I have never participated in an event of a series of blog posts before, but now I’m very glad to announce that I can’t say that anymore starting today. Steven Snell contacted me about writing one out of five parts of a series of posts about growth and gaining traffic, and of course I said yes! I’ve been working harder than ever before lately to help my blog grow and to increase its readerbase. Now I’m one of the five bloggers that will share a piece of advice with you and try to help you increase your site’s traffic, too.
To fully gain from this experience, please read all five parts of the traffic and growth series, and consider subscribing to each of the blogs so you can be one of the first to know when they write new tips.
Monday: Vandelay Website Design - Driving Search Engine Traffic to a New Blog
Tuesday: Blogging Tips - Be Selfish and Help Someone
Wednesday: Blogtrepreneur - What’s Your Best Source of Web Traffic?
Thursday: Super Blogging - Be Community Involved to Get More Traffic
Friday: SiteFever - Drive Traffic by Commenting First
Lately I have been doing numerous things to up this blog’s growth, but many of those things are closely related. What I plan to talk about today includes commenting and linking others and joining forums.
Commenting
People love receiving comments and feedback on their blog posts, whether you’re agreeing with them or even if you’re not. Also, if people read a valuable comment on another site, they’re likely to check out who it’s coming from. Therefore, commenting other blogs can help you in numerous ways.
If you comment someone else’s blog, they will appreciate it. They might comment back on your blog or post about what you’ve said in a new post if it’s worthy enough. If you post worthwhile comments and do it often, the blog’s owner of which you’re commenting will feel more loyal to you and link to you more often, sending their readers your way. Commenting and interacting with other bloggers is a fantastic way to strengthen bonds and get new, trusty readers.
Besides having the blog owner on your side, others who read your comment might be interested in who the person behind it is. If they visit your site, then you just might acquire yet another reader - or at least a little more traffic if not. Commenting is great for everyone!
Linking Out
If you see a post someone else has written that really intrigues or inspires you, don’t just sit around. Put your ideas into motion and write a continuation of their post, your thoughts on it, or even why you disagree with it. Be sure and link back to who originally posted the article. Or, if you need to give an example or go into detail into one of your articles, link to someone else’s post that explains what needs to be said.
If you link to someone, they’ll see the trackback or notice and be likely to visit your blog to see why you’re linking to them. There’s also a high chance that they’ll link back to you!
Another great way to link to other bloggers is to have a weekly round-up. Once a week (or bi-weekly, if you will) have a post dedicated to linking to other bloggers’ great posts you’ve read lately. Not only is it important to be community oriented and to give credit where credit is due, but it’s very likely you’ll gain more regular readers and find growth from linking out to other blogs.
Joining Forums
This is something I’ve just begun to do recently. When you join a forum there is just such a huge opportunity to meet and connect with many new people who are interested in the same things you are. Not only can you learn a lot from forums and also share your knowledge, but you can easily refer other people to your blog whether it be through you helping people out and giving information, or from simply showing off your link.
Most forums allow you to link to your site or add its URL to your signature. If this is permitted in any forum you sign up on, don’t hesitate to do it. Many forum-goers will be interested in who you are and what your blog is about, and they’d be likely to check it out. Not only is this traffic, but it’s also almost always targeted!
Some great forums you could join if you are interested in blogging include the Blogging Tips Forums and the Digital Point Forums. There are many more but I definitely recommended those two if you’re just getting started with the forums aspect.
Summing It All Up
All in all, you should be involved in the blogging community. Assign a certain amount of time each day for when you can sit down, read, and comment other blogs. Try to link out to other bloggers and their sites whenever possible. And to connect, create new friendships, and get yourself more exposure, it’s almost mandatory to join forums in your niche.
Not only do all of these things help you to see growth in your blog (they’re definitely working for me!) but each of these tactics are helpful and beneficial for all parties involved. If you want to see more traffic, don’t hide in your shell!
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I agree with everything you said there. Good work. I agree with the part about commenting becuase I know when I am looking at blogs I allways read the comments and check out the peoples sites who are commenting. You learn about some really interesting blogs and people that way.
Great job.
@Matt - Out of the three, commenting is my favorite. It’s great for all parties, especially you and the owner of the blog you’re commenting on. Commenting helps build a community and learn and share new things. Not only that, but the blog owner and the readers are likely to check out who you are.
And I agree with you, you do learn about more interesting blogs that way. Many of the blogs in my Google Reader are from ones I’ve found from comments on other sites.
Thank you!
Tay,
Thanks for sharing this information. I know you really do act on these things and I appreciate all of your comments at my blog and the links you have sent my way. That interaction is why you were one of the first people I thought of for this series of posts.
I need to do more commenting on other blogs. I comment regularly on several, but I need to expand that and reach other new blogs. I know when someone comments on my blog for the first time I always visit their site to check it out. If I do it, I’m sure others do too.
[…] Wednesday: Blogtrepreneur - What is Your Best Source of Web Traffic? Thursday: Super Blogging - Be Community Involved to Get More Traffic Friday: […]
@Steven - Thank you! I also appreciate the links you’ve sent me in return and the guest blogging you’ve done (which is, by the way, fantastic). The Sitemaps 101 post was pretty popular.
