One of the more pressing issues for bloggers like myself is how to increase traffic, your number of readers, and your visibility on the net. Starting a blog is one thing, but do you get people to notice it? One thing is for sure, people want to be noticed, but sometimes just posting is not enough for you to be discovered, listed in Google or what have you. Knowing this, here are the top five methods of driving traffic to your blog for FREE!

1. Build a Network
You should consider blogging just like interviewing for a job. I consider the number one priority (and first step) to increasing your blog’s traffic to be building a human network. What do I mean by this? Think about it this way: if you can get linked up with some of the best websites, and even from some of the not-so-popular, you will be benefiting from the trade NO MATTER WHAT. This reigns true in economics as well. It is irrelevant if a blog is better or worse than your own (as long as they DO have readers of course), because trade will boost both websites’ traffic. People read blogs to gain information and be entertained, by virtue of your name being around, you will get more and more feedback from people noticing you.

How do you start to network? There are many ways, but I think the most important two are to comment on other blogs and be active in a community. I have gotten probably about 60% of my traffic originally from other blog sites. If you comment on similar blogs, people will visit your website. This may seem far-fetched at first, but trust me. Making thoughtful comments on other blogs is one of the best ways to get noticed. Similarly, being active on a reputable community is a huge plus. Whether this is a forum board like Digital Point and Bloggeries, or a blogging network like MyBlogLog or Technorati, communicating with other people (checking out their site, them checking out yours) will drive traffic without a doubt.

2. Blog Competitively
Blogging isn’t for the weak. If you want your blog to become a destination, you need to get your game face on. Not to say that should be rude, but increasing traffic is partly a function of pursuing opportunity with an iron fist. When I link up with a site, I don’t care what they have to say as long as they have readers… you should see them as existing solely for your benefit. This sounds rude, but if you really want to expand, you should be taking advantage of as many trade opportunities as possible.

Competitive blogging isn’t only getting your link out, you need to be doing something different. You are essentially competing with other blogs for traffic at all times, so if your posts are not unique… people will be discouraged from reading. Holding a contest is a brilliant idea, but first and foremost, you must be sure that you aren’t simply increasing traffic temporarily. Bigger is better, so offer what people want and don’t be too frugal. In addition to contests, just make sure that you are advertising in similar blogs and writing meaningful posts that people will want to read.

3. Make a Nice Design/Layout
I really can’t stress this enough. If people don’t like the look of your website or blog, they simply will not like the content. It is very hard to find good content on a blog with clashing colors, simply because it is too distracting on the eyes. In order to make any site more aesthetically pleasing, you need to find a color scheme that works. This should simply be base one, and there are many online services that can help you get a scheme that works for you. I used a particular service from websitetips.com to help guide my decision. Make sure you have a fair amount of eye-catching graphics on your blog as well. If you do not have some kind of mascot or logo, I suggest you either make or outsource this job. Every website really needs some kind of identifying characteristic that draws readers back to it. If you do not have a nice design/layout, you are more than likely hemorrhaging your traffic.

4. Get the Word Out
Don’t expect visitors to find your website on their own accord, you need to assert yourself onto the internet. The best two ways to do this are by submitting your site to web directories and by writing articles for article databases. Firstly, web directories are essential because they provide free reciprocal links to your website that are universally recognized on the internet. Many of these are paid services, but there are plenty of free web directories that can get you your fix. Here is a good list to get you started. Articles are even more useful for spreading your link around, as you can typically add a promotional paragraph to the end of every entry. I use: EzineArticles, GoArticles and ArticleDashboard.

Another great way to “get the word out” is to “ping” various services every time you add new content. This essentially allows crawling engines to update their cache accordingly to get all of your content linked up. The best way to go here is Ping-O-Matic, which does the job fast and free.

5. Post Every Day
Last but not least, you should be trying to make a good post every day. Three times a week won’t cut it in this increasingly competitive environment. If you can aim to provide one new post every day for 30-days, I guarantee your traffic skyrocket. People want content, and a blog that doesn’t update is as unattractive as anything. Also, updating your blog often really sets off search engines like Google and Yahoo into placing your links higher and in more attractive positions. Search engines love new content, so optimizing your site can be as simple as posting daily. I want to make a cut off though of posting multiple times each day. You definitely don’t want to post too much, or too little… it is a delicate balance and I recommend 6-9 posts per week too keep interest levels up.

To prove this theory, here is a log of my traffic. I did not make a post on either Sunday or Monday, I made posts on Tuesday and Wednesday. Check out the more-than DOUBLED readership on the days I made posts:

With these tips in hand, you should be well on your way to increasing your traffic. If you were to hold these rules constant for just 30 days, making competitive moves and posting every day, I guarantee your readership will increase over at least 33% from your original posting strategy. Keep to your niche, stay positive, be insightful and you will be well-read in no time!

-The Net Fool

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!