001: 10 Ways to Generate More Blog Traffic [Podcast] | Michael Hyatt

Welcome to my new podcast, This Is Your Life.?Like my blog, it is dedicated to the theme of intentional leadership. My goal is to help you live with more passion,?work with greater focus, and lead with extraordinary influence.

Podcast: Subscribe | Play in new window | Download

I plan to talk about the same topics I discuss here on my blog, namely:

• Leadership: the keys to leading yourself and others.
• Productivity: the strategies and tools to get more done in less time.
• Social media: the technology to leverage your leadership and influence people you will never meet.
• Publishing: the rapidly-changing world of content creation and distribution.
• Miscellany: anything I want to talk about that is not covered in the categories above!

This will be a weekly podcast. I plan to post new episodes each Tuesday. You will be able to listen to them here on my blog, as well as review the ?show notes.? However, if you want to make sure you catch every episode, I encourage you to subscribe via iTunes.

By the way, if you want to make it easy to download and manage podcasts on your iPhone, download Downcast. It is $1.99 but way easier to use than iTunes. For starters, you don?t have to hook your iPhone up to your computer and sync. You can download podcasts directly to your iPhone. I use it daily.

In this first episode, I discuss how to generate more traffic for you blog. These are the same basic techniques I used to increase my traffic every year since I started blogging. For example, in 2010 I had almost 2 million unique visitors. Last year, I had slightly more than 5 million. That?s a 156% increase.

Based on my experience, you can dramatically increase your blog traffic by following these ten strategies.

1. Write content worth sharing. Nothing I suggest in 2?10 below will compensate for weak content. If you are not writing stuff people want to read, smarter marketing will not fix the problem. Begin by creating a killer headline that makes people want to read what you have to say. Read Advertising Headlines That Make You Rich by David Garfinkel. It?s my secret sauce. Also, consider going through his Fast, Effective Copywriting course.
2. Adhere to a consistent schedule. You can?t expect to increase your traffic if you don?t blog regularly. By this, I mean at least once a week. Three times a week is even better. Five times a week is best?but not if the quality of your content suffers. Frequency leads to visibility and visibility results in traffic.
3. Get your own domain name. Make it easy on your readers to pass along your blog name. What do you think is easier, ?yourname.wordpress.com? or ?yourname.com?? This is the foundation of branding and making your blog memorable. If you can get your name or a short phrase, it is worth paying (within reason) to do so.
4. Include your blog address everywhere. In the beginning, you are adding readers, one at a time. You never know when someone with a bigger audience will quote you or link to you. Include your blog address in your email signature, on your business cards, and on your stationery. It should appear virtually everywhere your name appears.
5. Make it easy to subscribe to your blog. You don?t want to depend on your readers to remember to come back to your blog. Instead, you want them to subscribe, so they get every new post you write. They should be able to do so by either RSS or email. (Use both.) Position these two buttons prominently so that those who want to subscribe don?t have to hunt for them.
6. Optimize your posts for SEO. You want people to be able to find you when they Google one of your key words or your name. I use two WordPress plugins for this: All-in-One SEO Pack and ScribeSEO. The latter analyzes every blog post you write and suggests how you can optimize it for the search engines. It is not cheap but worth every penny.
7. Utilize social media. If you want to build visibility for your blog, you must go where the people are. In days gone by, people gathered in the marketplace at the center of the city. Today, they gather online in places like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google+. Which service is best? The one you will use regularly. Use social media to network, build relationships, and announce new blog posts.
8. Engage in the conversation. Start by making it easy for your readers to comment. People today want to participate. I recommend the Disqus commenting system. (It?s what I use.) Don?t make them register. This only adds friction. If you are concerned about comment spam, install Askimet (a free WordPress Plugin). Engage in the conversation yourself, reading your comments and replying as appropriate.
9. Comment on other blogs. As you read other people?s blog posts, leave comments. I?m not taking about spamming people with invitations to read your blog. Instead, engage in the conversations that interest you and build credibility. Make sure that you register with their commenting system if possible, so there is always a link back to your blog.
10. Write guest posts for other bloggers. Frankly, this is not something I have done. But most successful bloggers swear by it. Jeff Goins wrote a guest post for me on this very subject. It?s called ?Seven Steps to Writing a Successful Guest Post.? He claims that it grew his own blog traffic more in six months than in the last six years. (If you are interested in guest posting on my site, here are my guidelines.)

You will also want to use a good, SEO-optimized blog theme. There are hundreds on the market. I use StandardTheme for WordPress and love it.

Finally, be patient. Building traffic takes time. Like anything else, the ones who win are the ones who stay at it after everyone else has quit.

If you have a question or comment that you?d like me to address on the podcast itself, please e-mail me.

Questions: What have you found helpful in increasing your own blog traffic? Also, I?d love to know what you think about the podcast! You can leave a comment by clicking here. Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are ?affiliate links.? This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission?s 16 CFR, Part 255: ?Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.?

Source: http://michaelhyatt.com/001-10-ways-to-generate-more-blog-traffic.html

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