Blogger?

Rhush said:

Can anyone tell me how in the world you get traffic to your blog? Im on blogger and cant seem to get any! Ive tried connecting with a webring, but the HTML never shows up on my pg and and I cant get much tech help to fix it.

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1. Content -- Have something interesting to say, and say interesting things regularly.
2. In your posts link to other people's posts.
3. Comment, when you have something interesting and pertinent to say, on other people's blogs. Include your blog link in the link field when you comment.
4. Content. Really. My hand to . . . it's the ultimate secret to success.

You could also list your blog at different blog communities. One of the best ones I've seen is Blogexplosion.

My blog is listed in Blogexplosion and I don't really find much value in it, mainly because there are so many blogs in it. Nothing wrong with that but I think that it's hit and miss to find a particular site. According to the statistics, no one is coming to my site, which is not true at all. I do, occassionally get some traffic from Blogexplosion but it's not much.

I completely agree with Medievalist regarding the content, update it regularly and exchange links with other blogs. If you have a niche blog (mine would be an example), exchange links with those type of sites and you should get traffic that way.

Also, writing about current events is good, if people search for that particular topic then your blog might come up. I've found that if people search for royalty my blog does come up.

Good luck!

Also, be patient. My experience is that it takes a while for Google to find your blog and index it. Keep filling it with things people might want to search for. Things start to snowball after a couple months.

Also, the content can definitely be a big difference. One of my blogs is dedicated to the restaurants in a couple of small towns outside Atlanta. Obviously, its appeal is strictly regional. My other blog is a gearhead blog - it covers things like tinkering with fuel injection, trying to enter my commuter car in an SCCA race, better gas mileage, stuff like that. This still isn't completely mainstream - not too many people are crazy enough to solder together an engine control module on the kitchen table - but it does have a global audience and draws about ten times as many readers per day.

Besides, sometimes, even when you have traffic, it might not seem like you have any traffic My blog for instance, apparently gets a lot of traffic (mostly people searching on various topics on Google) but they never leave any comments and they probably never come back as repeat readers as well. Of course, one secret to repeat readers is to have good content *and* to update often. I did have a good readership at one point in time but then I didn't update for months on end and now don't think I have more than a couple of regular readers

You can use a free service like statcounter to invisibly track who is visiting and where from (google search words etc).

Yes, as veinglory says, you can see how many readers you have with a counter--but be forewarned: but it can be addictive (and depressing...) ;-)

I've been using www.webstat.com for eons now--great service for free.

Content is the key. And find your niche. There are too many blogs out there. People want to read something worthwhile (whether for information or entertainment) -- they don't want to know if you brushed your teeth or are bored today.

Once you have content, say, something about movie or something, find a way to post your comments and link on relevant sites. I once posted a link on an entertainment site about a TV show, in three days I had over 300 visitors.

But the key, still, is content -- constant supply of it. If you want consistent traffic and a fan base, you have to keep at it. It's a full-time job.

Sadly, I don't seem to have too much time for my blog anymore. I try to find something interesting for it, but sometimes there's just nothing worth talking about...

This is actually advice fron Leo Laporte about promoting podcasts, but a lot of it is equally appropriate to blogs:

He has a podcast (audio and video) on www.santabarbaralife.com. What directories should he be listed in. These are the important ones:

1. itunes
2. odeo
3. my yahoo
4. podcast alley
5. podnova

But the best advice for publicizing a podcast is the same as for publicizing a web site. Get other quality sites to link to you. Promote your podcast in places where potential listeners congregate: message boards, clubs, chat rooms. Don’t forget “real world” venues: user groups, meetings, mainstream media. And make sure to include an iTunes button on your web site. Getting into the top tier ranks at iTunes is the brass ring and it won’t happen unless people subscribe to your podcast on iTunes.

“WolvenSpectre” Writes :
If you have samples of your content and other things that will keep people coming back. You can include links to interesting related sites and media, schedules and progress reports, access to forums and/or chat rooms, cross promotions with other casters, and any other things you can think up to start to turn your viewers and other content producers into their own little community. If you can start this, keep an archive of your content your rank in regular web search engines, such as Google, will go up. It will also make it easier for people new to podcasting that may have seen it on a freind’s computer, or heard it on their freind’s MP3 player, or maybe recieved one in a circulated E-Mail, to find your homepage.

Promoting, by the way, does not mean link spamming.

It means having something to say, and using your Blog link as part of your identity.

And it means participating in the blogging community--link to others, comment on other people's blogs, and include links in your posts, where appropriate.

In other words, it's about content.

I'm not kidding you--really.

And promoting doesn't include emailing people you don't know begging for links. Seriously.

What's wrong with emailing someone asking to be put on their link list?

I've had people contact me, and provided the link is related to royalty and it's good, I don't have a problem with it. I've found sites which I wouldn't have known about otherwise. Occasionally I've even done the same thing and sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't.

The problem is when what they want me to link to has nothing to do with my site, I don't know them, they're not polite, and it's a one way thing only. They wouldn't dare sully their site with my link or talking about my blog or anything - oh no!

It would be something entirely different if the person demonstrated in some way that they'd actually seen my site and read more than just my domain name or email address.

But just plain "link to my site"? No. That gets deleted immediately.

The easiest way is to have good keywords. A lot of people just search, like I did for low-carb diet blogs. And there are a ton of those...

quidscribis said:

The problem is when what they want me to link to has nothing to do with my site, I don't know them, they're not polite, and it's a one way thing only. They wouldn't dare sully their site with my link or talking about my blog or anything - oh no!

It would be something entirely different if the person demonstrated in some way that they'd actually seen my site and read more than just my domain name or email address.

But just plain "link to my site"? No. That gets deleted immediately.

