How YOU got from 10 hits a day to a higher number

[Runninground]

I am looking to write an article on steps to take to increase blog traffic from 10 hits a day to over 100.

The thing is, my blog isn't reaching 100 yet, so I can't write it.

Thats where you guys come in.

Could you tell me things you did to your blog that made a noticeable change in your traffic. I will write a post about these techniques, and will link to your website in return.

Thanks

[Melody]

Originally Posted by Runninground

I am looking to write an article on steps to take to increase blog traffic from 10 hits a day to over 100.

The thing is, my blog isn't reaching 100 yet, so I can't write it.

Thats where you guys come in.

Could you tell me things you did to your blog that made a noticeable change in your traffic. I will write a post about these techniques, and will link to your website in return.

Thanks

Hi Runninground!

First off, and this is important, "Hits" is not a useful metric.

If you don't have analytics looking at 1) Length of time on site 2) Bounce rate 3) Absolute unique visitors 4) "visits" (which is basically a hit) 5) Traffic sources and 6) page views --then you don't know what is happening with your blog!!! You need all 6 of those things to be able to know what is going on with your blog!! (Plus more)

Install google analytics. If you can't install google analytics, then try the free service sitemeter.com, which is a solid substitute for google analytics.

Here is what worked for me ... Not saying it will work for you.

1. Use twitter highly effectively and constantly. I love twitter. I've been tweeting long before I had a blog. Twitter is a place where you can engage others in conversation. Make friends. Follow people back. Connect with others who like what you like. When I started using twitter, I didn't know I'd ever have a blog. But what happens is this: If you have a very engaged twitter following, then these are the people most likely to leave a comment on your blog. Comments are super valuable. Do you know that a comment is one of the only visible signs of blog traffic that you have? And experts that say that every one comment equates to 100 people visiting that blog.

I used twitter to find others who love coffee. And still to this day, I love the coffee conversations there.

2. Encourage comments. This cannot be understated. Have a widget that makes most recent comments obvious and prominent on the site. Again, comments are the most visible sign of traffic, and they will cause people to come back to see the conversations that grow. I have to admit, that I've given away a ton of $5 Starbucks cards to reward commentors. I know that not everyone can do that, but anything you can think of to encourage comments is good. And you'll find yourself falling in love with your comment community! I've made some real friends in comment regulars on my site.

3. Add a facebook "like" widget. I wish I had done this in the beginning of my blog. And I wish I had a widget that made it easy to like each post. Lots of people won't take the time to add their email to subscribe to your blog, but many people will take the time to click "like" for your blog - You've just made it one step easier for people to stay connected to your blog. With your facebook fan page, you develop facebook subscribers. And why not make it easy for facebookers to follow you?

4. Have social media sharing widgets. I actually have a separate and big twitter widget that says "tweet this" at the end of every blog post. Make it easy for your followers to share content.

5. Time. Be very very very patient. I started at about 50 uniques a day. Went to 75. Then about 100. Then 200. And it's slowly grown. But if you are new, you cannot expect to be where a blog of two to three years is at.

6. Write extremely well. Most blogs are hideously written. Grammar mistakes. Typos. Get every comma right. Don't confuse a possessive plural from an apostrophe for a shortened word. Don't confuse to and too. Learn what words are hyphenated. Learn your compound words. Starbucks offers a lineup of whole bean coffee - not a "line up." "Cannot" is one word, not two! Place punctuation inside quotations! You want to be taken seriously, you have to write like you have a professional editor watching you. Have a friend with a solid English education re-read your blog posts for typos and grammar problems. I actually do count on a reader to proof my blog posts. Yes, I pay a friend to proofread each and every single blog post that I write. I count on her. Her English is flawless. You want to be taken seriously: You need to look the part in your articles.

7. Have wickedly good content. If it all possible, try writing things that maybe you have access to that others cannot write about. Write about something you know well, and where you can add some valuable insight or add something totally new. Content DOES drive your traffic.

8. Stop watching just a single number like "visits." I've had days where my total visits shot up over a 1000 people, but it's not so rewarding when you realize that the average time on your site drops, and the bounce rate shoots up. You want QUALITY visitors. 1000 people who spend ten seconds on your site isn't something to jump up and down about.

9. If you can, write a guest blog post. I am terrible about doing this. Truly terrible. I work full-time, and I can barely keep up on my own blog, much less write a guest blog post, but I do think it's a great way to promote yourself. I wrote a guest post here about Velton's Coffee. It's something where I don't really practice what I preach, but I think that guest posts help possibly bring new readers, help establish relationships with other bloggers, and possibly create a nice backlink.

