October 17, 2009

As most of you know by now, the volume of traffic that a site receives has an undeniable effect on the amount of revenue that it generates.  In other words, if you want to make money blogging, you have to encourage a lot of people to go to your site and convert them into loyal readers.  While this can be quite a challenge, you don’t need to be a rocket scientist – or a Black Hat SEO specialist – to figure out how to attract more visitors into your blog.  Here are a few tips that you can use to do just that:

1.  Get out there and network!

If you want your blog to be visited by other people, you’ll have to do a lot of house-calls yourself – to other blogs, that is.  Shoot for blogs that concentrate on the same niche as yours, since the people who are already visiting that site are likely to be interested in what you have to say about their favorite topic, too.  Drop a well-composed comment that’s relevant to the post you’ve chosen, and don’t forget to leave a link back to your site’s URL at the bottom of your comment.

You can also link to other sites as a means of getting more traffic.  More often than not, these blogs will link back to you (unless they’re the larger, more successful blogs), therefore opening up your site to their own visitors and network.

Forum boards are also a good venue to plug your site in subtle ways.  Participate actively in discussions that you have some good knowledge of, and make sure that your contributions are informative and helpful.  Don’t forget to leave a link to your site in one of your messages or in your signature!

2.  Fan out your work to article directories:

Come up with articles on your area of expertise, and submit them to article directories like eZine Articles and Buzzle.  These articles should be different from the ones that you’ve already posted on your site, and should give readers an idea of how much you know regarding your niche.  At the end of your article, you can leave a link to your blog, which readers can click through.  Other people can even use your article and post it on their own blogs, as long as they retain your blog’s URL at the foot of the article.  Instant backlink!

Remember that these article directories often have guidelines for posting articles.  For example, you can’t promote yourself or your site excessively, and each post must at least be 250 words long.  Some topics are definitely taboo, as well.  Need it be said that your work must be all original and not plagiarized?

3.   Write better posts
The most effective way to draw traffic into your blog is by providing great content that gets your readers’ attention and distinguishes you from other competing blogs.  Make each blog entry worth your visitors’ while, and they’re bound to return to your site.

While there’s no real formula on how to attract more traffic and make money online with a blog, what you can do to give your blog an advantage is to fill it with quality posts that will demonstrate your expertise in your chosen niche.  As long as you make each visit worth their time, they’re going to come back and spread the word about your blog, bringing you the traffic your site deserves.

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