One of the biggest misconceptions on the internet is that if you simply post to your blog, you will get visitors. So much has been written about SEO and ranking high in Google in order to get traffic to your site. There are, however, so many additional ways to get highly targeted traffic.

Today I would like to share with you ten traffic generation tactics. I have used some of those listed below and have read about others. In the next few weeks I will be using all of the strategies to test which ones work best for me and will post back about my results. If you would like to try, or have tried, any or all of these strategies yourself, comment below and let me know how they work for you.

1. Commenting on Other Blogs.  By commenting on others’ blogs you can obtain traffic in two ways.  First, the person whose blog you post on will notice and oftentimes will come to your blog to see what you are up to and comment on your blog as well.  This will increase your credibility. Second, others who visit the blog will see your comment and may come to see your blog as a result. It is important to make your comments something of value, not just a “like your blog” comment.  You can find blogs similar to yours by typing blog + [your niche] into Google.  If you consistently comment on others blogs, you will increase both your visitors and your backlinks to your site quickly.
2. Guest Blogging.  Another twist to commenting on others’ blogs is to become a guest blogger.  This can give your name and your blog huge exposure.  When you visit your favorite blogs, check to see if they allow for guest bloggers.  If so, approach the owner of the blog.  When you post as a guest, make sure that your post is the best quality that you can provide.  Not only is this important for your relationship with the blog owner, but it also may be the first impression of you that others will see.  Make sure it is a good impression!
3. Article Marketing.  There is nothing new about article marketing, except the fact that so many marketers minimize the impact that article marketing can have on their traffic.  To get the biggest bang for your buck, submit your articles to high profile content syndication blogs, websites and article directories.  By placing your articles in the line of sight of readers who are specifically interested in your content, quality traffic will flow to your blog.  Again, you can find a list of these places by Googling article submission + [your niche].
4. Create a .pdf from your articles.  This idea came from Kim Roach.  She talks about this method of generating traffic in her fabulous product Instant Payday Formula. Once you have created your .pdf document you can submit it to www.free-ebooks.net and www.getfreeebooks.com
5. Video Marketing.  More and more, people are turning to sites like Youtube to acquire the information they need.  By posting videos of your information in addition to article writing, you will get twice the exposure.  If you, like me, are a little nervous about creating videos, check out Joshua Bartlett’s Video Marketing Classroom.  It is a series of free videos that take you step-by-step how to create videos for internet marketing purposes.
6. Commenting on Forums.  This is often discussed but just as often overlooked.  Hundreds if not thousands of people read forums regularly for information and camaraderie.  (It is also a good place to find Joint Venture Partners).  If you answer forum-goers questions with solid, good information, you will begin to become the go-to person for information in your niche.  By putting your blog url in your signature line, people will be drawn to your blog for more information.  You can find all of the forums you would ever need to post in by Googling forum + [your niche].
7. RSS Feed.  Blogs that have RSS Feeds enable the readers to stay informed by retrieving the latest content.  It is important to have an RSS feed on your blog.  A good video to learn more about setting up RSS feed on your blog can be found on Yaro Starak’s Blog.
8. Emailing Your List.  Many people do not sign up for RSS feeds, but you can periodically email your list to bring their attention to your best posts.  This will keep them aware of what you are up to, and perhaps get them into the habit of checking your blog regularly. If you do not have a list, I will be blogging about how to grow a list in a future blog, but to get a head start you can check out Alex Jeffrey’s List Building ebook.
9. Link Round Up.  This is another technique that I learned from Kim Roach.  (If you haven’t signed up to her  email list, you should.)  Bloggers post their favorite links and articles each week in what’s called a Link Roundup.  In this technique you Google “Daily Link Roundup” + [your niche].  You can also use “Weekly Link Roundup” + [your niche].  By doing this you will get a list of blogs who participate in weekly link roundups.  Once found, you contact the blog owner and send them a link to your best blog post.   If the owner likes your post, they will link to you in their weekly link roundup, giving you and your blog huge exposure.  (The underlying theme that you should take away from this blog post is that it is critical that you create top-notch content).
10. Creating a Free Product.  One great way to get targeted traffic to your blog is to create a free product to give away.  Although this may be time consuming up front, there are many benefits to creating your own product.  First, you can use it to help build your list.  In your ebook, or product, you can post your blog url.  Mention that the reader is free to pass the link to the ebook to others.  Over time this will create a viral explosion, and people will read your ebook and come to your blog to see what else you are writing about.  Again, it is critical to take your time and create a good product.

So…you built a fabulous blog.  Now go promote it using any or all of these tactics and they WILL come.  Add a comment and share how you are getting traffic to your blog!

Until next time,

~Norene

If you buy ‘just in case’ you might need it someday, then you probably will never use it. Even if you do need it someday, by that time the information will most likely be out of date.

Since hearing him put product launches in that prospective, I have cut down considerably on what products I purchase. This has also helped me to focus on what it is that I am doing to grow my business and spend my time planning and implementing instead of getting into the loop of buying, reading, buying and reading and then buying some more.

What I discovered that I needed at this moment in time was a good understanding of how to drive traffic. To that end, I purchased Kim Roach’s Ultimate Blogging Challenge video series. I have spoken about Kim before — I consider her one of my mentors. In this series, Kim showed how she started a blog in a brand new niche and drove 1200+ visitors to her site in 7 days. I was going to blog about what I had learned from applying her methods, but in the meantime, she, herself, blogged about her tactics. The blog entry is called 21 Untapped Traffic Sources. Her course was amazing, and the information was timely for me.

So instead of blogging about her specific tactics, I will tell you how putting them into practice worked for me.

I put to use her information on article marketing and finding hidden forums to become members of. She stresses the importance of submitting content articles to high-profile content syndication sites — ie, sites that cater to that specific niche, instead of (or in addition to) the broader sites like ezinearticles. Likewise one should focus on very specific niche-related forums, instead of the broader category forums. Not just talking theory, she discussed specific article directories and forums for given niches, and how to find these obscure sites for whatever niche you are in.

Within a week of doing just these two strategies the traffic to my site tripled and my alexa score dropped by more than 130,000. It was pretty high to begin with — in the 2 million range, but I thought that drop, happening so quickly, and having done nothing different than implement what I was already doing, but with her twist, was pretty impressive.

One strategy that she mentioned that I had not thought about in the past was guest blogging and the power that it has to drive traffic. That is a strategy that I hope to begin to implement next week.

One cannot deny the generosity of the information that she shares. For all of the information I have gathered on driving traffic over the past six months, many of her strategies and sources were new to me, and now she is sharing them with the world.

If you want to see the details of her tactics yourself, read her blog. It will be your best read of the day.