I wish I have your kind of traffic, my traffic is like a small fraction of yours (oh well, I guess I just started a few months) so I would like to learn from you how you promoted your site and drive traffic to your site when you first started. Do give me a step-by-step and pointers, I am all ears!
A food blogger asked me after she saw the traffic I get from MalaysiaBest. Well, I shall make this short and simple:
1) The age of the blog – That blog is more than 1 years old.
2) The content – I keep updating and updating even when my traffic was low and no one commented.
3) Perseverances – I have observed many bloggers who dropped out of blogging after a while. When I started blogging, I really did not blog it for money. I just want to open a totally new site from my personal blog to dedicate it to foods only. But I know it will not come to waste.
4) Good observation – I notice many food bloggers tend to do the same old restaurant foods review. This only caters to a small circle of people living in that area. So, I diversify to health news related to food, latest foods trend and celebrity chefs. Hahaha, now if any restaurants want to be featured on my blog, they either have to impress me or bribe me. :P
5) Socialising – I do not socialise much nowadays because I can’t keep up with the numbers of blogs to visit. But if one is just starting out, keep a regular circle of blogs to visit. Be sincere, of course and don’t just leave comments for the sake of leaving it. Nowadays, I do read but don’t comment unless the bloggers are having birthdays or something like that. However, I like to visit new bloggers to encourage them.
6) Forums – Forum is a good way to know others and also to share experiences. But I never promote my food blogs or any other blogs through forum because I already have my own parenting forum to handle.
7) Smart titles – Always use titles that people normally use to search. Don’t be too creative and come up with title that doesn’t make sense. Go with something like, “How do I peel a potato?” because people normally type exactly words like these.
8) Submit your sites to search engines. – Yahoo, MSN, Google or whatever you find. Check out Google Sitemap and Google Analytics and digest those figures. See where your traffic comes from and try to cater to that country/region as well.
9) Join blog portals/directories – There are plenty of portals where we can submit our blogs. I must say that the traffic is not impressive at all. But for a start, one can’t be choosy. They normally expect you to place their buttons on your site.
10) Link! – Link up established bloggers. Usually, we know who is linking to us from our WordPress dashboard. One does not need to ask to link. Do it, it is good karma. :) If you quote something from someone, always put their links on your blog. Mention it and put in the link. In the long run, it helps with your position.
11) Be a groupie – Hang around established bloggers often. Normally, after a while, you tend to make some friends from there. Of course, don’t do it so blatantly because some established bloggers are damn picky and may ignore or even diss you!
12) Enjoy – Part of blogging is to enjoy what we are doing. So, relax, don’t worry too much about traffic or comments. Just keep writing and be consistent in updating.
Of course, there are hundreds of SEO (search engine optimisation) tips to learn on the internet. Those are more technical so I shall not elaborate as they are out there on the net.
Did I miss out anything else?
11 thoughts on “How do I build traffic?”
earl-ku
(November 14, 2006 - 12:11 pm)or you beg some famous blogger to pimp you …
ShaolinTiger
(November 14, 2006 - 12:54 pm)I think I also got the same mail from the same blogger…rasa something food blog.
I imagined the same thing was sent to many people, so I discarded it as spam…turns out I was right.
Ah Pek
(November 14, 2006 - 8:34 pm)join the year-end blogger’s party.
bibliobibuli
(November 14, 2006 - 9:21 pm)i write about a subject which i guess is of minority interest (books)but i’m noticing a steady increase in visitors over time. (though my numbers will never get stratospheric as they do on some other local blogs). i would endorse all the advice given above – especially about enjoying yourself and blogging because you get a great deal out of it.
pinging on petaling street has helped me a lot. i also have joined a few blog directories
i put my name on my business card. and when i write articles for mainstream media i ask if i can include my blog address.
but i don’t any make money – i’ve never had the heart to spoil my site with ads. i would like to earn something from blogging though – i put hours of my time and a great deal of mental effort into what i do and it seems fair.
thanks for raising the issue!
pablopabla
(November 15, 2006 - 12:25 am)Thanks for linking to my food blog. It really brought lots of traffic to me which is an encouragement to a newbie like me.
Actually, whilst at the initial stage I wasn’t looking into earning money, then I realised the potential. Now? Well…I’m not to bothered about it liao. Just leave it. If got earnings (which I’ve yet to receive), it’s God’s blessing. If not also nevermind.
I just learn to enjoy blogging and sharing. More a hobby than a full time job.
mumsgather
(November 15, 2006 - 1:41 am)Yes, you missed out …..
No. 13. Beg 5xmom to link to my blogs so that I can improve my page ranking. Hehe. Can anot?
earl-ku
(November 15, 2006 - 8:31 am)link me link me link me … linku….wakakakakak
lilian
(November 15, 2006 - 11:57 am)Earl- ku : Sure, sure, sure…
MG – LOL, the only reason I don’t link is because I screwed up my page in my personal blog. Nowadays, I can use the blogroll, I have to edit page. But wait a minute, you are probably the first five person I linked.
pablopabla – Hahaha, hard to find men who cooks so must fast-fast grab hold of your URL mah.
bibliobibuli -The trend now is in linking, i.e. write something, link a company. There are money to be earned there so it will be a waste not to take the opportunity if we can write. Just one PPP (pay per post), I have earned USD300+ in 30 days, writing 40 posts. Actually, it benefits me ‘cos it push me to keep updating and also got my creative juices working because we are supposed to blend in the links in the most subtle way.
AhPek – You just gave me an idea! Wait ha…
ST – She is a Penangite, so am just helping out. Hehehe, you are famous what, so everyone wants to call you sifu.
Earl-ku : Not everyone got guts like you lah, simply cucuk your nose everywhere. LOL.
Aceone
(November 15, 2006 - 12:01 pm)First time here through Ahpek’s blog. Many thanks for the tips.
pablopabla
(November 16, 2006 - 12:16 am)There are many men who cook but most if not all of them are not shameless like me to blog about it :P
Shooi
(December 19, 2006 - 10:41 am)Finally got my own web after reading so much of yours. And trying to monetize sounds just soo exciting.
May i ask a question – i read about submitting the blog to search engines…how to do that ah?
Sorry, i very jakun about these things.
p/s: thanks for recommending Bryan as the webhost. He is great to work with.
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