How to Increase Blog Traffic

Most everyone I know wants to increase blog traffic and visitors to their site. However, getting more traffic to a blog or website requires taking quite a bit of action in a variety of ways. Unfortunately, traffic Doesn't just come from one place or technique but as the result of multiple things.

What's my blogging advice? Well, here's a checklist of 50 ways you can kickstart, and over time, increase your blog traffic starting today.

I have a challenge for you. I encourage you to try one or more of these techniques every day for the next 50 days to steadily grow your traffic. Then, once the habit is in place, keep doing it :) You'll be amazed at the results.

1. Add Google analytics to your blog or website. This will give you detailed statistics to show you where your traffic is coming from so you'll know what's working and what you need to do differently. It will also show you your bounce rate and how long someone stays on your site. Usually, the lower the bounce rate, the better for you and the more chances you'll have to share about your books and products with that visitor.



2. Use keyword research tools, like the Google Keyword Tool to find potential keywords to optimize your content for. Look for questions that people want to know the answers to that aren't very well answered yet. SBI gives me access to their brainstorming software that comes up with keyword supply and demand for me. This is invaluable and I know that this keyword research has helped my website articles rise to the top of the search engines for free traffic.



3. Find a professionally designed template to use. Make sure it has both excellent design and ease of navigation. If your visitors don't know where to go next, they'll probably leave your blog.



4. Update your blog as well as your ping list. Most blogging platforms come with a built-in list that hasn't been updated recently. Update this list to increase blog traffic and distribution. As I've mentioned before, I use SBI to build my website. SBI automatically sends out a ping to the major search engines for me everytime a new page is built. This saves me a lot of time.



5. Modify your blog linking structure. By default, most blogs don't have search engine friendly link Structures. Change it so your keywords are in there by default. You can do this under settings and permalink. For my Wordpress audio podcasts, I use this permalink structure in the custom structure: /%Category%/%year%/%monthnum%/%day%/%postname%/



6. Create a posting schedule. It's more important that you post consistently than quickly. If you can have at least 1-2 posts scheduled at any given time, you're in good shape.



7. Begin commenting on other blogs related to yours niche. This can increase blog traffic as well as help you get known in your niche.



8. Start posting in forums related to yours. Again, this helps build a name for yourself in your area of expertise.



9. Create articles on controversial topics designed to get people to link to you. This in turn will increase blog traffic and visitors to your site. What are the hot topics in your niche?



10. Create an infographic. This is a graphic with a lot of data about one specific topic. These tend to get passed around like wildfire.



11. Create an interactive experience that people would want to share with their friends. Quizzes related to your topic are a great example of this. I have added several quizzes to my site for teen girls through SBI's form builder. Not only is it helpful for creating an interactive experience, but it also provides valuable research about my target audience for me. I have used this research in my books and speaking engagements.



12. Create a "Frequently Asked Questions" about your topic. If you answer questions nobody else is answering, you'll often get a lot of links back.



13. Twitter. Create a Twitter account and start actively courting followers. I use MarketMeSuite which also allows me to create backlinks to my site. At the bottom of my tweets it says via Self Publishing Coach instead of applications like Hootsuite or Tweetdeck.



14. Create a Facebook fan page or group page. Stay in touch with your visitors with Facebook. I created a custom left sidebar image and welcome page on my Facebook page where I posted links back to my site. This is something you can easily outsource if you don't have graphic design skills.



15. Submit press releases to online PR sites. At the very worse this will result in a bunch of backlinks to your blog, at best you'll get picked up by a highly regarded website which could result in increase blog traffic as well as a high PR backlink. I have compiled a list of my 8 favorite online PR sites that get the best results.



16. Target Local News. It's hard to get national press attention, but getting local attention will often result in a lot of exposure, backlinks and increase blog traffic. You can also attract attention from the media through the website: http://helpareporter.com.



