How To Build Traffic To Your Blog
Copyright © 2004 Priya
Shah
With the growing interest in blogging as a means
of online promotion and branding, a lot of marketers are starting
blogs to promote their opinions, products, books and services.
But a blog is like a website. "Write and
they will come" isn't exactly a magic formula to bring
in traffic by the boatload.
If you need to promote your website in order
to build traffic to it, you need to promote your blog as well.
Here are some ways you can become a well-read
and influential blogger.
1. Write Posts That People Will Want To Read
This should be common sense, but many marketers
tend to forget that their readers are real people and that you
need to use the principles of online copywriting to make your
headlines and copy interesting to your readers.
If you write posts that people enjoy reading,
they will reward you by returning to your blog regularly.
Make your posts conversational, pithy and topical.
Keep them short and stick to one topic per post.
Write often and regularly so that both readers
and search engines visit your blog more often.
2. Optimize Your Posts for Search Engines
I cover this topic in detail in my article on
"Search
Engine Optimization For Blogs"
But here are the most important rules to follow
to get your posts listed for keywords of your choice.
- Make sure your blog URL contains the primary keyword you
want to optimize for
- Use your primary keywords in the title of your post
- Use your secondary keywords in the body of your post
- Use your keywords in the anchor text of links in the body
of your posts
3. Submit Your Blog and RSS Feed To Directories
If you publish a blog you should submit your
blog and RSS feed to big directories like Yahoo and Dmoz, as
well as the numerous blog directories and search engines.
Here is the best list I've found of places to
submit your feed or blog, compiled by Luigi Canali De Rossi,
who writes under the pseudonym Robin Good.
Best
Blog Directory And RSS Submission Sites
Another
list of sites to submit your Blog
4. Ping The Blog Services
There are a number of services designed specifically
for tracking and connecting blogs. By sending a small ping to
each service you let them know you've updated your blog so they
can come check you out.
Bookmark the Ping-O-Matic
ping results page so you can visit it and quickly ping a
number of services with a single click.
5. Build Links To Your Blog
I recommend the methods here as the best ways
to get links pointing to your blog.
- Link to your blog from each page on your main website
- Trackback to other blogs in your posts
- Post legitimate comments on other blogs with related topics
- Offer to exchange links with other similarly themed blogs
and websites
6. Edit Your Blog Posts Into Articles
One of the best methods for promoting your website
is to write articles and submit them to article directories.
The suggestion for extending this to edit your
blog posts into articles and submit them to directories came
from the coach at "Explode
Blog Traffic" who also has other noteworthy suggestions
at his blog.
You'll find an extensive
list of article directories here
7. Create Buzz About Your Blog
Creating a buzz about your blog posts and topic
in the local and online media will give your marketing a viral
component.
- Create a controversy around your blog or it's topic.
- Distribute bumper stickers or other merchandise with your
blog's URL and tagline.
- Write a press release about something newsworthy and tie
it in with your blog topic.
8. Capture Subscribers By Email
It may seem strange for a blogger to send out
updates by email, but email is still the #1 choice of most people
who want to receive news and information.
Using a free service like Bloglet
to manage your subscriptions is easy and it allows your subscribers
to manage all their subscriptions from one interface.
However, if you want more control over your
list and don't mind mailing out the updates yourself, you can
use an autoresponder system to capture and follow-up with subscribers.
RSS
Responder is a new script that allows you to keep
in touch and follow-up with your subscribers without the hassle
of email.
These tips should give you a good start to building
your blog traffic.
Priya Shah is CEO of the blog
publishing firm, Connect10. Subscribe to her free Marketing
With Blogs email course. Request the whitepaper Boost
Your Search Engine Visibility With Blogs And RSS here.
This article may be reprinted as long as the
resource box is left intact and all links are hyperlinked.