10. Promote yourself in real life. I have little business cards with my blog's url on them. I hand them out now and then if people I am talking to express an interest in Starbucks. Thankfully, lots of people like Starbucks. Here in Seattle, it's not a hard conversation to have - this is where Starbucks was born.

11. Be realistic. I know this sounds nuts but certain kinds of content will NOT be a massive hit compared to other kinds of content. Allow me to explain what I mean: I write about Starbucks. Luckily, lots of people young and old, male and female, and in many countries like Starbucks. If I created a blog about "gum disease in women over 40," then it just wouldn't have the same universal appeal.

10. Submit your blog content to Stumbleupon now and then. I am not hugely convinced that this is of a great value because I tend to think stumblers tend to have a higher bounce rate. I've never seen more than a trickle of my traffic coming from Stumbleupon. Still, I think this can be useful to gain a few readers.

11. Use google+ to promote your blog. Now, I have to say that google+ didn't exist when I started, and I am still getting the hang of using it, but I see this to be another useful tool like twitter.

12. Write consistently. Update your blog a minimum of twice a week. Do NOT update your blog 7 days a week. You'll wear out your subscribers. About two to four times a week seems like a good blogging pace.

That's all I can think of. This is what has worked for me. As you can see, I have relied heavily on social media - facebook, twitter, google+, and Stumbleupon. I do not endorse the strategies of "directory submission" and "commenting 10 times a day." I think that if you comment right and left on others' blogs, you can (if not done superbly well) end up looking like a spammer. I totally think directory submission is useless. Google knows what a link farm is. Maybe that worked years ago, but I don't recommend that strategy.

The only exception to directory submission that I recommend is "Alltop." However, it's competitive to get Alltop-listed, but if you can, that's great. While it won't drive traffic, it's a superb backlink. There's even a Starbucks Alltop page! LOL

So I hope I answered your question. You asked how >I< got to where I am, and there you have it. And as I said in the beginning, the disclaimer is that while this worked for me, I don't know if it is right for everyone.

[DuncanM]

You gain traffic for a blog the same way you would for any other site, plus you have a few other options (like commenting on other people's blogs).

I am actually in the process of writing several posts on my own blog about building up traffic.

I think you should be able to drive at least ten visitors a day to your site just by posting in various forums (i.e. - having your site URL in a signature or profile).

[Betsyanne]

Melody: thanks for the Alltop idea and your advice about Stumbleupon.

To answer the question about getting more traffic, my traffic went up very slowly over a period of years. I find that commenting on like blogs helps a little. I don't do it every day. But I no longer forget to update my blogs regularly.

I am on Twitter too, and I do believe it helps my traffic some too. I try to comment 3 times at least once every two weeks.

I put signup areas on my blog from Feedburner. I think having that readership helps too.

[astenterprise]

This is great information. As you said it takes time to get your blog to get that extra visitor that really counts. Thanks

[Digitalpkr]

Wow! That was very informative, Melody. And I have to agree, facebook, g+ and twitter are great tools to promote your blog.

[AlysonofBathe]

Great stuff guys, thanks for the advice

Cheers!

[sophiarosehips]

Originally Posted by Melody

If you don't have analytics looking at 1) Length of time on site 2) Bounce rate 3) Absolute unique visitors 4) "visits" (which is basically a hit) 5) Traffic sources and 6) page views --then you don't know what is happening with your blog!!! You need all 6 of those things to be able to know what is going on with your blog!! (Plus more)

Install google analytics. If you can't install google analytics, then try the free service sitemeter.com, which is a solid substitute for google analytics.

Hi Melody,
Since reading your post earlier today I've been trying to install google analytics. I'm banging my head against a wall. I've got the account, I've given it my blog's website, and I've tried to add the tracking code to my blogger template in a widget and also directly in the html. However, Google Analytics lists my tracking status as:
Tracking Not InstalledLast checked: Apr 1, 2012 1:41:24 PM PDT
The Google Analytics tracking code has not been detected on your website's home page. For Analytics to function, you or your web administrator must add the code to each page of your website.

What am I doing wrong?

[karolaina]

Hey thanks for the tips, but as my experience says. The more you write, the more traffic you get.

[AgentHomes]

Lots of good tips in this thread. Sorry that I didn't read it sooner!