17. Contact the press directly if you think you have a newsworthy story. Write personal emails to editors and journalists. However, don't email blast.



18. Track your most popular posts and try to boost their rankings. For example, if you have a post getting a lot of traffic and its ranked #7 for a keyword, change other internal links in your blog to point to that post with relevant anchor text. An extra blogging advice tip is to also link to this page from a hubpage, squidoo lens or articles.



19. Get on the RSS feeds of the top 3 blogs in your industry. When something important happens in your industry, you want to know about it ASAP so you can respond. You can set up Google alerts for your niche as well.



20. Create an RSS feed so others with feed readers can track your blog. We have a tutorial on how to use Google feedburner for your blog or website.



21. Post your RSS feed prominently along with a button so people can subscribe to it easily. I purchased some inexpensive social media icons to add to my site at the top left corner and at the bottom of each page.



22. Answer emails! When someone asks you a question, answer them. You might not know them, but they may turn out to be a valuable contact down the road. Better yet, ask if you can publicly answer their question if you believe more people would benefit by hearing the answer. You can then include their questions on your FAQ page.



23. Create both a "For Experts" and a "For Dummies" section for your posts. This helps you capture both savvy and beginner audiences to increase blog traffic.



24. Guest blog posts. Offer other bloggers and website owners high quality articles in exchange for a backlink. As you know, blogging is very time intensive, so many blog owners are looking for ways to create quality content easily. Guest blog posts do just that. And they help you increase blog traffic and visitors.



25. Also include guest posts on your blog or website. This gives your audience exposure to a wider range of topics and expertise. It also induces reciprocity – Other bloggers will more likely want to have you guest blog.



26. Always be targeting! You should know what keywords you want your overall blog to rank well for as well as what you want your specific posts to rank for. Don't compromise post quality for rankings; but optimize your blog to the best of your ability. Because when you do, you'll draw tons of free search engine traffic that way. One nice feature of SBI is their search engine HQ, which helps me to know where my pages rank for my selected keywords in the most popular search engines.



27. Create a YouTube video. Embed it in your blog and make sure the YouTube video title has your main keywords in it.



28. Submit your site's highest quality and funniest posts to Digg and Reddit. However, don't overdo it or you'll be seen as a spammer.



29. Bookmark your site on Del.Ico.Us.



30. Submit your overall site to StumbleUpon.



31. Look through your LinkedIn profile to see who's in your industry and see if you can find a way to promote your blog using that connection.



32. Nominate your blog for various blogging contests. Whether or not you win, you'll get backlinks and attention as well as increase blog traffic.



33. Check Google Trends for the most popular searches of late. Make posts about topics that are currently hot trends.



34. Consider buying an ad in the Radio Television Interview Report (RTIR). This is the report that newscasters and radio hosts use to find experts. It's definitely going to cost you some money, but the exposure is often worth the price.



35. Respond to your blog comments! Authors who respond to comments generally get a lot more comments than those who ignore their commenters. This is a technique to increase blog traffic by bringing back loyal readers to your site.



36. Find out who's linking to you by watching your logs. See if you can do a joint venture with people who already like your work.



37. Create pages on Squidoo and Hubpages. This will drive both traffic and create quality backlinks to your blog.



38. Start a newsletter. Not everyone has an RSS reader and many don't follow on Twitter and Facebook. For many people, the old fashion e-mail newsletter is the best way to go.



39. Host your images on flickr. Believe it or not, you'll actually get traffic from your images!



40. Get on MyBlogLog and Blog Catalog. These are both popular sites for finding blogs to follow.



41. Create a keyword cloud to help people find out what's popular on your site.



42. Consider buying traffic from Facebook, AdWords or the Google Content Network.



43. Showcase your top articles. Make it visible from the front page and make a killer first impression so people come back.



