Let’s face it, blogs (or weblogs) are getting incredibly popular amongst people with an internet connection due to the ease and practicality of setting one up. Despite this however, there is no value in having a blog if no one is visiting and reading it! Therefore, it is important to know exactly how to drive traffic to your blog if you desire to increase your readership or monetize it. To do that, here are 10 quick tips to generating more traffic to your blogs:

Tip 1: Reciprocal Linking
One of the most proven ways to gain targeted traffic is to exchange links with other bloggers or site owners.
This is a task which requires a little work – by sending an email request for a link exchange with a few follow ups but the results are worth it.

Another linking method is to simply write a testimonial for a product you have purchased. If your testimonial is good, product owners will usually publish it on their sales page with your blog URL included. If you want to skip the traditional way of exchanging links and go for the easier way, you can automate the process with various software and services found on the net. Just do a search at Google.com and you will have a list of these.

Tip 2: Blog Commentaries
Do you know that your comments also have high potential in generating targeted traffic to your blog and is an effective linking strategy?

All you have to do is find a blog related to your niche and post your comments. At the end of your comments you can include a link back to your blog, this way people who are interested will be able to visit your blog as well. However you should never misuse this to spam other blogs.

Tip 3: Blog Directories
Blog directories are similar to search engines just that they cater only to searches for blogs. It is advisable to submit your blog to the major directories, some of which include feedster.com, technorati.com and blogstreet.com.

Similarly, there are many blog services like pingomatic.com which you can use to ping your blog. Pinging your blog notifies the service that you have updated your blog. These services will then publish your new posts and you get traffic from interested readers and search engines.

Tip 4: Writing Articles
This is one of the best ways of pulling targeted, steady and long-term traffic to your blog. By writing your own articles and submitting them to article directories, you can invite a lot of targeted visitors to your blog.

In order to generate traffic by writing articles, you need to include your resource box at the end of every article you have written. The resource box is where you promote and introduce your website or blog.

To truly maximize your results, you need a system to create, submit and leverage off your articles easily. One of the best available is seen at http://EzineArticle.com/aa.htm

Tip 5: Writing Press Releases
Press release is a very effective way of generating instant traffic to your blog. Although press releases only pull in short-term traffic, they can work very well if you continuously write and submit press releases regularly while monetizing the traffic received.

PRWeb.com is one of the oldest and most trusted sources for news distribution on the web. Or you can use an automated press release service like http://www.SubmitYourPressRelease.com to do the work for you quickly.

Tip 6: Start A Blog Mailing List
The phrase “the money is in the list” is true in all businesses. If you want to succeed online, you must start building your own list of targeted subscribers. You can send your subscribers to your blog anytime you have new posts.

By the same token, you can also get your blog readers to subscribe to a ‘blog update’ list which can be used to notify them when you have updated your blog. REPEAT traffic through returning visitors is a key traffic strategy and you can control that with this method.

Tip 7: Publishing Your Own Ezine
You can also provide your subscribers with useful information in several series with an autoresponder. An ezine is often called an online magazine. By publishing your own ezine, you are able to attract readership to your blog when you advertise it in your ezine.

Tip 8: Pay For Traffic
If you have a good monetization strategy for your blog through affiliate programs, Google Adsense and a mailing list, you should consider using paid advertising to drive traffic to your blog.

Recommended options include pay-per-click advertising, ezine advertising and huge banner exposures.

Tip 9: Giving Out Free Reports
Give out free viral reports to promote your blog. Providing useful information in your free reports can trigger readers’ interest to know more about you and your websites. More information on this tactic can be found at http://www.MiniEbook.com.

Tip 10: Niche Discussion Boards
Discussions boards or forums can deliver targeted traffic to your blog. If you have a blog about gardening, try searching for a related niche forum with huge traffic to participate in.

Most forums will usually allow you to include a signature file where you can write a few sentences of words. You can invite people to visit your blog through the signature file by posting more regularly.

In conclusion, realize that getting traffic to your blog should not be viewed as a one time effort. Commit and focus on a long-term strategy in order to succeed. It is all about gaining the momentum.

