ClubBlogger » guest post http://clubblogger.com A resource for bloggers, by bloggers. Wed, 25 May 2011 21:09:48 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.3 Increasing your traffic? Slow and steady may win this race http://clubblogger.com/2008/08/18/increasing-your-traffic-slow-and-steady-may-win-this-race/ http://clubblogger.com/2008/08/18/increasing-your-traffic-slow-and-steady-may-win-this-race/#comments Mon, 18 Aug 2008 13:40:31 +0000 ClubBlogger http://clubblogger.com/?p=241 This is a guest post by Meg Stivison from Simpson’s Paradox, if you want to know more about Simpson’s Paradox.com and to hear more from Meg, please subscribe to her RSS Feed.

 Everyone wants to increase their traffic, but bloggers often lose sight of the difference between hits and readers. There’s no bad traffic, of course, but some hits are better than others. Casual one-time visitors are just eyes on your blog, while repeat readers bookmark you or add you to their feedreader, and make checking in for your updates part of their internet routine. Obviously, repeat readers are much better than just eyes on your blog, and as a blogger, your work should focus more on getting repeat visitors and turning casual traffic into fans.If you — like me — are an obsessive stats-checker, you may experiment with changing your posting schedule, article length and frequency. You may find that your readers are much more interested on weekdays, that new Friday-afternoon content gets buried, or that letting days slip by without a post decreases your hits. This is all valuable knowledge but understanding publishing isn’t a substitute for good content.
 
A keyword-rich article draws spiders and searchers, but what you ultimately want is not just eyes viewing your page, but fans coming back. Anything else is just a numbers game, a short-term stats increase that will need to be maintained with similar tricks. Dedicated readers don’t need that kind of maintenance… plus, they will do your advertising for you as they spread the word about your amazing blog.

 

To get to that stage, your job is twofold. First, have a great blog! There is simply no substitute for writing good content. Obviously, you have something to say, something to share with the world, even if you don’t have very many readers yet. Polish and publish your post, and your blogging job is mostly done.
 
The second part is making it easy for a good post to go viral. Make sure your articles are easily sharable, consider adding a button to submit to Digg or Facebook, or setting up an easy way to email a story. Make it easier for readers to discover your great posts by making sure your posts are tagged and searchable. Submit your posts to topical carnivals for increased, targeted exposure… then think up your next great post while new readers come to you.
None of these are instant, or a big traffic burst, and it is disappointing to write a brilliant article and fail to see your stats climb immediately. This won’t happen overnight,  but slow growth of repeat readers is more valuable than indiscriminate traffic.
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