10 Things You Can Do Today to Kick-Start Your Blog’s Growth

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Posted in » Articles, Blogging Tips, Guest Posts, Marketing - by Ades on November 28th, 2007

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This article was guest blogged by Skellie from SkellieWag.org. She is a regular contributor to some of the top blogs such as ProBloger.net, CopyBlogger, and ZenHabits. In this post Skellie will cover 10 ways to grow your blog’s traffic.

It can often seem as if our blog’s growth is out of our control. We post regularly and try to write the best content we can, but sometimes this doesn’t seem like enough. Our growth might plateau, or even start going backwards.

Thankfully, there are some things that are in your control. In this post, I want to explore ten actions you can do straight away that will grow your blog and send you traffic. Perform one of these tasks each day, or one a week. You’ll breathe new life into your blog.

1. Give something away. These days, most bloggers don’t want to give something away unless they get something in return (a link, or maybe a review). This seems intuitive: why give away time or resources without any clear benefits?

The truth is counter-intuitive. Give without expecting to receive and you’ll receive anyway. I’m not speaking about this hypothetically. On my own blog, I offered free simplicity reviews and post ideas for anyone who asked without asking for anything in return. I still get links from grateful participants to this day. Giving away something useful for free leaves a lasting impression. There’s no better way to get traffic and recommendations — without even asking for them.

2. Get connections to vote for you on social media. Call in a favor by asking other bloggers and social media users you know to vote up your best content. You’d be surprised how willing people are to give you a leg up if you’d only ask — especially if you do something for them in return, or have done so in the past.

3. Run a competition. The best competitions have one of three qualities: a fantastic prize, an unusual prize, or an interesting format. Other bloggers shouldn’t have to endure a sacrifice to participate. Make the requirement something that will benefit both you and the blogger, while also putting them in the running to win something. If you don’t have funds, make the prize something valuable that costs nothing to you: advertising space on your site, or a service utilizing one of your talents.

4. Write a free report. A ten page report (usually a ‘how to’ on a topic within your niche) might take a few hours to write but is something that can promote your blog in the long-term. If it’s good, people will share it around. They’ll attach it to emails and offer it as a download on their own blogs. Make sure to link back to your own blog in the report and your incoming traffic will grow exponentially as the report spreads.

5. Start a meme. Think of an idea for a blog post or a set of questions. Write that post or answer the questions, then tag ten other bloggers you’d like to participate in the meme. If you make your first article instructive, you’ll encourage everyone who participates in the meme to link back to you for the original instructions. If five of those ten bloggers you’ve tagged participate, and they each tag five others (and so on), your meme has the potential to generate dozens (or hundreds) of links back to your blog.

6. Guest-post on a popular blog. A guest-post on a popular blog can bring dozens to hundreds of targeted hits into your site. Don’t think you could ever write for a popular blog? Think again. They key things to remember when pitching to a popular blogger is: keep it short. Don’t write the post before your pitch has been accepted. Your email should include your post idea and a headline for the piece if possible. Link to your best article to show them the kind of writing you’re capable of.

7. Buy a StumbleUpon campaign. My blog has been on the front page of Digg twice and StumbleUpon is still my biggest single referrer. For $5 your can buy three-hundred hits from social media influencers. If your content is good, you can guarantee a few of those visitors will vote up your post and send you even more traffic. If your content is really good, your $5 campaign could snowball into a viral episode, bringing you thousands of visitors. Here’s some more information on running a StumbleUpon advertising campaign.

8. Comment on five popular blogs. The posts on your niche’s most popular blogs are often viewed by thousands of people. If you’re one of the first commenters, you could have thousands of eyeballs passing over your comment. Leave an insightful or thought-provoking comment and this may motivate others to investigate you and your blog. Today, try to be one of the first to comment on posts from five different popular blogs — particularly those with active and interesting comment threads. You’re bound to get some quality traffic.

9. Send out links to your best content. We all want links from popular blogs. You know what they say: if you want something, you’ve got to ask. Send a brief email to five other bloggers linking to a great post you’ve written that’s relevant to their audience. Don’t ask for a link directly, just say something like: I thought you or your readership might be interested in this. Not every person will link to you, but keep trying and eventually someone will. I’ve received hundreds of visitors over time from links that I went out and asked for. Learning to be audacious is a necessary step for any successful blogger.

10. Join a forum in your niche. Your forum signature allows you to attach a link to your blog with every post that you write. Write ten posts today and you’ve created ten new links to your site. People do click through these links. When I first launched my blog, I built its initial readership almost exclusively through participating in a niche forum. This method really does work.

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61 Responses to “10 Things You Can Do Today to Kick-Start Your Blog’s Growth”

  1. By knupNET on Nov 28, 2007

    Thanks for the great list. All very true points.

  2. By Reverse Funnel System Review on Nov 28, 2007

    Yes very good tips to grow your blog. But if u have quality blog traffic should grow steady.

