When you’ve built a website or a blog you’ve most likely done it because you want it to succeed. That also probably means you have spent a good deal of time on it. Maybe you had a personalized design made or you found a template that was nice and seemed rarely used. You took the time to write out some posts, fill in all the pages with the proper information, made sure your contact form was working and your ads were in place. In other words, you were ready to settle into the groove of being an internet entrepreneur.
So, now what?
All of the pieces to the puzzle are complete and you’re adding posts by the dozen, so why aren’t people visiting your website? Like the title suggests, you might love your website but you find yourself wondering why you’re the only one that does.
The good news is that if you’re site is as good as you think it is, you’re probably just suffering from new site blues. When people start out with their first blog they rarely (and I mean rarely) are lucky enough to see substantial numbers come out of the woodwork. Most people have to plug away at building a site and a community. They have to network, work the social networking sites, and hope for a couple of breaks. It doesn’t come easy and the number one mistake that failing bloggers make, especially new failing bloggers, is thinking that it should come easy.
The truth is, there could be a number of reasons why you aren’t getting a maximum amount of exposure. Finding out what those reasons are and doing something about them is what is going to set the professional bloggers apart from the failed bunch that have to go back to 9 to 5.
So, what do I do to get visitors?
Social Networking
One of the best free methods of advertising you have is known as social networking. Sites like Digg, Stumble Upon, and even Myspace or Facebook can be invaluable to a blogger. Sure, you will have to spend some time working on these sites. You will need to make friends, digg articles, and promote yourself, but if you do these things you won’t have any problems getting visitors out of the deal. In fact, in most cases, you will end up with visitors that comment and come back to your site. Just make sure you aren’t spamming people in the process because that will do just the opposite of what you want. It’s great that you love your site, but don’t be obnoxious about it. There is nothing wrong with mentioning your blog or your new articles, but if you’re begging for people to digg your articles you might want to re-evaluate your methods.
Twitter
If you’ve been living under a rock you might not know what Twitter is. Otherwise, you’re likely well aware that it is a type of up-to-the-minute mini-blog that explains what you are doing, where you’re at, or what’s going on in your life. In addition to posting these things, you can use Twitterfeed to add your RSS and send your updated blog posts to your twitter list. Like other social networking sites people can follow you to see what you’re up to. This allows them current information about your blog, so they can decide whether they should subscribe to it or not. This is great because people will click on links that they are interested in and could have missed out on.
Be Friendly
Bloggers are a pretty generous bunch. If you visit other blogs (especially those in your niche) and comment, many of the bloggers you visit will return the favor. At the very least most of them will stop by your blog and if they like it, you can bet that they will be back. Commenting on their blogs means that you can leave a link to your blog. If you’re comment is good, visitors of the blog you’re commenting on might visit your blog, as well. Networking on blogs and with bloggers will open you and your blog up for guest posting, extra traffic, collaboration on contests, and who knows what else. It’s also nice to have some friends.
Consistency
If you write three blog posts in the beginning and you feel that works for you then you need to keep doing that. Your readers want you to be consistent. They want to know when your new content will be going up. If a reader isn’t sure when you will commit to an update then their visits to your site will be sporadic, at best. Make a plan and stick to it, otherwise your visitor count will always be something that you struggle to maintain.
Talk to you blog, even if you’re the only one listening
When you start a blog it may feel like you have no audience. That’s probably true in most cases. However, you cannot let that stop you from blogging like you would if you had a million visitors. Talk to your audience, even if you don’t currently have one, because one day you will and they will find those posts from day one. When you talk to your audience, rather than writing for yourself or to explain something, you give your audience a reason to talk back. Comments are one of the most valuable parts of blogs. Knowing you have a community behind you gives you a good reason to continue doing what you do best.
Those are some of the best (and easiest) ways to draw traffic to your blog. What methods do you use and which ones do you recommend to new bloggers?
Technorati Tags: New Bloggers, Blog, Marketing, Promotion, Social Networking, Stumble Upon, Consistency, Comments, Audience, Million, Visitors, Website, Network, Make Friends
------------------------
No comments yet.