How to Get or Increase Traffic to Your Website Blog or Article
Not This Kind of Traffic
You Need Traffic
How to get or increase traffic to your website, blog, or article is a question most often asked of the successful internet entrepreneurs. The answers are as varied as the question. Not every technique is going to work in the same capacity for every online venture. The trick is in experimentation.
In this guide, I'm going to give several techniques that are working well for me as an article publisher. They also work very well for bloggers and webmasters. The best part is that each of these techniques is absolutely free. You can do each of these techniques on your own, which is very good if you are on a budget and experimenting. The bad thing is it takes a lot of effort on your part to implement these techniques.
Once you find a technique, or techniques that is working for you, then be repetitive and continue on until you achieve the online presence you are seeking. If it's within your budget, and or time is important, then you might want to out-source your promoting efforts to a commercial site. I can direct you to some very helpful services that are relatively inexpensive.
Press Releases
In this hub, I wrote on how to use online press releases to promote your self. I have several links on there to take you to sites where you can write up a small press release and have them submitted all over the web.
I use mainly Prolog.com because it's easy and allows an active hyperlink inside the body of the release. This helps in 2 ways, first it gets your headline in front of thousands who may be looking for what you have, second it gets you at least 1 backlink for your website. The more people that pick up and bookmark your press release, the more backlinks you get.
Backlinks, if you don't know, tell the search engines that your site has more importance than those with less backlinks and ranks your site higher. If you're not concerned with backlinks then the more press releases you send out the more potential traffic you can get to your site.
There are literally hundreds of online services that allow you to send out press releases, but many do not allow an active hyperlink within the body of the release. Now there is still some usefulness to using press releases without the hyperlink especially if you are promoting a blog or website. It's very important to find a PR service that allows active hyperlinks if your sole purpose is to promote individual articles.
Everyone Is Listening
RSS FEEDS
This technique makes use of RSS feeds. If you don't know, RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication and is a web feed that is used to publish frequently updated content such as blog entries, news headlines, audio, and video. An RSS feed is usually is a summary which points to the URL with the full content and contains metadata such as dates, and keywords.
Now for the good stuff. Go to:
http://beta.feedvalidator.org/copy and paste your sites URL in the search box and it will tell you if your site has an RSS feed. If it does, it will give you the link for it, if it does not, it will give you the code to place on your site to give it a feed.
After you get the feed you go to:
http://www.rssmountain.com/rss_directory.phpregister for an account and submit your RSS feed. It will go out to all the feed syndication sites including Google, Yahoo, and MSN. This puts a headline in the feed readers all over the internet and can potentially drive traffic to your site and get you more bookmarks. I'm in the process of writing another article that will have dozens of RSS feed distributors listed so bookmark this hub or go to my profile and Subscribe to my RSS feed.
Bright Idea
Article Submission
The next thing you should do is write up a short article about your niche, some sort of benefit to get someone to click on the hyperlink to your site that you will place in the resource box, then submit the article to an article directory like http://www.articledashboard.com/ and http://www.articledirectory.com/ or my own directory at411article.com
There are tons of article directories online and the more you submit to the more backlinks you get and the higher you go in the search engine results. You can find tons of directories and submit them yourself or there are sites that will charge you a few cents for each submission and do it for you. It all depends on how much time you have to devote to marketing.
When writing articles for submission to directories, concentrate on you niche. Make use of affiliate marketing and make multiple versions of the same content. Keep them original and short, between 300 and 450 words. Use the resource box to hold your link pointing to your website, blog or article. Give your audience a taste and a call for action, a reason to click on your link to get more information.
Best Blogs
Advertise Your Niche the Free Way
Okay, just a few more short ideas. Go to google and do a blog search for topics related to your site, go to the blogs, at least 20, read a post and then submit a comment with a link pointing to your site. Just make sure the comment is relevant to the topic. Also, you want to make sure that you're not commenting too much on the free blog URL's. Seek out blogs with unique URL's. If you have too many backlinks coming from xyz.blogspot.com its not going to be as good as backlinks coming from 123.com.