  3. By Pat B. Doyle on Nov 29, 2007

    Great tips, Skellie! I think I will try the Stumbleupon advertising soon. #1 is giving me some great ideas too. :)

  4. By hts on Nov 29, 2007

    Thank you for “waking” me up. I was oblivious to the existence of paid campaigns with SU. I was just submitting my content to SU up until now, but with the first opportunity, I`ll try some paid advertising with them. All-in-all great tips for someone who is at the beginning with his blog, like me :)

  5. By vinni on Nov 29, 2007

    hey!
    these are some interesting ways to do it. have been doing some of the things. but more will always help!

  6. By James Mann on Nov 29, 2007

    Excellent post, thanks.

    I hopped over to ProBlogger to check out the post on StumbleUpon Ad campaigns.

    I have been using StumbleUpon for months now and never had a clue about an ad campaign.

    Thanks.

    P.S. I like to post comments on popular blogs but only if they have something that grabs me enough to make we want to comment.

  7. By Bhaanu on Dec 4, 2007

    A valuable compilation of really cool tips and you are hitting the nail right on the head with them. Thanks.

  8. By khairilz on Dec 12, 2007

    thanks for the info but i did not understand about 6. Guest-post on a popular blog.
    can u explain it in more details?

  9. By julia on Jan 18, 2008

    i do the #8

  10. By War Gold on Jan 24, 2008

    Excellent, comprehensive list. #7 is a little gray-hat, but hey, it works!

  11. By JBiggs on Feb 9, 2008

    Hello
    At the moment i still learning how to make good income from internet, searching for great tips and advice to help me successful.
    I found your articles very help me to get an idea about how to make money online.
    Thanks once again.
    JBiggs :)

  12. By cell phone on Feb 15, 2008

    All I do is write unique content rich articles for a lot of my blogs and yahoo notices it!

  13. By Jayson on Feb 16, 2008

    All of these are great tips. #8 is huge - thanks for pointing that out.

  14. By Steve Allen on Feb 21, 2008

    Great stuff. I’ve been working my way through them and it’s little hassle and a lot of benefit.

    Cheers,

    S

  15. By fel3232 on Mar 12, 2008

    #8 is huge. Good interesting articles is what draws a targeted audience and makes them come back 4 more.

    Just my 2 cents

  16. By PS3 on Mar 14, 2008

    I’ve often wondered how “guests” get to post on other people’s blogs. Presumably the starting point is to approach the blog owner with a topic they want to see posted?

    How many blogs are likely to be interested in a random individual asking to post?

    Are paid Stumbles frowned upon by StumleUpon? If not, I’d be keen to give that a go.

  17. By Technology Up to Date on Mar 14, 2008

    It’s not so easy to find good blogs where yuou can add comment for free;-)

  18. By Ades on Mar 15, 2008

    PS3, yes you should write the article first and send it to the blogger that you want your guest post to appear on his blog. Besides the article, you should give some info about yourself and your blog (if you have). If the blogger likes your article, he will reply you back that he will be publishing it. But if you do not hear back from him, then you can publish the article on your own blog or send it to someone else.

    It would depend. If you write good articles, and if you have an interesting blog, you will have a good chance of being accepted for guest blogging.

    I personally think, StumbleUpon do not like paid posts.

  19. By PS3 on Mar 15, 2008

    My specialism (my job) is a bankruptcy trustee but no many blogs are interested in information on that!

    If I ever produce an article worthy of consideration, I will let you know though !

  20. By greatwaytomuse on Apr 7, 2008

    Thanks, especially about the Stumbleupon campaign

  21. By Komodo Dragon on May 31, 2008

    There is a lot of very critical information here. This is good advice for those who are becoming lackadaisical about their blogging success.

  22. By Secret Affiliate Code on Jun 14, 2008

    I’ve found there are even simple on-blog things that you can do to increase readership, such as making sure links to other posts are easily accessible so that readers will naturally explore more of your blog.

    The more good content they see, the more likely they are to come back.

    But definitely as you said Ade, social media can be a great way to ramp up traffic initially.

  23. By Internet TV on Jun 30, 2008

    Some excellent tips on how to grow your blog audience. I especially liked the tip on StumbleUpon.

  24. By Greg Wolejko on Aug 7, 2008

    This is a great read!
    I am still in a phase with my blog where I look for all the tips I can find and let me tell you those are top notch.

    and to give you a little bit different look on the subject here is my recent article 7 things to do while not blogging where I talk about what to do besides blogging to help you promote your blog.

    Just my two cents,
    cheers

  25. By David on Aug 7, 2008

    thank you for sharing your knowledge :D

  26. By Aly Adair on Aug 7, 2008

    Thank you for the great blog traffic boost list, Skellie. I didn’t know about StumbleUpon. You are so right about posting to other related blogs. I did a tribute post to Tim Russert with an MP3 video player of Bruce Springsteen songs at mindbodysoulpatio.com. Through SEO search - I was invited to link to the NBC Tribute to Tim Russert’s family. I get daily blog hits to my post from the NBC site. It really does work. I look forward to learning more tips from your informative articles.

