I came across this great blog article about interesting ways to increase traffic to your site which I am sure you will find useful.
We all want more traffic to our websites and blogs, and it can be hard to get it, especially for a newer site. Traffic is so important to an online business. If you double traffic then you can double your earnings, assuming the quality of the traffic is the same. Here are some simple ways to help you increase the traffic to your site.
Write a humorous post
You can be as clever and as useful as you want, but nothing is more appealing on the internet than a little humour (well expect porn maybe!). At the time of writing, my eighth most popular post on this blog is a humorous look at bad jobs. Posts such as this share well on social network sites, and get eyes on your site. Lots of pictures and a quick punchy style often work. Also make sure you remember to share it at various social networks.
Of course it may not be the most targeted traffic in the world, but sometimes it’s good to get a load of people on your site. A certain percentage will be interested in other things you have to say, especially if your funny content is at least vaguely related to your niche.
Write a huge post
If you write a huge informational post (like this one), then you are likely to attract some natural links to it – hint, hint! Good blog owners know the value of pointing their visitors to great content. They didn’t need to spend ages writing it, yet they have provided it for their visitors, who will be extremely grateful. It is good practice in the blogosphere to link out to great content. If you give your visitors a good experience, then you are going to be more popular yourself. Also some people believe that search engines rewards sites that link out to quality content. Google want their users to be satisfied with their search results. A site that has its own great content AND links to other great content is a real asset, and the search engines probably recognise this and rank them higher.
People also like to share huge informational posts on social networks. You can find that one really great post with loads of work and info can really get the visitors in, who will hopefully also take the time to look at your other content, and perhaps even sign up as a regular visitor.
Facebook fanpage
Here is a great little tip. Create a Facebook fan page, but not strictly about your site or product. Make it related to your niche, and something that a lot of people will click on. For example if you have a site about cars then you might have a fan page called ”I love Ferrari”.
Submit to blog carnivals
I have written a post exclusively on blog carnivals which will provide more information than I possibly can here. In a nutshell, blog carnivals are a collection of links about a certain topic, that are published on someone else’s blog. You just need to submit the link to your blog post with a brief description. If you are accepted you get a one way link to your post, and sometimes to your home page as well. Best of all its free! Click here for more information on blog carnivals, and where to find them.
Hold a competition
Holding a competition with a decent prize can really get the visitors in. $50 is often enough to get people interested. You can even contact other bloggers in your niche who might share the details of your comp with their visitors. The competition might be asking them to do something, such as “like” your Facebook page and Tweet your homepage. A winner can then be drawn out of those who email you with proof they have acted. You can then gain traffic from all the people who have socially bookmarked you, plus the attention from other bloggers. Also visitors might tell their friends to enter as well, although some might be reluctant as it reduces their chances of winning!
Build links to your blog
Getting other sites to link to you is still the best way to rank high in the search engines. Also you benefit from traffic that click through these links directly. There are many ways to attract backlinks. Check out my post Link Building Strategies for more information.
Reduce the amount of adverts and products you sell
Many people are put off by excessive advertising and selling. Of course you’ve got to make some cash, but think about whether you are overdoing it. Other blog owners are far more likely to link to a blog post that isn’t full of adverts and products.
Get A New Banner
Updating and improving your banner is probably the quickest way to give your blog a better look and feel. This does help get the people in as they see your content and opinion as being more trustworthy and professional. Unless you are particularly talented in graphic design, it is usually better to outsource this to someone who does know what they are doing. Sites such as Odesk contain loads of banner designers who will work for a very fair price.
Add a share button
Many novice bloggers and site owners reason that if someone wants to share your content, then they will do so whether there is a share button or not. This is true to some extent, but certainly not entirely. The easier you make it to do something on the internet, the more likely it is that people will do it. Visitors are usually on some sort of time budget, even if it is just psychologically self imposed. They do not like to waste time. If say 100 people click on your great article without a share button, then maybe 1 person will share it. With a share button, that one person will still share it, plus a few more because it is so much easier to do. Then you might also enjoy the knock on effects of when people pass this on again.
Also if a person has to go on a social network to share your content, they could very well get distracted whilst there, and not return to your site.
On this blog I use the pluggin called Add This.
Write Intriguing Headlines
You can go through your old posts and change your headings to make them more intriguing. The secret is to compel people to click on your articles because the title makes them curious. There are several tried and tested techniques that will help you achieve this at my article about writing better headlines.
