Use Blog Carnivals to Drive Traffic to Your Blog

Most bloggers are looking for simple, relatively quick ways to promote their blog. Promotion means more traffic, and more traffic means more earnings and higher income.

One often overlooked way of driving traffic to your blog is the use of blog carnivals. Blog carnivals are essentially a round-up of blog posts - from across the Internet - about a certain topic or theme. You submit an article to the carnival. If it's accepted, a link to it will be posted with links to all the other submitted articles for that carnival issue.

All carnivals are different. Some carnivals are updated on a weekly basis. Some are updated monthly. And some are updated randomly (or so it seems). Some carnivals are hosted by different blogs each week. Others remain static, never leaving the same blog. Different carnival hosts also have different rules. Some require that your submitted articles be of high-quality. Others will include anything and anyone that submits a post to the carnival.

Do a Google search to find a list of blog carnivals. There are a few websites out there that do nothing but list - and link to - blog carnivals. Some make the submission process very easy, requiring nothing more than the permalink to your article, your name and your email address.

Then try these tips to use these carnivals to promote your blog:

MAKE YOUR ARTICLE RELEVANT: If the carnival topic centers around child-raising, it makes no sense to submit your blog post about boating in the Atlantic. Before you submit to a carnival, make sure your post fits with the theme.

MAKE YOUR ARTICLE INTERESTING: Because blog carnivals include a variety of articles from many different bloggers, you'll have a little competition when the carnival is published. Make sure your post is interesting, and choose a catchy title so it stands out from the crowd. If possible, you should always submit your best articles to a carnival. Many new visitors may be reading this article, and you want to ensure that it's good enough to encourage them to explore your blog a little more.

PICK CARNIVALS OUTSIDE OF YOUR TOPIC: Yes, the article you submit needs to be relevant. But it's possible that your topic may cross boundaries, and there's nothing wrong with trying to attract new readers from other areas. If, for example, there's a carnival about travel and vacations, your boating article might still be appropriate.

FOLLOW THE RULES: Most carnival hosts want all the basics - title, permalink, trackback URL, summary, etc. Include everything the host requests to ensure your submission doesn't get tossed for "not following the rules." Again, your article needs to be relevant to the carnival topic. That's the most important rule. If it's not, it will most likely be rejected.

CHOOSE AN ESTABLISHED CARNIVAL: If you have a post that perfectly fits the topic of a new and upcoming carnival, feel free to submit it. But if you're writing an article specifically for a carnival, you're probably better off choosing a carnival that's long-running and established. They generate more weekly traffic, which means more visitors to your blog.

PICK ONE THAT'S UPDATED REGULARLY: Like all things on the Internet, blog carnivals come and go. Why waste one of your best articles on a carnival that will never be updated? Look for carnivals that have an actual deadline for article submission and a date when the carnival will be published. A carnival with an "open ended" deadline or no date for the next issue may be out-of-business - and your article will be outdated by the time you realize it won't be featured in the carnival.

Blog carnivals are a simple and quick way to promote your blog and drive traffic to your website. In many cases you'll be submitting articles that you've already written, so the work is minimal. And it's a free way to get your blog noticed by people interested in your topic.