Once you get a decent amount of traffic to your blog, you will attract more visitors to it everyday as you work on it. As time goes by, you will have an amazing amount of traffic to your blog which you never thought was possible!

Ewen Chia’s Secret Affiliate Weapon

While having a well ranked video on YouTube is certainly not the equivalent of having a top ranking page for your best keyword in Google, it is comparatively easier to accomplish, and may yield productive results much quicker.

YouTube has become an important part of online web marketing these days. Many online marketers haven’t even scratched the surface as it relates to capturing exposure and capitalizing on the marketing power of YouTube.

One of the keys to understanding and using YouTube effectively is to understand the search parameters that are available for sorting and organizing YouTube searches. These can be found by selecting “Advance Search” in the search bar.

The search parameters are important because the search results are presented in a manner that can be extremely helpful to the online marketer. By default, the search parameters are typically sorted by “Relevance”, however there are several different ways that you can sort search results.

Here’s just a few:

Relevance: Returns your search results sorted by relevance to your search term. This is helpful whenever you want to make general searches for topics specifically of interest to you. This is also helpful for developing long tail key words associated with a specific topic. As many marketers know, long tail keywords present unique opportunities for finding new clients.

Statistics & Data: This feature allows you to see statistics & data about your search term. This sort feature can be especially useful when sorting YouTube search results. These groupings tend to attract people that are quite passionate about specific subject matter. If your marketing efforts are targeted at specific target markets. This is a great way to identify people that are interested in your market. URL’s are also noted.

This is also a great way to find herds of people that are interested in your market. Most marketers try to find web traffic opportunities and “lure” the traffic to their web portals. Using “statistical” search parameters on YouTube, you can find the market and go stand “smack dab”, right in the middle of it. Find groups that are of interest you and engage them in conversation.

Date Added: This feature allows you to find playlists or videos organized by the date they were added. This sort function is great for finding “clusters” of current videos on common topics. This can be a very good source of finding videos for re-branding, particularly if you need current and relevant content.

View Count: This sort allows you to sort videos base on videos that have been viewed the most. This is another hidden jewel within the YouTube search options. When sorting your search by “view count”, you’ll be conveniently provided with information that tells you which videos were viewed the most. In some cases, tracing the source of the video back to it’s original home can provide you with great ideas for advertising and promotion. This is also a great way to use video branding.

Here’s how it works. Search on your topic, find a very popular video and see if you can trace it back to the original site. It the video is “really” popular, there’s a good chance that others have done exactly what you just did. Contact the web site or blog owner and negotiate the placement of one of your advertising banners on their web site or blog. Find the traffic and stand in front of it!

Rating: Sort by “stars” ratings. This is a good sort parameter as well. Though not as useful as some of the other sort methods, it does give you an idea of how popular a particular video has been. Use this as a factor, when considering popularity that could possibly lead to larger gatherings of like minds.

Refine by Category: This is pretty self-explanatory, you can search by what topic of video you are looking for. This is a great “drill down” tool to get to videos that are quite targeted to a specific term or theme. Depending upon your goals, refining a category for specific criteria can also be useful.

Though most people think of YouTube as a directory of videos, it may be a good idea to look a little deeper. YouTube can also be used as a great tool for accomplishing a variety of online marketing tasks. Probably one of the most over looked uses of YouTube is the “Search” function. This is a great place to find gatherings of similar interest. Use YouTube to find specific targeted demographics and stand in front of the traffic you need.

Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Author: Jennifer Lange

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand we live in a social networking world.   Businesses of all sizes have quickly caught on to the importance of having a presence at websites like MySpace and Facebook for a number of reasons.  From the sheer volume of traffic these sites attract to the demographic diversity of their users, smart marketing professionals consider social networking a significant part of their branding efforts.  

Contrary to popular belief, having a substantial presence at a site like MySpace, for example, doesn’t necessarily require a substantial budget. As a matter of fact, there are a number of easy-to-follow marketing tips businesses can follow to have a commanding MySpace presence, for pennies on the dollar.   

