Increasing Traffic | Tribal Blogs

15 Tips to Increase Blog Traffic

Filed under Guest Posts, Increasing Traffic by Guest Post on February 3, 2012 at 12:15 pm {one comment}

The blogosphere is a big and busy world with over 100 million blogs and growing. How do you attract visitors to your blog? Follow these simple tips to drive traffic to your blog.

1. Write Well and Write Often

Frequently updating your blog with useful content is the first step to building your blog’s audience. The content you write is what will keep readers coming back for more. Make sure you have something meaningful to say to them and say it often to maintain their interest and keep them loyal.

Furthermore, post frequently to increase the number of chances you have for your blog’s content to be noticed by search engines such as Google or Technorati.

Google Reader – Use Google’s web-based blog reader to keep up with blogs and news.reader.google.com

2. Submit Your Blog to Search Engines

Get on the radar screen for the popular search engines such as Google and Yahoo! by submitting your blog’s URL to them (for example http://www.download4fun.com). Most search engines provide a ‘Submit’ link (or something similar) to notify the search engine of your new blog, so those search engines will crawl it and include your pages in their results.

It’s important to understand that simply submitting your blog to search engines doesn’t mean your pages will appear at the top of a Google search results screen, but at least your blog will be included and will have the chance of being picked up by a search engine.

3. Use and Update Your Blogroll

By adding links to sites you like in your blogroll, the owners of those blogs will find your blog and will be likely to add a reciprocal link in their blogrolls. It’s an easy way to get the link to your blog in front of many readers on other blogs. The hope is that some of those readers will click on the link to your blog on the other blogs’ blogrolls and find your content interesting and enjoyable turning them into loyal readers.

4. Harness the Power of Comments

Commenting is a simple and essential tool to increase your blog’s traffic. First, respond to comments left on your blog to show your readers that you value their opinions and draw them into a two-way conversation. This will increase reader loyalty.

Second, leave comments on other blogs to drive new traffic. Make sure you leave your blog’s URL in your comment, so you create a link back to your own blog. Many people will read the comments left on a blog post. If they read a particularly interesting comment, they are highly likely to click on the link to visit the commentor’s website. It’s important to make sure you leave meaningful comments that are likely to invite people to click on your link to read more.

5. Syndicate Your Blog’s Content with an RSS Feed

Setting up an RSS feed button on your blog makes it easy for your loyal readers to not just read your blog but also know when you publish new content.

6. Use Links and Trackbacks

Links are one of the most powerful parts of your blog. Not only are links noticed by search engines, but they also act as a tap on the shoulder to other bloggers who can easily identify who is linking to their sites. Linking helps to get you noticed by other bloggers who are likely to investigate the sites that are linking to them. This may lead them to become new readers of your blog or to add links to your blog from theirs.

You can take links to other blogs a step further by leaving a trackback on the other blog to let them know you’ve linked to them. Blogs that allow trackbacks will include a link back to your blog in the comments section of the post that you originally linked to. People do click on trackback links!

7. Tag Your Posts

It takes a few extra seconds to add tags to each of your blog posts, but it’s worth the time in terms of the additional traffic tags can drive to your blog. Tags (like links) are easily noticed by search engines. They’re also key to helping readers find your blog when they perform searches on popular blog search engines such as Technorati.

8. Submit Your Posts to Social Bookmarking Sites

Taking the time to submit your best posts to social bookmarking sites such as Digg, StumbleUpon, Reddit and more can be a simple way to quickly boost traffic to your blog.

9. Remember Search Engine Optimization

When you write your blog posts and pages, remember to optimize your pages for search engines to find them. Include relevant keywords and links but don’t overload your posts with too many relevant keywords or completely irrelevant keywords. Doing so can be considered spamming and could have negative results such as your blog being removed from Google’s search entirely.

10. Don’t Forget Images

Images don’t just make your blog look pretty, they also help people find you in search engine listings. People often use the image search options offered by Google, Yahoo! and other search engines, and naming your images with search engine optimization in mind can easily boost your traffic.

11. Consider Guest Blogging

Guest blogging can be done when you write a guest post on another blogger’s blog or when another blogger writes a guest post on your blog. Both methods are likely to increase traffic as your blog will be exposed to the other blogger’s audience. Many of the other blogger’s readers will visit your blog to see what you have to say.

12. Join Forums, Web Rings or Online Groups

Find online forums, web rings, groups or social networking sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn where you can share ideas and ask questions of like-minded individuals. Add a link to your blog in your signature line or profile, so each time you post on a forum or participate in another online network, you’re indirectly promoting your blog. Chances are many people will click on that link to learn more about you.

13. Promote Outside Your Blog

Promoting your blog shouldn’t stop when you step outside the blogosphere. Add your blog’s URL to your email signature and business cards. Talk about it in offline conversations. It’s important to get your name and your blog’s URL noticed offline, too.

14. Nominate Yourself and Other Blogs for Blog Awards

There are a number of blog awards given out throughout the year. Nominating yourself and other blogs and bloggers can draw attention to your blog and drive traffic to it.

