13 Ways To Increase Blog Traffic

Once you have remarkable content up on your blog - useful information you know your target audience wants to consume and will be of value to them , you'll need a steady stream of traffic to engage your audience and turn readers into evangelists. While patience is a must while you build your tribe, there are a number of things you can do to increase traffic to your blog over time.

Here Are 13 Ways To Increase Your Blog Traffic:

1. Publish Frequently- The more frequently you post, the more traffic you get because the search engines are indexing your content more frequently. If you are just starting out, try to post at least two times each week.

2. Add Your Blog URL to Your Email Signature- Add a link to your most recent blog post in your email signature.

3. Include Your Blog URL in Your Marketing Materials- Add the URL for your blog at the bottom of your company profile, bio, FAQ sheet, on your business card etc.

4. Include Multiple Subscription Options- Most blog platforms have RSS feeds built in, but make sure you offer an email subscription as well. Email subscription services include Feedburner, Feedblitz and AWeber.

5. Comment On Industry Blogs- Start reading other influential blogs in your industry and comment and contribute to the conversation when appropriate. When you comment you have the option to include the URL address to your own blog.

6. Guest Posting- Submitting a guest post to someone else's blog can introduce you to a new audience and drive traffic back to your own blog.

7. Set Up a Google Profile- Set up your profile on Google and include links back to your blog (and website). Whenever someone searches for you, a link to your profile will be featured at the bottom of the first page of search results.

8. Social Media- Broadcast your latest blog post to all of your social media profiles. I find that Hootsuite makes it super easy to syndicate your new content to multiple platforms (more on this in a later chapter). Also make sure you add the URL for your blog to your Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn profiles.

9. Add a Retweet Button To Your Posts- Download the plug-in from Tweetmemeto make it really easy for readers to click and share with their networks through Twitter.

10. Add Share Buttons To Your Posts- There are a variety of widgets that you can add to your blog to make it easy for readers to spread your content all across the Web. Posts can be shared on Twitter, Facebook, Digg, Delicious, Stumbleupon and more. Find one that you like and add it as the footer to all of your posts. The one that I use and like is called Sexy Bookmarks.

11. Distribute Video on Multiple Platforms- If you are someone who enjoys "vlogging" (video blogging as opposed to writing your posts), make sure you distribute your video to multiple video sharing platforms such as YouTube, Vimeo, Blip.tv and more. Don't forget to include a link back to your blog home page. Check out TubeMogul, a free site where you can upload your video once and it will be published on up to 20 video platforms.

12. Link Swap With Other Bloggers- Ask a few of the blog writers you read and respect if they would be open to swapping links. In other words, you link to them, and they link back to you. Obviously, the higher their traffic, the more likely you will optimize your own site in the search engines.

13. Create Social Proof- Ask your favorite clients for raving testimonials about you and your blog. Post these testimonials on your blog to establish credibility and validity and build authority.

©Liz Dennery Sanders 2011