1.    Create a MySpace Layout that showcases your business.    A clean and attractive MySpace layout that includes your company name and a description of your products and services is essential in marketing yourself to the MySpace crowd.   When you consider that one of the most popularly searched phrases on the Internet today is “MySpace Layouts”, you’ll understand just how important this tip is.  Aside from the popularity of social networking itself, the second fastest growing trend is customization, or the art of being able to decorate your profile with cool layouts, backgrounds, pictures, graphics and video and music applications that convey your likes and dislikes and, in essence, your overall personality to the friends who visit your page.   It’s no different if you’re a business.  Posting a layout to your MySpace page, one that clearly conveys who you are and what you do, speaks volumes to the people visiting your profile – people who may very well become your customers.   Look online to find websites that offer custom layouts and incorporate your company’s information and graphics into the elements of your layout design, including backgrounds, extended network banners and boxes within the layout such as contact tables.  Whatever you do, keep it simple. Cluttered and confusing layouts lose their branding effectiveness.   

2.  Add MySpace friends who fit the demographic profile of your customers.    MySpace has a nifty feature that allows you to browse for friends by age, gender and relationship status.  Use this tool to locate friend prospects that fit the demographic profile of your target customers and reach out to those prospects with friend requests.  When you add friends who you believe will be most interested in learning of and receiving information about your products and services, you increase your chances of gaining new customers through targeted marketing.   Be sure to communicate important company news such as discounts and special deals or the launch of new products and services to your MySpace friends as often as you can, in a reasonable manner.  Keep in mind MySpace has safeguards in place to prevent spamming.   

3.  Work your MySpace profile.    Having a MySpace profile that features your business is one thing, “working” that profile so it works for your business is something completely different.   Assign someone within your company to manage your profile on a daily basis.  It’s important that they add friends, post comments, post bulletins, write blog articles and send and receive messages. Don’t assume that by creating a MySpace profile, millions of people will find you.  The art of social networking is just that – networking socially within a site like MySpace by reaching out, making friends and interacting with those friends as often as possible.   Also, aside from foul language or inappropriate content, don’t be afraid to allow people to post public comments about your organization on your MySpace page.  A big draw for social networking is the ability to be real, to speak your mind and say how you feel.  If you allow only positive comments about your business to be posted, you lose credibility.  But if you allow people to speak their minds, you gain credibility while learning a lot about your customers – and your business – in the process.   

4.  Let your MySpace friends become your own marketing army.    Certain MySpace customization websites like SpaceGravy.com ( http://www.SpaceGravy.com ) for example, now offer a service where they will create layouts and other designs, such as backgrounds, extended network banners, contact tables, graphics, glitter graphics and flash widgets, that feature a particular business, product or service (in this case, up-and-coming bands).  These designs, showcased prominently throughout SpaceGravy.com, are available for free download to any MySpace, MyYearBook, Xanga, Friendster or Virb user.    Not only do participating bands get excellent marketing exposure at SpaceGravy.com, they get excellent marketing exposure from the various social networking users who customize their profiles with the band’s layouts.  Aside from bands, virtually any type of small or large business can take advantage of this service.   Bottom line – by offering free MySpace designs that feature your business, your MySpace friends, and MySpace users in general, become your very own marketing army.   

5.  Use MySpace Ads.    MySpace Ads, similar to Google AdSense, allows you to promote your business by targeting your advertising to MySpace users for a fraction of the cost of traditional online advertising.   MySpace Ads is an online advertising program available through MySpace that allows you to create ads featuring your business, target those ads to a specific group of MySpace users you choose based on demographics information, spend only the money you want based on your budget, and then closely monitor the performance of your campaign with detailed reporting provided through your MySpace Ads account.   Depending on the size and specifications, you can use your own ads or use MySpace’s pre-made ad templates and you never pay more than the budget you originally determine at the outset of the campaign, according to the company.   Businesses on a budget should consider MySpace Ads as an affordable online advertising alternative.

About the Author:
Jennifer Lange is the President and CEO of SpaceGravy.com ( http://www.SpaceGravy.com),  a website specializing in layouts, backgrounds and graphics for MySpace and other social networking websites.