As you build your blog, you discover that you want people to invest time reading it. You need exposure aka eyeballs aka Traffic. To gain more readers, you have work hard at driving more traffic to your blog regularly. You can do this in a lot of different ways. Here are 27 of them help you even if you have heard of them before. They are a combination of web 0.0, 1.0,2.0 tactics that have been effective.
Ageless Ways to Drive Traffic to Your Blog
1. Word of Mouth
Telling people is the best form of advertising at your disposal. Use it well. Talk about your blog at every opportunity.
2. Issue a press release
This is only next to WOM Advertising in age. These days, a lot of sites let you do a free press release so find your blog’s USP (Unique Selling Proposition) and then issue a press release about it. If you’re blogging for business, you may want to consider hiring a PR professional to write and spread the press release for you.
3. Business or Complimentary cards
This is so old economy but ALL bloggers ought to have business cards and hand them out generously. Few of us do.
4. Attend blogging seminars
Bloggers are your best readers so get out there and meet them.
5. Hold an event of your own.
Advertise in your region that you’re putting together a get together to discuss blogging. The more the people that attend, the more the traffic to your blog.
6. Use promotional souvenirs
Bloggers need to learn basic marketing skills of direct salesmen. Get souvenirs to give away and imprint your blog URL on them. Come up with a cute slogan about what your blog is about and give them away like crazy.
7. Write a newsletter
Find time to do a short monthly newsletter about your blog. Include details about your favorite posts, goals for the next month and some personal details outside blogging and send to everyone on your email list. This builds rapour, makes them feel closer to you personally and loyal to your blog.
Web 1.0 Ways to Drive Traffic to Your Blog
1.Link to your articles
Do you do this within your blog? If not, please start. it helps your rankings. Do you write articles for others? Make sure you are using links to your content if you but be sure that you’re allowed to do this.
2. Link to your blog in your email signature
This is one of the oldest tricks in the book. it is so web 1.0 but it works. Add a link to your pillar articles as opposed to your homepage.
3. Forum Commenting
This is another old trick. Add a link to blog in the signature section of your forum profile. Then give people a reason to click the link to your blog by solving problems and making valuable contributions on the forum.
4. Craigslist.
There are many different ways you to promote your blog using Craigslist. Use every single one of them.
5. Give Value Away
Place an ad on other blogs for a giveaway on your own blog. Talk to Hesham 🙂
6. Write an eBook.
You know enough to write an eBook if you know enough to blog about a topic. It will definitely some time but then you can promote it through many different media where you can’t promote a blog. Add links to your promo material and people will turn up on your blog. Download an eBook on Niche marketing here
7. Submit to directories
Here is a list of 100 directories to submit your blog.
8. Link to your blog on your bio
Web2.0 Ways to Drive Traffic to Your Blog
1. Use social bookmarking sites.
The top ones that I use include Technorati, Digg, and StumbleUpon but there are more than enough – both big and small social bookmarking sites to keep you engaged. The secret is to pick a few and be regularly active on them. This gives you a lot of credence and drives more traffic to your blog.
2. Guest Post
Write guest posts for other bloggers. this has benefited my blog. make it a habit to write an article monthly for blogs you like. In return, you usually get two link exchanges. Another option is publish articles on sites that providing revenue for posting like ehow.com. They are also a tool for promoting your own blog.
3. Visit other blogs and leave thoughtful comments
Add your blog URL in the “website” section of the comment form and people will start turning up on your blog as long as you contribute value.
4. Link to your blog on all of your social networking profiles
This is lot easier than it has ever been. If you’re on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn, let people can find your blog from there.
5. Do a link love post weekly
LLPs are posts a lot of bloggers do these days to show love to other bloggers. It is simply listing and linking to blogs that they are read around the web. Many readers like this since it’s a great resource for learning about other blogs. You also get the instant attention of the bloggers you link to.
6. Download Wibiya
Download Wibiya toolbar and include social networking sites that relate to you.
7. Know How Google Works
Google is the search engine that everyone is using these days so you should make sure that you understand how it works. Have a better understanding of how to use keywords, linking rules and page rank.
8. Linkbait
Controversy is a great way to get attention always and attention means eyeballs – which is one thing you need. There are many sides to this but the main idea of link baiting to write a controversial article and link to bloggers likely to disagree with you. Be ready to defend your point and even get a bashing.
9. Regularly read up about new blog promotion tools and resources for bloggers.
Here’s a link to 10,000 resources for writers and bloggers, to help you out.
10. Do videos on your topic.
Record a short humorous video on an aspect of your blog topic and upload it to YouTube. People love humour. Include your blog URL on the video and on your YouTube profile.
11. Attend blogging webinars.
Many social media and blogging conferences crop online these days. Attend One:)
12. Provide content people want to discuss.
In the end, traffic spreads via word of mouth. If you have good content, people will help you spread the word.
Conclusion
While these are great ways to drive traffic to your blog, the best way is to be creative and do some blog promotion no one has done yet. Can you think of any? Remember, anything that gets you attention will get traffic to your blog.