5 Easy Steps To Increase Traffic To Your blog

Building traffic to a site or blog is an ongoing process that takes time. And over the past month, I’ve learned it’s about the sum of the little tasks you do often.

For example, you may not think much of that 3-paragraph blog post you wrote this morning or evening, but two years from now that very post could bring you a few hits per day from Google.

Don’t laugh, I am not joking. I know a few hits doesn’t sound like a lot, but what if 150 of your archived blog posts brought in an average of 5 hits per day? You do the math. That’s 750 hits. And of course I was just using an arbitrary number. You could very well do better than that.

And remember, this is just from old blog posts floating about the search engines. I’m not counting the traffic from your website, recent blog posts, current articles etc.

It’s about the cumulative effect of small tasks completed over time, and as a Webmaster you should always be thinking of ways to build and diversify your traffic.

When I review my website stats, I always notice I’ve received traffic from articles I wrote 1, 2 or even 3 months ago. Work I did way back then is still paying off today. You can do the same. So here are 5 tips you can use often to add to the cumulative effect of building traffic.

1. Forum Posting

A few years ago, forum posting was often a top bullet on the “How to build traffic” list because it was a great way to build backlinks to your site. Using a sig file with your posts created a ton of inbound to your site and Google often rewarded Webmasters with a higher PageRank, more traffic, etc.

While forum posting may hold some backlink benefits, it’s effect has been downgraded tremendously. And I certainly wouldn’t waste your time flooding forums trying to build this number up.

The best way to use forums for traffic is to develop a good reputation with other forum members and subtly promote your site by way of your signature (sig) file. Much like Yahoo! Answers, the more useful your posts are, the more likely others are to respect your advice and visit your site.

Use Search It! to find forums in your niche or simply go to your favorite engine and type in “your_niche + forums”. This will likely bring up a nice selection of forums related to your subject matter.

2. Yahoo! Answers

I have gotten a decent amount of traffic from this, especially when you consider the small amount of time I’ve put into it.

Yahoo! Answers is exactly what the title suggests. You simply post answers to questions posed by other users. As a Webmaster, the best way to get the most from it is to find questions related to your niche.

For example, if you have a site on fishing, you could do a search for questions related to this pastime and answer as many questions as you can find.

Now the key is not to just rush through this. Craft thoughtful, useful answers that provide value to the person who posed the question. If you impress the viewers, your profile may get a few clicks. And guess what you can put in your profile? You guessed it…

Your website address!

I know a man who sold a Site Build It! subscription through Yahoo Answers. He responded to a question about working at home and he casually mentioned he used Site Build It!.

He did not spam Yahoo! Answers by putting a link to SBI! in his reply, but someone clicked his avatar along side his answer, viewed his profile and emailed him specific questions about SBI!. After a few email exchanges the curious surfer bought the software and he was $75 richer.

Will you get hundreds of visitors per day from posting at Yahoo! Answers? Probably not, but remember it’s the little things that add up.

Plus, Yahoo! Answers are always appearing in the search results. Imagine all the people who may stumble upon your well-thought out replies to various questions.

3. Blog Comments

I think this method is highly underrated and forgotten by a lot of Webmasters. Posting useful comments regularly on high-trafficked blogs can really bring in good traffic over time.

And with all the cool plug-ins available, many blogs entice people to make comments by allowing them to add pictures, their website address and more.

4. Broadcast on YouTube

I have not started yet to broadcast videos on YouTube but I know very well that it helps a lot in traffic building. I advice you to do that , it will definitely help you in increasing the traffic.

The main goals for the videos should be to add personality and create credibility to site. I never thought this method would generate the kind of traffic it has in the last few months in my father's blog.

Think of content you can put in video form for your audience. It doesn’t have to be anything elaborate. A 3-minute video can be highly effective if presented well. Just organize your key points, speak clearly and publish!

And of course YouTube makes it super easy to add the video to your site. Just copy and paste a few lines of code and you’re done!

Some people learn better by hearing than reading. Your audience will find this method of delivery quite refreshing, especially if you have a tutorial-based site.

In a Web with so many faceless, cold sites developed by Webmasters who prefer to remain anonymous, adding videos to your site and YouTube could work well in your favor. Credibility is key with making money online and what a great way to build trust with your audience.

5. Check Your Web Stats

Ever check your traffic stats and find certain pages have been found in the search engines for keywords that were not the main focus on the page?

For example, say you have an article titled “How to Create a Blog” that contains a few paragraphs where you review Blogger.com. You check your traffic stats and find that page shows up #12 in Google for “Blogger review.”

Instead of settling for the trickles of traffic that keyword phrase brings, why not build a page that focuses on “Blogger review” that can obtain a much higher rank for that keyword. And to help that page’s positioning, you can link it from the original article since the content is related.

Not only are you building another content-rich page with potential search engine traffic, but you’re providing your audience with more useful information they can use.

Dig deep into those traffic stats. You may find some untapped keywords that are a potential gold mine.

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So there you have it – 5 easy tips you can implement to build long-term traffic. And as a Webmaster, this should be a goal that remains at the top of your list.

While there are hundreds of other ways to build traffic to your site or blog, I wanted to focus on something other than SEO fundamentals, blogging, link exchanges, PPC, etc (yawn). Plus, you can start executing these strategies now.

Building traffic takes time. And as the old saying goes, Rome wasn’t built in a day. Just know that the little things you do today can evolve into long-term rewards of a lifetime.

Happy traffic building!

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