Getting Traffic To Your Blog

Getting Traffic To Your Blog. A pretty large number of bloggers who, in all honesty run some above-average to brilliant blogs all have the same complaint – “Why aren’t people coming??” After some research on this, we’ve come up with some tips that may just get the traffic coming to your space.

Here they are:

1. Get permalinks working. Dump your software and get something else if you have to, but get them working!

If you want to be taken seriously, get working permalinks!

2. Consider getting your own domain and a hosting service you pay for. Yes, free hosting is wonderful, but you can do better for as little as $5 a month. Your own domain gives you more control, makes it easier for people to find you and, frankly, it boosts your prestige a bit. This is not a huge deal, but you really should consider doing it if you can.

3. Allow public comments. A few high-traffic sites don’t have them, but most do. There’s a reason for this. Yes, you will certainly get trolls (i.e. nasty jerks who try to torque you off). Concentrate on the Zen of Blogging: trolls can only make you angry if you let them. 

4. More importantly, even though a lot of readers never bother with comments, a not-insignificant segment of readers likes them a lot. These will often be your more faithful readers. Embrace them. They will help keep you honest. Frankly, you’ll also be providing a way for other bloggers to make themselves known to you. I’ve found a lot of my favorite bloggers exactly that way.

5. Be as generous with trading blogroll entries as you want others to be with you–but never, ever, ever whine about it or expect reciprocation. No one owes this to you. No, not even if you’ve blogrolled them for months and sent them multiple messages telling them how much you love them. You ask once, and you hope for a polite yes or no, and you say, “Hey thanks!” either way. And then you let it go.

If you’re a frequent commenter on a site, and it’s a site you visit regularly, maybe you can ask again once the blogger’s gotten to know you. Maybe. But never be a pest about this.

6. That said, don’t be shy about asking. You’re only going to offend someone if you are a pest, or if you whine.

7. Do not be shy about sending a link to an article you are particularly proud of to other bloggers. Almost no one minds this, if you don’t do it constantly.

8. Any time you write something you are particularly proud of, send it out to 2-3 other bloggers. Don’t limit yourself to just big-name bloggers, either.

9. Develop a list of blogs you especially like, but don’t obsessively visit every every day. No more than 3-4 a day should br finr. You’ll find that by lightly cruising through 3-4 different blogs a day, you’ll constantly find something new and interesting to post about.

Bonus to this strategy: if readers get a note from you saying, “Hey, if you like this message I wrote, could you tell your readers about it?” they might link it. Or not. Either way it’s cool. And if they send you note to me saying, “Hey, if you like this, could you tell your readers about it?” its up to you. Important part: It’s cool either way.

Don’t pine away looking for links from the Instapundit. Be happy when you get a link from a new blogger with hardly any traffic as by some mega-blogger who gets thousands of visitors a day. 

10. In short: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Blogging’s supposed to be fun. Not everyone wants to do it, and not everyone should. But if you want traffic, you’re going to have to be noticed. People won’t magically appear without some work on your part. Fortunately, it’s nowhere near as hard or as time-consuming as it seems at first. Just develop a few good habits, and you’ll do fine.