FreeClicksAustralia

Being a new blogger to the scene it can be very difficult to break into the big times, obtaining link backs from popular blogs, and driving high amounts of traffic to your site. Of course we all know what high traffic to your blog means. A larger reader base, more exposure, bigger affiliate payouts, more money, more affiliate opportunities, in some cases even free gadgets for reviews, and even more entrepreneurial distractions.

I?m not saying that The Beef Jerky Blog's Blog Money has all the answers to your traffic problems but these are some methods you can test out to see if they are effective enough for you.

1. Join the Technorati Experiment

This is a sure fire way to increase your Technorati Authority, link backs, and traffic to your blog. The goal is to bring your blog up the ranks from 1,900,000 to the Top 100. Reaching the Top 100 will increase your reader base and traffic significantly. The process is easy and your efforts pay off as you will see a rise in your authority within a week or so maybe even within 24 hours. So Join the Technorati Experiment.

2. Build your Alexa Rank.

The importance of increasing your alexa rank means more opportunities for you and your blog. Most advertisers and ad networks use Alexa rank to determine your popularity and the weight of links from your site to theirs. This is a sure way to increase your online income. One cool way to improve your Alexa ranking is to use the Alexa redirect ?http? when adding your site URL to forum signatures, links, ect.

A sure fire way to increase your Alexa rank is to download and install the Alexa widget. After installing this widget some bloggers and site owners witnessed their Alexa ranking increase 30-40% within a few weeks. Another way to increase your Alexa Ranking is to download the Alexa Toolbar. Alexa uses this toolbar to collect browsing data from visitors who use the toolbar and uses this information to calculate your Alexa ranking.

3. Social Bookmarking Sites

Submit quality articles linking back to your blog via social network sites such as StumbleUpon, and Digg. You can also submit your articles to relevant blog carnivals as well as blog directories. However, you should be aware that when you use such practices to generate traffic to your site there may be consequences that cause your site to go offline with. So be prepared for a traffic surge and always make sure that you have quality articles in place in order to keep your visitors coming back and subscribing to your feed.


These methods are all great methods to get you started with promoting your online store or business. If you have ever been interested in starting your own online shop then get started you may be interested in this article. Even ugly sites with the right marketing, product and promotion make their owners a good chunk of change. Try these methods to boost your blog traffic and see what results you get.

bigsilpper

Thanks For the Info

constantineA

Big thanks

ammulu

That was really good information. Helpful to all, thanks for sharing it with us. Happy blogging.

chocoguy

I have already done the things you have mention here, but I couldn't see the results. Maybe I have to wait for a few more months to see the results. I'll keep you updated.

Elven

Of all the things you can do, choco, waiting to see is the worst.
What the search engines and social bookmarking sites look for above all is changing content.
How often do you post to your blog?

Here are some action items for you to take to get started on the road to driving traffic to your web site or blog:

• Understand who is the ideal visitor to your site.
  
• Discover some interesting stories to tell about your web site.
  
• Make a checklist and plan for publicizing your site.
  
• Submit your site to search engines.
  
• Resubmit your site to search engines as necessary over time.
  
• Get your site listed in the ODP and Yahoo! taxonomic directories.
  
• Work to encourage appropriate inbound linking to your site.
  
• Publish a press release.
  
• Continue to publish press releases as stories related to your site come up.
  
• Create and distribute syndication feeds.
  
• Consider creating and maintaining an email newsletter to support your site marketing campaign.

Many people forget that a blog is really just a specially formatted website. All the rules for websites apply, in addition to the unique opportunities for promotion using social networking.

The Technorati Experiment is a powerful way to drive traffic to your blog, but you have to consider what sort of traffic it will be. Your site will rise in the rankings, much like getting a lot of Altavista links, but are the people who will visit your blog (or website) going to buy your products and services?

As one relatively successful participant in the TE noted:
I have to wonder how Google and the other major search engines will react? Will they discount links from Technorati listings?

Or will the major search engines look to a broader, more-democratic view, expecting similar 'experiments' from all social networking sites in the near future?

There are a lot of tools for driving traffic to your blog, choco. The key is to drive 'convertible' visitors (Those you can convert into business or participation.) as opposed to just browsers.

Elven

chocoguy

Thanks for the concern. I was saying that I have already done some of those but it is still not working for me. I'm having trouble in using the syndication feed. I want to know how I can use it.

Elven

The syndication feed where? on Technorati?

Building traffic to a website or blog is an ongoing process. Even laying the groundwork - SEO stuff and registrations - will take a new look every once in a while.

Go to some of you competitors' sites. Preferably your most powerful competitors.

Check their ranking in Google and Alexa.
Do a 'Show source' and copy their keywords into a file, then run them in the Google sandbox.

• Where are their keywords ranking?
• How much are the bids running for those keywords?

That will give you a good idea of what to shoot for.

While you're on Alexa, check the Wayback Machine on their websites.
It'll give you some idea of how long it took your competitors to establish themselves. You can compare your own efforts to that time frame, and it will help motivate you when things start getting tiresome. (which can be often in this sort of stuff...)

PPC is targeted and quick
If you're getting desperate for traffic, the first place to look is a PPC campaign. Choose a couple of those keywords (from your site or your competitors) to bid on.

Decide on a realistic monthly budget for this sort of advertising. It doesn't have to be a large figure. You can run an effective campaign on $10-$20 a month if you choose your keywords properly.
Bidding in Australia for the obvious keywords can get a little expensive, but there are many other keywords that command considerable traffic for nearly nothing.
If you're bidding against international competitors, you get a perspective quickly on the cost and value of keywords in Australia/NZ. What may seem expensive in Aus/NZ at $1.20 may be costing $8.00 USD oversease.
Most keywords in Aus/NZ are very cheap - maybe even $0.10.

You can use the tools in wizard to see the probability your ad will appear based on what you are willing to pay per click.
It will also show you whether your ad will appear in the top 1-4, or further down the listing. You want to try to be in the top 1-4.

One caveat in Aus/NZ: About 40% (some say as high as 60%) of searchers will not click on a 'Sponsored Link' simply because they know it is purchased. It's more a reflection of the newbie attitudes in this region.

You'll have to design a three line ad for the campaign.

This sort of traffic is counted by Alexa, but Google claims they don't count it in their page rankings. That issue has been debated at length, but it remains moot since Google works to stay inscrutible.
This is a very new market for PPC - the service has only been fully available for about two years - and Google may not be as rigid here as in other markets/regions.

With what you learn from Google, you might want to try running similar campaigns on other sites. Yahoo is more expensive. But MSN is outrageously costly for the coverage (less than 15% of the Aus/NZ searches go through MSN.)

At some point you have to start considering your target demographics.
More men than women use Google; more women use Yahoo. In the Aus/NZ region, far more businesses use MSN - and that is reflected in their expensive ads.

Just a few notes over morning coffee...

Elven