Most blogs are moderated by the owner and they may not post the comment until it's approved..most approve, That's 20 more backlinks. An additional benefit is after reading all the postes relevant to your niche, you may gain some more insight that will help you develop your brand.
Now, go to Craigslist.org and Backpage.com and post a free ad. Craigslist is one of the top 20 websites in the United States so getting an ad on that site makes a lot of sense. Of course you cannot be spammy. Those sites are moderated by the users and if you are spammy you may get your account flagged and banned. Make sure you read each sites Terms of Service (TOS) to find out what you can and cannot do.
You may want to do the ad using a little HTML then make it a clickable image. To do that, make up a small ad with pictures and descriptions then save the screenshot as an image then when you upload the ad just upload the image with an html tag that points to your site. You can also do a Google search for Craigslist Templates which can be very handy and be used on Backpage also.
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80,000 unique REAL Hits TRAFFIC Visitors to Web Site!!
Current Bid: $4.99
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200,000 unique REAL Hits TRAFFIC Visitors to Web Site!!
Current Bid: $9.99
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90,000 unique REAL Hits TRAFFIC Visitors to Web Site!!
Current Bid: $3.95
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30,000 unique REAL Hits TRAFFIC Visitors to Web Site!!
Current Bid: $2.99
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1,200 REAL Hits TRAFFIC Visitors to Web Site EVERY day!
Current Bid: $2.99
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40,000 unique REAL Hits TRAFFIC Visitors to Web Site!!
Current Bid: $2.95
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Will this work?
Nobody can claim they have a sure fire method of generating unlimited targeted traffic. If they do they're trying to sell you snake oil. The truth is, generating targeted traffic takes time and patience.
I use these methods and I get the results comparable to my efforts. For every hub I write:
- I submit a press release on prolog.com and create a Google Base page (for more info on Google Base check out this hub). EDIT: Google Base is no longer an option, they have changed their format and can no longer be used to promote articles.
- I find the RSS feed for my hub and submit it to feedmountain.com.
- I write 5 - 10 unique articles relevant to my hub and submit them to article directories.
- I search for at least 20 relevant blogs, read the posts and make relevant comments, leaving a link back to my hub.
- I write an ad and post it on craigslist and backpage, in my geographical area.
Easy peasy! though it does take several hours to do this which is why I usually wait until the weekend when I have the time to commit to it.
How do you get traffic?
It is a lot of work but it will pay off. It's not going to be immediate. For example, a press release usually migrates to the search engines after about a week. For RSS feed, the titles have to be catch enough for bloggers and webmasters to grab. And I don't have to tell you how long it can take to write 5 -10 original articles. Pretty much why I stick to writing 1 hub a week, unless I really get venturous.
Oh ok yep thats sounds realistic. Im a plodder myself, cant believe how picky I can be sometimes ,lol but your info is definately worth a try . Ive always felt that often, its only the 'know how' getting recognised that makes the difference between traffic and no traffic. How often do we read an article and think ,man I could have written that so much better , BUT its like you point out in this hub ,its because they put in the ground work...
The easiest to do is the rss feeds, I only listed one rss distributor in this hub there there are hundreds. I'll list them in a hub in a day or two but you can always do a google search. Spend a half hour or so and submit the feed to at least 5 and in a few days you could see a nice little spike in traffic. It's not perfect and not for all types of hubs but for those that are informational like a destination to travel or visit, or how to mow the lawn without breaking a sweat(if you can figure that one out I'd read it) these work well. Hubs about personal experiences or poetry don't fair so well.
I have never tried RSS feeds, but after reading about you. I will sure try it.
Not every technique is going to produce great traffic on their own, this is why we need to employ several techniques together. The more you do the better the results. And yo don't have to stick to just one rss distributor, there are hundreds on the internet that provide this free service.
