Are you blogger? Then generating traffic is the most challenging task for you ever. There is simple formula in blogging and all online business. More visitors = more traffic = more money. I am going to modify this formula a bit. More genuine traffic = Most sale = More money.
Here I am going to list out 25 best tips to generate traffic on your blog.
1) Use Top level Domain:
Decide on a standalone domain name myblog.com or directory of existing site mysite.com/blog. Sub domain is also an option blog.mysite.com. Avoid hosted services that do not allow you to use your own domain name! Such as blogspot.com, wordpress.com (I am saying about wordpress.com free blogging services not self hosted WordPress blogs.). Thrid party subdomains are not good to see and less reputable.
2) Use World most used blogging CMS (WordPress):
Obtain and install customizable blog software – self-hosted WordPress is my favorite. It is most customizable and you will get SEO benefits too. Many functions can be implement with the help of readymade and free plugins.
3) Take Design seriously:
Customize blog look and feel templates – Also known as design. (I recommend Thesis or genesis theme for your blog) You can also go with responsive design themes too.
4) Keyword research:
Research keywords and develop a glossary – Keyword Discovery, WordTracker, SitePoint, (Market Samurai is what I personally use) Keyword Research. Spend some time on keyword research before going to write any article. This factor can affect your blog traffic tremendously.
5) Optimize the blog:
- Template optimization – RSS subscription options, social bookmark links, HTML code, Unique title tags, URLs, Sitemap
- Add helper plugins specific to WordPress
- Create keyword rich categories (reference your keyword glossary)
Remove unnessesory php call ups from your blog. Make theme as much as fact loading.
6) Enable automatic trackback and ping functionality:
Trackbacks will allow you to find websites and pages that started linking you. You will get a trackback message as soon as anybody use your blog link on their website.
7) Use FeedBurner:
Create Feedburner account and enable feed tracking. Feedburner is free rss feed burning services from Google. You can sign up for free account and you can allow visitors to subscribe your blog by email, even you can monetize your feeds using Google Adsense.
8) Submit Sitemaps:
Create XML sitemap of your blog. This is very easy in case of WordPress with the help of plugins. Even that sitemap will get updated automatically as there is new content posted on your blog. Setup a Google account for Sitemap, validate and prep for future submission. Submit same for Yahoo too.
9) Links to Quality blogs and get links to your:
Identify authoritative blogs, web sites and hubs for outbound resource links and blogrolls.Link quality informative blogs to your blogroll and request other related bloggers to put you in their blogroll. I am not saying it for passing PageRank-You can use Nofollow attribute to avoid any link exchange penalty.
10) Format archived posts, related posts (I use NRelate plugin).
11) Enable statistics for tracking –
Always keep looking for what types of visitors coming to your blogs, how they are coming. For that use Google Analytics, ClickTracks or you can use Stat-counter WordPress plugin too.
12) Submit RSS feed and Blog URL to prominent RSS and Blog directories / search engines.
13) Engage in an ongoing link building campaign (comments, forums, guest posting, etc):
Do commenting on other high quality blogs, write guest posts on other blogs, participate in online forums such as DP, WP. Ultimately these all will give you traffic.
14) If podcast or video content are available, submit to Podcast and Vlog directories.
15) Submit blog url to directories with categories for blogs – AllTop, Yahoo, BOTW, bCentral, WOW, JoeAnt.
16) Optimize and distribute a press release announcing blog/new products/etc.
17) Request feedback or reviews of your blog in relevant forums, discussion threads. If you have a resourceful post that will help others, point to it.
18) Research and comment on relevant industry related blogs and blogs with significant centers of influence.
19) Post regularly.
If it’s a news oriented blog, 3-5 times per day. If it’s an authoritative blog, 2-3 times per week, but each post must be unique and high value. Regular posting allow your blog readers to make good bounding with content and also search engine crawlers will increase the crawl rate.
20) Monitor inbound links, traffic, comments and mentions of your blog – Google Alerts, Technorati, Blogpulse, Yahoo News, Ask Blogs and Feeds.
21) Always respond to comments:
Always respond to comments on your blog and when you detect a mention of your blog on another blog, thank that blogger in the comments of the post.
22) Make contact with related bloggers on AND offline if possible.
23) When making blog posts always cite the source with a link and don’t be afraid to mention popular bloggers by name. Use keywords in the blog post title, in the body of the post and use anchor text when you link to previous posts you’ve made.
24) Use social networking services, forums and discussion threads to connect with other bloggers. If they like your stuff, they will link to you.
25) Remember when web sites were a new concept and the sage advice to print your web address everywhere you print your phone number? The same advice applies for your blog.
BONUS 🙂
- If your blog’s goal is to promote you as an authority, interview other prominent bloggers in your industry. Your own credibility will improve by association.
- Build out your online networks through services such as Twitter and Facebook and leverage them to promote particularly useful content on your blog.
- Once your blog has 1000 or more subscribers, show your Feedburner badge.
- Host images with Flickr making sure to include an anchor text link in the image description back to the post where the image is used.
- Use your blog to gain press/media credentials at relevant industry conferences and use the event to create content, connections and increase your knowledge.