A simple answer on how to increase blog traffic
Pennyroll asked on a blog post:
Pennyroll.com is my website and it’s been established for a few years. I think I offer decent content overall. It’s monetized in a few ways including affiliate programs via Commission Junction and a fews others and Adsense.
But, traffic is the issue. I get basically stuck at 60 to 100 visits a day mostly from search engines. It’s a brick wall that I’d like to get over but I’m not exactly sure how to do it. I certainly do not mind the hard work but it’s a matter of where to do the hard work?
I’ll certainly spend some time around here, it looks like you have some good advice.
I started replying and after I got to the second page, I thought it would be a much better idea to make this a post. So here it goes!
Thank you for the comment. While being a well designed site, and already having more than 190 posts, it’s natural that you don’t get a lot of visitors.
The main problem with the Internet Marketing niche is, that no matter what your subject is, there will be more than 100-1000 blog posts with the exact same title. This makes it really difficult to rank for your keywords and to start bringing a passive flow of visitors to the website.
There are three things you can do about it.
First, you should start getting links on every article page. This will make sure that your blog’s link structure is powerful and Google will pay attention to your posts. One of the best ways to drive links to your articles, is by social bookmarking. I have compiled a list of the best social bookmarking sites that you should check and start submitting your articles.
The second and very important part is your keyword selection. This plays a tremendous role on your promotional efforts. I got an amazing example, even from this post. While I was researching for a keyword about this post, my first bet was to name the post, “can I make money from my blog?“. This phrase has a great amount of searches per month and seemed great, but the problem was that the competition is huge. What I did with my keyword discovery tool, was to change it to “Can I make money off my blog?” and go with that. While the amount of people searching for that was much less (three times less in fact), 157.000 pages mentioned the “can I make money from my blog” but only 559 competitors for the “off my blog” version!
The key point to get from this when researching for keywords on your next post is: When your blog is not very powerful, you will have to improvise and think of alternative ways to name your posts. You MUST do this, especially for niches that are very competitive like ours. There is no point in aiming for high competition keywords with the hopes of ranking “someday” rather than finding keywords that still have the same exact meaning and drive traffic today. I have made that mistake many, many times, and I have learned the hard way. The problem with that method of just waiting is that you are losing all that traffic that could share, link and spread your content and help you rank for your keywords, so the loss is double when you’re “waiting” to rank for high competition keywords.
There are many tools that can help you with keyword research but Market Samurai is by far the best one out there. Compatible with all operating systems, it can really help you improvise and find the exact keyword you need to rank for. And even if you don’t end up buying it, check out their tutorial videos, they are worth your time. While they explain how to use the application, they have many many “gems” for Internet Marketers, even veterans! If you can’t buy Market Samurai right now, check out their videos, and you can do all the research without the application. What the application does is save you a lot of time – it’s definitely the best money I’ve ever spent on the Internet!
Last but not least, here comes the third part: a link building strategy for your main page. There are countless ways to strengthen your main page’s value, so we’ve written an extensive article about it helping people choose the methods they prefer the most. Having a powerful main page will help all your articles at the same time and you should really consider promoting it but after utilizing the other two methods.
So that’s about it! Hope it will help you rank better for the “correct” keywords and make your site grow much better!
Angel
Leave a comment
Thanks so much for this informative article. I had never heard of Market Samarai and will definitely check it out.
Alicia Taylor
June 29, 2012
It’s a gem and even the free videos will give you “gems” that you can use on your IM efforts :)
Thank you for the comment Alicia :)
Angel
July 6, 2012
Thanks for the lead on Market Samurai. I will go check it out.
I would also add that Twitter is a great place to see alternative phrases people use when asking questions about your keyword. I use HootSuite to set up streams for my keywords and then watch the questions people ask. The title for my post below came straight out of someone’s tweet.
Tammi Kibler recently posted..Add More Flavor to Quinoa Without a Ton of Extra Calories
Tammi Kibler
June 29, 2012
Twitter is an amazing way to see what people on the internet are looking for and it can help anyone having writer’s block to be able to create really helpful content.
Great addition to the post Tammi, thanks!
Angel
July 6, 2012
Great tips! I try to link back to an old article (older the better) that covers something I mention in the post.
Susan Payton recently posted..Happy 6th Birthday to Egg!
Susan Payton
June 29, 2012
“Deep Linking” is a must! It’s great to recycle links that are relevant and point to people what else they should read. There are many plugins for WordPress that can help you do that automatically but I’ve found that in this case, manual is the way to go.
Great input, thank you Susan!
Angel
July 6, 2012
What a perfectly timed article! I could have written that opening question to you myself. I will be reading your other linked articles next to improve my blog and website. Thanks so much!
Michael Allton recently posted..How To Save Your Website From Disaster
Michael Allton
June 30, 2012
Thank you Michael, appreciate it.
If you have any questions, you know where to ask ;)
Hope I’ll be able to help :)
Angel
Angel
July 6, 2012
I can heartilty recommend Market Samurai – I came across it when I first stumbled into IM thanks to Ed Dales 30 day challenge and it was the first research tool that I ever used. Great support too!
Regards,
Rich
Rich
July 2, 2012
Ed knows best :)
Wish I was able to find market sam. sooner!
Amazing application with a lot of great learning material to help you with your efforts :)
Thank you for the comment Rich!
