One of the most difficult things that bloggers deal with is getting traffic to their blog. I dealt with this same problem three years ago when I started my first blog. I was writing content that I thought people would want to read but for some reason I couldn’t get anyone to my blog. We all know that is a huge problem if we want to become a successful blogger.
I know you probably know I’ve had two successful blogs already and I’m trying to go for my third. Back when I started there weren’t very many people that could help you have a better blog. I see too many people reading blogs that try to help you have a better blog even though their blog has never became successful off of their own tips. I wrote a post earlier about the 15 Blogs Every Blogger Should Read. Those are bloggers that I have read for a while and I have begun to trust them because their tips have worked.
What I’m getting at is that I want to help you build a better blog and get what you want out of it. I know what has worked for my blogs and below are the five ways that I bring traffic to my blogs.
Twitter- This used to be my favorite web site to get traffic from. However, it is having more and more limits on it including how many people you can follow (which is supposedly for spam reasons) and the number of private messages you can send to other Twitters in a day. It’s beginning to really piss a lot of bloggers off but there are so many people on Twitter that you can find to read your blog.
Plurk- This web site has really taken the idea of Twitter to a whole new level. You can comment on other peoples Plurks and interact with one another a lot more. It doesn’t have as many users as Twitter but you might as well start now on this web site because I’m sure it will build up to be just as big. There are plenty of users that would want to get to know you a little and even read your blog. Just make sure you put a link to your blog in the about you section. I’m already up to 450 hits from this web site. You can read about it a little more here.
Friendfeed- This is becoming one of my favorite web sites to bring traffic to my blog. This might not be for everyone’s blog because it has a wealth of bloggers. The reason that I like it so much is because this web site is about helping bloggers. There are so many users that blog so it’s like a jackpot to me. There are plenty of users that do other things than just blog though. Basically this web site is to add all the networks people are part of into one feed. Then you can keep up with one person and what they’re doing on all the different networks they are a part of.
Stumbeupon- I absolutely love this web site. I get most of my traffic from Stumbleupon and so can you. The problem is that too many bloggers just stumble their own pages and never do anything else. You have to build trust with the other users otherwise they understand what you are trying to do (market just your blog and will only revolt by not looking at your blog. You need to gain fans and friends on Stumbleupon so try reviewing other sites that are similar to your blog. Stumble on the blogs that interest you also. Just try to make people feel like you’re trying to help them also and you should be fine. You can read one of my other articles about Stumbleupon here and more advanced here.
Digg- I have done a lot of experimenting with Digg. I began my Digg Series on this blog and I really need to post a couple more articles about what I have found. This web site is very powerful but you need to have the right niche. People here love lists. I get a lot of traffic from making lists just like this blog post. You need to make sure to get a lot of mutual friends so that you can shout out to all of your friends what you have submitted. However, this is just like Stumbleupon. You need to submit other blog posts or articles so it looks like you actually want to be a member of the network and not just advertising your blog. Read more about what Digg is here.
Comments- Of course last but not least commenting on other blogs in your niche. I talked about this time and time again. Trust me, be helpful when commenting on other blogs in your niche and other readers will click on your URL. You can bring gobs of traffic to your blog this way. This is like any other network on the Internet. If you are helping people out there they will want to read more helpful information from you. Read more about commenting on other blogs here.
So those are my six ways of bringing traffic to my blog and I know they will bring a buttload of traffic to your blog. You just have to take the time to really interact with others and try not to look like you’re just advertising your blog. It is called social networking, so be social!
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hi! thanks for the message. dropped here, too!
so, what makes a “successful blog”?
Thanks for your encouragement
A very good article. I have found long ago that stumbling your own pages ends up having no effect in the long run and will take time to build up the trust again. Twitter for me has had little effect, but that could be because I am a relatively young twitter. I find leaving concise and relevant comments on other blogs will lead to a certain amount of traffic but am disappointed the many bloggers do not reciprocate the comments. I understand those like Problogger just get way too many comments, but for the small blogger, it would be nice if we visited each others blogs and left a little message.
Can always use more ideas! Thank you for sharing and hope you stop by and tell me what you think of our blog!
Buddy, I can’t stand the design of your site!!!. You can do so much better. Take care.
Sire – Yes, people do not even see any importance in your article if you have to stumble it yourself. Good point talking about how you see it as a waste of time. I’m right with you.
Susan Hilton – well, I have plenty of ideas for you. I check out your blog and it looks pretty good. I will keep a close eye on it and see if you make any changes.
And for the last commenter, I’m sorry you don’t like my blog design. I like having the simple look and it has gotten me very far.
I definitely think that commenting on other blogs and forums is one of the best ways to bring traffic to your blog. I know there are a ton of different ways to get traffic but most people live by commenting on other blogs. I know in blog mastermind they recommend that you comment on 10 different blogs every day.
Commenting on other blogs is definately a great way to bring in a bit of traffic. It is a lot of work for not a lot return (I might do 50 comments per day for 150 visitors) but over time it can be worth it. This is because blogs grow exponentially. The more readers you get then the more your blog grows. So this is a great technique when starting out
thank you for such a detailed and concise explanation. as a raw newbie in the blogging world – i havent even heard of some of these things. i hope to read more of your work
Hopefully some of these things can help you. I hope you can find a lot more on my blog that you like.
You are right about this article byt he way I wrote a similar article on my blog
Thank you for encouraging other.
bocaratonsociety.wordpress.com
I appreciate you taking the time to help out other bloggers. Your information has definitely help me to help others with my blog. Keep up the good work!
i agree that commenting on blogs helps but the roi seems low. but the upshot of that is it is fun to comment on blogs you are interested in. i havn’t had much luck with digg or other social media sites. i just started up a twitter account and have had some luck, but i don’t think it will last. twitter already seems like spam heaven and quite honestly completely useless, so don’t foresee pepole sticking with it very long..great post thanks
nick