6 Ways To Increase Blog Traffic - Ckick for http://bit.ly/qcZ2g8 full article

6 Ways To Increase Blog Traffic - Ckick for http://bit.ly/qcZ2g8 full article

With several million blogs out there on just about every topic imaginable, it can seem impossible to drive plenty of high-quality traffic to your own. A bit of ingenuity and a thorough understanding of how the web works, however, can go a long way towards increasing blog traffic. Here are six tips to make yours stand out:

1. Utilize social media.
Social media sites can help increase your blog's traffic exponentially, if they are used correctly. It can be a simple matter of adding share buttons to each post for the major sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google+, but you should also consider using these sites more extensively. Social bookmarking sites such as Digg should be used sparingly, as posting links from the same site over and over will be considered spam and can get you blacklisted.

2. Publish fresh content regularly.
The key to quality traffic is to publish quality content on a regular basis. Your posts should be relevant to the blog's purpose, informative, and well-written. New content keeps visitors coming back regularly and keeps search engine spiders crawling your blog.

3. Put effort into getting quality backlinks.
Well-placed backlinks are like votes that tell search engines your site is reputable. Getting quality backlinks is an essential component of any SEO strategy. Social media sites can be used to garner backlinks, in addition to article directories and forums.

4. Comment!
Become an active member of the community by commenting on others' blogs and replying to comments posted on your own. This will encourage others to check out your site and will show visitors that you are a human with genuine interest.

5. Use guest blogs.
Using guest bloggers or guest blogging yourself can be an excellent way to drive traffic to your site. Submitting guest blogs helps create backlinks, and guest bloggers bring their own followers to your site.

6. Understand the ins and out of paid advertising.
If you use forms of paid advertising, such as Google Adwords or other pay per click services, make sure you understand what you are and aren't getting from the service, as well as whether or not it is costing you more money than it brings in. Small business owners with limited advertising budgets may want to focus on free methods of increasing blog traffic before utilizing these programs.