On the Web with Kim Vallee

Blog traffic does not grow overnight or by magic. It takes times. With so many great blogs out there, you need to be patient and invest time in promoting your blog. My tricks will work for any blog that wishes to grow their traffic, not simply for when you are launching it.

These are the things I suggested you first do to grow your traffic. They all cost nothing buy your time.

1. Publish Great Content Right Away

I suggest waiting until you published 3 to 5 blog posts before announcing it to the World. It allows you to start fine-tuning your topics. You are free to make adjustments without distractions.

Write the type of posts readers can expect when they will come back. On my introductory post, I included my first blogging tips; it was about The must-have to start a blog that can easily grow once your blog takes off. You want to give your readers an overview of what your blog is all about. Doing that increases your chances that they subscribe to your RSS feed.

2. Stick to a Posting Schedule

But unless, you are a celebrity, most people will take a wait and see position before subscribing to your feed. So you will need to write at a constant interval to maintain a steady flow of traffic. At the beginning, unless you publish something, chances are that you will get low traffic that day. You have not yet established a reputation on Technorati nor Google on which you can count to bring new visitors. This will come with times and added content.

3. Use Twitter and Facebook as a Promotion Tool

I assume that everyone who is launching a blog is already active on a few Web communities or social networks. Use your connections to tell the World about what you are doing. Start by preaching to the converters.

I send a tweet with a TinyURL every time I published a post. I start my tweet with the post title or I enhance the title by turning it to a question or adding some facts. I also share a link on my Facebook profile.

Earlier this week, I used the Facebook application Networked Blogs (used to be called Blog Networks) to tell 15 Facebook friends that I launched a new blog. I asked them to validate that I am the blog owner. I did a second batch 2 or 3 days later. I selected friends from different circles to increase my visibility.

4. Practice Word of Mouth

Whenever you meet people who ask you what is new in your life, make sure to introduce your blog. Find an angle that can grab their interest but be brief. This may imply going out more often to meetings, conferences and parties. But it can also be done while you are shopping.

5. Be an Active Commenter

When I started At Home with Kim Vallee, I used the metrics for every post I published I need to submit 3 excellent comments. I still make an effort to discover new blogs every week. I either comment or if I find a really cool story, I will talk about their story with due credits on my blog. You need to comments on big, medium and small blogs. I will talk another time about their respective advantages.

Use the name of your blog as your signature since this your brand. You need to establish name recognition as quick as possible. I learned this trick from Bea of La Tartine Gourmande, a blog that is a feast for the eyes and the mouth.

We scratched the tip of the iceberg here. Be assured that I will write plenty more posts on helping you how to grow your traffic. In the meantime, which is the best free method that you used and hopefully, still currently use to promote your blog?

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