I will not claim to be the definitive source on this, but in the almost a year that I've been blogging, I've picked up some pointers--they aren't tricks, they are techniques, almost etiquette--on how to start building more and more and better and better traffic on your blog.  One part of building traffic is linking to others--even your competitors--so in the spirit of this at the end of this post are some folks who have great things to say about building traffic, or brands, or just plain old good advice.
 
If you've started a blog, and you can track the traffic statistics for it, (Blogware does this well), you might be wondering where everybody is.  ProBloggers and Blog Consultants all say that "blogs are search engine magnets" and they are, but.  There is always a but.  But first you have to make sure that your blog is "pinging" the blog indices and engines when you have a new post.  If you're using Blogger, Typepad, or Blogware this means making sure the check-box or radio button "This is a public blog" (or the like) is checked.  This is done, often, when you set up a blog, but if you want to be sure, it's in the settings of your blog's administration panel.
 
Okay, great, you're pinging.  What's next.  Now submit your webfeed (RSS or Atom) to the search engines proactively.  I do this with Thomas Korte' FeedSubmitter.  It's easy, web-based, and free.  Wait, what's a webfeed?  Okay on most blogs it is put there automatically.  It is usually textually represented as "Syndicate this site" (or the like) or with a little orange button.  Blogger is a little odd.  Your feed might be automatically be created but they still don't make it drop-dead easy to add that link to your site.
 
Now we have the basics down, let's move onto the fun stuff--the writing.  To generate traffic to your blog you have to write.  A lot.  Try for at least three to four times a week as a start.  I am currently doing over two posts a day (I have a little bet going on right now).  Why does writing and posting more bring more traffic?  Because by writing more, the search engines visit more and the better the chance that something you wrote will get picked up in someone's search for information.  Really it almost becomes a statistics thing at some level.
 
There is one extremely important part about writing.  You need to link to other people.  Blogging is fundamentally about connections, networks, relationships (the Wirearchy concept).  When you see an interesting article on someone's blog, blog it.  Talk about the post.  Agree?  Disagree?  Have more personal insight?  Just write it out.  And have fun with it.  So now you might be wondering, but where will I find these blogs?  Start with a Google search on your topic(s) of interest.  The stuff you want to blog about.  Read those people who come up.  Read the comments.  Follow the trackback links (who has already linked to the article).  You're quickly going to find yourself in need of a news aggregator. On Windows I recommend Lektora or Bloglines.  Macs, Bloglines or NetNewsWire.  Aggregators let you keep up with the blogs that you find interesting.  I, personally, track 379 feeds.  Not all are blogs, some are news sources, some are feeds from Flickr, others are just silly and fun.  The end result, though, is that I have plenty of fodder for my posts/articles (my paid and unpaid).
 
What linking does is create those trackbacks from the original author's site to yours.  Many bloggers visit all the sites that trackback to them (I do).  I also often send a personal e-mail or leave a comment thanking them for the link.  This is a good habit to be in.  It builds connections and you never know what cool friends you'll make.
 
Let's recap quickly.  You're:
  • Pinging the index sites
  • You've submitted your feed to search engines
  • Your feed (therefore) should be visible on your blog
  • You're writing
  • You're linking
  • You're reading

Now, I alluded to this above.  Connect with the people who's writing you enjoy.  Leave a (nice or constructive) comment on their site.  Don't do it anonymously, leave your name and URL.  Thank people for linking to you and leaving comments.  In essence, build relationships with the potential traffic influencers.  This is not sucking up.  This is letting people who are established in your niche know you're out there.  You, very likely, have important things to say.  Someone will get something out of what you're writing, if nothing else a link to something interesting that they didn't know about before.

So how long will it take?  This is hard to say.  If you write a killer post that gets linked to by someone like Scoble, well, your traffic will explode overnight.  Otherwise, it will be a slow and steady increase over time.  My other professional blog doesn't get huge amounts of traffic.  I think it's respectable and growing.

Now, for a bit of product pitch (I purposely saved it for last).  We developed Qumana to make the process of writing a blog post so easy that you can doing almost unconsciously.  Having a tool that lets you post to your blog easily, check the spelling, save it for later, add multimedia like images or MP3s for podcasts, easily link to others, makes it all come together.  If you're interested.  Well, I invite you to join a little beta program we have going for a new and very, very easy version of Qumana.  Please e-mail me if you're interested.  It's free and works will all the major--and many minor--blogging platforms.  End product spiel.

I'll sum up my advice:

  • Ping the index sites
  • Submit your feed to search engines
  • Your feed (therefore) should be visible on your blog
  • Write 3-4 posts a week
  • Link to other's posts
  • Read lots of other blogs--use a good news aggregator to do this
  • Leave comments on blog posts you like.  And don't be anonymous
  • Thank people for their comments and links to you.
  • Be patient
  • Use a tool that helps you blog quickly and easily.

I hope this article has helped you and you have thoughts or comments, please leave them here.  If you leave a link to your website or e-mail I will, I promise, contact you.  Finally below is a list (longer now than when I started writing this!) of must-read blogs and articles.  See?  Linking.  Reading.  Got it?  Great.

 
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