How to Increase your Blog Traffic

Helllloooo Internet!
So sometime last week, way before my job exploded, (meaning when I thought I was actually going to have time or be sane enough to write something useful), I told Jennefer that I was interested in being a part of her Blog Carnival for today.

The topic is "How to Generate More Traffic To Your Blog". Since I know close to nothing on this topic, I figured I would do some research online over the weekend and write a wonderfully creative post for you all to enjoy. Um. Yea. Right. OK.

Needless to say, that never happened.
So without further ado, here is the lovely Jennefer's take on the topic.
Please visit her blog because she is wonderful and funny and a mom cute wonderful children!

"How to Generate More Traffic to Your Blog" By Jennefer

So you want more people to visit your blog because you know it's awesome and you love to meet new people?

You have come to the right place- so get your note taking tools out and learn something new today.

I am going to tell you what I know about getting your blog noticed-

then I am going to link to many other bloggers who are part of this techno traffic building party.

Are you READY?

Let's get started.

14 Ways TO GET YOUR BLOG NOTICED!

1. Pay attention to how you title your blog posts. I know that it is many times the right thing to just be creative, but if you want your blog posts to show up in search engine searches your title should be clear and descriptive of what your post is about. Also, your title should be on topics that you think will be of interest to other people so they will link to your post.

2. Join a blog carnival once a week (see here). This is a good way to jump start your exposure and get people to visit your site that wouldn't otherwise.

3. You should make it easy for people to visit your blog by advocating FEEDS. Check out the following: Feedburner or Feedzilla . Put a subscribe button on your site. Also, set your blog so the feeds only get the first part of your post- so they have to actually visit you to read the rest of it. This should be an option in your blog settings.

4. The best type of posts are those that are genuine, imaginative and provide valuable content. They could be inspiring, thought-provoking, humorous, informative or just real. I know- easier said then done. They can be short or long- but NEVER too long. Pictures, videos and media are always welcome- especially ones that are original.

5. It is helpful if you are the grammar and spelling bee queen or king, but if you aren't that is O.K. as long as it isn't too horrible. Please use spell check every time and try your best.

6. Links! links! links! If you have a post on a particular topic- link to several sites that reflect your topic. For example- if you are blogging about your favorite cars- link to all of their websites. It especially helps if there are links inside the comment section. These links will help get your post to the top of the search engine searches on that topic.

7. Comment on other blogs that are similar to yours. People will find you through your comments. Branch out and comment on new blogs periodically. Make some on-line friends. This is the fun part! Although I know it can take a lot of time (O how I wish there were more hours in the day!)

8. Use TrackBacks. You do this by linking to someone else's blog post inside the main body of your post and then linking that blog in the TrackBack box. Different blog formats do this differently, so do some research on TrackBacks for your particular blog type. When other people send you a TrackBack- visit their blog and say hello.

9. Write often (3-7x per week)! If you don't update your blog enough- people will lose interest. The same goes for blogging too much (several posts a day). If people don't have time to keep up they might lose interest as well.

10. Link to all of your favorite blogs on your site and in return they might link to yours- in this way you are helping each other out

11. Submit your blog to sites such as Blog Explosion, Blog Top Sites, Del.icio.us

12. Claim your blog at Technorati where you will be able to ping your blog

13. Keep track of your blog traffic with a stat counter. My favorite one is here (be careful it can be quite addicting!)

14. Be patient! You are more likely to show up in search engine searches if your blog has a LOT of pages and has been around a long time. After you try all of the suggestions- it can take a few months for everything to start paying off. Don't give up!

To read the rest of her post click here.
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Wow Jenn, I think I linked you like 4 or 5 times.
:)