I bet you think it's easy to pick just ONE tip to drive traffic to a new blog! Turns out that it might not be so easy to do.
I asked the question in my Facebook group the other day and I got over 40 responses (so far).
Many of the tips are excellent and I can't even pick one single tip to drive traffic that I would call the best. I think it is hard to find one piece of advice that offers the perfect solution but let's try to narrow it down.
How would YOU drive traffic to a brand new blog
You might be wondering why I asked for only ONE tip.
Well think back to when you first started blogging. Don't you wish someone would give you just ONE tip?
You weren't looking for an entire blogging blue print or a 10 point check list or even a full blown Content Marketing Strategy.
Back then you'd be more that happy to simply drive traffic to your website and see at least 50 – 100 visitors on your site in one day! You didn't know where to start and you had so many tasks you quickly began to realize that you needed to establish a set of priorities for your brand new blog.
Most likely you probably hopped around to a bunch of different forums, downloaded a ton of ebooks and spent hours watching YouTube videos searching for the perfect solution.
You ended up stuck with heaps of advice and by the end of the day you were pulling your hair out or banging your head against the wall or both!
So what's the answer? I want to drive traffic to my site!
I'm not going to put my neck on the line here because I don't want you to chop it off. That's why I asked the group! Â Btw – you can request to join the Facebook Group, but I will let you know right up front you can't post any self-promotional links there.
I can't mention everyone by name but here is the link so you can see the entire thread: One Tip to Drive Traffic To Your Brand New Blog
Here's a Summary of Ways to Drive Blog Traffic from Top Bloggers in the Group
- Build Relationships
- Use Social Media
- Be Humble
- Post often and regularly
- Find your target audience
- Create Awesome Content
- Pick Evergreen Topics
- Guest Post
- Hire Top Writers
What Did I do to Drive Traffic To My New Blog
When I was writing this post I began to feel more and more passionate about the topic. So I decided to record an audio version for my podcast. You can click the play button below to listen in.
I love all these tips and I wish there has to be a way to combine them into one. I tried but it's not possible. But what I will do is tell you what I did back in 2009. Keep in mind I had no idea what I was doing and this was not really any type of strategy. I thank my lucky stars that it worked out for me in the long run.
I commented on other blogs.
Yup, that's all I did. Of course I actually read each and every blog post before I left a comment. I was like a sponge and I tried to absorb every drop of information I could get my hands on. Keep in mind, by nature I have a need to speak my mind so there was no way I was going to read an entire blog post and not leave a comment. DUH!
There is one other thing that I did (I know I said only one tip but actually I'm up to three already) I found a mentor. That is HUGE! You need a mentor (or two) so that you don't get distracted by all the shiny objects along the way. And there will be a LOT of shiny objects! And no, I'm not talking about Empower Network either. When I say find a mentor I mean one person who is an independent agent and gives information away for FREE.
Here's why it's so important to have a mentor.
You're new.
You just got here.
You have no idea what you need to invest your money in yet. You need guidance so that you will know an internet snake coming from a mile away before you even begin to sign up for an ecourse or join a membership site. When I talk about mentor, two really solid, down-to-Earth people that come to mind right away are Lisa Irby and Pat Flynn.
Commenting and Link Building at the Same Time
Let's go back in time to when I was leaving a bunch of comments all over the place. That's when I met great bloggers like Hesham Zebida from Famous Bloggers. Eventually I learned about Blog Engage and I was off and running after that. When you think about it I was addressing many of the points from my One Tip To Drive Traffic Responses. Remember I said I was reading every post I left a comment on. Based on the comments I left, don't you think those bloggers KNEW that I was actually reading their posts? (Funny how that works, isn't it). This is how I started building relationships with other bloggers!
Commenting on blogs is actually social media at it's finest.
I know most people don't look at that way but think about it for a sec. Blogging is social media but if you don't leave a comment, nobody knows you were there right?
Who knew I was also link building! I didn't, that's for sure. In fact I didn't even know there was such as thing as “link building” back in those days. I found out years later when I took a look at my link profile after I downloaded it from Market Samurai. I was shocked to discover that I had comment links from Mashable! To be more blunt I was stunned because I NEVER read Mashable now. (How quickly we forget). Not only was I reading Mashable regularly, it's hard for me to imagine that I actually left comments there too. That is absolutely hilarious to me now.
Think in Terms of Layering!
Ok that was a fun trip down memory lane but enough about me and my journey. I really want this to be about you. I want you to see that you when you're starting your first blog you need to prioritize and do when comes naturally. Heck you gotta figure out if you're really cut out for all this hard work.
I mean blogging is no joke! Once you make the commitment then you can begin the process of layering.
Read, comment, write, absorb, connect, share, learn, teach, grow!
These are the layers that put down to build a strong foundation for your blog. This is how you drive traffic, make friends (you're gonna need them) and write THEE best content ever!
