If you don’t have a blog already I would definitely recommend you do so, and fast.  Owning and running a blog is much easier than it looks, especially with the free options that Blogger and WordPress offer.

What Can a Blog Do For You?

A short answer to that question… ALOT!  Blogs may be the easiest way to promote online since the advent of the internet.  Blog platforms are so simple to use and makes posting a page on the internet fast ad easy.  All you have to do is write and post, it’s really that simple.

Blogs not only make adding material to the internet fast and easy, they are also very easy to promote and get traffic to.  All you have to do is find blog directories and add your blog url just like you would a normal site.  Once you submit your blog to plenty of blog directories you’ll find your traffic begin to pick up as people begin to find your blog url through the blog directories.

You can also promote your blog by leaving comments on other likewise blogs.  Also, if you  have an rss feed, you can submit that url to a list of rss feed directories.  Both of these methods will allow your blog to begin picking up backlinks and page rank which will in turn bring more traffic organically from the search engines.

Another great advantage of running a blog is the ability to be able to social bookmark your blog posts.  Bookmarking your blog posts has the potential to bring your blog plenty more targeted traffic.  This concept is a great way to share your blog with others in the bookmarking and post sharing community.

Some of the best places to bookmark your blog post would include Twitter, Technorati, Digg, Stumbleupon, and the like.  There are literraly hundreds of different social bookmarking sites and more are being added every week.

Don’t forget though that blogs should also be promoted using normal online methods as well.  Meaning you still can write articles, write press releases, use forums, traffic exchanges, and pay-per-click methods.  Really there is no limit to how you can promote your blog.  Use several methods or all the methods.  Be inventive and make up your own.  Whatever you do, just do something.

Matt Helphrey

There are plenty of ways, methods, and even tools to create traffic to your blog.  Some people write daily yet don’t see any progress in traffic.  Some people pay for advertising yet don’t see any increase in clicks or sign ups.  Some people even have all the knowledge and tools to succeed but are just too lazy to make them work.

The point is there are really only three things you need to increase traffic to your blog on a consistent basis.  That is great content,  great promotion, and posting to your blog on a regular basis.

Great Content

Great content is by far the most important of the three aspects.  Your blog could be littered with articles but if your articles are crap, you aren’t going to gain much in terms of follow up traffic or repeat visitors.  The content on your blog is what captures the readers attention.  They are either going to think, “Wow, this blog has a lot of great information, free tools, and useful links. I’d better bookmark this.”  Or they may think, “I can’t even read this stuff.  It doesn’t make any sense.”

If you think your blog is providing the latter, it may be a wise business move to outsource your writing and find someone who will add the great content for a small fee.

When you provide killer content, and by killer I mean better than good, you are apt to gain readership because if a reader likes what he or she sees, they are more apt to tell someone else who in turn will tell someone else and on and on.  Word of mouth spreads fast, so work on quality content first and you will see an increase in traffic to your blog.

Great Promotion

Great promotion refers to the plan you have to get more traffic to your blog every day of the year.  That means you are taking action every day to get more traffic to your blog.  It may be paid methods like Google Adwords PPC, or solo ezines.  It may be free methods like article marketing, networking with business partners, posting in forums and so on.

What you do or how much you spend is not important so long as you are driving more traffic to your blog and that traffic is converting to more money back for you in return of those efforts.  If you have budgeted $100 a month in advertising and you are able to document that the $100 spent made you $200 in profit, would it not be smart then to turn that $200 into $400?  Damn right it would!  That’s how a business man/woman thinks, and that’s what you have to do if you want to succeed.

What I suggest is to find a promotion method you are really skilled at and use it to your advantage.  Use that one method and just promte the heck out of your blog using that one method.  Hey, if it works, why not run to the bank with it?!

Post to Your Blog on a Regular Basis

This last aspect differs for so many people and what works for one may not be the case for another.  What I do know is that the search engines do reward blogs that are updated and added to on a consistent basis.  Whether that means seven times a week or twice a week is up in the air.

What I suggest again is to find a nice medium and one that doesn’t have you overworked and a stressful writer.  Don’t just write to your blog because you feel you have to.  That shows and what it shows is that it wont be that great of content.  Post when you are ready to write and your readers will enjoy the content much more.

Write as often as you can though and as much as your audience wants you to.  Try an experiement and see how many readers you get adding two articles a week, then add seven and compare the results.  If there is not much difference you may be overworking at seven a week and could settle for three or four.  Work ahead and have 20 – 50 articles already written so all you have to do is copy and paste.

Conclusion

All three of these tips will really help you to increase traffic to your blog.  Stay focused on your goals and take daily action.  Action will lead to the inevitable…money in your pocket!

Be sure to sign up for my free newsletter for more insight on how you can make money online.

Cheers for now,

Matt Helphrey