Morris Minor... Classic!

Traffic, in the world online is nothing minor… it’s the lifeblood of getting somewhere, without it we got nothing, just blogs no-one reads.

Traffic, yeah something we all have to deal with, online and offline!

Another reason I added the facebook like is the links, when you “like” a post the link goes on your facebook profile, (try it) your own friends will see them and if the title grabs their attention, they will lead to traffic.

Yet as I said in recent post, facebook is a walled garden to most of us, so it is limited in some ways, but that stat’s show me facebook does get me readers… thanks to you facebookers.

But… it’s not just you facebook users, it everyone who reads this, shares it, comments here… you are all appreciated.

Taking Roads Always Flowing Forward In Comfort… we wish!

Online traffic though, it matters and even if you have no need for it this post may help you understand some of my intentions, you may wanna help…

Or not…

The main thing that matters is doing something and taking action is where alot of people fall, they just expect traffic to turn up, it won’t, you gotta get promoting somewhere, somehow, sometime.

First thing is… understand we should try as much as possible, but at the same time you need to be able to measure it in some form, that means doing one thing a time if need be, the beauty online is you get results fast, which means fast changes.

The key is not to have all your eggs in one basket, whatever it is, I have been there, when I got 90% of traffic from one forum and when that stopped, bosh… no traffic. A good lesson learnt.

You gotta mix it up, as we all know… not all traffic is equal.

My bro!

The only way you are going to find out what works and what doesn’t is to try things, mix it up and weed out the crap, ramp up the good.

How else will any of us know?

Social traffic is useless in many ways, but in others it’s good, it’s eyeballs, I would never complain if you shared this post on a social site – where people say it’s useless is in a marketing sense, ads and social media don’t blend for example, but hey, not everything is done for marketing, and who knows what difference one reader could make, no matter where they came from.

This is why you will see people on everything at some point, facebook, twitter, buzz, friendfeed, whatever… if they don’t start it, they won’t get anywhere and once started you should only stop if it’s not worth doing.

Some of these social sites can be awkward to track and measure, use tools that help if need be, you should track as much as possible anyway but common sense tells you alot too and using both helps, track stuff and be firm enough to dump the crap… if it ain’t working, drop it and use time better on what does, because you don’t have to use them.

What works socially for your blog, do better, do more, get more results… rinse, repeat… what fails, dump…

Starting to use other platforms for content with links back to your main blog, or better yet a related post on the blog or site, this would be writing articles for example, you submit to the directories and you have content “elsewhere” which may lead traffic to you.

Guest blogging is another way of doing a similar thing.

Creating Squidoo lenses on any subject related to your blogs, do several from different angles, have them all create funnels of traffic and backlinks to your blog or site, create good lenses and you could flog them!

Traffic is something we should all strive to get from as many new sources as possible as a way of diversifying the risk of losing any.

Considering I have offloaded a lot of crap, kept what works, I have better time and more motivation to stick more efforts into less… far better to pool all efforts into the few better sites.

So, maybe expect me to try some new ideas here too.

Getting back into it… learning far more about SEO now too.

Be good if you could share this… Thanks.

Creating a website or blog is in some way the easy part for most people and yes admittedly some just find it hard to just start, therefor never getting anywhere, in reality anyone can create a website or blog, it’s getting people to see it that’s the frustrating part for most when starting out.

Getting traffic is one of the keys to making any website or blog work, whatever the site or blogs aim is, to make money online, get known for something, it needs people seeing it… we all know it’s a case of no visits = no good!

Traffic is always good and to anyone just starting they will take any traffic they can get, those little trickles of traffic at the start do an important thing other than give you readers, they give you motivation or added motivation, I say that as you were obviously already motivated enough to make a start.

The motivation to keep at it is important because the truth is a little patience is needed to see it through till results show themselves.

I know this because I have been there myself yet something so important I had to learn the hard way was…

Not all traffic is equal, no matter what anyone says to you that is a truth.

Targeted traffic should be your real aim, you want the attention of people you write for, those are the only people you really want to be reading your website or blog.

When starting out though, getting traffic from a few of the right places can help alot, the issue is knowing where to look and how that works.

You can aim to get traffic from the SEngines right from the word go, which is of course a sensible thing but a hard thing to start with, that is a long term aim really. For now your traffic needs a kickstart to get that motivation flowing steady, keeping you “at it.”

So it makes sense to look at traffic elsewhere at the start and where you can fit in with it. That means looking at blogs and sites that are already getting traffic, targeted too in most cases.

