Blog Traffic Exchange

A really great endeavor worth pursuing when trying to learn how to increase blog traffic is to use blog comments in order to attract a steady stream of people to your blog. When you leave strong comments in other blogs, it can play a large role in how to increase blog traffic because it adds something of value to the community. People who find and read the comments that you leave elsewhere on the internet will find reasons to come over and view your blog because they will be interested in whatever else you have to say.

The other reason why this will help you in learning how to increase blog traffic is because you will be attracting not just any traffic, but traffic that is targeted to your specific niche or whatever subject your blog is based on. These people who are reading your comments and following them to your blogs are reading because they are specifically interested in the topics covered within the blog. What this means is that the readers of the blogs you are commenting in are logical choices for visitors to come to your blog. There are a number of different ways that you can increase the likelihood that these people will be interested in viewing your blog after reading your comments. Here are three steps that have been regarded as being successful in this line of thinking:

- * Respect the community that surrounds the blog. Every single blog on the internet has its own community. This community has its own unique rules as well as expectations of behavior within the blog. Most of these blogs do not have written rules, but that does not mean that they are without some kind of guidelines. It is important that you know what these rules are, and that you follow them.

- * Leave strong comments, but keep in mind that strong comments are really in the eye of the beholder. Expand on points that have already been brought up in the post, giving examples of how they are working. People tend to be incredibly fond of case studies, as they are capable of making points easier to understand. Try not to use one of your websites however, because you want to look like you are contributing rather than simply advertising.

- * Create a link back to your blog, to make sure that people are capable of following your comments back to your blog. Make sure that your link is in the website field of your comment so that your comment will be approved. As soon as your comment is approved as being strong and useful rather than spammy or advertising, your backlink will be live and your website will see an increase in traffic.

These three steps are vital in helping you learn how to increase blog traffic for your blog or website, so get started commenting today.

Photo Credits: kevindooley

Originally posted 2009-07-22 05:02:08. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Every blogger is looking to achieve the exact same thing: They are hoping to be read. There are millions of bloggers that give the idea a shot but then eventually give up because they feel like nobody is reading them. They feel like if they are unable to get blog traffic, then why should they even try?

If you feel like you are currently in this position, try not to give up. It is easy to get blog traffic and to gain loyal readers if you are willing to keep blogging. Here are five methods that you can use to get blog traffic where previously you were struggling to gain readership.

1 – Maximize your use of RSS.

Your blog will come with built in RSS capabilities, and you should make sure to be taking advantage of these. The easier it is for people to subscribe to your blog, the easier it will be for you to get blog traffic when you need it.

2 – Build links from other websites.

Search engine spiders use links to navigate the web and index the websites that they find. What this means is, the easier that you make it for the search engines to find you, the easier it will be for you to get blog traffic through search engine results pages. It really is this simple.

3 – Write and syndicate content articles.

Websites and blogs alike are both hungry for content, so if you are willing to deliver this content, then you really cannot go wrong. You will earn new traffic every day, and this flood of traffic will begin as soon as your first article has been posted.

4 – Comment in other related blogs.

Blogs are designed to act as conversations. If you have insights to add to a conversation, or a comment that you want to make, by all means, make it. Leave your e-mail address and a link back to your website, and you will actually be able to get blog traffic simply by participating in online conversations elsewhere on the internet. This is a quick, easy and interactive way to get blog traffic when you are looking for more visitors to your website.

5 – Keep blogging!

The more content that you have, the more visitors you will have, because blog readers love content and are constantly looking for fresh and new information and content. If you provide it, they will find it, and if you continue to provide it, they will continue to return time and time again to read it. It really is this simple. Content is one of the most vital aspects of the blogging process. If you are not posting content, your visitors will never find you or have a reason to stick around once they do.

Bonus Tip

WordPress blogs can make use of Related Websites plugin. Sign up for Blog Traffic Exchange to leverage your content and readership for even more blog traffic. Get quality links to and from your site with other Blog Traffic Exchange members. It’s simple, easy, and indispensable, but don’t just take my word for it. Try it! Learn more about the Related Websites plugin, what it is, how it works, who is eligible and how to get it.

