- Content and patience are king. Keep writing genuinely useful content that people want to read and look at. Have patience to allow Google and the other search engines to list and find your blog. It will take months to get any real traffic. This is a kind of test for us. Google weeds out the people who do not have staying power. I am sure that part of the very complex Google Algorithm is a formula which asks if the blog has been around for “x” amount of time and whether new posts have been added over that time. Google is far bigger than the others so you’ll need to be found and listed by Google in a search. That is one reason why I use Google Blogger. Google understands it’s own products and I say it will tend to favour very slightly Blogger over, say, WordPress.
- Keep post fairly snappy but content rich. The attention span of modern visitors is short!
- Use Keywords (What are Keywords). These tell you what people are searching for and you can research supply and demand of keywords. Supply in this context means the number of websites that provide information on a particular subject and demand in this context means the number of people looking for information on a particular subject. You might try Wordtracker. I use SBI (Sitesell) Brainstorm It!
- Although less important today, the title to the post should be a selected keyword that has high demand and low supply.
- The keyword referred to at 4 above should be used in the post (but not over used) and as “alt” tags on photos.
- The keyword should be used in the first line or two of the post.
- The keyword should be in a link in the post.
- You should get inbound links to your blog to improve Page Rank. This helps to get your blog listed higher by the search engines. This will come in time if the blog is good as people will want to link to it but initially it means pushing things along by (a) submitting to article sites (b) making comments on other blogs and leaving URLs to your blog (d) getting your blog listed in directories and (e) participating in link exchange agreements.
- If you can get friends to link to your blog.
- Join and participate in forums, where your blog is relevant. Include the URL of your blog when appropriate.
- Search engines may index your blog using the site feed so make sure it is activated.
- Submit your blog to the search engines, for indexing.
- Make frequent posts, say one or two a day. As mentioned make the posts as good as possible. Take your time and think long term.
From How to Get Traffic to Your Blog to Home Page
thanks for all of your useful info. :)
ReplyDeletei have been a little overwhelmed by all of the good blogs out there... and have, of late, been thinking of re-thinking my even having a blog.
i know that all things need growth & development, so i will just hang in there - and chill out & take things one day at a time. i'm only now learning how to personalize the page, so i have a good ways to go.
:) thanks.
Hi Amaris, Thanks for the comment. My view is this. As it is a long journey to getting traffic and the competition stiff, it is best to think long term and try and enjoy it! Then success may creep up on you. Good luck.
ReplyDeleteThat's probably the most understandable, techno-behavioral write-up on improving traffic to a blog. Thanks for the valuable tips!
ReplyDeleteGood advice. I bookmarked this post. How would you go about finding a keyword that has "high demand but low supply"? Is it just guesswork, or is there a tool that can help you discover these keywords?
ReplyDeleteHi Jason,
ReplyDeleteI use SBI (SiteSell) who use Wordtracker (number one keyowrd website I believe) but add to it by working out the number of sites that respond to a specific keyword search.
I think Sitesell allow "outsiders" (people who do not have a site hosted by them) to use their "Brainstormer" service.
This service will tell you the words in demand and the number of sites servicing that demand.
I pick usually pick the keywords that have high high demand (keyowrd search) and low supply (website response).
Thanks for the response, Freddie.
ReplyDelete