Think of this blog as a little bit like the tap in the first picture, much like the majority of blogs and sites out there, all get a smaller steady flow of traffic which gradually increases if you do things right.

You just need to find the sites and blogs like these which are related to your own by topic and get in front the flow of traffic, which can be done by making a great comment on a blog post which leaves a backlink to your blog or site, for an example.

Don’t spam the blogs etc, create a decent reply that fits with the post itself…a compliment to the post if you like, or a continuation of the conversation started by the post.

Don’t be worried over it, they want you to comment and if you are adding value to their readers they will thank you for it. That is you contributing.

Getting actively engaged in the niche topic you created your site or blog around gives you exposure to the right market of people you aim for and they will seek you out and read your site or blog. Interest them with good content and they will come back again and tell others about you.

Find blogs and sites in your niche topic you enjoy reading as they will show you itself what is working well, it’s working on you after all. These may be the ones you want to comment on and engage with the blog owner and their readers.

It so often happens that a big traffic blog or site owner will see you sharing good content through you making inroads in the niche topic via the smaller trafficked blog(s) comment(s) etc, they like your style and may well come and read your blog or site to check it out for themselves and really like what they see.

Ultimately they are owners of big blogs who have traffic flowing like that big tap above, think of the a- listers who have huge traffic and you’ll know what I mean, all it takes is for one of them to write about your blog on their blog and you will see big spikes of traffic flowing your way.

Make a point of commenting on their blog and thanking them if it ever happens, engaging with them and their readers will help the momentum already started.

Even if they never write about your blog or site you should still make a big effort to post a good and useful comment on their blog, engage with the readers, people will check you out via the link posted on the comment.

The key thing to remember is to never neglect the smaller flow blogs as they are the lifeblood traffic, the big hitters are the one offs if you happen to get lucky with it.

By continuing to build the relationship with the smaller traffic bloggers and site owners you collectively increase each others traffic and reach which over time can lead you to become a big traffic blog owner!

There it is, build good relationships with other bloggers and their readers to give you a good start in creating the valuable traffic you seek, then if your aim is make money online doing it, you will be on the right path..

Does it make sense?

Someone asked in a forum when he should attempt to make money online by monetising his blog as he has now built up to an average of 50 readers a day, no mean feat for a 6 week old blog and being the first one they have created.

I was amazed at the forum “newbies” giving what is basically a bad version of simple advice much of which is just something they read on the forum earlier by someone else who has more experience of the truth, but they explained it all in more detail and it was more relevant to the thread the “newbies” originally read the advice in.

How can you know how to cross that bridge if you have yet to even see the bridge yourself?

Those spouting bad half-advice should take a step back and see what they are doing and how it looks to others on the forum, it makes you look naive…new.

Saying “slap adsense on it and you will easily make money online” when they have only 50 visits a day is just plain ridiculous.

Yes googles adsense is the worlds biggest advertising model and it is worth using of course but…

With adsense you will need the one thing it relies on to make it worthwhile and that is big traffic, you know something like 500 hits a day minimum to even start thinking about it being a decent earner…OR very targeted traffic.

The key thing really is to have mainly that ONE monetisation method on your blog for best results with adsense, not mix it up too much with affiliate stuff or banners, this will only hurt the revenue itself by giving you the lower paying ads.

Makes sense doesn’t it?
After all why would google put the better ads on the lower traffic sites or blogs?
The advertisers wouldn’t be happy either.

Way better to wait until you have enough traffic to make it worth your while, a lesson I only recently realised, partly due to the same bad misinformation and the lack of really testing it for myself, which I have now done a bit more of and found some really nice results I can act on in a bigger way.

So if not adsense now what should you do with a low traffic count like the mentioned example?

If you only have 50 or so visits a day, best to just spend more effort getting more traffic while continuing to post on a regular basis.

So how to best do that is the next question I would assume they would ask, that really depends on the blogs content, the market and where the people they needed to reach are.

That’s the bridge you need to cross, not the make money online one.

Don’t you agree?

When I got an email not to long ago with a free report for traffic tips, in all honesty I thought, “not another free ebook for me to read”!

I will read them of course, you never know where you get a good tips from, incraesed traffic should mean we make more money online if that is an aim.

But this was different, no fluff and filler with it, just short easy to digest tips, often one line is all that’s needed to say it.

You get 247 good tips.

Some I knew, some not, some I would NEVER have though about!

I found at least 5 I can try out easily offline in the next few days, at least 2 tomorrow!

A warning though, this is ONLY FREE until end of Sept!
So while you can you should grab this, it’s made for people like you, me, bloggers, home businesses, etc.