Photo Credits: Sue Richards

Originally posted 2009-07-15 05:02:41. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

You don’t have to be an analyst to realize that blogging business sites are on the rise and that it has become the latest career choice for a number of people. In just a few years, the amount of blogs that are currently on the Internet has increased dramatically. While this may seem like it is getting harder and harder to get the attention that your blog needs to be successful, it is actually very good news for those who are looking to blogging for their next career. There would not be such a dramatic rise in these sites if it was not effective and profitable.

It also means that if you are going to start a blogging business site, you have to do the work necessary to gain your share of traffic to your site. If you want your blog to earn money, you must do some crucial research before you begin. Prepare yourself for the naysayers in your life who will try to tell you that you cannot be successful with your blogging career. Just remain focused on your research and the work that is necessary to bring your blog to the top.

If you have not already picked out your niche for your blogging business, you should do some research to find a good subject. Focus your blog on the topic that you choose and resist the temptation to vary your topics or post unrelated information. Your loyal followers will be visiting your blog to read the latest on your particular niche.

In the beginning, it is a good idea to focus your topics to a few defined groups of topics. Stay on track with your blog and give your visitors value and fresh content every time they visit your site. This is what will develop a loyal fan base.

Blog every day for the best results from your blogging business. If you are able to blog a few times a day, do that as well. When you have a frequently updated blog, the search engines will respond. This will help your blog to get to the top of the search results.

As you can imagine, coming up with new posts for your blogging business will become increasingly difficult if you are not passionate about the topic. Those who choose a niche based on the amount of money they think will be generated will find it difficult to stay on track and not become bored with blogging. Choose a topic that you are passionate about so that you can stay interested in the work that is required for your blog.

Remain consistent in your blogging business. To get to the top of the search engine results pages, you must keep your blog fresh and relevant. Most people don’t go past the first couple of pages of a search result and some don’t even go past the first page. Your blog will only get these kinds of results if you regularly post useful and relevant information. If you love your topic, this will not be difficult.

Photo Credits: Annie Mole

Originally posted 2009-07-10 05:44:20. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

There are still some old school business people out there that consider the whole idea of blogging for their business rather ridiculous. Unfortunately for these people, they will never understand that the world is changing and blogging is a whole lot more than just a bunch of people in their pajamas ranting about the world. There are some very professional companies out there that have tapped into this market and are reaping the rewards for recognizing the trends and new approaches to attracting new customers.

This has caused some of the older companies to sit up and take notice. An older company can no longer depend on their tried and true advertising methods and must take up blogging as a part of the overall marketing strategy for their company. This puts some of the largest companies around on the same playing field as a new upstart company.

One of the great advantages to using blogging online is the very close and personal relationship you can build with your customers. The online community is not shy about letting others know how they feel about a product or service and your blog gives them a chance to talk right to you. Your blog can share your products or services with your customers, but you also have a unique opportunity to let them be heard as well. This type of personal attention and service will be appreciated by your loyal customers.

You might be wondering how it could possibly help you to have people complaining on your blogs. Well, there are a couple of thoughts here. First, you give your customers a place to vent their complaints in a location that you control. It’s much better to allow them the chance to complain right to you than putting up awful reviews or complaints about your business all over the web. And if you make these complaints public and address them in a positive way, you will gain the respect of everyone who reads that information.

Many companies are also amazed at the amount of traffic that is generated by blogging. If you have an online website, you simply must be blogging to increase your traffic. It is almost a force unto itself and you might be able to cut your other advertising budget simply because of the increased traffic that you gain from your blog. What’s more, it’s all free and anything that brings you business without costing you a cent must be used, doesn’t it

The simple fact of life today is if you have any kind of business at all, you must be blogging. Those who do not recognize the advertising power of blogs will simply be left in the dust of those that do and no one wants to be that business. Increased traffic, a connection to your customers and a chance to bring some fresh content to your customers regularly are all benefits to blogging for your business. It’s simple to start a blog for your business whether you are an online business or off, there is nothing but gain in this simple and highly effective form of advertising.

