How to get traffic to your Blog - Redux
<This is a reprise with new info from my March '06 post "How to Get People to Your Blog">
A number of bloggers have asked me how to drive traffic to <insert name of your blog here>. I have talked about the technical aspects of getting more people to your blog, but I've forgotten one the most basic concepts. Your content has to be interesting and have value to your readers.
Robert Scoble was asked this same question and after looking at the blog in question his response was:
It took me five years of blogging every night to get where I am in traffic.
Patience, patience!
I can only see one post on here.
The first question you have should not be "how do I get more traffic?"
It should be "how can I blog better?"
Traffic FOLLOWS good content. There's no way around that rule. Well, unless you want to do something salacious.
Eric Gunnerson sez:
1. (For those who can) Move your blog to blogs.msdn.com (or the technet equivalent). You will get much more search engine traffic that way.
2. Establish a history of providing useful content.
3. Find some non-MS bloggers who are doing something in your space, and link to them. Many bloggers read their trackbacks to find other interesting stuff, and if you link to them, they may start linking to you. But you have to be real about this - link to things that your users.
4. Talk more about the problems you're trying to solve, less about the features.
5. Make sure you link out at appropriate times. The only links in your current post are at the end. Link out to a definition of "Phishing", for example.
6. You have 4 or 5 comments on your post that you haven't responded to. Make sure somebody is in charge of answering comments on a daily basis. You may either answer in comments or do a general "FAQ" post, depending on whether you think the answer is of general use.
Seth Godin sez:
Use lists.
Be topical... write posts that need to be read right now.
Learn enough to become the expert in your field.
Break news.
Be timeless... write posts that will be readable in a year.
Be among the first with a great blog on your topic, then encourage others to blog on the same topic.
Share your expertise generously so people recognize it and depend on you.
Announce news.
Write short, pithy posts.
Encourage your readers to help you manipulate the technorati top blog list.