In fact offline could be the place to sell this book if the author does sell it that is. ;o)

I am glad to have grabbed it and think you should too, if you can generate ten new visits to your site, blog, a day, how many is that at Christmas?

99 days till Christmas is it??

Worth grabbing for free is it not?

Click and grab your FREE (LINK REMOVED).

I’ll bet you get at LEAST 5 good tips you can implement immediately and grow your traffic.

From 247 of them you have a huge choice.

NOTE :: Edited to remove link as it is no longer free. Will be sold for $7. If anyone wants to grab this for that $7 let me know in the comments. )

Stumbleupon DOES work and works very well for UNTARGETED traffic… Here is a snapshot I have done of this blogs traffic when it is stumbled. )

I have not worked out how to cut the the white space from the bottom of this using the paint program which I did this in, so if anyone can advise me there I would be grateful. )

As you can see over 600 hits to one post in one day, thank you stumblers, but each post that is stumbled gives an average of well over 200 hits in a day, JUST from stumbleupon that is.

I am very happy using stumbleupon, there it is, I USE it, not just join and hope!

Maki…of dosh dosh makes a great post on stumbleupon which you should check out, it’s explained better than I could do it. )

Another great bonus to being a stumbler is you get to find some great blogs and sites you would otherwise never see.

Stumbleupon is much better than people assume it to be.
It is not hard to use, it has a great community that is very diverse.

If you like to stumble this post, go ahead. ;o)
If you have yet to utilise stumbleupon get cracking as you will enjoy it as well as reap the benefit of traffic, but try and get it somewhat targeted.

It is I think the fastest way to drive traffic to a new blog.

Some fantastic pictures, blogs and more.

Stumbleupon is a fail great, I liked using it and THAT is where it became good, when you used it. ;o)

Too many people sign up to this or that and just expect results, yet stumbleupon works for those who at least try it the way it should be used. Update…but they ban you without explanation!

Not only have stumblers given me some good visits stats, they have shared some great stuff that I would otherwise NEVER have found.

The name says it all, use it and stumbleupon some stuff.

The important part is to be active, review things well, post in the right categories and give a thumbs up! ;o)

Thanks stumblers..

Like this post? Stumble it. ;o)

Or feeling generous? ;o)

Many of you will know about this by now as it’s plastered all over the net, and yes it’s on here too and I DO think if you have yet to add it to your blog you should (updated) a massive FAIL!

So why ask why don’t bother?

If you know of John Reese you know he knows traffic, how to get it and make the most of it.
There lies the reason it should have worked, not failed as bad as it did!

More importantly you can get a better idea of what it does for your blog now, and as it improves you learn things from the info you saved.

Make no mistake John’s own sites will have had MASSIVE traffic lately and THAT info is worth a huge amount, John knows what to do to make the most of it and YOU only he benefited from that.

I do hope it will be a success. (It failed)

Knowing now what it does with your blog and what shows up now will mean you can take notes on what to filter as soon as able to, this then becomes the basis for your future testing as it improves from the admins tweaks.

You can then just keep improving what links you do want on your blog by way of blocking what you don’t like, and filtering words you don’t want.

That’s why I got dumped it now.

But also you will notice I am not promoting this elsewhere, just going to keep on blogging as normal, so I get a real idea of what it has done in the normal scheme of things. ;o)

Then I can test and tweak with better accuracy.

If you have a blog, don’t waste your time on this crap!

Exciting times for you bloggers who actively use social networking, but only if you understand it and use it the right way.

Web 2.0 was what I had been eagerly waiting for, being deaf you can probably understand why. ;o)

Being a blogger meant it never passed me by, as blogging was part of interactivity (web.2.0) before the phrase web 2.0 was even coined, yet now it is making a big difference to my blogs, as well as me. ;o)

Believe it or not there are still lots of people who don’t know what web 2.0 even means, or have yet to even hear of it.
Web 2.0 = better interactivity. ;o)

Using web 2.0 (social sites, etc) is the best thing you can possibly start doing if you are a blogger or website owner, after all you are already a part of it. ;o)

In my eyes the best way to get traffic to your blog, more so if it’s a new blog is using the power of social networking, bookmarking sites etc.

Maximise what you have before getting more traffic and you get to make the most of the new traffic too, yes?
That’s what I have been doing, and it works for me well, so now I started to think of ways to increase my traffic.

So I had a great surprise when I grabbed this new report, book, pdf, whatever label you give it and this book just reinforced the fact what I am already doing is the right things in the right way, but I can still do better… ;o)

While I already knew a fair bit of what this shares, (being a blogger almost 4 years made sure of that), it gave me new angles to look at what I already do and plan to do.

