Ten Traffic Promotion Tips for Bloggers

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clipartwomanandcomputerWhen I first began to blog I had no comprehension of how to promote my blog posts and encourage traffic. I simply sat down and began writing on a topic I was passionate about. Little by little I learned some lessons from other bloggers such as in blogging content is king and I began to promote my blog by applying them.

In time I moved from having only free hosted wordpress.com blogs to also establishing a blog on my own domain with the assistance of a professional web developer. Time passed and I learned how to clean up my markup, do bad neighborhood checks and how to establish and maintain links.

Every day as a neophyte blogger who is growing I surf the net to read more about how to structure a reader and search engine friendly blog and, to accumulate more blogging tips, blogging tools and resources to share with others in this blog. This morning I found a great blog post that I would like to recommend to my readers.

I’ll begin with a quote, follow it up with a sub headings list and leave it to my readers to gain some insight into making their blog a traffic magnet.

Here are the top 10 techniques new bloggers can use to find readers. These are tips specifically for new bloggers, those people who have next-to-no audience at the moment and want to get the ball rolling.

  • Write at least five high quality original major “pillar” posts of timeless value to readers.
  • Write 5 posts new per week minimum for at least 4 – 6 weeks.
  • Purchase a domain name.
  • Start commenting on other blogs.
  • Trackback and link to other authoritative blogs in the same niche in your blog posts.
  • Encourage comments on your own blog.
  • Submit your latest pillar article to a blog carnival.
  • Submit your blog to selected blog directories with high PageRanks understanding that joining directories in done to get backlinks as they provide very little traffic.
  • Submit original articles (no duplicate content) to article directories.
  • Become a guest author on blogs in your own niche with high PageRanks.

Happy blogging!

99 thoughts on “Ten Traffic Promotion Tips for Bloggers”

  2. Timethief— I just wanted to pop by and thank you for writing such clear, definitive instructions on starting and maintaining a blog. I still feel as though I have a ton of things to learn, but you’ve answered so many of my major questions with recent and older posts on One Cool Site. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

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  3. Great help!! thanks
    Love your name… so true!!! We can lose so much time reading blogs…
    But you don’t really rob people of their time though, I see it as an investment… lol
    Thanks again!

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    • Hello there,
      I’m glad you took the time to tell me you found value in my post. Thanks for doing that.

      P.S. I chose this handle long before the negative connotation was attached to it. The reason I took it was because I twice escaped death and recognized how precious life is.

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    • Thanks for taking the time to let me know this post was helpful. There are 25 basic steps when it comes to increasing traffic to a blog. Above all is creating your own original content and publishing frequently. Second to that is commenting meaningfully and frequently on related blogs in your own niche.

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  5. These tips are very helpful. But I have two silly questions:

    1) What are the benefits of owning a domain? I’ve heard I should do this but I don’t understand the actual benefits.

    2) WordPress always suggests trackbacks and pingbacks but never do they actually lay down a step-by-step how-to. So currently, I want to link back to my blog from other people’s posts but I’m missing out because I don’t know how to do it.

    Thanks!

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  9. Since i started with wordpress the doors open to a new world. WordPress rocks :-) I would not mind getting more traffic to my blog, however I am more focus on making a difference and ppl to support those I represent. My concern when they read my blog do they then support ? … so not sure how effective my blog is. I have so much to learn and thank you for sharing ….

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  11. I am very new at blogging and i am focus to make a difference in people lives.

    I need help to get my blog off the ground, however I dont have money to invest, for that reason I find your post very useful.

    There is so much to learn and a lot of reading.

    Thank you for the informative post

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  12. I am on my fourth day of blogging and have followed a couple of these tips. I do not know where I stand. Yesterday I had 332 page views and today I have 378 page views. Is this good or just ok? I also have received ~50 comments in all four days. My website is http://slimem.com if you wouldn’t mind giving me a little feedback. I am blogging about my weight loss and achieving a healthy lifestyle for my family. Thank you!

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  14. Hi timethief,

    Found your tips very very useful. I think the key as you say is original posts / pillar posts and punctual content.

    I have only recently started on my blog (http://prasannaellanti.com) since March 2010. It is a personal blog. I am new to wordpress, SEO, blogging in general, so your articles are a great help.

    Appreciate if you have any thoughts on my blog, particularily home page, as i think this doesn’t lead people into viewing the site’s content, but rather get lost in the pictures…if you know what I mean.

    Thanks.

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  15. So True! thanks for your tips, I share any of them. I would add that to get more traffic, you should give people a reason to visit your website! For example, you should take a look at your traffic statistics so that you can learn what your visitors like the most and push on that topics.

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    • @alpadrini
      Hello there and welcome. I’m glad you found my blog and I thank you for your positive feedback. It’s good to hear that what I blog about is useful to other bloggers.

      Reply ↓

  21. There arealways great tips, mind you its so much so for the newbie blogger it could initially seem daunting, but once you set yourself at a regualr pace it comes to you like a new idea.
    Personally I feel blogging is cool we have wonderful idea’s and stories to share than interests so many others. So getting the word out is vital and linking up with like minded individuals is priceless.

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  28. Wow Nice post .. i guess ! i can follow some tips .. but is it really compulsory to write a post per day. Updating blog on regular interval looks feasible to me. What do u think?