Link to your own posts
If you have an article or two that is getting a lot, or even some, traffic for a particular keyphrase, then take advantage of this. Do a Google search and if it ranks anywhere less then number one, then it is worth linking to it contextually from some of your other posts with the anchor text of that keyphrase. Hopefully this will move you up a notch or two and give you even more traffic.
Get to know other bloggers in your niche
Visit their blogs regularly and make valuable comments on their articles. You will find that some will eventually visit your blog and also comment. After a while they are far more likely to link trade or link to some of your blog posts, or do other deals with you. You may also attract some of their traffic to your blog if these targeted readers like your thoughts and opinions.
There are also forums and social networks where you can meet other bloggers. This can also help with trading advice and ideas to help each others blogs.
Write a guest post
Find a very popular blog in your niche that is accepting guest posts and write as good an article as you can and submit it. It is better to get published on 1 or 2 top blogs than it is several small ones. A big popular blog will usually be more picky about what they will publish, but you can get far better SEO benefits and direct visitors from the link in your bio. Go for quality over quantity.
Don’t have loud audio or video automatically play
I have talked to many people about this and nearly everyone agrees that when they click on a site and loud audio kicks in, they quickly hit the back button and never return. If you have this on your site, then remove it, or give them the option of pressing play when they are ready. Test this for a week or 2 and I bet your visitor time increases quite a bit.
Pay per click
If you have some great content then you could take a risk and spend some cash on a pay per click campaign. If people like your content enough, they might become regular visitors.
Encourage regular visitors
Encourage visitors to subscribe to you. This may be RSS feeds, newsletters, or email updates. Regular visitors are the lifeblood of a successful blog. Regulars are more likely to comment, contribute, buy products, and recommend you to others. As well as offering ways for people to follow you, also keep reminding them in places such as at the end of a blog post and in your side bar. Of course great content is the key for success here, but making it easier and providing a reminder here and there can really help.
Write about something in the news
There are always hot topics in the news, and a great way to get some traffic is to write about it. With some creative thought, even if it is nothing to do with your niche, you can make it relevant to your blog. A classic example is comparing something with something else. This doesn’t make sense I know! I’ll clarify. During a Presidential election, you could compare running for President with blogging. You could discuss issues such as marketing yourself, mission statements, image etc. The article could be called something like “Why Running For President Is Like Blogging”. This would take advantage of increased searches for the topic round a popular time, plus the headline would arouse curiosity. Many people would want to know why this is so.
Another idea is say Arnold Schwarzenegger has been in the news for some reason, and you run a blog about investment. You can write about all his investments and what you would advise him to invest in, given his circumstances, and why.
Pay for hosting
If you use free hosting, then many people will never take you seriously. It is well worth paying a little bit for your own hosting. It also outs you in control of your business, rather than being at the mercy of these free providers who may change terms and conditions in the future,
Be controversial
You don’t have to criticise people or things needlessly, but a bit of controversy can get eyes pointing your way. Since I advocate ethical affiliate marketing I prefer the approach of holding a view that flies in the face of “conventional wisdom”. So a good weight loss title might be “Why Eating Breakfast Hampers Your Weight Loss”, since it is generally accepted that eating breakfast actually helps with weight loss. If you do want to go down the line of criticising someone who is known and popular, then at least be constructive with it. Give your reasons why they don’t agree with them, rather than just calling them an ass face for no reason!
Sort out tags and keywords
Spend a day going through your past posts and check for popular keyphrases on Google’s keyword tool. You can then update your tags and sprinkle the phrase 2 or 3 times within your article body. This should help your individual posts rise in the search rankings for more popular search terms, and gain more visitors.
Offer freebies
Freebies can create a nice goodwill feeling on your blog, and can attract natural links when people tell other people about them. Also your free gifts can often contain reminders about your website. For instance I give away free hypnotherapy audios, and at the start of each one I remind them of my web address. If you give away a free e book, then there’s nothing to stop you from mentioning and linking to some of your online resources.
Yahoo Answers
You can answer some questions on Yahoo Answers and if relevant, you can point them to some of your resources for further information. Please don’t be spammy with this method. It won’t do you or anyone else any good.
Ask your readers to share
At the end of each post, you could add something that asks if your readers liked the article, they would share on Facebook, Twitter etc. By giving a reminder, you greatly increase your chances of people doing so, which could help drive more traffic your way. So, hint hint, please consider sharing this article if you found it of use!
Do you have any quick and simple tips you can add that will help increase traffic to a blog? If you have, please share them in the comments bellow.
http://www.affiliatehelp.info/2012/10/01/23-sure-fire-ways-to-increase-your-traffic/
author:Jon Rhodes
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