For your blog to be an effective marketing tool, it still needs the same requirement of any successful website, traffic. With out traffic your blog is no more than a personal diary that you have locked up in a drawer. No one will ever see it. The logical question follows, How do you get traffic to your blog?
If you are familiar with some of the methods of driving traffic to a conventional website, then you know some of the ways to get traffic to your blog. All the methods that work with a website will also work with a blog.
Those methods would include pay per click advertising, article marketing, PR releases, paid advertising, and search engine optimization. The only difference is you send the traffic to your blog instead of to your website. The advantage of traffic generation for blogs is you have tools available beyond the traditional methods.
Blogs allow you to go beyond the conventional traffic generation methods because of their special attributes. By their nature, blogs are highly volatile sites. They are constantly being updated with new content. New posts are made and new comments are submitted, often multiple times a day.
Because blogs change so quickly readers want to know when there is new content on blogs that they are interested in. Because of this some new notification tools evolved. One involves what is known as pinging.
Because blogs change so fast, as a way of keeping track of the changed blogs, search sites needed to keep track of blog changes. Most blogs can automatically notify or ping these search sites each time there is a new post or a post that was updated. These search sites take this information and create a separate database that can be searched that is composed entirely of new blog material.
You need to make sure that your blog can automatically ping the search sites. Once you determine that then you need to make sure that it is configured properly to do that. Last you need to know which sites are being pinged so that you can make sure you are notifying the most popular sites.
A search on Google can get you some good information on blog search engines that you can ping. One of the most popular is Technorati. You can go to Technorati.com and find instructions that teach you how to set up pinging to her site no matter what blog system you are using.
As blogs and blog directories continued to evolve so did pinging resources. There are free services now that you can ping that will turn around and relay that ping to dozens of blog search engines. Using a service like that can greatly simplify your new post notifications. A well known one is Pingomatic.com.
Blog traffic generation is evolving at a rapid pace. The conventional traffic methods still work to drive traffic to your blog. To maximize your blog traffic you need to utilize new tools that have evolved along with blogs themselves. One of the most important is pinging. Make sure you are notifying the best blog search directories every time your blog changes. The more places readers can find your blog listed, the more traffic you stand to gain.
Creating a blog is simple with either WordPress or Blogger. But how to you get traffic to your blog? After all, what's the use of having a blog if nobody comes by to visit? You must have had a goal for your blog when you created it and whether it's to promote yourself, make money promoting products, to promote a cause, or something else, the more traffic your blog gets the better, right? Here are three proven methods to increase blog traffic.
1. Post New Content Regularly
Once you've created your blog, it's not time to forget about it. A new blog needs regular blog posts until it becomes established in the search engines. Try to update your blog with a new post daily for the first month. You have to give blog readers and search engines a reason to come back to your blog frequently and new posts are the best way.
Search engines generally love blogs but only blogs that are updated with new content on a regular basis. A blog that isn't updated with new posts regularly is as stale as any other site and won't get much attention from either the search engines or visitors. The more interesting or informative your posts are the more likely visitors are to return in the future to see what you have to say.
2. Make Comments to Other Blogs
Another effective method for driving traffic to a blog is to find related blogs and make useful comments. Considering the number of blogs on the Internet these days, you shouldn't have much trouble finding blogs on topics related to yours. The higher the PR of the blog the better since you'll be getting a link in exchange for leaving a comment.
Before making a comment take some time to familiarize yourself with the blog. You should be familiar with the topic and able to find a post or two where you can provide a useful comment. Most blog softwares allow those who make comments to include a link to their blog in the comment. If you're comment adds value to the conversation, don't be surprised when visitors click on the link to visit your blog.
3. RSS
RSS is really simple syndication and most blogs come with it these days. I use aweber's autoresponder service which comes with the capability to send an email notification to a list every time you make a new blog post. This is helpful because not every reader who reads your blog will remember to come back frequently. A friendly email reminder increases repeat visits to your blog which is more traffic.
RSS works very similar to an opt-in list. You just put a simple form on your blog and allow visitors to provide their name and an email address. Now they'll be notified every time a new post is made to your blog. It's very simple to do and is a great way to increase blog traffic. Visit CyberCashology.com to see an example.
These are not the only three effective methods to increase blog traffic; future articles will look at other effective methods for driving traffic to blogs.
Both Ray Johnson & Robert Peltzon are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Ray Johnson has sinced written about articles on various topics from Online Marketing, How to Sell on Ebay and Internet Marketing. To find out how you can successfully make a living online, and follow a successful and highly profitable advice to making money online, talk with Ray Johnson - a top rated internet marketer.. Ray Johnson's top article generates over 74000 views. to your Favourites.
Robert Peltzon has sinced written about articles on various topics from Blog Traffic. Having a successful is like converting your personal computer into your personal cash register. Learn how to do it by visiting the CyberCa$hology Blog.. Robert Peltzon's top article generates over 880 views. to your Favourites.