Photo Credits: shashiBellamkonda

Originally posted 2009-06-15 05:45:29. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Perhaps you have not noticed that there has been a tremendous explosion in the way of online media, especially throughout the past couple of years. Now that hosting and bandwidth are becoming significantly less expensive, and because publishing tools are becoming better, simpler and cheaper, it has never been easier for people to get online and express themselves via a wide variety of different means, including but not limited to blogging in text, posting images, deciding to post video blog content and audio blogging or podcasting just to name a few. Although it is impossible for anyone to truly know for sure, it has been estimated that there are more than 100,000,000 weblog entities online. Can you imagine this? There are more than 100 million weblog sites online. Are you writing in a weblog yet?

Here are three ways that you can use video to spice up your weblog the right way.

>> Search popular video sites to look for videos that you can post or link to in your blog. If you search for “online video” in Google or MSN, you will find half a billion different results online. You can narrow this search down considerably by typing in different keywords, or you can simply go to some of the big video websites such as YouTube, Mevio and MetaCafe. There are also a wide variety of different specialized video websites specializing in allowing you to post video blog content, such as news videos, music videos or comedy videos for example. Find videos that apply to the concept of your weblog, and post them, link about them or talk about them in your weblog.

>> Subscribe to popular podcasts and video weblog websites and they will give you inspiration so you can post video blog content too. Subscribe to these blogs posting media that you appreciate, and reference them, link to them and talk about them as often as you can. If you refer to them, you may just be able to convince them to reference you back, improving your blog over time.

>> Create your own weblog videos to share with other bloggers and readers when you post video blog content online. It does not require a professional quality studio or a complicating piece of editing software in order for you to make a good video to post in your weblog. Typical webcam setups and digital cameras with video capabilities are usually enough to do the trick, meaning that if you already have a camera, you may be good to go. Just make a video, post it in your weblog and see what people have to say. Many people prefer blogs where they can see who they are conversing with, so posting a video weblog occasionally can do a world of good for you and the success of your blog presence online.

Including media on your blog such as video weblog postings can be great for creating exposure for you online, so if you have camera that has video capabilities, start making a video today and post it in your weblog!

Photo Credits: sustainablerotterdam

Originally posted 2009-07-01 05:13:53. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

One of the most popular hobbies and past times on the internet today has to do with setting up and maintaining your own blog. Blogging is all about creating an online journal or diary that people can read and comment on, so there is a huge community aspect to it. Blogging is all about writing down your thoughts, opinions and ideas, telling stories, posting pictures, creating videos and so much more. One of the biggest questions that comes up when it comes to blogging is which platform for blogging is better for a casual blog writer, WordPress or the Google Blogger platform?

Some people really only set up blogs to create some basic entertainment. These are people who simply enjoy writing. They sit down and begin to type, and they don’t worry about money or visitor counts or anything else like that. Blogging is a great way to meet people, communicate with people all over the world, get your thoughts out, and let out your frustrations or elations at what is happening in your life.

There are also people, however, that are concerned with earning an income, gaining traffic numbers and other serious matters, and for these people, understanding which platform is the best to use is much more important, especially when the two choices at hand are Google Blogger and WordPress. One platform, after all, may be capable of garnering more traffic than the other, and more traffic translates into increased profits for these serious Google Bloggers.

So what is the difference between WordPress and Google Blogger, and why and to whom does it matter?

Google Blogger - Google Blogger is a free, simple and quick platform to work with, but Google Blogger does not give much control, so serious Google Bloggers cannot have all of their needs met with this type of blogging platform. Also, because Google Blogger.com has control of your blog, it can be shut down or taken from you for pretty much any reason at all, meaning that you are leaving your work in someone else’s hands, and that’s not really the best option for anyone that is serious about their content.

WordPress - WordPress is ideal if you are looking for a situation that is more permanent in terms of blogging. WordPress does have a free service, but if you want a permanent or long term blog, you should host your WordPress blog on your very own server – This is something that Google Blogger has not made possible! Hosting for your own site can be found for $10 or less on many websites, and with some simple installation, you can have your own WordPress blog, completely under your own control without anyone being able to tell you what you can or cannot say online.

If you want easy, choose Google Blogger. If you want slightly more complicated but with a lot more control as a result, then WordPress is the only way for you to go.

