Sunday, November 28, 2010

Ten Ways to Get Traffic To Your Blog



As a blogger, I struggle with finding the "best" way to get traffic to my blog. Bloggers all seem to ask the question, "how can I get traffic to my blog" on a regular basis, some of us--on a daily basis. I cannot guarantee one proven method of getting high traffic to your blog, but I will say that I have been using several different methods of getting traffic to my blog. The one thing they all have in common, is that they all take time, patience, and hard work.

How can I get traffic to my blog?

Think of it this way. What do your favorite stores do? They ADVERTISE, and they keep advertising! Advertisement is huge for bloggers also, especially baby bloggers (blogs that are less than one year old.) If you don't advertise your blog, no one will know it is there. Bloggers should advertise on a daily basis. This doesn't mean you have to spend hours on advertising, but make sure you are advertising "somewhere" daily.

How can I advertise my blog?

1. Word of Mouth
Word of Mouth is one of the best ways to advertise. Tell your family and friends about your blog. Tell them the purpose of the blog and ask them to spread the word about your blog.

2. Business Cards
Create a few business cards that advertise your blog and pass them out to family and friends. Be sure to include your blog name, blog address, Facebook Fan page, Twitter name, and email address. Pass them out to family and friends and leave them places where someone may see them.

3. Facebook
Facebook is one of my favorite places to advertise. As I add blog posts to my fan page, all posts are possibly seen by all fans, creating traffic. To get more Facebook Followers, make sure you have a Facebook button somewhere on your page that can be easily seen by those that may want to "Like" your fan page. You can also link up to Facebook Hops. Ask fans to "share" your deals that you post which could create more traffic. Try not to add "every" post to your fan page, if you post several a day. You don't want to lose fans because you are cluttering up their pages. You can visit The Frugal Free Gal Facebook Fan Page if you are interested.

3. Twitter
Twitter is another great place to advertise. Once you get a great number of followers, your posts will be fed onto their twitter pages. I like Twitter because I like to "re-tweet" older posts. Because some Twitterers can only log on at certain times during the day, sometimes its good to tweet a post morning, noon, and evening. This gives them a great chance of seeing your post, creating traffic. If you are looking for ways to get more Twitter followers, make sure there is a Twitter button on your page featuring your Twitter page. You can also link your Twitter page to Twitter Hops. You can find me on Twitter.

4. Blog Hops and Link Ups
Blog Hops are great ways to advertise your blogs. When you link your blog to someones blog hop, there is a great chance that you will receive visitors and followers when they click on your link. If they like what they see, there is a great chance that they will be a long term follower. I currently have a weekly hop every Friday. You can also view my weekly master blog hop list in the right sidebar. Read more about how blog hops work.

5. Create a Blog Button with a Text Box
Creating a blog button with a text box gives readers a chance to "grab your button" and place it on their blog. When someone stumbles upon that blog, they may see your button. If interested, they will click on it, creating traffic. Read how to make your own blog button.

6. Create an Email Signature
Emails are a great way to advertise. Log into your email account and find where you can create a signature. Your signature should include your blog name, blog address, Facebook Fan page and Twitter name (if you have one.)

7. Advertise in Forums
Join a few of your favorite forums. Get to know people in the forums. Leave your link in a few of your posts. Try not to "spam" the forums too much, but every now and then it is ok to leave your link. My top three forums that I like to advertise in are The Blog Frog, Twitter Moms, and Cafe Mom. Make sure you read community rules before posting in some of these forums to make sure that leaving your link is allowed.

8. Visit Blogs and Leave Comments
A comment is like gold for any blogger. When we receive comments, it makes our day. Most likely when you leave a comment with your link, the blogger is a little curious and will sometimes click your link to see where the comment is coming from. By leaving your blog link, it also gives other readers a chance to see it, possibly creating traffic if they are interested in clicking on it.

9. Submit Your Blog
There are places that allow you to submit your blog for others to see. The two that I have used that have matched my niche are Picket Fence Blogs and Top Mommy Blogs. Both of these sites let you grab a button that create "votes" for your blog when someone clicks on it. There are several different categories that you can choose from that best fit your niche.

10. Allow For Readers to Subscribe To Your Blog
There are a few blogs that I am subscribed to. I receive these blog feeds in my email account daily. Occasionally I will be interested and click on the blog feed if I have some time. Having the subscriber option is great for readers that want to see what you post on a daily basis.

The Frugal Free Gal wants to hear from YOU!

How do you advertise your blog? What are your favorite ways of getting traffic to your blog? Have any of the ideas above worked very well for you/not so well? Please let us know by leaving a comment (and your blog link!!!)


*Image source: iClipart 

 
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35 comments:

  1. Great Tips! I LOVE your blog!
    I found you on the Making Friends Monday Blog Hop :) I'm now following you via Google Friend Connect and I liked you on Facebook!
    ~Katie~
    The Romantic Type
    http://theromantictype.blogspot.com/

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  2. Thank you SO much for this! I feel I have an interesting story to tell as my daughter is 1 of about 5 in the world but getting the word out about our journey has been fun!

