Most of what I share about how to blog I've learned by doing, usually by trial and error. The same can be said as it applies to growing traffic to my blogs over the years.
In the old days, options were more limited. You could link to other bloggers via a blogroll in hopes they would respond in kind, reference other blogs in your posts, leave comments and trackbacks, claim your blog at Technorati and list your blog on the few blog directories that were available. And, yes, there was Google.
OK, so the list wasn't quite as limited as I remember. But, still, that was then. This is now.
Today, in addition to those tactics, conversational media has opened the doors to blog traffic growth much wider. Here are five additional steps you can take:
Twitter - If you don't have a Twitter account, you should. It's a great place to announce a just written blog post. My colleague John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing fame uses Twitter for just this reason. Don't limit yourself to Twitter either. Depending on how much time you have to invest, there are other presence/announcement apps available, including Pownce and Jaiku. (Of course, you have to grow a community around you for this to work.)
Facebook - Grow your FB network and you'll grow your blog traffic. Like Twitter, use Facebook to announce posts as well as interact with other members and groups.
MyBlogLog - Aside from seeing who's reading your blog, it's yet another way to connect and grow your community. I'm amazed at the number of people who find my blog specifically because I have a profile here.
Digg, Del.icio.us, and other social apps in the post footer - So far as I can tell, Typepad only offers Digg and del.icio.us as social sharing tools in the footer. Other platforms offer many more options. My favorite is the Share This plug-in by Alex King. I really miss this one, which is designed expressly for use with the WordPress platform. Regardless, in whatever way you can, including social media sharing tools is always a good idea.
Blog Directories - Yes, I know I've mentioned this already, but the number of blog directories have grown exponentially in the past couple of years. The Robin Good Top 55 list includes over 220 different directories where you can potentially list your blog, and some of them are social in nature. Don't overlook this as it can provide you with much needed Google juice. In my view, thsi qualifies as blog traffic growth 101.
Parting shots...
I think you'll find synergy developing between the various forms of conversational media, so participating in several makes sense.
If you don't do anything else, at least do these two things (make that three things):
- Write exceptional content that's of interest to your readers.
- Do it everyday and keep it keyword optimized and
topically-relevant. Google will absolutely love you for it. So will
your human audience.
- Actively participate in topically-relevant communities and blogs.
I'm sure I left off a number of blog traffic growth tips. Please feel free to comment on other tactics you've used.
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