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Searching
for blog traffic
By John Jantsch
Contributing writer, WordBiz Report
As more and more
blogs go commercial, more and more folks want to know how and why they should
blog for business. While there are any number of reasons, one of the most compelling
is this: search engines seem to love blogs.
So what is it about
blogs that those little spiders love so much?
Here's a little
secret: search engines crave content.
Okay so maybe that's
not such a secret. But to look at many websites you would think it is. The fact
is too many websites do nothing to attract search engines. Providing content,
not to mention fresh content, is one of the toughest chores of anyone who maintains
a website. But when it comes to generating traffic it is the most important
job.
Blogs, by their
very nature, are all about content. In a commercial environment every blog entry
is fresh content. Get in the habit of making two, three, even four entries a
week and you've got a content building bonanza on your hands. Everyone knows
you need new content to give visitors a reason to come back; blogs just make
the task so much easier.
Lack of competition
Another advantage
that blogs currently possess over traditional web pages and sites is lack of
competition. While the number of bloggers grows daily, there are still relatively
few commercial blog sites. When I created my blog I found that it showed up
in the number 3 spot in Google for the term "Marketing Weblog" within
about 3 weeks of launch. Not bad considering I did nothing to make it happen.
There are a couple
of other things you should do to make your weblog a traffic magnet. They aren't
really that different than traditional search engine optimization (SEO) tactics
but the names and faces are unique to the blogging world.
Use targeted
keywords in your entry titles
No rocket science
here but this tip can't be stated enough. Forget cute. Go for titles that fit
your targeted keywords and phrases even if they seem a bit awkward. (You do
have targeted keywords and phrases don't you?)
Register with
blog search engines
Search engines that specialize in blogs include:
http://www.daypop.com/
http://www.blogvision.com/
http://www.blogsearchengine.com/
Register with
tracking services
These services
note when a blog has been updated and publish an ongoing list. They even keep
track of the most updated and most visited weblogs. Plus you get to learn what
pinging is.
Two tracking services are:
http://blo.gs/
http://www.weblogs.com/
Trade some links
You don't need
to get out of control on this one but a few "relevant" swapped links
to related blogs can boost your traffic.
Syndicate your
content
This tactic is
way to technical to cover here but do some research on the term RSS and you
may discover ways to have your content and entries fed to sites that are hungry
for the type of stuff you write. Many of the popular weblog software packages
have this capability built right in.
http://www.feedster.com/
John Jantsch is
a marketing consultant based in Kansas City, Mo. He writes frequently on real
world small business marketing tactics and is the creator of "Duct Tape
Marketing" a turn-key small business marketing system. Check out his blog
at http://www.DuctTapeMarketing.com/weblog.php
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