Don’t expect to receive the world and give nothing in return. Because your blog has not built up its own fan base yet, you’re going to have to rely on other individuals, websites and blogs to put in a good word for you. The more you give back, the more you will receive.
Blog Networks
Even if your blog is not yet complete, it’s never too early to start forming relationships with the blogging community. This is one promotional technique can be done even before your blog goes online. As I mentioned earlier, you can join blog networks such as MyBlogLog and BlogCatalog. To get started, you can go to http://www.mybloglog.com/buzz/community/ and browse for some blogs that interest you. Visit some of the blogs that you see there and join their MyBlogLog community.
Commenting
Usually when you comment on a blog, you have the option to enter your URL to be displayed along with your comment. Use this to your advantage! As you discover blogs that interest you, be sure to leave meaningful, quality comments. Just for the record, I’m not talking about spamming a ton of blogs. Read the articles that have been posted and leave quality comments that give something back to the blog you’re visiting. Each time you leave a comment, you will be leaving a link to your URL for all others
to see. You will also begin to form a relationship with the owners of the blogs you frequently visit, and you can never make too many friends in the blogging community. At times, a link to SiteFever.com has shown up on blogs which use the top commentator plugin I mentioned earlier just when Technorati decided to pay them a visit! +1 for my Technorati authority!
Chat rooms
Don’t forget about reverting back to the stone age of the good old fashioned chat room! If you have a Yahoo! or MSN ID, you can search for chat rooms pertaining to the subject matter of your blog. Let those whom you chat with know about your blog, being sure to post an active link to your site. Using chat rooms, you can inform hundreds of people within a very short amount of time about your blog.
Myspace
If you happen to have a MySpace account, be sure to talk about your blog on your profile page. Make as many friends as you can and send out a bulletin whenever you post something you think that your friends would enjoy reading.
Email Signature
How many people do you email in a day, a week or even a year? Use your email signature to promote your blog to everyone you send an email to. Be sure to include a live link to your site to make it easier for the recipient to visit your blog.
Blog Announcement
Write an honest, well written article about your blog. Describe the overall subject matter and its purpose. Include 2 or 3 links to your site along with a link to your RSS feed. Send that article to every blog owner you have formed a relationship with asking them to publish it either on your grand opening date or at their leisure. If the blog owner is smart, they just might hang on to your blog announcement for one of those days when they just can’t think of anything to write. Don’t be bashful- the worst they can do is say “no”!
Blog Reviews
Along the same line as a blog announcement, you can contact another blog owner asking them to write their own honest review of your blog. In return, you write a review of their blog. Preferably, both reviews would not be published on the same date. It would be best for one of you to post the first review and the other to wait for at least a week before posting the review of the other blog. Blog reviews always work out for the best when they’re kept honest. Try not to “beef up” a review just to make the other blog owner happy. Your visitors will see right through it and before you know it, the review will turn into an advertisement.
Forums
If you’re a member in any webmaster-related forums such as http://forums.digitalpoint.com, be sure to let members there know about your blog! If your blog is new, you can create a thread in a “review my site” forum informing the members that your blog is new and you would like an honest review of your site. Who knows? You just might find something out about your blog that you never knew! You can also use your forum signature and avatar to promote your blog. These are a great promotional tool because they are displayed each time you make a post within the forum, and will remain there indefinitely.
Link Directories
There are literally hundreds of thousands of link directories out there that you can submit your blog to- many of which are free. To aid you in finding them, you can again check out some webmaster-related forums and look for a board dedicated to link directories. Many link directory owners are trying to find people to add a link to their site. Be sure when doing so, you submit your blog to the most relevant category pertaining to your site so that anyone who sees your listing will be looking for what you offer.
Freebies
Everyone loves the word “FREE”. If you’re in need of a quick solution to boost your traffic, find a blog you would like to be featured on that receives about the same amount of traffic as you do. Contact the owner and let them know that if they would be willing to mention you in one of
their posts, you would be happy to give them a certain advertising space on your blog for free. For example, you can offer them a link in your sidebar or a small banner somewhere on your blog for 30 days. Best of all, you’re giving out something that doesn’t cost you a penny- the space was there anyway.
Guest Writing
Many blog owners will allow guest writing from time to time. Guest writing is where someone writes an article and has it published on a blog that they do not manage. Every few weeks, write an article on a topic that you believe would generate a lot of buzz. Be sure not to write an advertisement for your blog, but rather, a neutral well written article would work better. When
you do mention your blog, be sure to keep it brief, with possibly only one link back to your site. The more neutral the article is, the higher your chances that someone else would be willing to publish it on their blog.
Once your article is written, email it to a handful of people whose blogs you feel would benefit from it. Let them know that you are sending the article to them as a guest writer and that they are free to publish it on their blog. You may be surprised as to how many people are willing to do this. One blog comes to mind and that is http://carlocab.com where they are always taking submissions from guest bloggers who submit well written articles.
Bartering
With your new blog comes tons of room for link love! Find some blogs with similar subject matter to yours and email the owner asking them if they would like to swap links with you. You can also ask that they write a post reviewing what they think of your new blog (after you start posting), and in exchange you’ll do the same for them. Being listed on sites such as Technorati will come in handy at times like this because you can let them know that at the very least, their Technorati authority will increase by 1.
{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
I find that forum posting works best for me. Anywhere that is relevent and allows a signature can be great as it means you can also choose the anchor text – and therefore have hundreds, if not thousands of links.
A post after a long time
There are several blogs who will exchange blog reviews with you. I personally like guest posting a lot. Don’t forget to set your latest post on forums that allow setting latest blog post field.
Commenting on the blogs has another good advantage, I never ask to write guest post for a blog unless I have been an active commentator on it first. Once the owner has replied to a couple of your posts, you can be sure that your request for writing a guest post will be readily accepted.
nice post.. thanks..
iam new in this area but I believe this tips will help me a lot so thanks for posting.GOOD TIPS
For my part I prefer commenting and guest blogging. The best thing with commenting is that you’ve already spent the time reading their post, why not spend a few seconds on leaving them a comments as thanks?
I agree with the most you said in your article about generating traffic. I would also add to that very special tool which is Twitter. This site is pretending a social networking website but it isn’t. It’s just a way to make blogs more visible. Everyone is twitting and commenting everything that is possible, and trying to get people to their site. There is nothing wrong about that, but the whole “Social” characteristic of the site is just a lie. There is nothing that would bring there people of not some potential earnings. I know that many may not agree with me, and not everyone could accept the truth. But there is nothing I can do about it. It’s the way it is.
As a website owner i want to receive a lot of traffic to my website. Learning this information is very helpful to me. Besides, you have another tips compare to others. Thanks!
This site is pretending a social networking website but it isn’t. It’s just a way to make blogs more visible. Everyone is twitting and commenting everything that is possible, and trying to get people to their site.
getting traffic is really-really difficult thing for me
Thanks!You made some good points there.
Thanks though, i’m glad some people share good stuff like this! It will greatly help me in my SEO activities.
And the best of all, SEO. Nothing is more rewarding than natural, targeted traffic from search engines.
Nice post,
- Johnny
Great post.But i like to post comment on dofolow blogs to boost my blog blog traffic.
Wow!!It is really a great succession to get traffic to our Blog .I think that You could also create a twitter account and promote your website or use Magpie to promote to other people’s followers (you pay them to talk to their friends about your website,…….
This post gave me more insight on getting traffic to my site, thank you so much. Traffic has risen since started using some of these techniques. Now, I look forward to your future posts.