Looking for ways to get more traffic? You have already setup your keywords, you got yourself a killer domain name, and you understand and are following the steps to create killer on-page SEO (search engine optimization) for every page and article you write, you even started using social media and bookmarking sites to help drive traffic to your site, but you still are not getting that much traffic.
The question for most new bloggers is how do I get more traffic?
Benefits of Comments
All blogs need comments. When a person leaves a comment they can leave a backlink to their site. When you leave a useful comment, other visitors will read your comments and if they find it interesting or useful, they will visit your site.
Seven reasons why you want to comment,
- adding something useful to a community
- building your brand / name
- making friends / networking
- getting exposure for your site
- building backlinks
- getting more traffic
- a good comment could lead to a sale or consult for your business
- relationships between the blogger and the blogger owner
How Do I Get More Traffic?
I cannot stress enough how important commenting can be for a new site traffic is to comment. I am not just talking about on your site, but you need to be commenting on other sites related in your niche. If you are not comfortable, get comfortable! When I first started, I was VERY uncomfortable, now it’s pretty easy. Once you get started commenting, the traffic will be a slow at times, do not worry. After you start commenting regularly on different sites and other niche related sites traffic will start flowing.
How Many Comment Do I Need to Do?
How often and how many times a day do I need to comment? This is a tricky question to answer. But the easy answer is, as much as you can! If you need a number, I have done a lot of research and read a lot different views on this, but what I hear most often is twenty to fifty comments a day is ideal. In reality, at least for me, it is more like ten to twenty (closer to 10). If you can do more then, do more.
Do I Really Need to Comment that Much?
Yes, you really do. The more you comment the more traffic back to your site you get. The way I see it is, you do what you can and when you can. If you can only comment a few times days and lot more on other days, it is better than not doing it at all.
What Can I Do, I Do Not Have the Time To Comment?
In reality everyone has the same amount of time, it just time management and how busy your life is. For me, this is a big problem. I spent some time figuring out my time management and adjusted accordingly so I can have time to comment. What I found was I have about two hours a day on most week nights that I could be commenting. But I wasted too much time during the day. I figured out how my times throughout the day I was being wasting and fixed it.
I found that not having time is a myth for most people. You just have to stop doing things that waste your time. When you do that, you can find the time to comment.
Common time wasters are;
- Television
- Facebook and other social media games – stop playing Farmville!
- Surfing the internet to waste time
- Chatting or talking on the phone to much
Tip: If you find that you do some of things that are time waster, stop doing some of them for a week and replace that time with commenting and working on your blog. If you do this and stick to it you should see positive results. Then, after a few weeks, start removing more time wasters from your day until they are all gone. For me, it worked and I am currently working on freeing up more time so I can comment more.
Commenting Strategies
When commenting, I look for sites that are in my niche or sites that are places that I want to comment and be there. I spend most of my time commenting in several niches, but I do support other bloggers in other niches by commenting on their site from time to time. I believe commenting shouldn’t be a job and I comment because want to and not because I have to.
Tip: If you must look for places to comment and it becomes more a job, look for new articles to comment on, look for ones that are current. Try and be the first few visitors to comment. I found that if you comment on high traffic sites, most readers will only the first few comments. They are more likely to see your comment if it close to the end of the article and not at the bottom of the page. This is even more important if the site has multiple comment pages and has fifty or more comments per article. When I comment on an article and there are already a ton of comments, I find that I have less traffic back to my site where as if I would have commented earlier when there were fewer comments, I would have more traffic.
Types of Comments
I believe that if an author of an article does a great job, spent a lot time compiling a long list of resources, or helps me figure something out I believe they deserve a comment. I have no problem leaving a short comment such as “great job,” “thanks for help me figure this out” or “excellent write up.” But, when you make comments like this, make sure the site allows these types of comments first.
On those that do require more than just a short comment, I find that it’s better to leave a two to three sentences. These sentences should thank the writer and a give brief reason why that write up help you or why you enjoyed it so much. I find that this type of comment does get you traffic and if it’s a high traffic site you can get a good number of new visitors that might stick around and read so more of your work.
As for other types of comments, I would always stick to a minimum of three sentences unless you are asking a question that only requires a question. When commenting, depending on the post, you should be able to ask a question, agree / disagree and share your example, help answer the writer’s questions, correcting the author (do this smartly and be nice about it), helping out a visitor with their questions, and give a life example.
Types of Sites to Comment On
I do not look for where I can comment but, what can that site teach me? I look for blogs, forums and different sites to comment on by using bookmarking sites such as MMO, DesignGizer, and Blog Engage to look for more blogs to read and learn from. I look for descriptions and titles that catch my interests. Once I find that site, I start reading and if I like the article, have something valid to say, or if I disagree with the post I will comment. It’s simple as that. Stop making it harder than it has to be.
Don’t get me wrong, when looking for new sites, there are certain characteristics that I look for on a site for return visits and comments. I look for relevant content, how popular the site is, if they are a DoFollow, CommentLuv, and if they are consider a safe neighborhood site. But, if a site is not a DoFollow, or CommentLuv enabled site, I will still comment on them and will return to read and comment on them. For those sites that are not DoFollow or CommentLuv enabled, I will still comment on them. I do not care if a site is NoFollow and doesn’t use CommentLuv, if the site has high traffic, been around for a while, or I just like the site I will comment on them and return often, you can still get traffic from these sites! Remember, it’s not all about getting the backlinks, it’s about networking, building your brand, and being social…
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