Traffic means the “daily bread” for bloggers. And most of what we see around is that getting traffic is all about SEO and good content. True but not necessarily. Here are our eleven tips to help you get more traffic from various sources.
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Guest Posts:
Offer guest posts for high traffic blogs. In addition to being introduced to a big community you’ll also gain incoming traffic from them.
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Offer downloads:
Believe it or not, some of the biggest sites get huge traffic because they offer popular goodies to the regular visitor. Create something unique that everyone can use. Amit from labnol.org offered the Google AdSense Sandbox where AdSense publishers can preview ads which may appear on their site.No doubt it’s one of the most popular tools on the internet.
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Some thing downloadable and usable… something that will tuck your blog on your visitors desktop. They’ll be able to reach to your blog easily. Offer an RSS desktop gadget or a Custom Search Engine or perhaps a toolbar to search your site or something they can add to their Google Personalized Homepage iGoogle.
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Pitch subscribers to visit:
Most of the RSS visitors rarely visit your site. Pitch them to comment and visit your site. Or perhaps include only the teasers of your posts in your RSS or email updates.
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Regularity strikes a rhythm:
Update your blog daily or at least regularly. If you write everyday make sure you have some extra drafts saved for the day when you’ll miss the show. If you write weekly prepare the post in advance so you don’t miss it. Your visitors are real people with human habits and they expect to get to read regularly.
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Retain your visitors:
With the traffic you get on your site make sure you retain it. Avoid pop-ups or poor content or any other thing that may be irritating. Ask them to subscribe or perhaps visit again to read the next part of your upcoming post.
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If you are into social media, build your profile and tap the networking potential. If you are not into social media we’d guess you are not into blogging yet.
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Use the right CMS:
Using the correct CMS takes care of the SEO mechanics. Good site navigation, usability, indexing, SEO etc. come as a promise. Use a popular CMS which has a large user and support base. You’ll also have access to a large plugin-base to extend the functionality and power of your blog.
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Practice and promote participation:
Encourage visitors to participate. Start an event or start a competition or ask a question. Encourage commenting and do likewise. If you want visitors to get involved be the one to take the first step.
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Spare a good post post for high traffic day:
Just when you get lucky to get Digg traffic or even considerable traffic, make sure you have some excellent content or goodies to offer them Or even say a thankyou and try to retain them. The more the traffic the more exposure and potential to increase it.
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Design — KISS:
You didn’t expect this one way down the list. But this is a reminder that worrying about the cosmetics should be high in your priority. Most of the CMS come with a good theme. Keep It Short and Simple. Unless you are into graphics or web design you shouldn’t worry about wooing visitors with fleshy and saturated colors. Make sure you have an excellent website navigation menu and architecture. That will do for now.
Hopefully this is enough work for the weekend. Build your first blog gadget that people can add to their desktop — maybe to be able to search your blog or to get the latest blog updates or just to play a trivial game to kill some time. How did you like these tips?