Thanks again for your comments and for letting me participate in this series. It’s the first thing of this type I’ve ever done before but I definitely hope it’s not the last!
[…] Part 2: Be Selfish and Help Someone Part 3: What’s Your Best Source of Web Traffic? Part 4: Be Community Involved to Get More Traffic Part 5: You’re looking at […]
Tay,
It was a first for me too, but I thought it was worth a shot. It’s not really any more work since we would have been writing anyway.
[…] Be Community Involved to Get More Traffic from Super Blogging. […]
[…] Be Community Involved to Get More Traffic from Super Blogging. […]
@Steven - Well I think it was a fantastic idea. You’re right, we would have been writing anyway. And when we do it in the form of a series, we help the other bloggers in the series and share our traffic, in a way. You’re a genius.
These are some great tips. Eventhough my blog is fairly new I have managed to recive a few comments/regular readers by joining forums and commenting on other peoples blogs.
I make the effort to check every commenter’s blog and try to leave a comment or two on it. I am always greatful for every comment recieved and I think its a really nice “thankyou”. So far it has paid off well, I can only hope the blogging community continues to grow like this
@Matt - Well then, I can assure you you’re already on a great start and on the path to success! When you first begin your blog it’s a lot harder to get started, but after you do things begin to grow on their own. Keep up the great work!
[…] Part 2: Be Selfish and Help Someone Part 3: What’s Your Best Source of Web Traffic? Part 4: Be Community Involved to Get More Traffic Part 5: You’re looking at […]
[…] Taylor: Be Community Involved to Get More Traffic. […]
These are good tips. I try to comment on other blogs regularly to network and gain readership. Even if it’s just the blog owner that go to my blog and subscribe, it’s a win.
You gave some really good advice. Some people don’t really think commenting on blogs is essential, but it really is important. I know personally that it feels good to see someone commenting on your blog, and it helps build a community.
@Pinyo - You’re definitely right! Many people don’t think of things like that as success unless they’re getting a lot new visitors, but they’re wrong. Every single one counts as something.
@Reem - Thank you; you’re very wise. Every comment I get, I know I really appreciate. I don’t understand how some bloggers can go with their comments turned off - sure, it’s a lot less work but it really takes away a lot of the joy for both the blog owner and the readers.
[…] presents Be Community Involved to Get More Traffic. If you plan to be a successful blogger and make money online, you need to start by generating […]
[…] presents Be Community Involved to Get More Traffic posted at Super Blogging, saying, “If you want to be a successful blogger you need to […]
Thank you for your wonderful ideas. Just getting started with this and I have been under this assumption all the time. I like commenting on other peoples blogs. Even if its just to say Thank You for the wonderful information. This has inspired me to continue what I believe I can do.
@Michael - Good for you! Not everyone is as good of a blogger to appreciate the hard work of others. Keep it up!
Is leaving a comment on a blog without offerring nothing but an i agreee just another form of spam?
@Nick - Not always. When I comment I try to offer something useful to the conversation, but many times I will just thank someone for their hard work on an article and appreciate it. I don’t think that could be considered spam at all. Personally, I love being thanked for my work and if someone says “Thanks for the advice” or “Great tips, you’ve really helped me out” I wouldn’t give it a second thought. Actually, each one of those kind of commets puts a smile on my face. So no, not every comment that doesn’t contribute to the conversation is spam, in my opinion.
Good point. I know it helps keep the desire to post things up if there are people actively engaged in what you have to say. I was just thinking the other day about how the whole comment system can be used to try to drive traffic back to the commenters site so there can be an underlying intent to the comment. That is how I came to a conclusion and related it to spamming.
@Tay - I agree. I would rather have comment that just say “good work” or “great tips,” than nothing at all. However, I always check on their URL to make sure they are not spammy.
I have been getting a lot of trackback from spam site and I always nuke them. I noticed some bloggers do not notice these and list them anyway. Shame.
@Nick - I see where you’re coming from. I do think it’s okay if you comment on other blogs to try and grow your readerbase, because that’s a part of community. But only as long as you’re not just spamming and you’re not not only doing it for yourself. I do agree with you, though. Some people just leave hundreds of comments that are for their own benefit and add no value whatsoever.
@Pinyo - That’s smart! I receive a lot of comments in my moderation queue that are trying to disguise that they’re in fact spam. Some will say things like “Good tips, I have bookmarked this.” but I get dozens of those, and a lot of them are for spam websites. Bloggers just have to be smart enough not to let the spammers win! Keep up the great work.
Tay,
Thanks so much for this informative article. There are so many articles about this topic, but this one really stands out.
I found it very informative and useful.
Thanks!
[…] takes part in a series about getting traffic with her post, Be Community Involved to Get More Traffic. You can find links to the other 4 posts in the series here […]
@Ran - It really makes me happy to hear you say so! I’m glad the article was helpful to you. Of course, the others in the series are just as great if not better, so don’t forget to check those out as well!
I would just be happy if someone read what I had to say.
My Entry
[…] Wednesday: Blogtrepreneur - What is Your Best Source of Web Traffic? Thursday: Super Blogging - Be Community Involved to Get More Traffic Friday: SiteFever - Drive Traffic By Commenting […]
[…] Comment on other blogs. Being community involved is a very important thing. If you drop by other blogs, especially ones related to yours or in your […]