I think I’m too fast to comment..Right? Ok I’d have to go with social media because it is the biggest traffic source for my blog ever since day one and still is this day.
Hi Saqib,
Why did you say you are too fast to comment? You’re welcome to leave the first comment any time. 🙂
Haha…I didn’t say because I thought it was bothering you, but since I have set up real time rss delivery for your blog, I’m always informed immediately as the post is published and if I’m online at that time, I’m always the first one to comment…
I like that strategy! How do you set up the real time RSS? Do you get the notice on your phone?
yeah, I’d love to know as well
isn’t direct bookmarking better?
I know there’s a slight delay with these RSS feeds between the time the reader gets updated and when the post gets live — that’s why I prefer bookmarks…
Hello Saqib..!
Appreciate your swiftness…! In a recent post on freebloghelp I read about 7 points about commenting which will drive traffic to your blog..What I feel is its not so important to be the first person to comment these days because if the comment is not worth reading people may not even read it..Clicking your link is the next option.
If you are the first one to comment the I would say Harleena Singh of aha-now is the rite person whom you could model..I am learning a lot from her wrt blog commenting.
Yes, I agree with you that Social media is the biggest traffic generator for me as well and you also need to look for other sources..Why I am saying this is because one day FB decides to remove its plug-in imagine what would happen..I am just thinking of the worst case scenario..
What do you think Ileane? And I am also awaiting Saqib’s answer to how he gets real time rss..It will make the competition tougher ;)..
Sincerely,
Rafi
Hi Saqib, oops! i was little bit late to win this fast comment race. just kidding 😀
@Ileane: Thanks for the great tips. Now a days social media is becoming more popular than SE techniques. I am also focusing on social media for targeted audience.
lol why you are looking for first comment always ?
I think that if your comment is valuable and if it is on end of the post then most of the users do read it for sure.
Well, Link building is always a basic and back bone of a blog or website.
Thank you
Fast comment is actually a great strategy to drive traffic to a new blog. I just create a new site on blogging and the major traffic to my blog is from commenting. People will just read the first few comments, so I set up the RSS notify so that I could be the first commentator each time some one publish a new post.
Hey Ileane, a great post, indeed!
In the last point when you stated that in the beginning of your blogging carrier you started with commenting on others blog and that’s how you build relationship with other bloggers. I very much can relate my story to this, this is the way I started blogging when I was new to it. But seriously there were no mentors for me. But with the good relation things went easy to me and I got some very nice friends.
If it’s about picking one tip then I would say point at least 10 big blogs and start investing your time in reading their content once you get familiar with their content start making comments and let them know you exits somewhere. Later, do 1-2 Guest Posts in their blog and there you start, you actually not only get their attention but also of their readers. In just adopting one strategy you actually pull yourself to one step up in blogging!
Irfan, it certainly is a step by step process. Looks like you got the hang of it. Guest blogging is high on the list. Thanks for your comment.
I feel Guest Blogging is the second step, first is to build relation by doing quality comments on their blog.
Now that is too apt to find even an iota of flaw!!! Building relationship is the key to make it out there!!! Like you did, I think everyone should pay attention to this post and adopt this habit!!!
Great share like always
Thanks for share!!!
Rashmi, I can tell you get excited when you read my blog. You bring lots of positive energy. Thank you.
Thanks for the appreciation.
Yeah, I love to read and write. And when I come here, your blog offers me a whole new perspective on blogging. So I just find it quite soothing.
I think it is the best backlinking strategy – just to go out there and comment on others blogs. It really works, believe me!
best regards!
Yes, it really works. But lot of bloggers are looking for tons of traffic within a week. I also had done the mistake before. No shortcut to success. it is hard work
Awesome share! I felt at ease reading your advice. I have been reading non-stop on all things blog related, web related etc… Somehow very early this morning I was naming a new color and creating patterns on some web site??? Most of what I read leaves me feeling overwhelmed and a wee bit anxious. I am overloaded with internet jargon. I hear myself saying, “Just give me one good piece of advice!” What I need to hear is,” we have some free advice in english to help you build a following/blog… I’m also fed up with the term free, because most of the time it doesn’t mean free at all! So what you had to say hit home. Thank you!
You have really provided nice information and i hope these all the tips work for me. Gain a traffic in a blog is really a hard task, but i think these tips are beneficial for me. I will try these tricks for my latest blog.
Many Thaanks
I started a blog on LINK REMOVED BY MS. ILEANE and all the work put into it but low amounts of traffic is really disappointing. However I’ll be applying your tips and see where it get me! Thanks for the help.
Also what is your stance on using social media to drive traffic? Should there be a lot of effort put into that?
Your strategy isn’t working because you’re not doing it right.
#1. You can’t leave links in comments unless the blog owner tells you it’s Ok.
#2. You have to actually READ the post before you can comment intelligently. I even made it easy for you by recording the audio.
#3. Now what was your question again……
Hi Ileane,
I also left a comment on the Facebook group where I mentioned social media.
