Blog Traffic...Creating a Traffic Jam

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beacon22
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Blog Traffic...Creating a Traffic Jam

Post by beacon22 » January 20th, 2010, 8:54 am

What are some good tips and ideas to bring people to your blog? How do you get people reading and keep them reading? I'm trying to build a blog audience and would love some advice, ideas, tips!
Come on over to my blog and lurk a little!

http://www.freckle-head.blogspot.com

Anavaz
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Re: Blog Traffic...Creating a Traffic Jam

Post by Anavaz » January 20th, 2010, 11:58 am

Well I have no idea because I am new to the blogging world and I have only one follower, lol. But you know what, I'll follow you.

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Scott
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Re: Blog Traffic...Creating a Traffic Jam

Post by Scott » January 20th, 2010, 1:56 pm

One of the ways is to frequent forums with like interests and make yourself and your URL known. Another way is to seek a role in contributing to a newsletter or other informative site that covers topics of a similar ilk. You could also virally infect cyberspace with a very cool video or some other marketing trick. One of the simplest ways is to update your blog regularly with posts about current events and how they relate to your writing. Search engines are more likely to find you that way.

beacon22
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Re: Blog Traffic...Creating a Traffic Jam

Post by beacon22 » January 21st, 2010, 7:15 pm

Scott....

I like the idea of coming up with a video or a marketing trick...hmmm...I should ask my students to come up with something creative. My highschool kids would love to develop something like that.
Come on over to my blog and lurk a little!

http://www.freckle-head.blogspot.com

casnow
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Re: Blog Traffic...Creating a Traffic Jam

Post by casnow » January 22nd, 2010, 2:35 am

Be careful what you wish for if you blog under your own name. I used to and it nearly cost me my job b/c I have a different and harsher sense of humor than some can stomach... and then magically, one day your boss stumbles on it by dumb (bad) luck, and reads a post that they find "inappropriate", you get called into their office and given an ultimatum. So, just be careful when you are building your blog platform. Don't post anything that can put your day job at risk (yes, I'd have more time to write if I didn't have a job, but then I couldn't afford electricity so my laptop wouldn't work anymore and I couldn't write).

The other thing to consider is to just get yourself a spot on the web, and just hold it. Maybe don't even make it public, or just make it one simple page that you don't update. Spend the time that you save by NOT blogging and apply it to writing and editing. Once you have an agent that is out shopping your book around, then you can put the work into your blog, and then when it gets published you will have an audience that will come to you.

beacon22
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Re: Blog Traffic...Creating a Traffic Jam

Post by beacon22 » January 22nd, 2010, 2:13 pm

Casnow,

Thanks for your advice. It is an important point to think about what your blog reflects and if it could get you in trouble. I write for kids and many of my students read my blog, so I make sure that everything posted on it is content that would be appropriate. I do have to read my words over a lot, though, to make sure that everything is okay.

I have a domain name for my book (which maybe wasn't the best idea, because I know titles can change). I should look into getting one for my own personal name.

Thanks for the advice!
Come on over to my blog and lurk a little!

http://www.freckle-head.blogspot.com

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JFBookman
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Re: Blog Traffic...Creating a Traffic Jam

Post by JFBookman » January 23rd, 2010, 12:09 am

Beacon 22, just by asking this question, the people in this discussion know you have a blog, so you can see how finding places to interact with people who have similar interests is a really good way to get the word out. Make sure you let people know about your blog by putting it in your signature line (check mine for an example).

Another good idea is to have a regular schedule for yourself that you can stick to. If you only think you can blog once a week, do that regularly.

Try to stay on one topic. This will help people identify your blog more clearly than if you wander from topic to topic.

Find other blogs that address the audience you would like to attract and make (hopefully intelligent) comments, with a link to your blog in your signature.

If you write easily, once you have some content on your blog, ask another blog owner who has more traffic if you can contribute a guest post with a link in it.

Find other bloggers who are trying to get started (your peers) and trade posts and links with them.

Ask someone with a big following if you can interview them for your blog.

Write articles about your topic and submit them to content sites in your field, with a link in your "resource box" at the bottom of the article.

Check out blog carnivals in your field. You can find them at http://www.blogcarnival.com and submit blog articles to them.

