Today I want to talk about some good ways to drive traffic to your blog and some tips on how to use these methods successfully. This post is aimed at young and upcoming blogs (such as my own!) who have good content and are trying to gain some readers. These are methods that have worked for me (in all of the 3 weeks that I have been blogging!), so you may want to try some of them yourself!
Participate on forums
This has to be the most surprising source of traffic so far! I wouldn't have thought it would generate as much traffic as it has, but hey - I'm not complaining! Of course, this probably works well in my case since the main focus of my blog to date has been writing tutorials and sharing solutions to the different issues that a web designer might encounter. So I have found it well worth my time to browse a forum and find the questions or problems that I have an answer to, and maybe have even written a blog post about, and then I'll answer the question and add a link back to the relevant blog post. It's a win-win situation - the question is answered and (from my experience), you will very likely gain a few new readers for your blog!
Comment on Other Blogs
I think this is a fairly obvious one. Personally, I love browsing other blogs as a way to learn something new, meet other designers, and gather ideas for my own blog. A few things to keep in mind when posting comments are:
* 1) Make sure you have something relevant and specific to say, rather than just a general "Good post. Thanks." Other readers are more likely to click through to your blog if they see that your comment was informative and added value to the blog post you are commenting on.
* 2) Comment on the smaller blogs, not just the most popular ones. I have recently started trying to do this. Of course, it is (obviously) easier to find the popular blogs, since they come up first in the search engines, and have the articles that are most-often shared via social networks, but when you find a smaller blog and become a regular reader and contributor by leaving feedback and comments, you are more likely to receive a regular follower of your own blog. You can help each other out by commenting on each other's blogs and sharing each other's content through social networks. Another win-win situation!
Social Networking
I recently started really putting effort into my social networking, and have found that it can be quite time-consuming but well worth it. Some things to keep in mind when social networking:
* 1) BE SOCIAL! It's all about networking and connecting with other people, so make sure you actually interact with people! On Twitter, be sure to follow those who follow you, and retweet some of their posts. Don't only tweet your own posts, that is not social or networking!
* 2) Same thing goes for Facebook, don't only post links to your own website, try sharing links to other noteworthy blogs and websites. Make sure you interact with your fans!
Submit Your Articles
I have enjoyed quite a bit of new traffic by submitting some of my posts to these sites: Design-Newz, Abduzeedo, Design Bump, and Design Poke. A few things to point out:
* 1) Make sure that the title of your article will get attention and prompt people to want to read the article. That doesn't mean you should make the title sound like an advertisement - "Guaranteed Ways To Make Money with Your Blog!" sounds a bit too much like an ad, in my opinion. Obviously, be honest and don't mislead people. The title should be clear about what your article is about, you definitely don't want people to be disappointed that they ever believed you enough to visit your site only to find out the article is nothing like what the title said!
* 2) Take the time to read some of the other articles that have been posted. You might just find a really awesome blog to follow, and if you start reading their material and commenting on their posts, you may even gain yourself a new follower for your own blog!
Libby Fisher
http://www.TheLibzter.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Libby_Fisher
