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Photo from Google Success
Soon I will be sharing my 2009 blogging goals and I am very excited about writing the post. To make my goals I will use data of the past and aggregate it into a set of new goals I hope I can achieve. The most successful blogs understand that good data analytics and goal setting are just as important as they are to something offline like a Subway franchise. Aside from numerical goals for traffic, monetization, and other measurable items, I will also be sharing the tools I am using to meet those goals. Much like DerekSemmler.com does, I will be sharing the way I met my goals and the means I used to make them. In blogging there are certain items one regards as “non-negotiable.” For me and my blogging ventures, traffic is one of those. I can do without many things, but not traffic. Currently, these are the ideas I have to draw blog traffic in 2009:
- MyBlogLog
- Blog Catalog
- Social Media (up to 160 sites through SocialMarker.com)
- Reading and commenting via Google Reader.
- Entrecard I have decided, for ME and ME only, this service serves itself more than those who use it.
- Blog Carnivals
- Guest Blogging
What tools do you use to drive traffic?
4 Comments
As for me I have found 4 tools to be of key success when driving traffic.
1.Facebook – The convenience and accessability of simply posting when my blog is updated lets all my friends and subscribers be notified when a new post is up and ready.(33% of traffic comes via this)
2.Forums – Posting on popular forums that are geared towards men and fatherhood(which is what i find myself blogging about mostly) has drawn a good bit of traffic already. Especially if you can start a thread that becomes popular on a certain forum or message board.
3. Commenting – People appreciate it when others comment on one of their posts. Alot of times individuals will return the favor and visit your blog to do just that.
4. MyBlogLog – Helps in building contacts and connections with other like minded bloggers who alot of times end up subscribing to your log and return frequently.
Im new to this compared to some, but as for me those 4 seem to be very viable.
@Bunk: Thanks! I need to make sure my Twitter feed is posting new blog posts to my Facebook. Great tip there. Also, I am trying to use MyBlogLog more but am still quite green to how it works. Thanks a lot.
Damien, I don’t worry about tools much (I’m not as driven as I used to be). Twitter definitely drives people to the site.
One thing I had stopped doing, for some unknown reason, is adding tags to my posts. I noticed a traffic drop. When I started back to adding tags…and increase. I figure you already do that.
I think we just have to remember that traffic ebbs and flows. If you find the magic, I’m sure you will share it :-).
I need goals myself, so I wish I could help you, but I wanted to commend you for setting this up.
My biggest tools have been commenting, Reddit and facebook over the past few months. I’d like to build on those more in 2009.