In General

Promoting Your Blog

Almost every other day, I keep receiving email requests which ask for tips on how to increase their blog’s traffic. I wrote this as an email first to answer them and then decided it makes sense to publish it here.

First, I’ll start with an honest answer. I wish I knew the answers myself. If I knew, I’d be breaking the one lakh visitors per day barrier! And, reeling in the Adsense moolah!

Well, I’m not.

Yet, there’s sureshot lessons I’ve learnt that’s helped me reach where I am. And I’d love to share ’em with you.

1) Get your own domain.
Kick out the secondary blog addresses like yourname.blogspot.com. Buy your own domain. Show you are a professional. Show you are serious enough.

2) Get your custom email.
This has been my blog’s best marketing tool. My email is ‘Kiruba @ Kiruba.com’ and I don’t use any other free emails. Every time I send our an email, I promote my site in a subtle manner. My point is, why promote Yahoo or Hotmail, when you can promote yourself.

3)Publish your URL in stationaries.
Use it in your E-mail signatures. Use it in your business card. In your letter pad. Heck, I even have it on my helmet.

4) Add a blogroll
It’s the equivalent of ‘You scratch my back, I scratch your back’. Sign up with Blogrolling.com. Add up your frequently read blogs.

5) Ping.
If you are using blogger.com, activate the ping option. Sometimes, the automatic pinging doesn’t work. So, I always fill up Blogrolling’s ping form.

6) Register your blog at India.Blogstreet.com.
Blogstreet is and will continue to be the most important blog directory. Why wouldn’t you want to be here?

7) Provide RSS Feeds
Many people use Newsreaders to subscribe to their frequently read blogs. Don’t miss out on this crowd. Make sure your site has RSS feeds. If you don’t know what this is, ask a tech friend.

8) Add Meta Tags
Google is a very important driver of traffic to your blogs. Help Google index your blog better. Provide appropriate keywords in your meta tags.

9) Write daily.
When people visit your site, they invest in their time and Interent time. And more importantly they think about you. Respect that. Don’t make them turnback empty handed.

10) Comment on other sites
Let’s be honest. We love receiving comments. And invariably check out the commeter’s blog. It’s an effective way to introduce your blog to others. However, be honest in your commenting. Don’t comment for numbers’ sake. Comment, so you can engage in a discussion.

11) Keep your posts short & sharp.
I hate reading long posts. And am sure so do others. If you can’t help it (like this long post), atleast break it into smaller paras and provide sub-headings.

Hey, like I said, these are my personal opinion. Am fairly sure these will work for you for sure. If you have a point that’s helped your blog, we’d love to hear it from you.