Now that you’ve got your blog up and running, it’s time to start making some money on the internet. All you’re missing now is traffic. No traffic = no money! And like most all of us using blogs to make money online, you’d probably like as much of your web site traffic to be free and not the paid stuff. 

Almost anyone can cough-up a couple hundred dollars in PPC advertising to get more traffic to their blogs. Seriously, if you throw a brick into the pond more than likely it’s gonna get wet, right? The problem is, most people either can’t afford to or simply will not invest in pay-per-click advertising. Why pay if you don’t have too, right?

So the question remains: “How can I get more traffic to my blog for free?” Perhaps the most successful way to increase traffic to your site is with article marketing. Simply write an article something like this one here, submit it to several of the preferred article directories, people read it and visit your blog. Presto, Chango… You’ve got free traffic!

There are a few article marketing pointers you need to learn first, but you don’t need a Degree in English to write quality articles that will increase traffic to your blog. Take this article for instance. Do you see anything “extraordinary” about my writing style? Not at all, I’m just an ordinary guy with an extra-ordinary attitude! And if I can do this, so can you.

What you need more than anything else to be successful at article marketing, is a belief in yourself, and an ability to convey a simple message in as simple a manner as is possible. A couple other things you need to know is:

• Focus on your reader
• Choose topics you’re familiar with
• State your point in the first sentence
• Stay on topic (focus) and
• Leave your readers hungry for more!

There’s no “big secret” when it comes to making article marketing work for you, but there is a learning curve involved. However, since article marketing costs you absolutely nothing, any blog traffic you do get is better than none at all! Well, I lied, there is one secret…

You have to stick with it!

Listen, if you write and submit just ten articles you will see a bump in traffic to your blog. However, the longer your articles “stay out there”, the better you get and the more you submit, the more traffic you’ll begin to see. Now, do you have to slave away at your computer keyboard eight hours a day? No, you do not!

On average I spend about 5-7 hours a week writing articles to submit to directories. I’m not a super article marketing freak dorked out on caffeine either! I simply plan (think) ahead what I’m going to write about, I then sit down to write with a timer set to go off in 45 minutes, and I rock & roll until the timer goes off! After an hours time is up, I usually have at least 2-3 articles that I can “pull” from my speed writing content.

One important note to make here is, I do not try to edit or make corrections until that timer goes off. Then for the remaining 15 minutes in the hour, I edit, make corrections and review for punctuation, etc.  I most often do all my article writing in one day, but you can stretch it to two, or three when you’re first getting started. Then after you start getting better, do your best to cut it down to no more than 2 days, and preferably only one day.

Here’s another pointer, this is MY routine, it does not have to be your routine! The most important thing to remember about article marketing, and writing articles in general, is that you have to do what works for you; and that the end result is what you wanted to happen to start with. Listen, if you can only write two or three articles a week to start, that’s ok, you’ll still get some much needed free traffic. Just keep plugging away, find your writer’s groove, and stick with it!

I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s post, until next time…

Blessings to you and yours!

James

PS: If you’re struggling to come up with good quality content for your blog, check this out…

You don’t realize it yet, but in the next few minutes you’re going to learn exactly what you need to know to increase blog traffic. If you’re like me, you’re fed up with all the online hype about the latest “secret” or “black ops” blog traffic tips that are going to overflow your site with visitors, right? Listen, if you own a blog you obviously want more visitors coming to your site so you can increase sales and make more money. I mean seriously, who doesn’t right? There’s just one problem…

…there’s such an overload of information about this subject online, that it’s very difficult for you to determine which of these blog traffic strategies actually work and which ones do not. Here’s a fact: You can increase traffic to your blog, if you know what to do. Let me help you get started with a few of my blog traffic tips that suck in visitors like trailers in a tornado!

The Power Of Words

First and foremost, before you get started doing anything else, you must optimize your blog by using the “right” keywords. What do I mean by the right keywords? The keywords that your readers are searching for online via search engines (Google, Bing, Yahoo. etc) – that are related to what you are blogging about within a niche market – your readers being the niche market.

By carefully weaving the right keywords into your article titles, and then strategically within the blog post itself, will you ensure your blog gets indexed by the search engines. The end result? More blog traffic, and therfore more readers and opportunities to make sales! Is that simple or what?

What’s Your Point?

Listen, please, no one wants to read a blog that meanders like a backwoods country road. Your readers want to read something that has a purpose, a main point and a conclusion. To accomplish this task, you must ensure that your blog has a main point within it, that it addresses that point in each and every blog posting, and that you offer a solution at the end.

Never Grow Old

Always keep in mind that your blog visitors are not going to continue to visit your blog, if they continue to see the same old information over and over again. You must ensure your blog is kept up to date with regularly scheduled blog posts so your readers have a reason to come back. If you struggle with this, then set aside a time each week to write no less than 5 posts (you can do this in about an hour and a half) and then schedule them to be posted every 24 hours.