44. Install the related posts plugin. This helps people see more pages and in turn increase blog traffic.



45. Host a contest! The winner gets a small prize like a $20 starbucks card. This can generate a lot of buzz in your niche. Plus, many times you can find sponsors who will donate a prize in exchange for the exposure on your blog or site.



46. Be interviewed. Talk to others in your industry to see if they'd be interested in hosting you on their site in an interview. This can be a written or audio interview.



47. Interview others in your industry. A great interview can generate a lot of traffic and backlinks. This is a technique I use on my site. Many link building tasks are tedious and boring, however I really enjoy interviewing others in the self publishing industry. It's interesting and also provides quality content for my site.



48. Create a post talking about something that just happened in your niche. Message everyone who's also talking about the same topic and see if you can get a backlink by providing a unique perspective on what's going on.



49. Add your blog URL to your email signature. You won't get much traffic, but people will see that you're committed and high-powered individuals with influence will take notice.



50. Start podcasting. Get your audio in iTunes.

And finally, consider signing up for Sitesell's free program called, "Value Exchange" which helps you find great link exchanges. Some are not so good, but I have found some really great link exchanges by using VE! Also, while you're there, download their free book, "Make Your Links Work" to find more great strategies.

There you have it! Tons of blogging advice to increase blog traffic and visitors to your site. Pretty soon your visitors will be seeing "signs" all over the web like this... ;)

10 More Unique Traffic Generating Ideas for Your Blog

I have even more amazing (and free) ideas for you! I'm spilling the beans and sharing in detail how to get started with 10 of the best blog traffic generating ideas around. You'll also download my "Guest Blogging Success" report for free.

What You'll Learn Each Day...

1. Day 1: Go on a Blog Tour
2. Day 2: Host a Contest
3. Day 3: Write a Series
4. Day 4: Do an Interview Series
5. Day 5: Write a Round-Up Post
6. Day 6: Hold a Twitter Chat
7. Day 7: Add Video
8. Day 8: Cross Blog Conversations
9. Day 9: Blog Carnival
10. Day 10: Give Away a Free Report

Sign Up Now

More Resources on Blogging

1. How to Blog - 50 Topics to Blog About

2. The Best Blog Software? Check Out Our Side-by-Side Comparison of 5 Companies and Decide for Yourself!

3. Using Google Feedburner - A Tutorial to Get You Started

4. The History of Blogs - Blogging Explained

5. 11 Reasons to Consider a Virtual Book Tour

6. Plan Your Own Virtual Tour - A Step-by-Step Guide to Guest Blogging

What Has Worked for You to Increase Traffic to Your Blog?

As you can see, there are many ways to bring traffic to your blog or website. Share what techniques have worked best for you. Can you think of any I missed? If so, share them here!

Enter Your Title (i.e. My Experience With Self Publishing Companies)

Your Experience, Review, etc. [ ? ]

Close Help Sharing your story is easy to do. Just type!... Your story will appear on a Web page exactly the way you enter it here. You can wrap a word in square brackets to make it appear bold. For example [my story] would show as my story on the Web page containing your story. TIP: Since most people scan Web pages, include your best thoughts in your first paragraph.

Upload 1-4 Pictures or Graphics (optional) [ ? ]

Close Help Do you have some pictures or graphics to add? Great! Click the button and find the first one on your computer. Select it and click on the button to choose it. Then click on the link if you want to upload up to 3 more images.

Add a Picture/Graphic Caption (optional) 

Click here to upload more images (optional)

Add a Picture/Graphic Caption (optional) 

Add a Picture/Graphic Caption (optional) 

Add a Picture/Graphic Caption (optional) 

Author Information (optional)

To receive credit as the author, enter your information below.

Your Name	(first or full name)
Your Location	(ex. City, State, Country)

Submit Your Contribution

Check box to agree to these submission guidelines.

(You can preview and edit on the next page)

Click here to see the rest of the form and complete your submission.

Visitor Comments on What Works to Increase Blog Traffic

Here are some previous entries from visitors to this page...