I think the answer will so much depend on the level of experience of the individual. Zac Johnson said in a recap “Create an amazing piece of viral content and get it posted on a huge site” Now that goes with his experience. Most newbies don’t know what it means to create viral content.
Those who have a somewhat stable social media base will certainly want to start there. But what about someone very new?
I think blog commenting cuts across all these levels of experience. It worked in your days and it still works now so well.
Quite frankly, when I started late 2012, I didn’t know for sure where I was going. What I remember is I did a lot of commenting too and social media (well 2 sources ) and the traffic just kept coming.
If I’m to start a new blog now, I think sharing on social media will be the immediate traffic source and commenting comes after (for traffic and much more).
Thanks for bringing this here so we can share more 😉
Hi Enstine,
I made a big mistake when I asked the question in the group. I should have mentioned that the question was about a brand new blog of someone who is brand new to the blogosphere. No connections, no previous experience, no confidence.
Social media is great, don’t get me wrong, but unless you want to invest money in getting retweets and followers it won’t be that effective. One thing I just realized. No one mentioned buying advertising! haha
Does that mean we are all cheapskates?
haha! I have hardly seen bloggers buying ads to promote blogs. Maybe the free source works better for them 😉
Wow! wonderful post specially for me who started new blog with the attention to apply all those things which I learned from mistakes of previous two years.
Ileane I am fully agreeing to you that one needs mentors to get guidence. I also agree that in the start people gets distracted in the shinny objects. I also used to get excited & start jumping when statcounter shown that someone visited your blog from Australia – :D. At that time I was thinking I have become so famous that someone is visitng & commenting my blog from that distance. 😀 Lolxxxxxx. This was a shinny object for me.
But now over the time I ‘ve learned many things and I am lucky one to see your self as my first mentor. while after reading this post, I gonna search for second mentor. 🙂
Hi Khawaja!
I’m honored that you have put your trust in me and adopted me as your first mentor AND I’m also really glad I inspired you to find a second one.
Thank you for your support!
Nice Article. Many new and even old bloggers will be benefited from this. Quality contents always matters but you can’t rely on quality contents only for traffic..I have seen many blogs where you can get quality contents but no traffic. So you need social media engagement and blog commenting like activities to drive traffic. Once people like your articles then automatically traffic will gradually increase.
Satyakam,
I’m excited to “hear” you say that! I mean this is what I’m talking about when I say Content is NOT King! What good is the best content in the world if you can’t get people to read and engage with it?
Connections with PEOPLE are what really rules the world – online and offline.
Nice Article.
I believe Finding target audience is key behind success of the blog.
This is exactly what I needed to read right now. I needed some encouragement to get out there an engage on other blogs. With increased traffic to my blog I’ll need to work harder to provide great content.
Hi Jennifer, that’s the spirit! So glad that you came by and got some encouragement. Stay focused!
Hi Ileane,
Really nice article and also speech . I am neebee , recently started my new blog , I try forum engagement and commenting to drive traffic to my blog . Well regarding commenting ,i am not that much good in commenting , but still tying as i realized commenting is the best way to drive traffic .. well thanks again
Regards
Shan
Nice and interesting post ! There is a lot of useful information here for a new blogger looking to find traffic for their blog.
At the start I personally like to use social media to raise awareness of my blog and drive traffic to it 🙂
Thanks for the share
Hi Phil,
Social media works great as long as you have followers. One good way to get followers is by leaving comments on blogs using CommentLuv. That way they will see your Twitter link and they can hover over your comment to see you mini-bio.
Nice to see you entering the world of blogging – sure is fun!
It’s also great to find and connect with blogs when you’re searching for ideas. I just found two wonderful blogs and we have a similar niche and I left a comment .. said hi .. would you like to connect .. etc.
Monica.
When I first starting blogging I comment without think but over time I realized how important they were and put more insight and thought into what I say
Hi Marty, a well thought out comment can go a long way. Even influential bloggers take note if the comment is insightful enough.
Thanks for stopping by.
You have such a good point Purbita. I only wish I had the energy to add those links. I will try to add them tomorrow ok? Thanks!!
It’s been a while since I left a comment on fellow bloggers and such. At times I’m just too busy taking care of my blog that I forget connecting to others like you! This post is definitely a fresh and good reminder 🙂
Hi Micheal! Great to see you here.
No matter how long you stay away, you’re always welcome. 🙂
You are one of the first bloggers that inspired me back in the day so it’s great to know that we are still connected.
That’s funny. I thought I was the one who got inspired by you 🙂
Blogging is quite a journey, right from the start like in any type of business, you need to have a good product or “content” to survive and to get traffic.
After that, social media and blog commenting are one of the best ways to get the word out there and to let people know that you’re there and you have something to offer.