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  3. Time is the one thing I am short on, so I usually only really advertise two or three times a week-- on a good week. Thanks for the additional ideas.

    Here from Follow Us Monday Morning

    http://unussedleona.blogspot.com

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  4. Thanks for taking the time to collect these great ideas; very helpful. I found you on McMama's forum.

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  5. Thanks for the tips. I try to do most of these. I think as women we have a hard time with self promotion.

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  6. I have used all of these and they all help to increase traffic. I have seen my traffic increase slowly but shirley. The one that helps the most for me is Blog Hops. I try to do 2 to 3 a week. One more that I would like to add would be guest posting. This was one of the best ways to increase traffic! I plan on doing more of these by asking others to guest post for me and then return the favor. Even hosting a guest blogger helped to increase my traffic! Thanks for sharing...

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  7. Great tips! Another great way to get traffic to your blog is to use Traffic Exchanges. One that is only for blogs without all the other types of pages is called Expose Your Blog. Check it out at:
    http://preview.tinyurl.com/27wdy57 .
    Don Bell owns it and is always trying to find ways to make the members happy.

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  8. Here's one extra one. Guest post on bigger blogs than your own, once you've formed a relationship with them. Thanks Frugal Free Gal.

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  9. all great ideas! I also recommend being a regular commenter on at least 1 site that gets a lot of hits, like SITS, because then your blog name gets a lot of exposure.

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  10. Thank you very much for the tips. I am a 'baby blogger', and I am always in need of suggestions.

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  11. Thank you for the tips. I found some new infomation from your post. thanks
    Alison

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  12. You're always so helpful!
    Great blog!

    Have a great Motivational Monday!
    http://canadianmom-whatsonmymind.blogspot.com/2010/11/motivational-monday-blog-hop-november.html

    Jen

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  13. Awesome tips! New follower from MMBH! :)

    http://jesseandtami.blogspot.com

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  14. Great post. I'm still a baby blogger and these tips are very helpful.

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  15. You've given some great tips. I have not heard of a blog hop, so am going to check out your link.

    Thanks!

    Annie
    www.countrylivinginacariboovalley.com

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  16. Great ideas!

    New follower from the Military Monday Hop

    http://thewhitefamilyof6.blogspot.com/

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  17. Some great ideas here! Just last week I did blog post titled "16 Top Places to List Your Blog and Build Your Community". This ties in to your post really well.

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  18. This was very helpful as I am a baby blogger! I'm proud to know that I'm doing most of your tips but I still have some work to do LOL! Thanks for posting this:)

    www.sensariabylakia.blogspot.com

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  19. I like some of these tips. I have to say, though, that the people on Twitter who advertise their blogs morning, noon, and night, are the ones I unfollow. That's not how I want to interact with people.

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  20. Great tips! Thanks! I don't do enough blog hops, but am thinking I should really give them a try. Thanks for the idea.

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  21. Great tips! I have found The BlogFrog and Facebook have helped my blog grow tremendously. Also my friends on the forums I belong to that are in my niche.

    Homesteading on The Internet at: http://katlupesblog.blogspot.com/

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  22. thank you for the tips! We are a baby blog and love getting new followers!

    http://craftylifeandstyle.blogspot.com

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  23. thank you. i'm a baby blogger and didn't know how to make my own button or about blog hops. so helpful. thank you.

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  24. thanks for this! I need to get my Facebook fan page rolling, I haven't had time for that one. I like to go to the blogs with a huge following and then link to everyone who has left comments. I get more visits back that way as well as more followers. Blog hops work for me too. Check out Yaro Starak at http://www.entrepreneurs-journey.com/ , he has so much free advise, I have gotten lots of ideas from reading his blog.

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  25. Great list! I've got a FB fan page, but feel bad about asking all my regular FB friends to 'like' it, so I'm not really sure what the purpose of it is...

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  26. Thanks for this list of things to get done for your blog...thanks for the tips. I am actually quite happy to say I have most of these done or do them on a fairly frequent basis...but I have more to do.

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  27. This is great! Thank you for the tips. I'm a "nearly" two year old blog and I've just started promoting it beyond my family and friends. Thanks so much!

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  28. Great tips, thanks so much for sharing!

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  29. Awesome tips! I'm new to this scene, so I'm still a baby blogger. I'm going to need all the help I can get.

    http://www.holgasm.blogspot.com

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  30. This post is being featured on My Great Posts of the Week.

    http://www.jdaniel4smom.com/2010/12/great-posts-i-came-across-this-week.html

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  31. can you remind us how to make a signature for our blogs. somehow I lost mine when I had my blog made over

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  32. To learn how to make a free signature, click on my "My Articles" Tab at the top and look under the blogging section to find the post! :)

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  33. Thanks for the tips! Something that has worked well for me is to link my articles to one another. That encourages readers who have found my site to stick around and keep reading more articles. It also gets my articles to appear in searches on Google, Bing, etc. because the programs that index keywords are looking mainly at links.

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  34. Taking your advice and doing #8 right now. :) Great stuff. I have a baby blog and I'm doing somethings you listed, but not all.

    http://nurturedfamilylife.blogspot.com
    Lots of healthy kid-friendly recipes

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