These new angles I can promise you will make a big difference to what I had planned anyway…great to see your own plans and ideas from another angle…it expands it. ;o)

While some people will look at things from a “will this make me more money” angle, the key to everything online is traffic, and more traffic can mean more money, right? ;o)

To me the traffic increase is what most people need, even if no intention to monetise that traffic is there, people still want more readers, right?

Of course, so I recommend everyone grab this report, read it and master it. ;o)

The biggest thing I can say is I KNOW it works because I have had success with it and I KNOW web.2.0 is what you should learn more about, even if you have no blog yet.
You are online, you use web 2.0!

Grab it, share your thoughts in the comments. ;o)

As you will know by now one way links are great to help your page rank improve.
One way ones are even better especially for newer blogs that need to get the exposure as quickly as possible.

One way anchor links are even better again yet may only point to certain post you have done, so if this is your route pick you best post in which you have the best chance of gaining a reader who will come back later or at least bookmark your blog.

To this end how can I help you which will also help me?

Well this is my 197th post so I had considered making my 200th one a great list of on way links to your blog.

BUT there is a dilemma, I do not want everyone posting just expecting a link back, as this is not how I value my blog, its NOT a link farm is it. ;o)

So… I got thinking, instead of having just a link, how about I make it a link with a short 30 word blurb of your choice?
Like a bio box style set up.

Getting a one way link from some places will cost you a fair bit, so I thought I would go one better and charge everyone a single dollar, or a single pound, whatever you prefer, those who are smart will know which to use. ;o)

So here’s the plan, I will do a blog post, as long as need be on my 200th, which will solely promote your blogs, if this appeals to you, just buy me a beer today using the icon below, and then comment on this post saying you have bought and want this bargain one way anchor link.

I will then give you my email addy to send your blurb, I will post these on the blog in the ORDER I get payments…;o)

So be quick and get yours on the top of the post! ;o)

Any thoughts, comments, or takers?

Writing articles is yet great another great way to gain extra traffic with the added bonus of having a longer term effect if others use your articles.

By far the best way is to use “long tail” keywords relating to your blog, site topic.

For an example lets say you have a “dog related” blog, you have tips for training, breeding and other general dog related topics.

Your general keywords may be…

Dog
Dogs
Dog training
Dog breeding
Breeding dogs
Training dogs

These are termed “short tail” in the sense they are broad search terms, these are the keywords every “dog related” site or blog will target, rightly so too. ;o)

But using longer tail keywords can gain a big advantage for you in the sense others may not target them, and you have less competition by targeting these terms.

For example…

Training dogs the right way
Dog training and breeding
Dog training for new owners
Training dogs for beginners
Training German shepherds < This could be changed for all other breeds. ;o)
Buying my first dog
Dog training at home
House training dogs
The new dog breeder

Etc… you see that these are longer terms, more in line with what people will search for too. ;o)

Writing articles that target these terms will bring in a “long tail traffic stream”, meaning you get this traffic long after you do the article. ;o)

With less articles targeting the same keywords as you you have a better chance to capitalise on the traffic coming in.

You really should add articles to your plans for they are an “evergreen” form of traffic, use a good bio at the bottom of each pointing to your blog and watch the traffic build up.

Another twist for you is to capitalise on linking the articles together, so one could be linked using anchor linking as a better SEO plan for your blog traffic.

For example you do an article called “Dog training at home”, which is a basic one for all dogs and dog owners, posting this to an article database, but you can have this linking to another blog post titled “Dog breeds and training” where a list of breeds of dog and training methods for each is laid out nicely for all traffic from the first article… ;o)

So your anchor link in the first article bio will be…

www. whateversitename.com/dog_breeds_and_training < that's the second articles title...

IE… an anchor link. ;o)

A post with a short blurb and a link to each breed and training article you have on the blog.

Do you think these people will click on the breed specific article you have for them?

What’s more you can add affiliate links or AdSense on each post of the second articles list.

That’s the way to do articles I think. )

If you think it’s hard think again, it’s made easy with the fantastic article ebook done by a friend, which is a crazy bargain and what’s more, you can add a twist to the above method to gain buyers of this very book and make a profit. ;o)

How?

Do an article on how you write articles very easy on “dog training” and how other dog lovers can also start a blog on their new dog…
Have your anchor link to a post specifically teaching others how to start their “dog blog” with your ebook link at the bottom for them to get started with. ;o)

One sale and you got a great article book free!