Blog Optimization for Profit - Part 4

In previous parts of this series we taught how to get back-links to your site or blog. If you missed those parts you can click the link in the Author Box below. Getting back-links from other websites is not the only Free way to attract visitors to visit your blog. This time, we are going to explore alternative methods to attract high quality traffic.

The first thing you can do to generate traffic is to take advantage of all the content you already have posted on your blog. You can literally multiply your visibility across the internet with this simple, yet powerful, method. I use it often. I'm talking about making your blog posts available to millions of people by posting them in Article Directories.

Focus on your posts that help people solve their problems or offer valuable information and submit them to Article Directories. These Article Directories collect articles of similar themes together in one place, so they receive thousands and thousands of qualified visitors every day. Best of all, it's Free!

When you submit your articles to these directories, you are exposing your name to the thousands of pairs of eyes visiting them for free! On all article directories, you are also permitted to include a “resource box” where you can include your contact details, a simple biography and so on. Most importantly, you include a link to your blog! This is where you can truly leverage for Free traffic! Once you get the hang of it, do a Search for "Article Directories". There are literally hundreds of them.

I personally post to over 350 Directories, with one button, on a regular basis. If you go to my blog (see Author Box) you will find the software I use. The software is not free but it cuts hours off posting to the directories.

Another excellent way to gain traffic is to join internet forums that are based on your niche. Using our example web site in previous parts of this series, to find these kind of forums, just go to any search engine and enter "technological gadget + forum", without the quotes. You want the most focused forum with a substantial number of active members and, preferably, always bustling with activity. Just check the dates of the threads posted on the forum to see how active it really is.

When you join active forums that focus on your field of discussion and post very useful and valuable posts, your peers will start noticing you and paying attention to what you have to say. In most forums, you are also allowed to add a link to your site in the signature line, which is under every post you make on the forums. People will click and visit your blog if they find your posts helpful and informative. This way, your credibility is built even before they land on your blog.

Traffic from the forums would be easier to turn into profits if your blog is selling your own products or recommending others’ as an affiliate since they are already convinced you are an “expert” in the field. A word of caution - do NOT blatantly advertise in your forum signature! Only use the signature to point to your web site/blog. See my Author Box below as an example.

The next strategy is word of mouth.
Suppose you already have a daily visitor count of 100. What if you compiled a small report or gift of an ebook and posted it on your blog saying that, if the visitor will refer three of their friends to visit your blog, the gift will be theirs for free? If your small report or gift is topical enough, it will generate a small buzz among your blog readers and they will surely refer their friends to you! There can be one problem with this. If you have a blog that does not allow you to upload your report to their server, you will need to find a separate web host to upload your gift to. Then, when a reader wants the gift, they click the download link which takes them to your web host where the gift can be had. I do this for several Christian ebooks. Readers click the links and are taken to the source for downloading.

Since I am on Blogger.com myself, I am currently looking into Free and paid web hosting as I have a number of Free Viral eBooks I want to offer my readers for download. What is a "Viral eBook"? That is for another lesson but, in short, it is a way to make money from ebooks written by other people.

Finally, whatever you do, be sure to use the “blog and ping” technique that everyone is talking about. I use this every time I post on my blogs. Basically, when you update your blog, you can let blog portals such as technorati.com know by pinging them. You can ping many portals at once by using free services such as: pingomatic.com or the one I use most, pingoat.com. When you ping you are telling the search engine spiders you have something good to eat and they will come crawling. This is a major method of getting listed (indexed) by the Search Engines for Free!

Besides the techniques described here, there are also paid methods like buying links from high-ranking pages or buying banner advertising space. Keep in mind, when buying paid traffic, always weigh your profits generated from the paid ads against expenses. I should not need to tell you that, if your profits do not offset the expense, you will end up losing money. Choose wisely. I know that sounds like common sense but, believe it or not, people throw away thousands of dollars simply because they do not know how to track the performance of their Ads.

Personally, I have not purchased Ads or links nor do I plan to in the near future. Until you master traffic generation by Free methods, hold onto your money and learn much more about it. It is definitely a gamble for a novice. It is sophisticated stuff in spite of claims to the contrary. Going the Free route takes longer but it is financially safer so watch out for claims that promise to make you rich overnight by buying advertising on the internet.

Yours for success in life.

Jim DeSantis

P.S. - Please forward this article to someone who can use it.

Use Jim's 6 Part Series to boost your blog visibility and profit. Go to Jim's series here!