Some of my traffic-increasing efforts have been more successful than other. Please make any and all suggestions for helping me increase traffic because I’m anxious to hear what has worked for you!
The basic plan I have for ThoughtfulConsideration.com is this:
- Present fresh, high-quality posts that will be of interest to you
- Share new ideas and perspectives and make you think a little bit
- Generate traffic through the above bullet points
- Monetize that traffic with my first goal being to recover my costs (domain name registration and web hosting), starting with Google Adsense
All the posts I’ve read on creating a successful blog have talked about being patient in the beginning and focusing on creating valuable content that will bring in (and bring back) visitors. After two months of working toward that goal, I’m anxious to see an increase in my traffic.
Up to this point I’ve taken the following steps to increase traffic:
- Participating in Blog Carnivals/Festivals — this is a lot of fun because it brings together fellow bloggers who have similar interests and creates a sense of community
- Bought an online ad — After reading Silicon Valley Blogger’s post (Million Dollar Home Pages Galore) I broke down and paid $12 for an ad on www.JustAddADollar.com. It was capricious and probably not money well spent, but I thought I’d give it a shot. So far that has given me fewer than five clicks in more than a week. On the one hand, that’s not a lot of traffic. On the other hand, my ad still has the top (and most visible) spot!
- Occasionally commenting on other blogs — this isn’t something that I’ve made a major practice of, but as often as people are kind enough to leave comments on my blog, I try to both respond below their comment and read/comment on one or more of their posts on their blog.
- Link Exchange — two people have approached me about link exchanges and I’ve been more than happy to participate. Both blogs have great information and I’m pleased to see some (albeit fairly minimal) traffic through that method.
- Blog Directories — I went a little crazy on this one, spending a couple of hours registering on (and submitting my blog to) as many as I could find. So far, the traffic hasn’t been anything too substantial but I think it’s been beneficial. Some of those links show up in Google search results, but strangely not as back links.
- Linking to other blogs — many sites allow pingbacks which gives you another inbound link which helps for both SEO and bringing in new visitors.
- Some minimal SEO (search engine optimization)
- removing extra text (”e-mail this post” and “print this post”) at the beginning of posts because it was showing up in the Google search results and displacing the actual content
- using the Optimal Title WordPress plug-in
- changing my permalink convention to something more meaningful than the default
- Inter-linking posts on my blog and using the Related Posts WordPress plug-in
In addition to continuing to use the above methods, here’s what I’m planning to try next:
- Hosting an occasional Blog Carnival/Festival
- Using Technorati.com tags in my posts (I’m still not sure why I haven’t started this sooner)
- Commenting more on other people’s blogs
- Linking to more blogs (when relevant) for pingbacks
- Do more linkbaiting (i.e., writing more “bookmarkable” posts)
- More SEO
I’m a little frustrated with the following thing:
- Google.com - even though I did finally get my sitemap working properly and my pages are being indexed, Google isn’t taking note of any “back links”. Even Technorati.com says that I have 13 links from 11 blogs, and I know that I have quite a few more inbound links than that which Google should be picking up. I’ve conducted some research to try to determine why Google hasn’t noticed my links, but as of now, this still remains a mystery.
Here are a few more posts I’ve enjoyed where people discuss methods of increasing traffic:
- 5 Ways To Increase Your Blog Traffic at SleepyBlogger.com
- How to get traffic for your blog at SethGodin.TypePad.com
- How I Boosted My Woeful Web Traffic at TheDigeratiLife.com
- 77 Ways To Get Traffic at AssociatePrograms.com (a .pdf e-book)
Please do leave any suggestions that you have regarding non-deceptive, free ways to increase blog traffic. I’m especially hoping you’ll share techniques that have worked well for you.
Related posts:
You seem to be doing a good job already. Keep it up and you’ll increase your traffic in no time.
Thanks for the link.
Robyn,
Thanks for the words of encouragement. I made the mistake of finding your blog late last night and it was much later when I finally said to myself, “I’ve got to get to bed and come visit tomorrow!”
You have some great posts and I’m planning to use some of the tips from your 5 Tips post.
—Andy
I need some more links to my blog, I need more traffic also, can I link exchange with you?
Sure! I added you to my Blogroll in the sidebar. I enjoyed reading some of your posts. Thanks for the exchange.
—Andy
Thanks for linking my blog, I’ll link your blog as well.
Wow Andy, you’ve done quite a bit and am flattered that you mentioned my posts! Did you check the alexa rankings of those pages you are buying an ad from? if they’re getting good traffic then it should help. Also, the trackbacks are quite helpful — if you trackback to a larger blog and they like your post, they may refer to your posts at some point. Also, don’t be shy to ask for link swaps with some established sites. I found my experience to be very positive when I asked. I’ll make sure to apply some of your recommendations for better traffic as well. I think the plug-ins are a great idea! Keep up the great work. Your blog is awesome and I am sure you’re going to get more traffic in time. Your feedburner subscribers look pretty good to me for 3 months of blogging!
-Take care
SVB
You’re welcome! I enjoy your posts and appreciate your ideas and encouragement. I’ve added your latest suggestions to my off-line plan for increasing traffic.
—Andy
Great info. Always looking for more ways to generate traffic. Thanks for the tips…and good luck!
I enjoyed your posts on increasing traffic as well. There are 10+ tabs open in my browser window right now with your posts that I’m looking forward to reading.
—Andy
Andy - good stuff. I’ve posted on this subject a lot recently. Start with this URL and work your way back:
http://thezeroboss.com/2006/11/17/blog-tip-of-the-day-optimizing-tag-archives-with-wordpress-and-ultimate-tag-warrior/
Hope that proves helpful!
Way to go Andy! Keep doing what you are doing! With good content you get good readers! I’ve also started blogging about the same time as you!
All good points here, Andy. Keep up the hard work. As for commenting at other blogs, may I recommend coComment - extremely handy at tracking what you and others say.
The Zero Boss,
I enjoyed your post on Ultimate Tag Warrior (and several other posts). As soon as I can make a few minutes I’ll start experimenting with UTW.
—Andy
Kian Ann,
Thanks for your comments. I enjoyed you blog, especially your post on Writing To Get Bookmarked.
—Andy
Easton,
I’ll look into coComment because it was interesting to see your page. I hit a couple of blogs I would never have found otherwise and got a little better feel for what you’re interested in.
On a personal note, hopefully you wear more red than blue to the games of your rival schools . . .
—Andy
pre teen pageant gown