I learn something new every time! Thanks, Live!
Yo are welcome LR and thank you for taking the time to read my hub.
Thanks for the info!
YW FuseKing, thanks for stopping by.
It really is about experimentation and a lot of time involved in making backlinks. You've listed the backlinking activities here nicely. Just to add. If you have other blogs you might as well put links on those, too. Also, add more internal links between posts. The comments left at forums and on other blogs of the same niche as yours is a good practice. But we see that often, this is done haphazardly by other people - they leave thoughtless comments. With moderated blogs, these thoughtless comments won't see the light of day.
Good points Robert. Thanks for stopping by and contributing to the discussion.
Awesome article. I wish I had the time and patience to do this all. I've bookmarked this page in hopes that I can start with a few of the steps you've mentioned. I still can't wrap my brain around the RSS feed, and I've read countless hubs on it. Hopefully once the kids are off to school, I'll have more time on my hands to pursue these great ideas. Thanks Richard.
Thanks again Jane for the great comment. Did you read my hub on RSS feeds? There is a video on there that will explain in plain english what RSS is and how it works. From that you can realize how important RSS can be to your article promotions.
Almost forgot, here is the link to my hub on RSS feeds:
Great Advice Richard. I know you will be a great resource for information.
Thank you for the comment Recipes4myson. It is my pleasure to share my SEO knowledge here.
I've bookmarked this!Thanks!Still learning and trying to understand!All this needs so much time,isn't it? :)Anyway,we have to do it to get traffic.Thanks for this tutorial!:)
You have such great information! I will be trying some of these things out - I've bookmarked your site.
Thanks lyla and Song-Bird. It is a lot to digest but it gets easier as you get the hang of it.
Richard this hub is very informative and useful.Please keep writing more.I am a newbied with only 20odd views per day so i have to learn.thnx for this hub!!
Very good advice. You're a very good teacher - keep it all flowing, relevant, interesting, use examples. You gotta talent man!
Hi, Richard! Thanks for this hub, it's really informative. I joined hubpages two weeks ago. I'll also apply what you've shared here.
Thank you for a most informative hub and good info! Great ideas for promoting one's web presence! Much appreciad! : )
This is great stuff... Does this generate continual traffic, or do I need to keep doing this for the hub every week?
I need to create more back-links. I find that loyal readers produce the most hits so finding people who are interested in what you have to say is HUGE
Thanks everyone for commenting. You're right Drew, producing material that people are actually interested in is the key because if they like what they see they will do the backlinking for you.
Great information , I especially like the last steps you take to increase the back links to your hubs
This is awesome; lots of nice tips and techniques. Hub bookmarked. Thank you.
Good info - I'm working on some strategies right now and this info fits well into the overall plan. Thanks for being so concise and helpful! Am bookmarking for future use.
Rumbling, Andrew, Rope, I appreciate your comments and I'm glad my information can be put to good use. Good luck with yoru SEO.
I like what you said. and thanks for the links. I will certianly try some of your ieas.
this is an interesting one.
I have just tried your idea to submit comments on blogs about the subject of an article with a link. I have only done a few but could only find a few (might be an idea to create one of my own). I have not really given time to see how it works out but checked my stats and that article has an up arrow indicating increasing traffic. I don't know if that is from submission sites like xomba (the other suggestion of yours I thought I could try tonight) or from my linking to a few blogs. It is encouraging either way so thanks for the info, its fun to see that traffic is on the up :D.
I am new to this so I appreciate this information- thank you
I'm loving this - as a newbie I need all the help I can get~!
Richard - thank you so much for this informative Hub. I read all your hubs and I obtain valuable information. It is alot of work, but if is worth the effort I will try. Like you said you only publish one a week because it takes alot of effort. I will give a try and see what happens. Thanks again!!
