Blogging is all about socializing. A blog that doesn't generate interest and initiate discussions on the topics it covers, cannot claim to be a very successful blog. This main characteristic of blogs is achieved through the comments that readers post as a reaction to a published article.
Comments can bring complementary information on a matter and express a different point of view. It can also bring you traffic. In my blog readings, I often come across posts that are giving tips about getting more traffic/exposure. One thing that everyone agrees on and keep on coming as a great way to drive visitors to your blog, is commenting on others'. In fact, it's a very efficient (and free) way. Here is how you can get the most out of it:
(1) Look for blogs that you find interesting. You are more likely to have something to say about things that interest you. We are not talking about commenting just for the sake of leaving a link. That would be more like spamming, and people won't be eager to visit your blog if they don't find your comment interesting. Ideally you will teach them something in the comment already and they will be willing to visit your blog to learn more, because they will see you as an expert in that particular field.
(2) Leave comments whenever you think you have a point, even if you think it's not of a great value. As long as it's relevant to the topic, it may be of a help for another reader. Again, never comment just for the sake of commenting. It would bring the opposite effect.
(3) Try to write on blogs that deal with the same topic as yours. That would bring targeted visitors to your blog that are more likely to become loyal readers and ensure a regular and stable traffic in the future. I don't exclude the option of writing on blogs that talk about different things than you. It can bring short term traffic, and you may want that. I am just saying that the first option brings a more long-term traffic.
(4) Be involved in discussions. Don't just leave one comment and run. People may not want to visit your blog when they first see your comment, but when they read your name several times, they get familiar with it and will be more curious to see what you have to say in your own blog.
You get visitors, keep them :
The above mentioned tips can indeed help you increase traffic to your blog if done on a regular basis.
However, if you want to keep people coming to your blog again and again, subscribing to your feed, being involved and link to you, then you will have to make sure you write consistent and regular quality articles. Otherwise, readers will come once, twice and then never come back if they don't find what adds value to them. Quality content provided frequently is the key tip for a loyal readership.
Get yourself a strict planning of posting, share it with your readers and abide to it. Letting people know what you are planning to cover in your next posts, will make them want to be part of it. But again, the choice of the subjects is crucial, and the content of the articles once published is what determines if your readers would come for more or not.
Wrapping it up
As a summary, commenting on others' blogs can be a great way of driving traffic to your own, if you respect certain rules and do it in a clean and sustainable way. Nevertheless, you should keep in my mind that once a visitor is on your blog, the hardest part starts: keeping him/her there and interesting him/her to come back again and again. At the end, it's long-term traffic that a blogger needs and that requires you to service your readers with the best content you can provide.
Oussama MESSAOUD is a young part-time blogger, writing about ways to make money online, ad networks, affiliate programs and traffic generation. Read more of him on http://messaoud.info/en |
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