Angel
July 6, 2012
I truly appreciate that you featured my comment and provided such an in depth answer, thank you. Social Bookmarking is definitely area where I could do more. I do submit them on occasion but I’m not one to spend much time on Facebook and the like. From the list you linked to, Reddit stands out. I would consider myself a Redditor :) Regarding Stumbleupon I’ve noticed that high “stumble liked” posts I’ve submitted are more popular with search engines over-all.
For keyword research I usually use Adwords keyword tools but only for suggestions, I’ve not purchased keywords or been involved in paying for traffic as of yet. I have to admit I don’t research keywords for every post or for content. After reading this I will get much more in tune with keyword usage.
Again thanks for your response and I will check out Market Samurai.
Pennyroll recently posted..The Two Best Online Survey Companies that Serve the World
Pennyroll
July 6, 2012
Thank you for the comment Pennyroll and as you can see more people appreciated the answer that’s why I created the post in the first place. :)
When something goes “viral” on stumble, it’s logical to get many likes, shares and links too. Thousands of people see it so some will appreciate what you provide and help with their link or clicks.
Even if you don’t end up buying market samurai, check out their videos, you will hit your head on the wall for not knowing some of the gems they discuss on their videos and will make your life much easier no matter what!
If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask again!
Angel
Angel
July 6, 2012
Nice post to get visitors the first and the basic thing is to stick with the niche .,,,,,generally newbies divert there minds toward mixed blog which needs a lot of hardwork to maintain
Rajkumar Jonnala recently posted..5 Important tips to increase your facebook Security
Rajkumar Jonnala
July 13, 2012
the above shared tips are nice but my personal experience says that social media is an important tool to get lot of visitors at the initial time of blogging
puneet recently posted..CIL Management trainee recruitment test 2012 / CIL Recruitment 2012
puneet
July 13, 2012
Ofc it’s one of the most important things to do and in the beginning it might be your only source of traffic, but later on search engines catch up. The best thing to do is to balance it all out :)
Angel
July 26, 2012
Social media is definitely helpful in driving more traffic. But the main thing is content. Quality content always proves its worth.
Arjun Tandon recently posted..20 Cool Free Fonts you’ll absolutely love
Arjun Tandon
July 16, 2012
Thanks for share your experience, i’m not so good like you. But from my experience i could tell you. I’m sure you can beat the most commpetitive keyword if you act on smart way. Social bookmarking is important, “+1″, “fblikes”, “twittes”, digg, redit, strumbleupon, delicious….All that you can have from EA. They are to many to count here all, that is created to measure quality of your content ‘cose google spiders are not so inteligent. But the most important measure are comments… People are engaged they give oppinion start speaking about your content. Check my other comment on your “Guest post” for SEO
P.S. Don’t want to leave here a link because it’s from membership forum but if you conntact me (will give you proof) how you can benefit and rank better, even your keyword is competitive…
Jivko Panayotov recently posted..Easy Ways To Become A Top Network Marketer
Jivko Panayotov
July 20, 2012
I think with over 100 million Blogs and growing, it is increasingly difficult to write a niche blog post. We are going to have to get cleverer when it comes to increasing traffic to your Blog. Guest Blogging appears to be the way forward on the back of Google’s latest release!
Tom Bailey recently posted..Blogging – Focus and Goals
Tom Bailey
July 26, 2012
It’s the only method that can guarantee the most amazing rewards because you can choose where to submit your posts to. With every guest post I have ever made, I’ve seen great increase in my keyword rankings.
Angel
August 31, 2012
It is time to be careful with link building. Google’s Penguin update may hurt someones’s websites
sosyal medya recently posted..Teknoloji Uzmanı Kedi Pati
sosyal medya
August 15, 2012
True. Most important tip now is to keep focusing more on content and much less on building links.
Angel
August 31, 2012
I can vouch for the usefulness of Market Samurai as well. Money well spent. Sorry if this is duplicate… had trouble with the form.
Barry recently posted..Announcing Mobile Apps for the Lakes Region NH
Barry
September 6, 2012
I think social media can be a great asset. + The key is to great and unique content.
Mike recently posted..Easy Offline Business
Mike
September 7, 2012
I really likes your link to the best social marketing websites. I have not heard of many of them and as I am new in the Internet marketing world I better start taking advantages of all of these sites!! Thanks for your advice, I’ve bookmarked your page!
Nick recently posted..BackLinking
Nick
September 20, 2012
Daily or monthly traffic depends on the keywords. So to start a blog business must have to define keywords by researching. Selection of keyword is major issue.Link building for main page can strong your authority when page rank up to 5 .Thanks author to share .
Jennifer lopezus recently posted..Best Practice || Search Engine Optimization Tips
Jennifer lopezus
December 14, 2012
Its difficult to create a new title and it also takes some research and time. That is why people are making blogs on previously used titles. To get position in SERPs you should create a new idea that never use anyone. Thinking about creative idea is a natural gifted art. Anyway its nice and very Informative post.
Rabbit and Carrot recently posted..KINETIC TYPOGRAPHY
Rabbit and Carrot
January 10, 2013
Thank you very much for the comment and feedback :)
Angel
January 16, 2013
I’ll right away clutch your rss as I can not find your email subscription hyperlink or newsletter service. Do you’ve any? Kindly allow me realize so that I may just subscribe. Thanks.
Jones sabo you will probably discover all the anot
May 3, 2013