My best source of traffic is still social media, just think about it, it’s sometimes easier to tweet than to wrote a Guest Post for example.
thanks for sharing Illeane 🙂
Hey Ileane,
I really like what you said about blogging being a form of social media. I’ve never thought of it that way. I usually comment on blogs and I’m currently looking for some blogs to guest post at. For me, hiring good writers wouldn’t be an option due to the lack of funds, but I agree that building relationships is important.
I enjoyed reading your post.
-Brosius
I am just starting out with my blog, so all the tips were useful. It seems that social media would be an easy road to take. I must admit it is a really slow process, I am trying to get use to this long road ahead. Thanks again for posting the ideas.
Hello, Ms. Ileane!
I must say, commenting on blogs would be my #1 tip. Back about a year and a half ago (maybe two years, wow) I was commenting on about 100 blogs a week, all kept track of with a simple Excel spreadsheet. When it became apparent I would be able to get back in the saddle, the first thing I thought of was that spreadsheet. Even though my niche isn’t SEO, traffic generation, or blog tips, it’s still marketing (hey, I’ve got published books to sell, right? lol), I learned a ton from people like you, Kristi Hines, and Ana Hoffman. And like the little engine that could, my blog will see traffic. Hopefully potential readers who like my books, too!
Blog Engage is something I was finally able to do, as well. So there’s another avenue for my relationship-building and blog commenting. You don’t need tons of strategies, tips, techniques, etc. The one thing I’ve observed from all of the influential bloggers out there is that you’ve just got to be real.
Delena, I think you hit the nail on the head. Even though you took some time off it’s easy for you to get back in the saddle and start commenting again. The great thing is – everyone knows who you are and it’s like you never missed a beat.
Thanks so much for connecting and keep doing your thing girlfriend. Best wishes!
Thank you so much, Ileane! The biggest worry I actually had was that no one would remember me, and I did so love visiting all of your blogs! I’m so glad I’m still welcome! =)
Thanks for this post Ileane.I think i should now focus on building relationships and guest posting.Thanks a lot.
As a matter of fact, that’s exactly now I started as well, Ileane – blog commenting.
It’s easy for a newbie and it works.
Although I did take it to the next level and creating my own commenting tribe, which really gave TGC the push it needed (http://www.trafficgenerationcafe.com/drive-traffic-commenting-tribe/).
Hey Ana!
So cool to find out that we started off the same way. I think it helps us to understand those who haven’t learned to leave valuable comments. We know that sometimes we have to give people a little push so that they will get the confidence to dig deep and share what’s really on their mind. Other people might delete the comment – but I think that’s because we came up through the ranks.
Kinda like “been there done that!”
But at the same time we only have so much patience before we start hitting – the trash button!
🙂
Hello, Ana!
I love your advice about forming a commenting tribe. I had read your post about it and thought about getting a tribe together of some of the authors who write in my genre. There was *no* response. None at all. And when I tried explaining the point, I got a lot of argument the work involved, and nobody wanting to be a “serious” blogger.
I completely didn’t understand. For most of these indie and niche-published authors, their blog was their largest draw for readers. Why wouldn’t they want to take it seriously?
So I shrugged and went about my own way. It’s still mind-boggling, and I wish a commenting tribe had worked with them.
I know what you mean, Delena – I had to go through a lot of wheat from the chaff separation myself while running my tribe.
Hey Ileane,
I fully agree with you. Commenting is one of the best way to get regular links and helps in building strong relationship. When you are engaged in some meaningful conversation, you’ll be definitely noticed by others which would be compelled to visit your profile or blog. Which inturn will help you interacting with new people and creating new social connections.
Blog commenting has lot of benefits in the long term…I recently discovered that one of my sites was having a decent number of inbound links from comments which i made a couple of years back..It was giving the site good link juice..I wasn’t aware that it will count in the long run..Else i would have more actively participated in commenting..Thanks for all these great advices..Much appreciated.
building backlink and commenting is make improvement in alexa rank and traffic on your blog.
Great Summery tips. Thanks. i was recently trying to write something similar, like a list Must-Do for a newbie blogger, but I stuck at first point – post regularly. You are good! thanks for a great article! It has to be vitally important for every newcomer to blog-o-sphere.
Hi Ileane, exactly there tons of ways to drive traffic to blog but if we know too many ways, it will be confused and scare of which ways can be best to use to drive traffic. About me, commenting and guest posting around blog are the best ways to drive traffic to blog.
Thanks – Ferb
Hi Ileane,
Great post, once gain. The last lines were the most powerful ” This is how you drive traffic, make friends (you’re gonna need them) and write THEE best content ever!”
🙂
Thanks for the tips. Once I did comment in Mashable too and I get few visitors from there.
Well yes commenting not only bring traffic, but build relation with fellow bloggers.
These steps are very important and effective “guest posting, hire top writers and post often & regularly”. Especially hiring a quality writer is very important because blogs are all about content therefore if you share quality, relevant and reader-friendly content it will boost your blogs visibility and search engine’s ranking position. Guest posting is also very effective method to build relationships with other bloggers and this relation helps you to get good traffic and backlinks.