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If that's your experience then that's unfortunate. I've never experienced someone being rude when requesting a link, nor have I experienced that when I've contacted someone.

For my instance, I don't link to people necessarily to get anything in return, it's nice but it's not the point. There are several sites listed that haven't linked to me, even though I've contacted them to request it. I don't base my links on whether someone mentions my site or links to me, I base it on whether I like the site and find it relevant to my blog's niche.

I recently had someone mention my site in their blog posting. Now the site is relevant to my blog, but I felt the post was borderline derogatory, so forget about it. I do get traffic from them but that doesn't mean I have to reciprocate. If I had found the site by chance, and liked it, I would have listed it, but not because they mentioned me, or included me on a list of links.

Ultimately I don't think there's anything wrong with contacting someone to add a link, and vice versa. The more you can get your URL out there the better. Someone contacting you to add a link when the site isn't relevant, I can see where you're coming from, but unless you can see the traffic coming to your site, how do you know whether they've read more than your URL and email?

My experiences usually have been people contacting me and asking me to add my site to their database And it's usually something like Realty Database etc. which has nothing at all to do with what I write about. Honestly, I don't like to contact people and ask them to put a link to my site on their blog - seems a bit too much of an intrusion. If they find my site, like it and link to it, that's fine with me. That's what I do with other people's sites too. If I like it, I link to them but don't ask them to reciprocate. It's up to them whether they add a link or not. But of course, that's just me

Some good points here - thanks for sharing!

I'm not an expert on the etiquette of linking but my gut feeling is that if after some time building that relationship with me by commenting on my blog if someone were to write "I'm going to put your blog in my blogroll, I hope that's ok with you. If you want to link to mine, I'm fine with that as well." I'd give them the ok and put their link up as well. If someone links to my blog that I haven't "met" yet I go check things out and will comment then probably end up adding their link, so one doesn't even need to ask.

Of course I have what I consider a social and conversational blog - no overarching theme (like news or commentary), no commercial interests, either. I might feel differently if I had different goals.

Fahim said:

My experiences usually have been people contacting me and asking me to add my site to their database And it's usually something like Realty Database etc. which has nothing at all to do with what I write about. Honestly, I don't like to contact people and ask them to put a link to my site on their blog - seems a bit too much of an intrusion. If they find my site, like it and link to it, that's fine with me. That's what I do with other people's sites too. If I like it, I link to them but don't ask them to reciprocate. It's up to them whether they add a link or not. But of course, that's just me

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I don't see a problem with contacting someone to be added and vice versa, to me it's about getting the site out there. I don't regard it as an intrusion - nothing ventured nothing gained.

Like I've said, I've only been contacted by people who have royalty sites and I've only contacted people who have royalty sites. There aren't that many royalty blogs out there, at least I haven't found many, and I have commented on some of the blogs, without being put on their links list. Some don't allow comments for whatever reason, so that would make it difficult to develop a relationship.

One way that I have tried to develop relationships with other sites is I once did a 'recommended royalty sites' post and 'discovering royalty' where I did write about the various sites out there that I enjoyed. Hopefully that does develop some type of relationship. Although despite doing that and emailing them, I'm still not listed - oh well! I still enjoy their sites nonetheless.

I have more websites listed, mainly because they're more plentiful and unless I do contact them, they have no way of knowing whether my site exists.

For etiquette, it would be better if someone began their request with "I'm a fan of your site..blah blah blah...would you add me to your site, I'll do the same in return.." That way there shouldn't be any offence either way.

Dawno, if it hasn't already, maybe a thread should be started on blogging etiquette

Advice on Getting Readers; Spamming for Links

From a guy who's only been blogging for about a month now, I'd say the best thing is what others have already pointed out. Content is number one. Second would be to find a subject you like and stick to it. Third, in my opinion, would be to update at decent intervals. The intervals don't have to be set in stone, but they should be mostly the same.

It amazes me how many people want to learn about writing and/or read my own writing. I have a service called Tracksy, which tells me all I need to know about who is visiting my site and how many hits my site is getting. What gets me is that I now have, after only being a blogger for less than a month, a steady flow of regular visitors as well as new visitors (not a lot but a readership nonetheless). This is very good, but it all begins with having good content, keeping the subject matter regular, and updating my blog every so often.

That's the best advice I can give.


Oh, and to those who pointed out that you ought not to beg for links, I'm glad you explained that. I was curious, when someone recently sent me a message on my blog about that, how that would work. I'll be sure to keep to just blogging and if someone wants to add my blog, then cool.


I hope you're all having a good morning, and I look forward to seeing you all around. Talk to you all later.

I am seeing people coming in from other blogger pages--presumably via the 'next blog' key.

Yeah, I see that too veinglory. They don't often come back or comment, tho. That's MY blog. Yours, well If I had just happened upon it, I'd probably come back again - your content is more interesting.

[blush]

Not so much though... My idea is that it needs more interactive features so they get caught up in discussion and things--but I am not sure how to make that work. I guess they have to be the right sort of 'customer' to--someone interested in the content...

veinglory said:

[blush]

Not so much though... My idea is that it needs more interactive features so they get caught up in discussion and things--but I am not sure how to make that work. I guess they have to be the right sort of 'customer' to--someone interested in the content...

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What you're talking about is building a community of readers, readers who comment. The absolute best suggestions I've ever seen are those by Teresa Nielsen Hayden--and keep in mind that I say that as someone specializing in instructional technology.

Read this.

That is a very useful summary--not just for blogs but forums, egroups etc. I have a forum that is just now getting active enough for flaming and sulking to start to become an issue. I think I need to heed the 'disemvowelling works' point

On the blog I am open to any suggestions for getting return visits. Currently I have 92% thinking once is enough