Five Tips to Improve Your Blog's Traffic

Have a blog, but can't get anyone to read it? Wondering what makes those high trafficked blogs so popular? Here are five quick and easy tips to improve your writing, drive more traffic to your blog, and help make your mark on the growing blogosphere.

1) Define Yourself - Answer this simple question - what is it that makes my blog different from the thousands of other political blogs out there? What is it about your voice, your perspective, that ads to the political dialog? You might have to really think about this one. If you tend to focus on general topics, look at what you wrote, and find out what post or article generated the most positive response, or in your opinion, reflects your political views. Then expand it, how can you use your unique voice in your blogging and help your blog stand out?

There are a lot of blogs out there. If your's just sounds like the rest, it will never succeed. However, if you bring something new and unique to the blogosphere, as Shoeless Joe would say they will come.

2) Become Part of the Conversation - Ask yourself two question, 1) How often do you link to other blogs, and 2)How often do they link to you? The fact is, the two are interrelated. The "Gated House" theory, that says once someone comes to your site, you do everything to keep them from leaving, has been proven wrong. The Internet is a network and to be part of this network, you have to have links.

Google ranks websites on how many people link to it. And, due to new web tools, many bloggers can tell exactly what other sites link to them. It may take a while, but by opening up your gated house to visitors, in the end, you will be repayed in kind.

3) Follow the Leader - Every once in a while, a huge story will break in the blogosphere. It could be an election, a scandal, or the hottest cutting edge technology but whatever it is, don't be caught sleeping. If you have found your niche, your unique voice, then you will have something different to say about the huge story. Post your reaction, follow up on other blogs, and try to be a part of the blog narrative. Traffic follows the big story, and if you have something unique to say, it will follow you.

4) Network, Network, Network - Build a reputation by networking. Post comments on other blogs, send suggestions to editors, and praise your favorite bloggers whenever you get the chance. Post diaries on well read blogs such as Daily Kos, or Red State, linking back to your own blog. Then, ask for a link exchange! If you write well, network properly, and have a unique voice (see tip #1) then you will, slowly but surely, build a reputation in the blogosphere and drive more traffic to your blog.

5) Keep em Coming Back for More - Think about your favorite blogs. Why do you visit them so often? It's because they always have something new or interesting for you to read or see. If they didn't, why would you return? If you only post once every week or month, what incentive do your readers have to visit every day? None. Be fresh. Create content that not only brings them to visit your site, but also leaves them wanting to come back tomorrow to see what's new.

Multi-part series, trivia challenges, or vlogging (video blog) are standard ways to do this, but be creative. Try something new. Blogs are evolving, maybe the next great idea will come from you!

If you follow these five tips, and also put effort into your blog, you should, over time, notice an increase in traffic on your blog. But don't fret if it takes time, no one ever said blogging was easy. Some of the most famous bloggers today had difficult starts, but did they give up? No. They followed the five tips above and helped create a transformative media revolution.

Are you ready to join?