Photo Credits: TylerIngram

Originally posted 2009-07-03 05:25:33. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Although it may be entirely possible for a single person to handle all of the various requirements for when it comes to creating a Blog Carnival, it may be beneficial to create a joint effort with a handful of like minded individuals that can create and run the Blog Carnival together. There are four primary roles that have to be filled in creating a Blog Carnival, and each has its own unique set of responsibilities and skills.

The organizer of the Blog Carnival is the individual that creates the carnival, determines what niche or subject it will focus on, decides upon the submission criteria, and also determines how often the Blog Carnival will appear. The organizer of the Blog Carnival will also be responsible for coordinating who will be responsible for hosting each of the carnival’s editions. As times goes on, the organizer may be responsible for finding new volunteers for hosting the Blog Carnival.

The host is an individual that has volunteered the host the Blog Carnival in their blog. This individual works with the organizer of the Blog Carnival in order to arrive at a date that seems to suit everyone involved. In the period of time that leads up to the scheduled date of the Blog Carnival, the host is responsible for collecting submissions from participating bloggers, organizing them into a single article that is full of links, comments and resources. This article will be published in the blog on the agreed-upon date.

Bloggers who have written blogs or articles that match the topic of the Blog Carnival will submit their links to be included in the carnival’s next edition. Bloggers who often contribute to Blog Carnivals are regarded as experts or outspoken members within their fields. Bloggers submit their links to the host of the Blog Carnival, and these links are included in the next edition of the Blog Carnival for everyone to see.

Finally, the audience is made up of both readers who are interested in the topic at hand, and other bloggers as well. This audience comes to the Blog Carnival in order to find out if the subject being talked about is something that they are interested in. They often pay attention to several editions of the same Blog Carnival in order to see what is being talked about, as well as in order to determine what future topics and subjects may be.

The concept of the Blog Carnival is collaborative in nature. While it may be possible for a single person to run the show if they really had the gumption, the best way to run a Blog Carnival is by collaboration with experts in related niches and outspoken members of the blogging community. Incorporating more bright minds into the creation of a Blog Carnival is an excellent way to make sure that the event will go off without a hitch.

Photo Credits: digicla

Originally posted 2009-06-24 05:37:11. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

You can improve your blog functionality in order to improve your traffic, readership and the number of people that comment on your blog posts. When you improve your blog functionality, it can have a profound impact on the capabilities of your blog. Here are some tips to improve your blog functionality by making small tweaks and improvements to how your blog works.

Improve Your Blog Tip #1 – Install a plugin to track top commenters.

One way that you can reward the readers that are participating in your blog as well as to encourage other people to get involved is to install a plugin for top commenters, which works for WordPress blogs. This is going to put a little box on your sidebar with the names and the links to the commentors that have had the most participation in your blogs to give them a little big of recognition.

Improve Your Blog Tip #2 – Customize the sidebar on your blog pages.

When did you last make any modifications to your sidebar? The chances are, the people who regularly read your blog will have grown accustomed to what is already there, and they probably completely tune your sidebar content out as a result. From time to time, it may benefit you significantly to change things up just a bit, adding new features or new content to your sidebar.

Improve Your Blog Tip #3 – Separate your trackbacks from your comments.

Most blogs are displaying their pingbacks and their trackbacks along with comments from the blog’s readers. They may be helpful in showing your readers that other people find your content to be valuable but they can also actually get in the way, interfering with conversations that are going on throughout your comments section. There is a simple way to separate these things in WordPress, so if you use WordPress, make sure to separate your trackbacks and your pingbacks from your regular blog comments.

Improve Your Blog Tip #4 – Adjust and improve the about page of your blog.

Some of the people that read your blog are going to want to visit your About page so that they can find out more information about you. When was the last time that you took the time and made the effort to update this page? Make sure that you are taking a look at how effective it really is when it comes to communicating with your readers.

Improve Your Blog Tip #5 – Add a sitemap to your blog website.

Users can really benefit when you have a sitemap available to them. WordPress users can make use of a sitemap generator plugin that allows a sitemap page to be designed that lists out all blog posts and pages for easy access.