Anyway, there are lots more but this should get you started. The best advice? Write really great content, then let people know about it! Good luck.
Book design and production for publishers and self-publishers
Fun and informative articles about publishing on my blog:
http://www.TheBookDesigner.com

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JFBookman
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Re: Blog Traffic...Creating a Traffic Jam

Post by JFBookman » January 23rd, 2010, 12:11 am

Oh, one more easy idea. Hook your blog feed up to your Facebook profile. Every blog post you do will be automatically fed to everyone on your friend list. This works!
Book design and production for publishers and self-publishers
Fun and informative articles about publishing on my blog:
http://www.TheBookDesigner.com

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Emily White
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Re: Blog Traffic...Creating a Traffic Jam

Post by Emily White » February 2nd, 2010, 1:10 pm

If you're really looking to get your name out there, feel free to send me a blog post outlining what your blog is about and/or include the kind of content that you plan on having. I reserve Fridays for guest bloggers in order to help fellow writers advertise their own blogs. However, I do have one stipulation: you have to become a follower. ;)

Send me your post along with a short bio and a link to your blog and I'll publish it this Friday (the 5th). :)
Find out about ELEMENTAL, my YA Space Opera (available June 21, 2011) on my blog and ELEMENTAL's facebook fan page

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charlotte49ers
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Re: Blog Traffic...Creating a Traffic Jam

Post by charlotte49ers » February 2nd, 2010, 2:06 pm

I've found forums to be the best source to gain readers. Just putting it in my signature has provided me a few followers, but don't use forums solely for pimping your blog, kwim?

Plus, your content being interesting and staying interesting is important. I have no clue if mine is, but I can tick off just how many blogs I continue following after the first read and it's not many. It takes a lot to keep me coming back and I'm sure I'm not alone in that. :-) That's why I'm stunned that anyone actually reads mine. lol

rose
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Re: Blog Traffic...Creating a Traffic Jam

Post by rose » February 2nd, 2010, 3:04 pm

I appreciate the tips, y'all.

I've just started two blogs, one to provide me with a place to ruminate on some of the mysteries I've encountered while researching the Townsend Brown story and one to post book chapters as we finish the next draft. This last is my way of flogging myself to the finish line...either get the damn thing done, or face the humiliation of failing to meet a public commitment.

Do you think it would be worthwhile to go to the trouble of modifying the blogspot html template to add in metatags or do post labels suffice for improving search hits?

rose
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Riders on the Rez http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/35697
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RebeccaKnight
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Re: Blog Traffic...Creating a Traffic Jam

Post by RebeccaKnight » February 2nd, 2010, 3:46 pm

One thing I've found really helpful is commenting on other's blogs :). People can follow your profile to your blog, and often do! Also, it's a great way to connect with others in the blogging community, which always helps.

Good luck to you!
"The chief cause of failure and unhappiness is trading what you want the most for what you want now."

http://rebeccaknightbooks.blogspot.com
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JFBookman
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Re: Blog Traffic...Creating a Traffic Jam

Post by JFBookman » February 2nd, 2010, 4:24 pm

Rose, I use Wordpress so I'm not familiar with the Blogger interface, but keep in mind the number one factor in optimizing your blog for search engines is the title of your blog posts. On Wordpress we can control the "title tag" separately from the actual title of the post. This allows me to create titles that are "user friendly" and might, for instance, have some irony or humor in them. For those blog posts I then write a separate, non-ironic version of the title with keywords related to the content as the title tag (the one that's shown at the top of the browser window). This one ability makes the posts much friendlier to search engines. Try to find out if you have, or can add, this functionality to your Blogger blog.
Book design and production for publishers and self-publishers
Fun and informative articles about publishing on my blog:
http://www.TheBookDesigner.com

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Dankrubis
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Re: Blog Traffic...Creating a Traffic Jam

Post by Dankrubis » February 2nd, 2010, 6:58 pm

charlotte49ers wrote:I've found forums to be the best source to gain readers. Just putting it in my signature has provided me a few followers, but don't use forums solely for pimping your blog, kwim?

Plus, your content being interesting and staying interesting is important. I have no clue if mine is, but I can tick off just how many blogs I continue following after the first read and it's not many. It takes a lot to keep me coming back and I'm sure I'm not alone in that. :-) That's why I'm stunned that anyone actually reads mine. lol
Wow, ascetically, your blog looks great! What did you use to put it all together, if you don't mind me asking? I've got a black and white, cookie-cutter layout. Not pleasing on the eyes.

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charlotte49ers
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Re: Blog Traffic...Creating a Traffic Jam

Post by charlotte49ers » February 2nd, 2010, 8:39 pm

Thanks! I'm a photographer, so I just used my photo blog template and tweaked it to my liking (http://www.tofurious.com). It is a Wordpress theme. I'm glad you think it looks decent. I always worry about that sort of thing. :-P

You have to know the basics of coding and stuff to customize it, but if I can learn it, anyone can. lol

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