“Boost Your Blog Traffic: A Guide For Bloggers Who Want More Traffic in 2011” plus 1 more

Boost Your Blog Traffic: A Guide For Bloggers Who Want More Traffic in 2011

Posted: 14 Jan 2011 08:45 AM PST

boost blog traffic

Are you looking for more traffic for your blog?

If you answer yes – you’re not alone. In fact you’re in the vast majority of bloggers. I ran a survey of a segment of ProBlogger readers recently and a ‘lack of traffic’ was identified as the #1 challenge that bloggers face.

Kicking off on Monday 24 January Chris Garrett and I are running a short course to tackle this problem. Over 5 modules we’ll walk you through our philosophies for building traffic to blogs.

The course is just $29.95 USD – or $99 if you do it with our other 4 courses in the Pillars of ProBlogging series. It is the 2nd of these courses that we’ve created (the first had some great reviews) and we’d love for you to join us!

In the course we’ll cover 5 Modules:

Module 1: Where to Start

Starting with the visitors you have
Build Loyalty
Engagement
Subscriptions

Module 2: Get Off Your Blog

Facebook
Twitter
Forums
LinkedIn
Blogs

Module 3: Get More Google Traffic

Keywords and key phrases
Keyword research
Landing pages
Links
Other ranking influences

Module 4: Advertising and Syndication

Adwords
Facebook
RSS, Aggregators and Syndication
Repurposing
Guest-Posting

Module 5: Live Webinar

Live chat with Chris and Myself (in fact we do two live webinars to accomodate different time zones). These will be recorded for those who can’t make the live webinars.

Each of the modules is made up of multiple videos (a total of over 20 videos) which you’ll have access to for a year – so you don’t have to complete it all in the five days that we release them.

So if you’re looking to boost traffic to your blog in 2011 and you need a little inspiration and instruction to get you going – sign up today for this course.

Post from: ProBlogger Blog Tips

How to Solve the Blogging Puzzle

Posted: 14 Jan 2011 05:07 AM PST

This post is by Kiesha of WeBlogBetter.

Have you solved the blogging puzzle? Or are you just puzzled?

As a kid, when winter break rolled around, I found myself with too much time on my hands. So I would occupy myself with 1000-piece puzzles. They kept me entertained for days.

But after several hours working on the puzzle, I always came to a point where I wanted to quit—a point where I became so frustrated that I just wanted to throw the whole box of madness up against the wall. I can remember feeling as if the makers of the puzzle were deliberately trying to trick me, like they’d left out some very important pieces to keep me from finishing the puzzle. I felt like there were some insider tips that I was not privileged to know.

I was so puzzled, I had no choice but to step away from the table for a while—to actually eat, use the restroom, and do other stuff I somehow forgot while in my frenzied quest.

While on my break, I would continue to think about the stupid puzzle. I’d think about where I’d gone wrong. Perhaps there were pieces that I thought should fit in one spot that actually belonged somewhere else entirely. The puzzle even occupied my mind while I was eating.

When I got back to the puzzle with fresh eyes, I’d start seeing many pieces that I’d overlooked before. I’d find the exact spot where those pieces I’d been trying to force into all the wrong places really belonged. I’d get my second wind and before I knew it, every piece would be firmly placed and the beautiful, big picture would emerge.

Fast forward a few decades. I still love puzzles, but I no longer have time for such frivolous time-wasting (okay, I admit it: I still partake occasionally). However, I’ve learned that there’s a lot to be learned about blogging from puzzles.

Build the frame first

This seems like the most common-sense thing to do, but it’s also very tempting to just dive in and start throwing things together. Yet, without the frame, it’s easy to lose sight of how all the other pieces fit together—the puzzle becomes a vague, nebulous thing that makes no sense. The frame sets the physical boundaries that enable an understanding of the puzzle’s dimensions and help you see the significance of each individual piece.

It’s the same with blogging. A blog requires the solid foundation of a good design that visually shows your readers how all of the pieces of your blog fit together, and makes it easy to navigate. In addition to visual design, your categories provide the framework that’s needed to understand the boundaries of your blog. By looking at those categories, a reader should instantly get an idea of what they might or might not find on your blog.

Look at the big picture

Honestly, I see blogging as my latest puzzle adventure. As I continue to dive deeper into the world of blogging, I discover new pieces of knowledge that I had missed before. As I digest each new piece of information that comes in the form of books and others’ blog posts, the big picture begins to develop.

Sometimes, I realize there are misplaced pieces. The good news is that I don’t have to know everything. With a little research, I can do just about anything. Sometimes, I just have to go back and keep digging through the same pieces I thought were useless before until I realize those are the very pieces I need. There were pieces of the blogging puzzle I rejected at first. I couldn’t see the point of SEO, for example. I had to go back and add that valuable piece to my knowledge bank later, once I saw its relevance to my blog.

It takes work and time

Blogging requires work and a commitment of time. Like a 1000-piece puzzle, it’s never finished in one day. You have to keep at it, piece by piece, until it finally starts looking more and more like the picture on the box—like the blog you sought out to create before the frustration hit.

I don’t care how bad a blog starts out. I believe that, if you continue to work at improving it, time becomes the best medicine—especially in the blogosphere, where new blogs come and old ones go every day. If your blog can stand the test of time, some level of success won’t be far off.

It requires focus

I learned the hard way that jumping all over the place from one area to the next really only sped up the frustration factor. Instead of focusing on one area until I had developed something I recognized, I would become fascinated by a new set of pieces and start working on a totally unrelated section of the puzzle.

When I first started blogging, I was so fascinated by affiliate marketing and making money online that I didn’t have time to develop the most important piece of all: content.

It’s no wonder so many people step away from the blogging table—there are so many different elements demanding our attention. These factors can leave you feeling frazzled, and pull you all over the place, robbing you of focus. Once I realized the importance of focusing on one area at a time (when in doubt, focus on content), I was able to accomplish so much more.

What I learned about puzzles so many years ago now informs my blogging. That’s the beauty of personal experience: there’s an important lesson to learn in everything we do—even something as seemingly useless as putting together a puzzle.

So what about you? Are you still trying to solve your blogging puzzle? Or are you so puzzled that you’re ready to give in? What tips can you add?

Kiesha blogs at WeBlogBetter, a blog devoted to offering blogging tips. Sheís a technical writer, writing instructor, and blog consultant for small business owners. Connect with her on Twitter @weblogbetter.

Post from: ProBlogger Blog Tips