A little while ago I wrote about how you can get your site/blog indexed in Google in a short period of time. However, getting your site indexed is not going to drive traffic to your blog (or your website for that matter). Driving traffic obviously takes time and patience. So what can you do to drive traffic to your blog?
Comment on other posts related to your industry
If you have a blog that deals with sports cars then find other people that talk about sports cars and comment on their posts. It doesn’r hurt to branch out slightly to related industries as well, for example car parts, car accessories either.
Try to get syndicated
When I write a post it immediately gets sent to Marketing.alltop.com, Socialmedia.alltop,com, and social media today. That’s 3 different places that my post appears in addition to appearing on my blog. This helps increase your reach.
Put the URL in your email signature and profiles
I have my blog URL in my email signature. I also have a link going to my blog from my facebook profile, linkedin page, twitter account, etc. Make sure that you make it easy for people to discover your blog.
Use Digg and Stumbleupon
Use these tools judiciously but do use them. Every now and then when I think I have written a solid quality post about an interesting topic I will “stumble” it and post it/and share it on digg.
Share your posts
Whenever I write a post I make sure to distributed it to my twitter followers and facebook friends, that way people that are connected to me will have an easy way of discovering my blog.
Write guest posts
No guest post is too small or too big. If you are given the opportunity to write on someone else’s blog then do it. Don’t be scared to ask to write guest posts either. In addition to writing my own blog I also write on Brian Solis’s Bubblicious blog and for the Blog World Expo Blog. Writing guest posts is one of the best ways to get your name out there. Something is better than nothing so get out there and write where you can.
Write quality and engaging content
This is undoubtedly one of the most important things you can do to drive traffic to your blog. Write something you are passionate about and use your voice when you do it. In a nutshell my passion is people and ideas and that is what I try to write about (marketing, social media, etc, all fall under that general category).
Network online and offline
Try to maintain an active online and offline presence. I try to attend as many events as I can. These events range from tweetups, to technology get togethers, to conferences, to parties. Try to get out there and talk to people. Share your ideas and share your passions whenever you can.
Write Often
As many of you know, I try to write at least once a day, and sometimes more. People like to see new and fresh content. If you start off writing a blog post once a week then chances are that people are not going to “stick” to your site. Try to write as often as you can to keep your readers interested and engaged.
Respond to comments
I respond to every single comment and e-mail I get, even if it’s just a thank you. Don’t be worried if your blog doesn’t get that many comments either. Mashable for example has over 1 millions unique readers a month, yet the comments are sparce at best. Conversation don’t just happen on blogs, so just because you don’t see comments doesn’t mean people aren’t talking about what you wrote.
RSS feeds
Make it easy for your readers to RSS feed your content. I have a link at the end of all of my posts that let’s you receive my posts in the RSS feed platform of your choice. I also have that giant orange RSS feed symbol at the top right of my page. Oftentimes people just read the content straight from their RSS reader without even visiting my site, it’s a convenience. Either way, they are reading what I write, and that’s what counts.
I really hope you find the above tips useful, please feel free to email me with any questions or comments, my email can be found on the about page. Do you have any other tips you would recommend? Did I miss any?
Thanks for reading
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