15. Don’t Be Shy

The most important part of the blogosphere is its community and much of your success as a blogger will be tied to your willingness to network with that community. Don’t be afraid to ask questions, join conversations or just say hi and introduce yourself. Don’t sit back and hope the online world will find you. Speak out and get yourself noticed. Let the blogosphere know you’ve arrived and have something to say!

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/blogging-articles/15-tips-to-increase-blog-traffic-1241768.html

Author: Johan Domonji

Why You Need an Editorial Calendar and How to Get Started

Filed under Blog Strategy, Guest Posts, Increasing Traffic, Small Business Blogging by Amanda DiSilvestro on February 2, 2012 at 12:30 pm {no comments}

Companies have quickly caught onto the fact that guest blogging works. It works well whether you’re writing for another site or another site is writing for you because it helps you share audiences. Your SEO efforts will improve because you will get a link back from the site where you’re offering content, and your social media efforts will improve because you’ll be able to reach a whole new audience who is interested in your material. This will help you connect and follow both those in the industry as well as potential customers and/or clients. So what’s not to love?

The answer: Scheduling. Any editor will tell you that managing content, even when you’re starting a small business, is much more difficult than it seems at first glance. You have to deal with all different kinds of requests—one site may want to write for your blog the first Thursday of every month, another site may be interested in every Wednesday, another site could want to try it out for one or two articles first, etc. In addition, it’s also important that you schedule time so that you can write an article on your own blog. You want to make sure that the initial vision of your blog can remain intact despite all the different voices chiming in. For this reason, an editorial calendar is an absolutely necessity.

What is an Editorial Calendar, Anyway?

An editorial calendar is just a fancy way of saying “publishing schedule.” It is a way of organizing all the content on a website and is particularly helpful when it comes to a website’s blog. Even if you don’t have a particular piece of content for a certain day, a calendar still works well because it will show that you have a space open. Many editors also use this schedule to write notes about content they hope to fill a certain time or a topic they are interested in for the future. Consider some of the other benefits of an editorial calendar:

5 Benefits of an Editorial Calendar

Cover the Unexpected – You will be able to focus on the unexpected, alternative types of content. For example, if there is an event going on in your community that you would like to support on your blog, and editorial calendar will let you know when that will be possible.
Communication – It allows for better teamwork and communication. Many larger blogs have several people managing content, so an editorial calendar will help keep everyone on the same page. No two articles will be published on the same day, and everyone will be able to see the article topics that have been/will be covered.
Efficiency – It’s very quick and simple to use an editorial calendar. Once you have everything laid out, you will be able to see what tasks need to be completed and you can make sure you do not repeat something that has already been done.
Stress – Many editors will tell you that managing a blog is stressful. However, an editorial calendar can help break up the priorities and tasks into day-to-day sections. This helps make things seem more manageable; thus reducing stress.
Professionalism – Showing investors and/or advertisers your editorial calendar will show that you’re organized and take pride in your content. Google has made it clear that content should be an extremely important part of any website (obviously), so companies you are trying to impress will be attracted to your organization.

How to Get Started Creating an Editorial Calendar

There are lots of different ways to set up an editorial calendar. It’s all about personal preference. As long as you are staying organized and have your content laid out day by day, you have a successful editorial calendar. I have seen some people do this simply with a pencil and traditional calendar, but as your blog gets more popular you may want to consider going digital. Below lists three ways you can create an editorial calendar on your computer:

Google Calendars – This tool works great because it can actually send you email messages to help remind you when content is due. The service offers many different templates so you can choose which one works best for your purposes. You can find the templates in the Google Docs Template Gallery and then click on “calendars and schedules” on the left hand side. Below is a screenshot of what you will see:

Excel – Many editors feel comfortable using excel for their calendars. The program allows you to create different tabs for different projects. This can help you keep what has been published, what is pending, and what you hope to create all separate. You can also share this as a Google doc, which allows an entire team to work on the spreadsheet without any overlap. Visit Savvy B2B Marketing for a beautiful example of a successful excel-based editorial calendar.
WordPress – This is the most popular option for editors today. Most editors are very comfortable with the program so the calendar plugin is the easiest solution. The tool actually lets you edit posts right in the calendar and it gives you the ability to move posts around as you wish. This works great if you have an unexpected guest post pop up and need to stick it somewhere in the middle. Below is a screenshot of what the plugin will look like:

It may seem like a simple idea, but many editors still having gotten around to creating an editorial calendar. It will certainly take some effort at the start, but this should not discourage you from giving it a try. Even if you are have never been a plan-it kind of a person, an editorial calendar will likely be worth it in the end. If you’re not into computers, try a traditional calendar, if you’re not into planning, have someone manage the calendar for you. Take it from an editor and blogger – whatever you need to do to make this idea work for you is worth the little bit of effort.

Photo Credit: top10hell.com

Amanda DiSilvestro is a writer on topics ranging from social media to credit card processing services. She writes for an online resource that gives advice on topics including background checks to small businesses and entrepreneurs for the leading business directory, Business.com.