Hit The Snooze Button

If your readers get bored with what they’re reading, they’re likely to hit the “snooze button” (click!) and put you and your blog to rest! Your blog content should always be interesting and engaging. You always want to leave your readers coming back for more, and the only way to do this is to keep delivering quality, relevant and timely information at your blog.

Anchors Away

Still one of the best tried and true methods to increase blog traffic, is to scatter your blog’s URL link throughout the web; preferably in anchor text format. Anchor text is that portion of a hyperlink that is viewed by a user on a webpage (the clickable text). For example: Clicking on the following typical html link will show Videos Reveal How To Increase Blog Traffic

In addition to the search engines, anchor links are another way to increase blog traffic and stay connected with the visitors coming to your blog.

“And It’s Absolutely…”

Another way to keep readers coming back to your blog for more, is to offer something for free. E-books are usually the best choice in freebies, so long as the information they contain is relevant and current. You can either write an e-book yourself, or outsource it through places like Elance or Rent-A-Coder and then upload it to your blog. You can then Tweet, Digg, Reddit or Stumbleupon the ebook all around the web to increase site traffic and subscribers!

W.I.I.F.T.

In addition to offering free e-books via your blog, you want to find other ways to get readers to visit your blog. Keep this in mind WIIFT: What’s In It For Them? I heard it said before, that “People don’t care how much you know until they how much you care.” This is true in life, love and blogging! If your readers do not get something from your blog in return for their time; something that will assist them in their efforts, whatever those efforts may be, then ask yourself: “Why should they come back?”

F-O-C-U-S!

Don’t spread yourself too thin, and end up not doing the daily tasks of maintaining your blog. You want your blog to focus on one specific area, or niche, which will draw individuals to it by way of backlinks and search engines. By focusing your efforts in one area, you’ll discover that your blog traffic increases more than if you were to cover a wide range of topics haphazardly.

Be My Guest

Lastly, make it your goal to write at least one guest post weekly on other people’s blogs to increase traffic to your site. If you’re putting out great content, then web surfers are sure to find you and want to learn more about you and tell others. Guest blogging as a traffic strategy is very powerful, especially if the site your posting at has authority. In other words, your reputation grows as a result of the other person’s reputation.

Final Thoughts…

Blogs have become a major force in online marketing. However, for your blog to be an effective, it has to have traffic! Without traffic, your blog is nothing more than a piece of paper with useless scribble written on it.

Blog traffic generation is always changing and evolving. The conventional traffic methods listed above still work, IF you are willing to invest time and effort into working them. To maximize your traffic coming to your blog, you must use all the tools available at your disposal. But as for any traffic strategy you choose to use just remember this:

The more places your blog gets listed, the more traffic you’ll see come to your site!

James

PS: Here’s something that will help you increase blog traffic quickly. Watch traffic videos here

If you’ve been blogging for any time at all now, then you are fully aware that there seems to be just as many blog traffic strategies as there are bloggers, right?  And with so many blog traffic strategies, the questions is: “Which ones are the best for you?” Is it Search Engine Optimization? Pay-Per-Click? Cost-Per-Action? Do you use the free traffic strategies or do you use the paying ones?

My answer to these questions, is simple…
“What can you afford?”

Okay, I know this was another question and not an answer.  However, the answer lies within the question itself. If you can’t afford to use PPC, CPA, or other paid traffic sources, then the answer is clear; use the free traffic sources. Honestly, I don’t look at getting more traffic to my blogs as an “either/or” proposal.

If you have a small marketing budget, then simply allot whatever it is you can afford to good, low cost traffic sources.  On the other hand, if you have no marketing budget whatsoever, then you’ll have no other alternative than to use the free traffic sources to drive traffic to your blogs. Then, once you start earning money with your blog, you can begin using paid traffic sources.

As for today’s blog post, we’ll discuss a few of the free traffic sources for getting more traffic to your blogs.

When I first started working online, I had no other choice but to use free traffic sources as this was all there was at that time.  PPC, PPV, CPA, etc. was a distant forethought, and traffic at that time was more or less a by-product of your posts getting read on a message board. However, as the Internet progressed, more and more avenues for free traffic became available. Listed below are five of the most common sources:

1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

I’m sure by now you’ve heard of SEO, Search Engine Optimization. You might already heard SEO. And would probably love to get traffic from Google. However, you are also convinced that it is hard and complicated. Well, blogs have lots of advantages in SEO. Google love blogs because blogs always provide fresh and lots of content. I rank high for many keywords with blogs easily. All you need to do is learn and apply the SEO basics. The first step is to optimize my blog for SEO. Next, I’ll start writing original and valuable blog post consistently. Finally, I’ll build backlinks by submitting articles and web directories. This is not hard but it takes time to reach. Probably 2-3 months.