Photo Credits: geishaboy500

Originally posted 2009-10-26 03:16:09. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

The structure behind WordPress is generous enough to allow for built in SEO advantages which come with building pages that static web page building and other blogging software cannot afford you. By using WordPress, you already have an advantage over bloggers, but only as long as you are willing to take advantage of the right permalink structure. By default, your dashboard in WordPress gives you three different choices that you can select from. The default permalink structure and one of the other options are both pretty terrible options. Basically, the three permalink structures that are available to you would create blog post URLs that look something like this:

- http://www.yourwordpressblog.com/?p=123

- http://www.yourwordpressblog.com/2008/01/01/the-name-of-your-post

- http://www.yourwordpressblog.com/the-name-of-your-post-123

Which of these linking strategies do you think is going to be the most ideal for SEO purposes?

The truth is, while the bottom two seem to both be advantageous, including the date in your blog posts is not the best strategy to follow, making the third option the best option for you to follow.

For starters, putting the date stamp in your URL like the second example dilutes the value of your keyword, increasing the number of characters in your URL. While there is no real rule here, and while some SEO experts do seem to appreciate having the date stamps, it does seem to be much more advantageous to leave the post date out of the URL of your permalink structure. When you are trying to rank for keywords that you use in the titles of your blogs, and when you want to be found for the titles of your blogs, you need to show Google and other search engines how important your pages are based on their URLs. If you have a date stamp in your URL, Google will perceive the date stamp to be more important than your keyword, which can have a negative effect on your SEO effort.

It is surprising how important your URL names can be when it comes to your SEO effort and the efficiency of your blog. Not only are there numerous factors that make it worthwhile for you to leave the date stamp out of your URL, but there is also no good reason not to.

There is an added bonus to leaving the date stamp out of your permalink structure, in that it allows you to revitalize old posts, bringing them back to the forefront of your blog without having to mess with the date stamps. If someone links to your blog at http://www.yourwordpressblog.com/2008/01/01/the-name-of-your-post and you decide to change the date of your blog entry to bring it back to the front of your blog, all of those links will be destroyed, and your SEO effort will be largely undone in one fell swoop.

Sound good to you? Learn how to remove dates from permalink.

Photo Credits: 1

Originally posted 2009-02-05 14:15:18. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

A blogroll is a list of blogs that is usually placed in the sidebar or along the bottom of a blog, reading as a list of blogger-recommended blogs and other websites. A better way for bloggers to share this information with their readers is through the release of a Blog Carnival. A Blog Carnival is a blog article containing links to a number of articles around the web that cover a specific topic. Most Blog Carnivals are put together and hosted by a rotating list of the most frequent contributors to the Blog Carnival, and their primary purpose is to generate new posts by contributors while highlighting new bloggers who are posting subject matter in the chosen area.

If you are interested in a specific topic and there is not already a Blog Carnival being run on the subject, then it may be a really great opportunity for you to start your own Blog Carnival on the topic at hand if you already have a blog that can host the carnival. However, it is important that you are only starting a Blog Carnival on a topic if it has not already been done before. If you are competing against somebody else’s carnival, then you may not get the number of post submissions that you need in order to create a high quality carnival.

Give yourself plenty of time to launch your Blog Carnival. You want to give yourself enough time that you can guarantee a good launch, because rushing yourself is never going to create positive results. Additionally, you should decide ahead of time how often your Blog Carnival is going to run, and also what day it will be published with each new edition. You want to have details like this planned out completely and fully so that there are no surprises along the way. Surprises may be fun, but they may also keep you from publishing your Blog Carnival on time, which is sloppy.

For at least the first edition, you should not count on receiving a flood of submissions but instead should plan on having to search out posts on your own. If you are willing to go out and find posts for your carnival, the results will tip toward your favor more easily.

Once you have a Blog Carnival planned out, submit yourself to http://www.BlogCarnival.com. This is a free aggregator and manager of Blog Carnivals that is already the home to hundreds of carnivals. If you want to get the buzz going to increase your submission count, this is a good way for you to get the ball rolling.

Finally, do not be too concerned if it seems as if the flood gates are not opening too quickly. It will take time for your Blog Carnival to build up some steam. A little bit of resistance is completely normal, but if you are patient and hardworking, the results will absolutely pay off in the end.

Photo Credits: twoblueday

Originally posted 2009-06-22 05:31:28. Republished by Blog Post Promoter