5 Quick Ways To Improve Your Traffic Today

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Sundays are notoriously slow times in the blogosphere, with many bloggers choosing to give their fingertips (and brains) a day of rest. Even if you’re one of those who like to skip a blogging day now and then, there are still ways you can improve your traffic without sitting down to write an entry.

1. Comment at other blogs. Many times this is the single best way to get other bloggers to notice you. It is also a rich source of traffic if your comments are interesting enough to inspire readers to click through and discover more of what you have to say. My referrer stats at all five of my blogs show a surprising amount of traffic coming from sites where I took the time to leave a few words. Likewise, I make a point of visiting and linking most often to bloggers who leave comments at my other sites. It’s good karma.

2. Emphasize your RSS feeds. Not every reader is savvy enough to use a bookmark that automatically discovers a site’s RSS feed, and no one likes hunting around to subscribe to a site. Sure, you could install the world’s biggest RSS button. Or you could simply move yours above the fold and watch your subscriptions (and your traffic) increase quickly.

3. Offer email subscriptions. Even with 5 years of blogging experience I’d given little thought to readers who don’t use feed readers. Then Karen recommended giving readers the option to subscribe via email. I used Feedburner’s subscription service at my site, Electric Venom. and within the week my readership had nearly doubled. Nice.

4. Spend time on your social networking. Social networking promotes you and, if you’re marketing yourself correctly, it also promotes your blog whether you use Twitter, or StumbleUpon, or my new favorite BloggingZoom (which encourages you to promote your own blog entries). The time you spend interacting with other bloggers can traffic and links even if you haven’t written an entry in the past few days.

5. Work on drafting longer, carefully crafted entries. If you’ve been following my advice to create a linkdump and a hopper of entries in draft mode you’ll never find yourself wondering what should I blog about? Spend your free day(s) turning some of those drafts into more detailed posts. Nothing goes further to improve traffic than longer, more informative features, except, perhaps, releasing yourself from the pressure of posting every day.

Five short simple steps but they’re all highly effective ways to bring you more traffic without having to publish a new entry. What better way to invest your Sunday afternoon unless, of course, you just can’t tear yourself away from watching Dallas beat New York?

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Tagged in: amount of traffic | blog | bloggers | blogging | blogosphere | email subscriptions | feed readers | readership | referrer stats | social networking | stumbleupon | subscription service | traffic increase | twitter

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10 Comments

Comment by jae

2008-01-13 11:59:46

I will have to somehow find it in my heart to forgive the Dallas-New York comment.

jae’s last blog post..You have to see this

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Comment by Kate

2008-01-13 12:07:18

Hahaha. Well, they do say that one way to get traffic is by making controversial entries.

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Comment by jae

2008-01-13 19:08:08

How about that game, eh?

jae’s last blog post..Go, PACK, Go!!

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Comment by Kate

2008-01-13 19:39:38

Oh man, oh man, oh man. I hadn’t realized my husband had TiVo’d the game. Saw your comment and burst into the family room saying, loudly, “The Giants won? The Giants won!?!”

My husband is NOT a happy camper right now.

My only consolation is that YOU are on His Bad List, too.

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Comment by Anne

2008-01-13 20:17:54

Longer articles? Interesting. I was thinking that I need to make mine shorter. (Certainly more concise.)

Anne’s last blog post..Funny, Tragic or Stupid? Doorman Fired for Bad Breath

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Comment by Kate

2008-01-13 20:27:44

I think there’s a happy medium in there somewhere, Anne. I’ve got a theory as to the distinction (surprise, surprise), but it’s longer than a comment merits.

Know what? I think I’ll add that to the list of things to blog about here!

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Comment by Karen

2008-01-13 21:10:24

I hate long posts! A happy medium is what I strive for. Thanks for the credit!

Karen’s last blog post..Dance at the Tao

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Trackback by bloggingzoom.com

2008-01-13 21:13:25

5 Quick Ways To Improve Your Traffic Today…

It’s Sunday. The Cowboys lost. (Sorry if that comes as a surprise.) That doesn’t mean you can’t take 10 minutes of your time to improve your traffic.

That’s all it takes, folks. Ten minutes. Five simple steps. You don’t even have to write an entr…

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Comment by jae

2008-01-13 21:36:48

Ha! He’ll get over it. They always do.
jae’s last blog post..Go, PACK, Go!!

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Comment by sahasranaman

2008-01-17 01:08:24

I’l start here then
sahasranaman’s last blog post..Ponting, the Moron and the new cricket rules

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