Hey Ileane,
Awesome post with great information and I am totally agree with you that commenting on other blog is the best way to make relations with other blog and it also helps to drive more traffic to our blog. Guest blogging is also an crucial factor. Thanks for sharing this post.
thanks for the great article…in my opinion having few targeted audience is way better than having people just come and go over the site
Leaving comments not only help grow your blog, it also build relationships with the owner and other commenters. So, that’s a win-win for everyone.
vow very unique way to tell the oft repeated tips in a telling way that never let me bore instead it refresh my knowledge with new passion
I’d put social media in the first place. I think that’s the quickest and promising way to promote yourself and let people know about you.
This is a great article for new bloggers like me. I am literally BRAND NEW. I just started my new blog less than a week ago and would be lying if I said it was easy. Now the blogging part is easy but the getting traffic part is what I’ve been beating myself over the head trying to figure out. I have been researching for days and weeks trying to find the best way to get traffic. I have literally given myself information overload on many occasions. Every time I think I’ve found a strategy, upon further research people are saying it no longer works because of google updates and such. So finding this blog post has been a blessing. I also signed up for the blog tips emails so hopefully in the next couple of weeks I will finally be getting some traffic. Thanks from all the newbies like me 🙂
It was really cool reading your post.
I`d start with excellent design as my first step then 1 step I use to traffic to my brand new blog is Guest Posting.
It`s not commenting because Guest Posting helps to more exposure to a new blog than a blog comment.
What do you say?
~@Khajamoin1
Khaja,
I always tell people they should work on building up their own content and traffic before they start guest posting. Most blogs that have a good ranking don’t allow new comers to guest post – UNLESS – the author has started to build the trust of the blog owner by leaving valuable comments and interacting with others in the community.
Dear Illeane
I just can’t enough of your silky mellow voice. I swear your will beat Dr F. Crane by miles. To be honest, the best way is create content and then leave the driving traffic on back burner. Once good content is up on the site then go about commenting and building relationships like you say. Good tip on that great commenting tip and speaking your mind. Love the chuckle!
Out of curiosity, “do you think I am new or a mid-level blogger” since you first saw my blog. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Another question, what is the second best if you don’t like commenting. Lets face it, after a while it does get boring.
Shalu
Hey Shalu, when I first noticed you posting comments here on the blog I assumed you were new because I never saw you before. But I don’t really like to pass judgement that way because I can’t be everywhere (even though I may try). I remember the first time I visited your blog I was very impressed by the custom look of it. I think I gave you a couple of suggestions that worked out in your favor. Is that right?
Thanks for beings such a great supporter of this blog and connecting on other social networks as well.
Hello Ileane,
Thanks for writing a great blog post. You are right getting traffic to your blog takes doing a number of things. I believe that you shouldn’t put all of your eggs in one basket. I’m not a new blogger but my blog is fairly new because I had to start over from scratch. So, I’m in the process of getting more traffic and establishing reader’s to my blog.
Hey grt post!! I really enjoyed this whole article. !!
Great post. My blog really started to take off once I added links to social media. Commenting is fun, and i never knew at first it could help your blog as well, thanks for the tips.
Great post!! Awesome tips as always. I think we all wish we had that birdie on our shoulder with all the tips and tricks when we started blogging. My favorite tip would be to put yourself into the blog and don’t be to cut and dry. Be personable!!
i agree for Build Relationships & Post often and regularly for brand new blog to drive traffic
Thank you just the article i needed to be honest i started feeling like my blog aint going no where but i’ll try the commenting on other blogs and see how that works out for me 🙂
Creating a good and interactive relationship with your readers is one good factor that drives traffic and keep readers from coming back to your site.
Hi Ileane. I’m new to your blog and i found that your articles are really useful. The nine tips you give is really right for a new blogger.Thanks and from now i’ll be your regular reader
Building a network or a community around your blog can do wonders in terms of traffic. We can do that by blog commenting, guest posting and interacting with fellow bloggers on social networking sites.
Hey Ileane! This is a great post! Thanks for sharing! The tips are helpful not only for a new site but also for one that you want to make more popular! I find your arguments straight to the point and congratulations for the podcast! You motivate me to try it too!
Hi Dragos,
You’re doing an awesome job so far!
Thanks for all the kind words and retweets too.
That is what I did when I started my blog. One of my regular routine was reading the interesting blog posts to get more ideas on blogging & SEO & then leave the comments on these blogs.
It gave me 3 benefits –
I used to learn & improve my blogging.
I started getting the traffic.
It helped me to build links.
Priya N, now you’re talking!! That’s exactly what I want to hear.
Someone finally gets it. Thanks so much for saying this. It lets me know that I’m getting through on some level.
