Last time we started looking at the center of an Ultimate Free Traffic Network, blogs.
This time we’ll continue looking at what you need to do to make sure your blogs are optimized to get the greatest benefit and the most traffic.
I’ve identified 15 things to do that will make an incredible difference in your traffic network.
Each is a valuable technique but combined they really help each other.
1. Title Your Post for Both Your Readers and the Search Engines
First, and foremost, write your title for your readers, including those who have subscribed to your RSS feed.
Make them snappy, on-topic and catchy.
However, you also want to think about the search engines when you create your titles, since they are a primary traffic driver.
What I do, and I find it works great, is to write the title then run a search at Google’s Keyword tool and WordTracker to see if there is a better phrasing or word ordering that I can use that better matches target search terms.
2. Cover Topics that Need to Be Covered
There are always certain topics and questions in every niche that constantly come up but don’t have good answers.
Those are always good to talk about and to provide definitive answers to.
I get a lot of topics for my posts from e-mail questions and blog comments. When you have people asking you questions then these can make great blog posts.
Spend time and effort researching hot topics that will be of interest and great value to your readers and to search engines. Then write posts about them giving your readers information, ideas, techniques, etc. that will keep them on the forefront of their niche and put them ahead of their competition.
3. Don’t Just Have Text in Your Posts
Break up your blog posts and keep them interesting by including images, video, audio, polls, charts, graphs and other non-text content.
You can even just use formatting like headings, whitespace, indentation, bullet points, call out boxes, etc. to create more visually appealing and readable blog posts.
4. Link Smartly and Judiciously
Some people think you shouldn’t have link from your site that aren’t links to your own Web properties.
While I don’t agree with that, when you include external links in your blog posts be aware of how those links are part of your content.
Of course, not every post needs links to other sites and there should be a good reason for everyone your have.
Add links only when it will provide additional information of great value to your reader. For example, if you are talking about using a tool that isn’t commonly known or that requires searching around to find then include a link to it.
Also, if you quoting or discuss the ideas of other bloggers or online sources then you should link to them; not to do that is bad etiquette and could cost you nice back links from them in the future.
5. Create and Use Meaningful Permalinks
Creating permanent link that are useful is, in my opinion, the best way to go.
It should readable to a person and include keywords for the post; this helps the reader and the search engines.
They should be as short as possible but clarity should trump brevity because it isn’t likely that people will try to remember the URL link.
6. Be Sure to Bookmark Your Posts
Technorati is the first, and still THE, place that you should be bookmarking your posts and make it easy for others to do so.
Be sure to properly tag your blog posts and to use Digg, del.icio.us, Propeller and StumbleUpon.
There are many other places and you can automate much of this if you build a Social Media Domination Machine (http://streetguidetowebtraffic.com/blog/social-networking/social-media-domination-machine),
7. Archive Effectively
The best archives are the ones that make it easy for people to find what they want and for search engines to understand.
Carefully organize your blog posts into categories and date ranges.
For search traffic having the entire text on the archive pages but for readers having a short introduction and then a link to the full blog post is easier.
You need to try to balance these two conflicting needs and make your decision based on personal your goals for the blog.
8. Track Your Pages and Visitors
Use tracking software, like Google Analytics, to see which of your posts and more popular and also where you visitors are coming from. Also, track any sign up and comments links or buttons so you can what percentage of people use them and where they are coming from.
Use this information to improve your pages and your strategies.
9. Create Your Blog Without Comments and Add Them Later
A blog post with no comments feels sort of dead.
One solution is to disable comments and then when you have about 100 RSS subscribers or 7-800 unique visitors per day, then enable comments and you should start seeing some comment activity.
10. Use a Human Voice
The success of a blog is tied to the “voice” you present to your readers.
For direct response marketers, like most Internet Marketers, people in most niches like an informal voice that has empathy, authority, humility and honesty; so write from that place and you’ll be more likely to succeed.
If you see people start to leaving and your traffic dropping it’s time to do something and one of those things is to relook at your writing style and the “voice” of your posts.
11. Create a Personal Style and Be Consistent
When writing, create a personal style in tone, content focus, when you post and what your post look like.
If you vary widely from that it will be harder to get a group of people who like your style; makes sense since you don’t really have one.
Part of why people will read what you say again and again is that they like both the information you provide and the way you provide it.
Whatever style you decide you will attract people, although certain styles work better in certain niches, but you need to be consistent in that style both in content and “voice”.
This applies somewhat to post frequency so try to be consistent in how many and when you make your posts.
12. Don’t Be Secretive or Stingy with Information
The more open and giving you are with the information on your blog posts the more likely they will be read and the more you will be trusted.
The Internet itself has become a vast library of information much of it previously considered, or believed to be, private.
If you aren’t pushing to the limit of what you can rightfully publish you’ll be defeating yourself but if you do “go all the way” then you’ll be rewards with more visitiors, links and traffic.
13. Build a Brand
Most direct marketers are successful because they build a brand – not do brand marketing but build a brand.
That brand may be a personal brand where they brand themselves or it may be a corporate brand where they brand a company.
When you brand you need to create a brand that people want to be associated with that people feel they are better off by “patronize” that brand.
As with your style, be consistent with your brand.
14. Don’t Advertise (at Least for Awhile)
Some people love putting up blogs with lots of ads including AdSense.
This isn’t a good thing no matter whether the ads are AdSense, banners, contextual or any other type it has a negative impact on the number of readers who subscribe, bookmark or evn add to their favorites.
That is something you don’t want particularly while you’re still trying to get established.
It also gives people a lot of places to go to that are your sites.
So, even though you might pick up a little money, until you are popular, don’t put an advertisements on you pages except maybe to your own Web properties; ultimately you’ll earn much more than you’re going to lose.
15. Have Guest Bloggers
Having a well known person in your niche to write a short post on their subject of expertise is a great way to give great value to your readers and attract new ones; particularly because you’ll probably get a link (or at least be associated with the person).
Be sure that you getting a quality post from the person and not just a sales piece and that the person is well know and thought of highly in your niche.
Also make sure they agree to have let you edit their post before it’s posted to avoid any later unpleasantness.
Conclusion
Now you know what to do to your blogs to optimize them for your Ultimate Free Traffic Network to turn them into traffic magnets. In fact, they’re good to do even if you aren’t creating a traffic network.
We looked 15 ways to do this optimization:
- Title Your Post for Both Your Readers and the Search Engines
- Cover Topics that Need to Be Covered
- Don’t Just Have Text in Your Posts
- Link Smartly and Judiciously
- Create and Use Meaningful Permalinks
- Be Sure to Bookmark Your Posts
- Archive Effectively
- Track Your Pages and Visitors
- Create Your Blog Without Comments and Add Them Later
- Use a Human Voice
- Create a Personal Style and Be Consistent
- Don’t Be Secretive or Stingy with Information
- Build a Brand
- Don’t Advertise (at Least for Awhile)
- Have Guest Bloggers
Remember that your blogs are the true center of your traffic network and they need to be setup as optimized and powerful as possible.
Next time we’ll look at the last things you need to be doing to with your blogs as you create your Ultimate Free Traffic Network.
Do you have any things you do to your blogs that has been successful?
Are you building a traffic network? I hope so, I am!
Leave me a comment and let me know.
Talk soon,
The Shameless (Ethical) Marketer
http://www.Twitter.com/DavidHusnian
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