  27. By Aly Adair on Aug 7, 2008

    P.S. If anyone would like to visit thte MSNBC site and post a comment to the family, The MSNBC Tim Russert Tribute site is:

    http://www.TimRussertMSNBC.com

  28. By Increase Website Traffic on Aug 7, 2008

    I really enjoyed the article.

    I’m seriously thinking about buying that strumble upon campaign. It might pay out.

    Thanks once again,
    TheRazor

  29. By Paid Online Surveys on Aug 12, 2008

    Awesome list. I think I utilize about 5 of the ten ideas mentioned. I’m going to take on two more ideas right now.

  30. By Eric Guerin on Aug 12, 2008

    these are some fantastic tips for blogging. The biggest step that I would consider #11 is follow through on steps #1 - #10. I also just Dugg this blog post on Digg. Great post!

  31. By Lowongan Kerja on Aug 19, 2008

    I’ve practiced few tips above.

    BTW, how many visitors are on this blog recently, could you share that info with us?

  32. By PS3 Kid on Sep 9, 2008

    I’ve only just seen this post but there are some good tips which i have practiced.
    Thanks for the tips!

  33. By Paid Online Free Surveys on Sep 9, 2008

    I have never seen the “meme” idea. Very helpful!

  34. By kouji on Sep 24, 2008

    you make a good point about the value of being one of the first to comment. and with rss and even blogger’s blogroll, it’s rather easier to be updated when another blog churns out a new post. will have to try this more.

  35. By Man Overboard on Oct 7, 2008

    Networking is key! I’ve been trying to convince the other Babelers to reach out and do some networking and most of these fall nicely into that category.

  36. By Internet SEO on Oct 9, 2008

    Well written content is so important, and you do it so well. You live up to all the things that you recommend. Great post.

  37. By Warhammer on Oct 14, 2008

    I never knew you can buy traffic from stumbleupon but I’m sure to give it a try. thanks m8. the other 9 listed techniques I have been using regularly and works fairly well.

  38. By afas on Nov 12, 2008

    i know one day i will have great blog. Hope i can do that soon.

  39. By Adrian on Nov 18, 2008

    Joining a forum in your niche is more importnat than most people think. The results are amazing. Thank you for sharing he tips!

  40. By bisri on Nov 26, 2008

    Thanks for the tips :). Salaam ..

  41. By Long Island Insurance on Dec 20, 2008

    I had no idea you could do a paid campaign with StumbleUpon. I love their toolbar. Thanks for the info.

  42. By Agolf Cartson on Dec 22, 2008

    I really like the Meme idea. It is a bit obvious but again that might be the reason that so few people use it. I don’t quite know how to do it but I’ll probably be able to find one that has already been done that I can get inspiration from. Thanks

  43. By Custom Web Design on Jan 5, 2009

    Excellent tips for blog popular. This post is very informative and unique content. Thanks.

  44. By Bensukses on Jan 8, 2009

    complete tips, thanks

  45. By beloed seo on Jan 13, 2009

    thank for 10 tips, that great for me.

  46. By Web Hosting on Jan 16, 2009

    Running competition and giving away free prizes is the most easiest way to gain popularity and links..

  47. By Expat Philippines on Jan 19, 2009

    Another great post haha.

    Comment number 10 states adding your url to your forum signature. However, I heard many webmasters remove this because they know you do it only to gain traffic.

    True or False?

  48. By Ades on Jan 20, 2009

    Some forum webmasters could do that, but I don’t see this happening on the forums in general. So you could still use it.

  49. By free advertising on Jan 28, 2009

    The information in this post mostly new technique for me. Thanks

  50. By CSS Gallery on Feb 21, 2009

    Great post and great suggestions, I’m in that startup mode right now, thanks.

  51. By Diet Blog on Feb 24, 2009

    I like the idea about giving something away. People love contests. I have a health blog, I wonder what I could give away that those people would be interested in.

  52. By Best Teeth Whitening on Mar 20, 2009

    Thanks for great post with excellent tips. Giving something away for free is very powerful and has many benefits. I think blog commenting is very helpful also.

  53. By Marisha Adams on Apr 21, 2009

    with regards to forums.. I think if you contribute to the forum, then you could persuade the moderators to let you keep the link - it would be worth a shot anyway.

  54. By iPhone on Apr 28, 2009

    Some of these are quite obvious, but I guess seeing them in a list makes me realise that by combining your tips I could increase my readership. My blog was getting around 1000 hits/day at its best but that has fallen to about 100/day now. I’ll be implementing these tips to see what effect they have.

  55. By nomad blogger on Jun 9, 2009

    i gueess this 10 thing will help my blog growth more and get more traffic soon.

  56. By Another Blogger on Jun 11, 2009

    This is a great list. But I read somewhere. Commenting is another great way to growth blog. Are you agree?

  57. By Ah Hong on Jul 1, 2009

    In the beginning, I was hoping traffic from the search engine will come to my site based on SEO but I found that there’s lot of other works need to be done.

    I totally agree on the point that we need to promote our site based on other method. Is it wise to try Google Adwords just to obtain more traffic?

    Give and take, good point :)

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