I used to read posts on other blogs but never left a single comment, and finally when I started leaving comments (4 months back) my traffic increased by almost 20%. I was like OMG! Since then I have been leaving comment on regular basis whenever I read a new post.
Tesur, would I be right when I say that you are leaving those comments on CommentLuv blogs?
If so, then you are doing things very right!
Yes, you are absolutely right! I do leave comment on CommentLuv blogs but if the content is really informative and useful I don’t mind leaving comment on other blogs too.
I agree with you Ms. Ileane.
Blogging is social media.
I have been writing about the strategy of building a blog off of referral traffic first then worrying about SEO later.
Blog commenting is an excellent start.
This is also why I think blogs that don’t allow comments are not blogs.
Darnell,
I feel you when you say that blogs that don’t allow comments aren’t blogs. There are couple of reasons I think people do this.
They have a huge following and they know that people will visit their blogs no matter what.
OR they want all the benefits of having a blog without taking the time to build a community. In other words – it’s a one way relationship.
I really don’t visit blogs like that. In fact to be honest I rarely visit too many blogs that don’t have CommentLuv. With two exceptions Lisa and Ana.
Thanks for your comment Darnell.
Great one, Ileane!
Blog commenting is definitely one of the most efficient ways of building links, relations. With a good relation with the admin, it also becomes easy to approach for the guest post and get it approved.
I really enjoyed listening to the podcast.
Thanks for the share.
Social media and commenting on other blogs is the fastest and immediate method to get tons of targted traffic to your new or old blog.
This is the first time I have been to this blog site. I was immediately struck by the neat arrangement and the graphics around. And to top it all the content is impressive. I had my good day!
Thank you for a great and helpful article. One thing I do to drive traffic to my blog: I post the link to a new blog post on Facebook, along with a picture and a sentence or two from the blog post to peak interest. Some who otherwise would not even know about my blogs (I have two: one under my name, one under my books series name) get to know about them.
Also, the Amazon author page is helpful. Mine also links my latest blog post as well as my latest tweet.
Hello Ileane,
I just love the post and how you expresses it. Soccial media is one of the best way to exposed a new blog and the best thing about social media, it’s free 😉 . But commenting on the other hand, is super and makes a blog more exposed especially is the blog you’re commenting on has a commentluv enabled 😀
It all comes to conclusion for me; the best way of getting traffic to a new blog is social media and blog commenting. Thanks aand have a blessed weekend ileane
Nice post. I think content is always going to be king, and posting regular quality content is the key to growing your blog traffic. It will take time, and blog promotion and SEO etc are important too, but your number #1 aim always should be to have well-written, engaging content on your site.
Great Article! I have been blogging for about a year, but have really become more serious about it just in the past few months. It felt it was difficult to write great content for a while. The thing that helped me the most, was narrowing my target audience.
I am an online video marketer and I’ve worked with countless businesses to produce videos. Recently I was asked by a friend who is an author if I could help her to market her new book. When I started speaking about my experience in helping her, people started asking me a lot of questions and telling me that either they were writing a book, or someone they knew was and that they would like me to help them. So, I started blogging about video marketing strategies that specifically help authors.
Having this specific target market not only helps me to write better content, but also helps me build better relationships on my social networking sites, find more interested readers and develop more traffic driving techniques.
Hope this helps someone else out there. Thanks for the useful tips here, some of the comments have really spurred my imagination!
Finding and researching a niche is very important.I’m so glad I read this that I’m going to go through the archive and pick up all the hints for my blog and use them to their fullest! If I had not read this I would still be a very lonely fur in Blogger Land. Thanks!
Hey Ileane,
If I had to choose 1 tip for “blogging newbies” it would be to spend some time away from your own blog and get out into the blogosphere and mingle with others in your niche – either in social circles or by simply engaging and interacting in blog commenting.
Cheers,
Mark
I don’t post a comment unless I really have something to say. Usually I am impressed by the information presented and want to add my own opinion. Every blogger loves when you come to his blog and post a comment that adds something to the conversation and does not just compliment the author.
When I see someone just complimenting my blog in a very generic way, I immediately sense that person is just another spammer trying to only build backlinks.
So everybody needs to keep that in mind when posting comments on other sites.
Nice Post Ileane
The one traffic method i used when i originally started blogging was social media, Then Stumbleupon and Digg were really cool.
And i had alot of facebook friends who were in interested in what i wrote about. Anyway nice Post Ma am
Traffic is such a difficult area to work with and boggles many bloggers in the industry.
If I were to open a new blog, the new blog would focus exactly on generate traffic on the internet.
My biggest advice I would give to someone is to guest post all the time. It help!
I so appreciate this post. It’s almost like I can hear you speaking directly to me in your writing voice. That’s pretty awesome.
