www.kevindohertyonline.com

Looking for ways to increase blog traffic?  Smart thinking.. as we all know that in the internet marketing world, one simple equation rings true:   traffic = money.  The #1 reason most bloggers struggle is because they just can’t crack the code on how to generate traffic to their blog.  There are many great bloggers who produce very helpful content, but their blog goes virtually unnoticed.

The post I recently wrote on how tomonetize your blog covers some important foundational steps you need to take to increase traffic.  The gist of that post is that every time you write on your blog, you need to wear both your writing hat and your marketing hat.  Don’t just throw up a blog post without optimizing it from a marketing perspective.  Let’s talk about how to do this.

3 Ways to Increase Blog Traffic1.  On Page Search Engine Optimization ~

Writing on your blog is a delicate balance between catering to search engines and actual human beings.  I think this is one of the trickiest aspects of effective blogging, as over-emphasizing either extreme will impose some limitations on your ability to generate traffic.  If you just focus on SEO, then your writing will likely lack personality and character, which will translate into the average visitor spending about 15 seconds on your blog and having a high bounce rate.  If your blog is too focused on SEO to the exclusion of the human element, you can get all the traffic you want and you’ll likely still feel frustrated, as it will not convert as well as you’d like.

On the other hand, if you dismiss SEO and focus entirely on the human element, then there’s much less of a chance that your blog will generate a lot of organic traffic from Google and the other search engines.  Some people are master networkers who can easily build a large following just through their charisma and leadership.  Most, however, need a little  help from organic traffic to get some serious momentum for their blog.

In case the term SEO is new to you, it’s basically the way that you structure your content so that it can easily be ranked in the search engines for the main keyword(s) your niche focuses on.  When you are writing your blog post, it’s a good idea to have an SEO check list in front of you so you know that you are covering your bases when it comes to getting your content ranked high in Google.  I use a WordPress plugin called SEO Pressor (you can click on the banner below) to do this.  This is a great plugin, as it will show you exactly what you need to do to optimize each blog post.  This includes adding header tags, getting the right keyword density, adding keywords in the right places of your post,  adding image alt tags, and many other on page factors.

I would recommend using this paid plugin with a free one called the All-in-One SEO pack.  With this plugin, you can easily add the title tag, meta tag description, and keywords for every post you write.

A good rule of thumb is that 50% of your posts should focus on one main keyword that you want to rank for, especially if your blog is relatively new and you don’t have a large email list that will give you instant traffic every time you post.

2.   Integrate your blog with Twitter, Facebook, and Youtube ~  One of the main goals of any serious blogger should be to build large network through Twitter, Facebook, and Youtube.  If you have 10,000 followers on Twitter, you’ll have a much easier time increasing blog traffic, as you can tweet links to your blog posts and easily get at least a few clicks.   Be sure to build a professional Facebook fan page as well, and add a fan page like box to your blog, so there’s a seamless integration between your blog and Facebook.  The more ‘likes’ you get to your fan page, the easier it will be toincrease blog traffic.

Of course, this begs the question, how do you get more ‘likes’ to  your fan page?  Use Facebook advertising, friend a lot of people in your niche, and post genuinely useful content on your fan page and you should build a large fan base quickly.

Another important tip:  Make sure you have the Facebook share and Tweetmeme plugins on your blog, so your visitors can share your content with their followers.

Another great way to increase blog traffic is to create a video for every blog post and submit it to Youtube, then integrate it into your blog post as well.  People love video, so having Youtube videos embedded into your blog will give it a more lively and dynamic feel, not to mention the fact that your Youtube videos can drive a lot more traffic to your blog.

The Most Effective Process to Increase Blog Traffic

3.  Back linking (off page SEO) ~  This strategy is what separates amateur bloggers from the ones who are generating thousands of visitors each and every month.  You want to create a content distribution system that basically gets your message out to as many people on the internet as possible.  Otherwise, your blog will basically be like a stranded island of content; nobody will know that it exists.

Back linking is where other websites on the internet link back to yours for the main keywords you want to rank for.  The best ways to get back links are through article directories, press releases, social bookmarking, and video sharing sites like Youtube.  Personally, I use Unique Article Wizard for mass article submission.  I have a team of SEO people and article writers that spin my content and distribute it all over the internet using Unique Article Wizard, press release sites, and social bookmarking.

This is a more advanced process that you can build up to over time.  Even if you submit your blog posts to ezinearticles.com and make Youtube videosto start, that’s better than what most bloggers do.. and that alone should noticeably  increase blog traffic.

6 other methods to increase blog  traffic 1.  blog commenting2 paid advertising on Google and Facebook3.  join venture partnerships4.  viral e-book marketing5.  viral video marketing6.  ezine advertisingHow about you?  What are the most effective

ways you have found to increase blog traffic?

www.kevindohertyonline.com