month to 11000 just four months later.
Looking forward to your next post.
October 13, 2009 9:41 PM
I popped in from Twitter Moms - great tips and advice. Thankyou very much for your generosity in sharing them.
October 13, 2009 11:32 PM
Thanks for the tips listed here. I am a newcomer and searching for easy ways for people to find my blog. I also enjoyed the post on switching to WordPress and am seriously considering it. You make it sound simple! Looking forward to your next post.
October 14, 2009 10:59 PM
All Excellent Tips! Thanks
I share several others
11 Ways To Drive Traffic To Your Blog
October 15, 2009 7:40 PM
I really didn't know tht leaving my blog URL when leaving a comment is spam. My question is if I don,t do that than how people will know how to find my blog and read it? How will they find me?
Galit.
October 22, 2009 10:35 AM
Your blog is like an encyclopedia for those who want to know more about this. Thanks for the interesting information.