I guess my number one tip would be guest posting. Becoming a guest blogger on an authoritative niche blog requires some sort of relationship building, so I just group the two as one. Next month, my focus is on getting more guest post backlinks from quality websites. Thanks for sharing your insight. It helps. 🙂
Ileane again a new stunner you have marked the best points for indulging a handful amount of valid traffic ..these are the tips which can be helpful for website promotion too
Ileane, I am SO glad I stumbled upon this post! I myself love blog commenting as a form of building links; still shying away from twitter and facebook though. I also greatly believe in writing quality content rather than writing to increase rankings for keywords.
Great post Ileane mam. Guest posting and commenting are the best options to drive traffic to your blog. I have done guest posting on few blogs and seen a increase in my blog’s traffic. Another good point that you have raised is to build good relationship with fellow bloggers. I think this is one of the most important and must followed point. Good relationships with bloggers will have a positive effect on your blog directly or indirectly.
reading related blog posts and commenting is the best tip to generate traffic to a new blog, for 2 reasons, first you will write new related blog posts, this will give you a great idea what to write and how to write, and create new content on your new blog, second thing it will give you good backlinks and traffic directly. It is my best choice
Hi ileane
Blog commenting has been a great tool for me. One you can leave links and build relationships along the way. The biggie for me is you are promoting your site yes but by going on and looking at areas where your knowledge is lacking you are learning what you need to know to get ahead at the same time. So really you are covering quite a few points at the same time. That is as you say you actually read the posts that you are commenting on. As I know by reading many comments that a lot of people do not.
Great post thanks lee
HI Ileane,
Great share!
This time by choice I wanted to be the last one to comment on your post, I’d say commenting is with what I really started with and this showed in the results.
When I started I met Adrienne, I came to know about her while I was finding something on google and the somehow I reached her blog and on one of her post WHERE I COMMENTED and from there onwards a great relationship was developed with her. So commentsing really made the difference.
Along the way through her blog I was able to make several other good connections and all through commenting. I don’t use Facebook as it is total waste of productive time, everyone pushing the other for LIKES which I hate.
I think comments can be the biggest asset for building relationship and I’m with you on this.
Thanks Ileane for this share.
Sapna
Hello.
I am happy to find this post here. Nice information, thanks for sharing this information. I am carried some of tips here and hope these all beneficial for me.
Many Thanks
I usually don’t leave my comment on a post if there’s already a ton of them. But this post opened my eyes to the fact that commenting does really help my new blog. Thanks, Ileane.
Thanks for the post Ileane.
Personally most of my Blog traffic comes from my large Twitter following but I’m working on building other traffic streams such as your first points regarding relationship building and Blog commenting.
Ileane,
I’ve just started blogging yesterday. Found your blog through keyword search “first blog traffic”. I must say it is what i need now. Nice to have someone reading out in audio for a change. Also noted that comment LUV looks promising. i can even see my latest post. will learn more about it at a later stage.
Thanks for the helpful tip. I think it goes a long way for a start.
This article was as if you were reading my mind lol. I’m glad I found it before I spend too many hours watching youtube videos. I do know that providing consistent, quality content is important and I was looking on how I could build quality link as well. I’ve developed a few relationships from Linkedin that have proved to be wonderful, so I agree with you 100% about how important it is to build relationships. You only need a few really good ones 🙂 Thanks so much for the wonderful advice and I’ll be joining your list.
Hi Ileane,
Of course Commenting and Link building are the two most important tasks to drive Insane traffic to your blog.And as you have rightly said ,Blogging is no joke as you have to put all your efforts to be successful.
Regards,
Joel
All you said is true and there is no doubt that building a solid relationship among other bloggers is more important, you might even end up knowing great people who might be there before you that can help and read you to the right way to go that can read to success
The points you have mention above are essential for a successful blog. Moreover we need to post new and updated information so that people love to visit in our blog. Thanks for sharing this interesting post.
I think the best way to drive traffic to a blog is through email subscriptions. They are a great way to drive huge traffic and that too targeted.
Hi Ileane, thanks for these top tips 🙂 My top and foremost would be to set it up properly so it works for you in the long term. Then definitely building your community is next. With this, don’t expect results overnight, but stay focused on writing, posting, and sharing great content for your readers. At some point, your hard work is going to pay off 🙂
I completely agree with you about commenting! It is a lot of fun because you get to visit variety of blogs and read a lot of useful info as well as do link building for your blog. To me, it’s much more fun than guest posting which is time consuming and does not always bring the results we need. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for this list. I am definitely going to put these into action.
I guess consistency is the key. I’m trying to read up on new strategies, and leave genuine comments about the articles. I really appreciate this one.
Thank you!
hmmmmmn, traffic to a new blog, social media worked for me alot even though now i hardly use them, but i will surely go back to increase my traffic i get from search engines. thanks for the great post
Hi! Ileane, I will try these tricks for my latest blog as its difficult to gain traffic in my niche
Comments are great because most folks love to see a new comment on their blog, especially if it is relevant and adds value to the post. The blog owner is happy, and the commenter is happy since she or he gets to feel involved, and if they provide value, may even get some new visitors themselves. Win Win!