Thanks for commenting everyone. Cheri, yes it does take a lot of effort to build up the traffic initially, but the good news is, if you have good enough content then your visitors will start bookmarking and sharing your work and build you even more traffic.
Great hub Richard, I bookmarked this one to refer back and posted the link on two of my blogs...
Thanks domhain, I hope you get some use of my information and check out all my other hubs on SEO. All together they can really boost your traffic and also your presence on Google.
Good info, thanks
Thanks Dude for very useful tips
thanx
You're getting a lot of thanks, so accept another.
Thanks are always appreciated, so thank you all for visting my hub.
Good info! My newest goal is generating more traffic. I'll have to try some of this out! Thanks for sharing!
I always find it's hard to get traffic to my blogs. Just waiting for the day when it will come.
Posting any affiliate link or self promotional link on Craigslist is a violation of their Terms of Service. It's exactly what makes Craigs such a miserable place to try to buy and sell things. When I post things for sale on Craigs I am deluged with spam. Other than recommending people do this... a pretty good article.
Thanks Mike but it's not against their TOS if you are posting a service, I even state this in the article above to read each site's TOS to learn what is and what is not spammy.
Wow! This is a wealth of good information. I think that I will revisit this to take it all in.
Interesting. Very interesting. I will have to try this some day!
Great information, thank you!! :)
Thank you for a very informative hub, thanks for sharing. creativeone59
Michelle, Thaninja, Richimag, Creativeone59, Thank you all for your comments. I hope you all find the traffic you need for your work.
Thanks Richard, I'm new to this too. I'm going to try some of your suggestions and techniques for myself. Very informative. There is so much to learn about the ins and outs of the web that its mind boggling. This should help clear my head some. I have also bookmarked you hub. Thanks again. http://hubpages.com/profile/dphillips
Hey Richard,
Great Hub! I have been doing article marketing for a little over 4 months now and I must give you thanks for the NEW places to place articles. I have been basically been using most of the techniques you stated in this article and to let those impatient un-believers know I have 1 of my articles on page one of google for my keyword. So I am here to tell you just stick with and wright, wright, wright. I have 5 hubs out there now and am finally getting a chance to get around to reading others. Again, thanks for the info!
Thank you for taking the time to read and comment on my hub SS. All of this really does work but only as well as the effort you put into it. Congrats on getting on page 1 of Google!
Thanks for the great one...gonna try them all
Good ideas, i'll have to implement a few of these tricks.
Thanks for the great one...gonna try them all
Thanks for posting this up, great hub. bookmarked
Great info - it takes work, but the results speak for themselves
A great hub page it has a lot of tips and techniques.
Thanks! It's definitely helpful, and I'll use it to make a promotional plan to guide me. One question, though, how do I use html, specifically anchor text like you have, on my articles? Appreciate your help.
Thanks for all the great comments everyone. @Sgscales if you want to place anchor text within your hubs then just highlight the text you want to use while editing your text module and click on the little symbol that looks like a chain link. A new box will open and you just insert the URL you want that text to link to.
I give specific instructions on how to place anchor text links for every other site in this hub http://hubpages.com/hub/Guide-to-Backlinks
Thanks for your quick reply. That will save me a lot of searching. I'm also checking out some of your other Hubs, like the one on RSS and the guide to backlinks. Blessings, Stephen
Sir Richard you are a GURU! amazing. I have read a lot of your articles through the backlinks you put. You're very expert on the web, aren't you? I'm a fan of yours.
You have given me a lot of idea now how to optimize earning from my articles. I have headache right now, bcoz I guess, I'm concentrating on how to do them all, oh my...it does take a lot of timeee and patience..oh my...
anyways, I know I can ask you if i need help.
Thanks so very much!
Lots of good information and a lot to digest for someone like me--not very good at generating traffic. I'm going to try some of suggestions.Thanks for sharing.
Thank you all for taking the time to read and comment on my article. I hope you can put the info to good use and I'm here to answer any questions you may have.