How to Create a Social Media Editorial Calendar (searchenginewatch.com)
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Why You Need an Editorial Calendar and How to Get Started

Why List Posts are 1. Fun 2. Easy and 3. Great SEO

Filed under Blog Strategy, Increasing Traffic, SEO, Writer's Block by Kelly Bristow on January 28, 2012 at 10:00 am {no comments}

You know you should write a post every day but there are days, many days sometimes, when pulling a post out of thin air can be not unlike pulling teeth. When you’re stumped for a post consider a list post. List posts are easy to put together and can be a lot of fun to write. Better yet, they have the ability to go viral because they are so simple.

List posts are fun

The great thing about list posts is that they can be as silly or as serious as you like. Generally, the more silly the list the more fun the post will be (and the more likely it will be shared). List post ideas often come from the writer’s every day problems, and specifically their solutions. Self deprecation is usually woven into most list posts. I wrote a post years ago about how not to leave a comment. I’d had some trouble leaving a comment on one of my blogger pals blog and made a fool of myself in her comment section trying to fix the mistake. The exchange was fun and turned into a helpful way to navigate comment sections. I had a blast writing the post and to this day it has nearly 200 comments and still gets steady traffic.

List posts are easy

Because list posts are so easy to put together they can be a lot of fun to write. You don’t need to go into great detail with any of the points you make, usually a sentence or two and all that’s left to the writing is the introduction and summary. Because you can toss out items in reference you don’t have to write detailed paragraphs about your topic. Of course you can but it’s understood that it isn’t necessary.

List posts are great for SEO

Because list posts are easy and fun to write the posts themselves tend to be witty, intelligent (because you don’t over think the task) and have the potential to go viral. Everyone loves short articles that have great information or packed with laughs. Consider that many people reading your blog are doing so at work. Though it may not seem like it by looking at Facebook, most people at work actually have work to do. So writing a shorter post ensures that most readers can finish it and if it’s entertaining, can pass it on to other who will do the same. This applies to Stumble, Reddit and Digg as well. People using those services are more likely to give your post a thumbs up if it’s short and to the point.

Writing a post for your blog doesn’t have to take a lot of time. This list post took about ten minutes to write and yet it hits on all the points I wanted to make for both my small business readers who really need to put out at least one post a day, and the search engines. It’s not Pulitzer prize winning writing but it isn’t mean to be. If you would like more information about writing list posts you can read this more in depth post on Problogger.

10 Amazing Blogs About Blogging to Start Reading NOW (hubspot.com)
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Why List Posts are 1. Fun 2. Easy and 3. Great SEO

The Future Of Local Blogging and the Search Engines

Filed under Guest Posts, Increasing Traffic by Guest Post on January 25, 2012 at 4:37 am {no comments}

Image from spearsmarketing.com

The Future Of Local Blogging and the Search Engines by JackHumphrey

According to research one in five internet searches is a local search (SearchEngineLand mentioned this back in 2008) and when the search engines realized just how many local searches were being carried out by people they recognized a huge potential for extra revenue from local business owners, and began to pay attention to how they can help them get found online.

Now the search engines are finding different ways to rank sites that help people find local businesses and information – and your local blog can become part of that whole experience.

The most important part of any local search is and will always be Google Maps/Places but after that come all the local sites that are focused on a particular geographic area or niche.

Local information sites are popular places when people are looking for information – local newspaper sites, local directories and people are increasing using social review sites – they are attracted to them because they contain reviews and they can get opinions from past customers and how happy people were using a local service.

As a local blogger if you can develop a site that contains all of these aspects

* local news and information

* local business listings

* local business listing reviews from members

and that includes quality blog content that is optimized the search engines will LOVE YOU!

Remember, when it comes to local news and information you can ask local people to provide it – you don’t have to do it all yourself.

Another area your local blog could focus on is becoming an online local classified like Craig’s list and/or a local shopping site. This will add more interactivity to your local blog and provide you with additional ways to make money.

What that will take is to continually blog on a local level with a heavy focus on being informative and full of quality that is shared by the local people who read it. You will have to monitor user generated content and get local conversation happening around your site.

The training here at Blog Success will definitely support you in ensuring your local blog is the best that it can be in terms of opitimization, content marketing and using social media and other places to drive traffic. This is the hardest piece of the local blogging puzzle and you have all of that sorted out for you.

The rest is all about connection, conversation, rating, reviews and reputation. Get that combination right and right now (because Google change things all the time) you will pretty much be seen as a favorite in the eyes of Google and the other search engines.

I am currently going through extensive training with Planet Ocean on local search marketing and from June the Institute of Direct Marketing here in the UK. I will share all that I can to help your local blog develop and take advantage of the newest trends. Over in America you have far more scope than we do in the UK and I encourage you to learn all you can about blogging, SEO and traffic generation here at blog success, stay focused, and as local blogs increase in importance over the next few years that will give you a huge opportunity to be right up there in the top of the results for your local area.

Jack Humphrey is the CEO of BlogSuccess.com, he is a pure blogger, has been teaching people how to make money with blogging since 2005 and has helped thousands of individuals and hundreds of small businesses succeed on the Internet. Join his free blogging community over at BlogSuccess.com TODAY!

Article Source: The Future Of Local Blogging and the Search Engines