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  33. Pingback: How to make money by blogging « one cool site: wordpress blogging tips

  37. @Shannon
    Thanks so much for your comment. It’s good to hear that my posts are useful. I hope you will come back time and time again. If you have a specific question please don’t hesitate – ask it.

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  39. @Kat,
    Thanks so much for letting me know you found value in the content. You’re right. A lot of my content applies to all bloggers, not only to wordpress bloggers. I hope to soon be well enough to generate some more of it. Thanks again.

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  40. You are always so helpful.
    I am thinking of switching my blog to wordpress though, because your tips and information are all very useful but for wordpress users.
    But I will continue to read on, because alot of your content is general.
    Thanks so much for sharing so much!

    Reply ↓

  43. this is a great post about traffic tips for blogs. i am going to check out the resources you gave.

    i also had no clue what a pillar post would be until i read these comments.

    thanks.

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  46. Pingback: Blogging: Characteristics of pillar posts « one cool site: wordpress blogging tips

  51. I agree with all of your suggestions, but I’m not 100% sure why having your own domain name is essential for blog success. Is it merely a memory device for potential readers?

    Thanks for the excellent info.

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  53. @Root,
    Thanks so much for the SEO tips. They are valuable and it’s unfortunate that they are here in comments rather than in a post where they would get more attention. Although I know that you are busy, I would like to let you know that I would be pleased (delighted) to publish a guest post on this topic if you would care to write one. :)

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  55. A good tip from the readability, value and SEO standpoints is to make sure that in the pillar or concept articles that the author includes plenty of links to authoriative and popular external resources. Certain subjects normally contain certain sub sets of subjects. By covering the material comprehensively you give yourself a good article, and will rank better. Free tools like WordTracker or the Google Pay Per Click tools are invaluable for building sites on sound architecture based on related keywords, and preferably ones which attract significant numbers of searchers. For example the search term *SEO* has 3 times the number of searches on any engine than the term *Search Engine Marketing*.

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  56. @Ann
    I’m thinking that if you run out of fingers and toes to count your blogging tips on then your should consider doing a two part blog post — lol :D Thanks for commenting and happy blogging!

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  58. Thanks for limiting this to Ten Tips . . . I can’t seem to wade through posts that offer 100+ Tips and I’d rather be blogging anyway!
    Ann

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  59. Timethief, I had the same question as Hexadecimal. Thanks for clarifying. I hope to do this sometime soon. I have two separate blogs. One is kinda new and I’m still trying to set it up and keep it updated. The other is a weather blog that always has something relevant.

    I just added a feed on the sidebar in my weather blog that includes a daily post from the USGS.

    Thanks again for the tips! (And I never would have commented here if it weren’t for your post :))

    Tim

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  62. @hexadecimal
    Every blog has a niche and the key words that describe that niche are what others type into search engines to find your blog posts. Pillar posts are longer posts that require research. They outline the expertise of the writer around a specific topic and are of timeless value to your readers.
    Here are two references that will help you with this.
    http://www.dailyblogtips.com/write-pillar-articles/
    http://performancing.com/blog-pulling-power-creating-flagship-content
    I hope that helps. Happy blogging!

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  64. @freevideotemplates
    I’m not attracted to blogs that are filled with videos myself but many people are. IMO a blogger would be better served by creating unique content, rather than embedding the same videos that can be found on many blogs. :)

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  66. Those are great tips..

    One post a day is a bit of a stretch for me…
    Where to find those contents?? I thought..

    One way is to embed some videos on your post and you can start babbling away…

    Yep, agree on the part of registering a domain name…
    it sure helps.

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  67. I’ll definitely try to start using these with my blog :) … One thing that wasn’t clear, though, what is a “pillar article?” Sorry if this is a dumb question, I’m sort of new at this :P
    Thanks for the tips! :D

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  69. I’ve never seen or heard of blog carnival, however I checked it out and it is right up my ally. Thank you for this informative post that Im going to show to my friends.

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  70. @robert
    I think we know each other well enough from BC to allow me to shoot from the lip. If you are in this for the long haul then do not wait, purchase a domain name and domain mapping now ($15 per year) http://faq.wordpress.com/2006/11/10/domain-mapping/

    http://faq.wordpress.com/2006/05/11/how-do-i-send-a-ping/
    http://faq.wordpress.com/2006/05/11/how-do-i-send-a-trackback/
    A “ping” is a communication sent from one computer to another saying, in essence, there is a packet of information here so come and get it. When you publish a post a “ping” is automatically sent through pingomatic to Technorati and various other places notifying that the event has taken place. Loosely speaking, a trackback is a computer notification that someone has included a link to one of your posts in one of their posts or visa versa. When they come in to you they look like “comments”.

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  74. Hi KC,
    Thanks for the thanks. It’s always so good to hear that my posts help other bloggers. I hope you find lots of useful information here and return whenever you need help. Either I or my guest blogger Richard will be glad to give you a hand.

    I was just trying to leave a url to a post on how to use stumbleupon effectively in your BC shoutbox so here it is http://onecoolsite.wordpress.com/2008/04/01/how-to-use-stumbleupon-effectively/

    Best regards and y’all comeback now y’hear. :)

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  75. This is an amazing introduction for bloggers! Being new myself to the concept, this post as well as many of your other ones have helped me tremendously. It’s easier than learning some things the hard way (as I have done as well).
    Thanks for all your incredibly useful information.
    Dr. KC

    Reply ↓

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