I had a great time speaking at and attending the Social Online Conference over the weekend. There were so many positive and inspiring women and so little time. If you were an attendee, don’t forget to put those great tips and tools into action for your blog or business. Information is useless if you don’t use it.
Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to network with several new bloggers. Many of these great people are literally just that – new bloggers. How to increase blog traffic was a big concern. I want to spend a few days this week passing along some blogging tips to both the new and veteran bloggers. Hey. Even we forget the basics from time to time.
Increasing Blog Traffic by Taking Control
Refreshing your stats all day is not going to bring new readers to your blog. You need to get out there and make those connections. You can take control of your traffic in a number of ways:
- Commenting on Similar Blogs
- Guest Posting on Blogs in Your Niche
- Get Active on Social Networks and Relevant Forums
Build Trust to Increase Blog Traffic
Building trust with first-time visitors can increase blog traffic in a few ways. It will make these new readers feel comfortable enough to return in the future. It will also make them feel confident in sharing your content with their community.
Your tagline may be the first opportunity you have to connect with a new visitor and start building trust. This one sentence will let them know they are in the right place, and it may give them a little insight into the type of environment you foster on your blog.
The About Me page is often overlooked – sometimes not so unintentionally – but this is going to be one of the biggest opportunities you have to connect with potential readers and build trust. Visitors want to know who you are and why they should listen to you. If you are reluctant to share that information, they may feel you are intentionally keeping things under wraps. The absence of an About Me page may have the opposite effect. Rather than leaving that potential reader feeling neutral, they may feel you have something to hide.
Keep Those Readers Coming Back
Now that you went out there, brought those readers over to your blog, have them trusting your advice, make sure they return. Your readers may prefer to follow you in a number of ways:
- Social Networks
- RSS
- Email Newsletter
Don’t bury these links. The first place your new reader is likely to look for ways they can follow you will be above-the-fold. They will scroll back up and look in your sidebar or header for these opportunities. This is prime real estate. Advertisers know this as well. However, make sure you are promoting your blog or business above all others.
Now that these readers are following your blog and following you socially, you need to update regularly. Develop a content and marketing schedule to ensure you are updating both your blog and your social profiles on a consistent basis.
What is your favorite way to bring in new traffic?
About Angie
Twitter: freelancertoday
says:
Great list of tips. Give readers as many ways as possible to keep up with you. One thing about the content, and I’m at fault as much as anybody else, is to write for your readers. Sometimes we get too caught up in putting keywords in our posts so they’ll rank high. The readers have to come first, if there is going to be any trust built. Blogging isn’t about SEO, it’s about building relationships with your audience and in turn building community.
Oh, and keep those ads below the fold unless you are promoting your own product. This helps two ways. First, Google is happy. Yay. Second;y, it places your readers at ease knowing you aren’t bombarding them from the start with a bunch of ads.
Ken recently posted ..Make More Money Writing by Outsourcing Your Job Search
Twitter: thewahwife
says:
Thanks for the additional tips, Ken.
Great advice — I know I need to jazz up my About section. I wasn’t happy with my old about section on my site so I removed two paragraphs. It’s on my to do list but I definitely need to bump it up a tad higher.
Twitter: thewahwife
says:
I am not a fan of writing About Me pages, Melissa. Even little author bios give me a headache. Nasty little things.
Twitter: WAHMRevolution
says:
I’ve found Twitter to be an excellent source of traffic to my site. Took me a while to see benefits. But now I can count on regular traffic from the site.
Lisa recently posted ..Work at Home: Appointment Setter Jobs with Extended Presence
Twitter: thewahwife
says:
I love Twitter, Lisa. I may even love it more than Facebook.
Twitter: momsrbomb
says:
Angie it was such a pleasure to hear you speak at the conference. There was so much information given that was just invaluable. However, you do make a good point all those notes I have are useless if I don’t start implementing the techniques. Thank you!!
Twitter: thewahwife
says:
I am the worst, Kristi. I love soaking up all of facts and tips, and then I do nothing with them. Not this time!
Social networks like Twitter, Facebook, Google+ are the best alternative sources of Search engine traffic and we should utilize that well. because now-a-days SEO is tougher and uncertain to great extent. Nicely said, having a schedule for writing and for marketing definitely helps to grow the blog in faster phase.
Thanks.
Mr.Ven recently posted ..Dreamhost Invitation Code for 2012 (Get $100 Discount)
Twitter: over50andhappy
says:
Hi Angie,
I really enjoy your website, blog, and wonderful tips. I have been blogging for a while, and I find consistently that I gain more followers when I’m blogging from the heart, being open, honest, and real, rather than concentrating on keywords.
Having said that, I do also agree that certain website layouts are more attractive and make it easier for interested people to follow. I use Shareaholic plug in, but I like your icons in your top right sidebar in “Let’s Network”. Is there a certain plug in for that?
Thanks Angie!
Hugs,
Nina http://over50andhappy.com
Nina Knox recently posted ..Comment on Can Working With Your Spouse Work? by Sara McGoodwin
Twitter: thewahwife
says:
Hey, Nina. I believe this one is called Social Media Widget. You can find it here http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/social-media-widget/.