Simple Ways to Attract Traffic to Your Blog
May 31, 2008 by Brian Gardner
It takes work to build up a readership when you first create a blog. Oftentimes, it can take months or even years before you see ANYTHING from your blog, including a readership and profit!
However, the most important thing a blog needs to succeed in the blogosphere is traffic; good, quality traffic that will repeatedly return to your blog day after day.
How do you attract traffic to your blog? Well, the following tips are a few simple ways that can drive traffic to your blog and keep them coming back for more.
1. Write Quality Content
A blog is only as good as the content that goes into it; if you’re not writing for your readers, you’re not going to be as successful as you could.
Pick a topic you’re passionate about; that way, you’ll be more likely to stick with it and come up with an endless stream of topics to write about.
2. Comment, Comment, COMMENT
The only way to let people know you’re around is to get the word out about your blog. Find blogs in your niche and comment, comment, comment.
Don’t spam people, but taking the time to leave a quality comment on someone else’s blog post encourages them to visit your blog and hopefully develop into a full-fledged reader. More readers = more traffic, which in turn can potentially equal more revenue for you.
3. Exchange Links
Link exchanges are a great way to see and be seen, and finding blogs in your niche to exchange links with is a win-win situation for both your blog and the other person’s.
While building traffic takes time and effort, these are a few simple ways you can drive more traffic to your blog without spending a dime. Remember to keep these tips in mind and have fun!
If You Write Well, They Will Come
May 30, 2008 by Brian Gardner
By now, nearly everyone in the webmaster/freelancing industry has heard the saying “content is king.” It’s absolutely true!
However, there seem to be ongoing issues between SEO (search engine optimization) specialists and content producers regarding well-written content vs. content that’s primarily SEO driven.
GUESS WHAT? There doesn’t have to be an issue. Why? Because well-written content directed towards readers is usually already optimized for search engines. By striving to produce content relevant to your niche in a way that’s reader-friendly, you are already writing for the search engines, as well.
A lot of webmasters seem to fail to grasp this concept, thereby adding to the proliferation of keyword-littered garbage all over the web. Like most internet users, the moment I click on a page that’s stuffed with keywords, poor grammar and bad writing, I immediately go elsewhere. I don’t have time to search through junk to find what I’m looking for.
With that being said, if you are debating between writing compelling, well-written content and articles that are merely search engine fodder, stop thinking about it! Write for the readers, and they will come.
I cannot stress enough that quality content (I use the term quality loosely; quality means many different things to many different people) will already be search engine optimized. Yes, you can target specific keywords and YES, your headlines and titles can be search-engine-friendly – but guess what? You can do all of that without subjecting your readers to garbage.
Well-written content will attract a readership, which, in turn, will generate natural links you’d be hard pressed to get if you were writing merely for ad clicks. The bottom line? If you write well, they WILL come – and you can write for readers while still ranking well in search engines.