Yet another post which proves importance of commenting. Commenting has more value in relationship building and conversation, rather than link building.
We can never imagine a great blog with commenting disabled! (A new oxymoron LOL)
The best thing about commenting is that anybody can express his/her voice!
All gem tips… not only for new blogs but also for old blogs to maintain their influence online. Thank you Ileane!
(I am new here and this is my first comment. Will keep checking for more such great articles. Glad to find you Ileane, you rock!)
I am a new blogger and I think I just found my second mentor.
Hi MsIleane – love the way you tie your blogposts up with facebook – I think integrating your online presence is a key factor in blog readership growth (at least you are my favourite case study to use for this!)
For a new blog though it’s often a lot more difficult to gain momentum when you don’t have loads of facebook fans already. I’m surprised that none of the top 10 options you covered actually involved simply paying for the traffic. It’s a bit expensive initially but if you have a good subscription set up then you can easily convert the new visitors whom you’ve enticed and captivated with your content on the new blog, to become regular readers. As your regular readers grow they help you spread the word as well.
social media in indeed a great place to drive traffic but commenting and link is also essential…
Hey, the facts that you mentioned and knowledge and understanding of these things clearly reveal that you have a lot experience to write on this topic. It will be a great help for me. Thanks and keep writing.
One of the most important lessons i learned about traffic generation is that it takes some time before quality traffic is directed to a new blog..Basically a blogger should not expect server crashing traffic with only 3-4 in their inventory…A better idea will be to write 50-60 posts and then start promoting each articles on social media sites and forums..This will gradually increase traffic..If the content is great then it will be even easier to maintain the traffic.
I started building a business in 2002 and picked one main traffic building method: forum posting. It’s similar to blog posting, but you pick one or two forums related to your topic and build relationships with the people on the forum. I’ve since sold that business and started another and I’m excited to try out blog posting to build relationships. Thank you for your advice!
Wow Ileane! You have built up quite the community here! Very impressed!
I remember when I started back in 2008, all I did was:
Write
Comment
Twitter
Lather
Rinse
Repeat
To an extent, that method will always work if you use it correctly, make comments that can get noticed and are actually adding value to the conversation, not blatantly trying to get links… Just my opinion though 😉
Great to see/read how far you have come! See you around.
had a great time reading this thanks for sharing the information keep goin
Hey Ileane,
Thanks for all the tips and the Podcast was great also.
I think what you said about reading the entire blog post and then making a relevant comment is key. Too many times people will just post something totally unrelated and I’m thinking “were you reading the same post I just wrote?”
Glad to hear from an expert that commenting still works!
Thanks again.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
I had decided to pick one main traffic generation strategy and milk it to the best of my ability and then slowly add other streams of traffic.
I was therefore grappling with the question “Which one?” and your post has helped answer it.
hello ileane
i would have choosen SEO ..actually i have a new blog so what i did was. i installed wordpress, wrote 1 post and started creating backlinks for almost 1 month then i started writing more posts and they all were indexed beautifully..thats the power of backlinks but i never left creating more backlinks..thanks for the post and yes i got pr1 within 15-20 days because i was having good links
i think the best way to drive traffic to new website is to make a youtube video
and backlinking that youtube video suddenly that video in page one then you got avalanche traffic
one thing
i don’t think commenting on another blog will give you visitors
i think it just for seo
or maybe i am wrong
i wonder how percent your traffic that come from blog commenting ?
btw nice post
Adi, good point. If you already have a YouTube channel before you start your blog then that is a good way to promote your site. However, most people start blogging way before they start up a YouTube channel.
To answer your question, when I first started blogging, about 90% of my traffic came from blog commenting. That’s why I recommend doing it. 🙂
Ya these are the very basics thing which a new blogger must have to do for getting traffic.Link building and being social is one of the best strategy for getting initial as well as for life time traffic.Thanks for nice sharing.
Guest blogging and building social media network is really a great way to call good traffic to your blog or website.
Hey Ileane
As the post title is ” pick one tip to drive traffic to a brand new blog “, My favorite tip is blog commenting. I like this method because it gives us a way to discuss our views with other bloggers and readers.
Back in the day, I used to mainly focus on in-page SEO. Now a days, I’m focusing more on social media as I feel as it’s dramatically more important than it was a few years ago. Google+ has been the best for me so far in terms of websites to share on.
A very detailed and well briefed post on Google signals for bloggers, I might say things are getting hard for a new blogger?
I am more looking forward on searching authority link building websites and found facebook, twitter and G+ is the best option for the bloggers to out reach their target audience. I find twitter the best, and it drives a good amount of traffic and subscribers as well, the same way you mentioned that Google seek the subscription ratio!
At last Thanks for sharing a great resource!
The post is very helpful to me for getting better results for my blog. I am also very thankful for the comments as i got some new tips to learn from them. So i thank for sharing this post.