I should have read this much earlier. I took a long time to understand the concept of backlinking
I think to increase your traffic post comments, get consumer feedback, and learn new industry information. Posting relevant and helpful comments can increase your credibility and increase your exposure. After every comment, include a link to your blog or website.
_______________
Commenting is only one factor in getting traffic Jenni, you really need to do all of the above to get a decent amount of traffic.
The right keyword research coupled with an in-depth competition analysis is the first important step. Then, the modern Social Media Optimization and Marketing strategies will definitely contribute to your site's reaching top organic rankings much quicker than while implementing the standard SEO techniques.
www.seodesignonline.com
Wow, thanks for this information.I'm going to give some of it a try for my new website. Thanks!
Thank you for original content! It's fresh! Not the same blah, blah, blah you get from the blog marketers - the real goods! I'll do it - sounds like fun! www.wizetime.com
its a fantastic hub, can you send me the free software which can submit rss and links to other directory?
Samironwebtrack, I think you are a bit confused. I have no free software to offer you but if you click the link above it will take you to Brad Callen's offer.
oh,really nice tutorial you wrote there
reaaly great
Thanks alot
thanks for that wonderful hub...and to your step by step tutorials or a newbie like me. I wll definitely follow your suggestions and steps...
Very good written hub absolutely FULL of looks like everything. I have bookmarked this to try to improve my blog's Traffic. Thanks for sharing.
Article submission method didn't worked for me. I guess it depends on niche. Programming topics hardly make any traffic or earning if posted on article directory sites.
very informative hub thx for sharing...!!
Very good information to have and needed! Thanks for the assistance!
it is the SEO provider that promotes the traffic of your website thru search engine rankings, by that more people will visit your website.
SEO works by link building, they post your links or keywords of your site to directory/bookmark or blogs site.
try to search for the keywords: link building,natural linking,search engine optimisation advice.
hope this helps..
Good one! Thanks again!
Wow, great tips! I never thought about press releases before. I started a service to help people with their Adwords and PPC ads — http://GoogleAdWriter.com — but I think people should also take advantage of as much SEO as they can.
Prolog.com doesn't seem to exist anymore as a press release site, by the way.
Very informative, thanks for the good advice. I'll continue to read up on some of your info. (thumbs up!)
this is really good info and some tips that I never heard of or thought about. You're right though, Craigslist is an excellent way to increase traffic ( can even potentially increase traffic by 100 to 200 people per day).
Thank you very much. I did a search on 'driving traffic' and your hub came up. I am printing the whole thing. I will use the information therein to drive traffic to my hubs. Yes, I am a hubber too. My name is Paul Chika Emekwulu. Once again, thank you.
Thank you all above for the great comments. I hope the info I provided can drive the traffic to your sites that you need.
Thanks for the useful information in blogging.
Thanks for the information, ive sent my blog rss to RSS Mountain..Great Hub
This was very insightful. Thank you.
also you can submit your web site to our dofollow web directory from her http://hubpages.com/hub/Dofollow-blogs-directory-f
or her
thanks for this hub
Good tips here in this hub. Just keep in mind that many blogs implement "no-follow" tags on their comments, meaning that they do not count as backlinks to search engines. However, they are still useful as they will often drive visitor traffic directly.
Thanks for all the really useful information here. I am glad to have found your hubs.
thanks for info in this hub. great help
Really nice, good information that can be used.
Excellent Article Keep writing the articles
Very good, thanks.
Thank you! I learn a lot from your hub. The two rss URL are so helpful.
Great!
Thanks I really learned alot from this article. Great advice. http://hubpages.com/hub/Frugal-Granny
Excellent article on backlinks -- very concise on unique ways to obtain backlinks.
Great thank for the tips and tricks
Eaglekiwi 2 years ago
Does sound a little adventurous for me ,but Im willing to try some of your fantastic ideas. (eventually) lol Thankyou