How to Increase Blog Traffic

One of the most popular questions among bloggers is, "How do I increase the traffic to my site?" While advertisement services exist that claim to promote traffic, there are a number of things the average blogger can do to increase daily hits whether the site is a personal blog or a professional one.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Offer good content. It might seem like a no-brainer, but whether your blog offers conversational anecdotes about everyday life or posts on a very specialized topic, be sure the content is meaty and significant. Short, piddly posts with little to offer the reader are doomed to fail.

2. Visit other blogs. One of the best ways to increase your blog traffic is simply to visit other blogs, get a feel for them, and comment. You might be surprised how many times blog owners or blog readers will visit the blogs of those who choose to comment. Participating in the blog community is time consuming but one of the best ways to increase traffic. How can you expect others to spend time reading your blog, if you don't support your fellow bloggers?

3. Add links. Part of participating in the larger blog community is to link blogs of interest. Once you've brought in some visitors from the blogs you frequently read and comment on, link those readers with quality blogs who visit and/or comment often on your site. This is the first step in building your own community of blog readers and boosting traffic.

4. Join forums. There are blog forums and link communities for almost every type of blog available online. Whether it's a community of bloggers from a specific city or state or a community of like-minded book bloggers, a forum or community is a prime place to get your blog noticed and increase your traffic.

5. Use tags. Most blogging hosts allow users to tag posts. By tagging posts with descriptive words that describe the post's content in a clear, concise manner you make it easier for your readers to find the content they're looking for and maybe even return to your blog in the future.

6. Include images. Blogs that contain line after line of text can be daunting to a new reader, so break up the monotony with photos, cartoons, diagrams or other images that relate to your blog's content.

7. Track your blog's traffic. Blog add-ons like Sitemeter or other hit counter services allow bloggers to see who visits their page and where they came from. In turn, by visiting some of those readers and finding out who refers to your blog, you can further flash your wares online by making an appearance on a broad range of blogs and garnering more interest in your site.

Tips & Warnings

• Try to resist the urge to fill your blog with advertising. A page full of ads might scare away a blog's visitors if they aren't already hooked on the content. Wait until your blog garners some popularity before adding advertisements.

Who Can Help:

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Resources

• MetaxuCafe, a specific forum for literature bloggers.
• Sitemeter, a user-friendly hit counter to track users and blog referrals.
• Blogger Forum offers advice and conversation for all things blog.

[truitt661]

on 11/11/2008 Thanks for the post good information.

[enspaceman]

on 10/8/2008 I made a website that I think will bring extra traffic to anyone's blog. It's a new website so I don't know yet, but all extra traffic helps and I'm sure my site will bring some extra traffic. http://www.10thousandpeople.com

[JesusAholic]

on 7/29/2008 Good solid writing. Thank you for sharing =) 5 stars