2. Blog Commenting

Give valuable comments to other blogs which are related to your blog. The purpose of this is not to get readers to click on your link to your blog. Of course, it will be some bonus traffic. However, the main objective is to make new friends who share the same passion- blogging and talking about the same topic. When you have more blogging friends, all of you could help each other. They could recommend your blog to their readers if you write something good. You can do the same to provide more value to your readers too.

3. Word Of Mouth

Believe it or not, blogs are very powerful at word of mouth. Since the day I’ve learn about blog, I shared many blogs to all of my friends. I didn’t share that for some ‘Good Blogger’s Practice’. I shared them because I love those blogs. Their content helps me and I think it will help my friends. My friends thank me for sharing with them and I bring traffic to those blogs. If you are interested in people spreading the word for you, always remember this: ‘Provide Valuable Content’. Write contents or put up your own video that provide values to others.

4. Article Marketing

This is my favorite. This traffic strategy doesn’t takes months. You could start getting traffic from Article Marketing within days. All you need to do is write articles your targeted visitors want to read. Submit those articles you wrote to 5 popular article directories. You could start getting some traffic within a week and automated traffic over years. However, it is important to write a lot and not just few. Another benefit from using article marketing is that you can simply rewrite them in an informal style and post it on your blog. Both articles have similar contents but looks different. With this method, you are able to get traffic and update fresh content for your blog as well.

5. Forum Marketing

Forum marketing is fun and easy for most all blogging Newbies, because all you need to do is chat in an online forum.  Simply register for an account, and include a link to your blog in your signature. You might get some traffic if you reply often to the members’ post. But if you are interested in more traffic, learn to start a new topic. Start an interesting topic with an attractive title. If your topic draws people’s attention and replies, people would like to check out your blog to see anything more from you.

These are 5 traffic strategies that I recommend all blogging beginners start with. Although all of them take time to grow, it will grow over time into huge traffic streams and it is virtually effortless to maintain!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this post, be sure to check back often for more updates. As always, we appreciate your feedback, comments and questions.

Until next time,

Godspeed

James
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One of the best ways to make more money, even with limited marketing funds, is to create a blog. Blogs are relatively simple to set up, and even easier to use!

One of the secrets to successful blogging, is to create quality content and post it frequently to your blog. By posting quality content frequently to your blog, you allow your reader to learn more about you, your product, and your business. More importantly, however, your blog content should grab your reader’s attention and make them not only want to keep reading now, but also keep them coming back for more!

Another secret to successful blogging, is to “ping” your blog every time you update your blog content. Pinging is a way for you to inform the search engines and blog directories of new content posted on your blog. This is important to your blogs success because the search engines love new content! And with increased search engine traffic comes better search results, If you do update your blog on a regular basis.

However, pinging too much can be too much of a good thing! The search engines and blog directories really frown on over-pinging, especially if you ping trivial updates to your blog.

Blog content is not limited to just blog posts, either! Blog content can also include

• Podcast
• Videos
• Photographs, and
• Basically anything that adds quality and provides value to your reader!

A good idea to keep in mind is that it is the quality of your text, the words, that counts! This is especially important if you are promoting an online opportunity, home-based business program or other ‘opportunity’ related program or service.

Your ultimate goal for your blog is to become, what is commonly referred to as, an “Authority Site.” The term Authority Site implies that you are an authority in your niche, or market, have an established readership. The underlying strategy of becoming an authority site, is in creating numerous back-links to your blog posts, or should I say Blog Traffic!

Again, you do this by providing unique content that distinguishes you and your blog from the 500 Gazillion other blogs online! In other words, you are establishing yourself as THE source to turn to for information on the product you’re selling, and as the expert in your market.

Again, it’s important always to remember that “Content is King“. And if you want your content to be found by the search engines (readers), you must use keywords in all your posts! However, they need to be spread throughout the post so as not to appear overladen. The search engines, nor your readers, will like your posts if every other word is “Blog”, “Web Traffic”, “Make money” etc; etc…

Remember, the keys to successful blogging is:

• Stay Active
• Update your site regularly
• Provide only quality content to your reader
• Optimize your blog with keyword rich posts, and
• Ping your blog after each new post!

And lastly, personalize your blog! Take every stride to ensure that your blog is a reflection of you. Stand out from the rest of the crowd in your own unique way, and Be Yourself! Speak to your readers in your own voice, using your own opinions and personal experiences.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this post, be sure to check back often for more updates. As always, we appreciate your feedback, comments and questions.

Until next time,

Godspeed

James
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