10 Things is a Series of posts outlining 10 short and sweet points (sometimes more) to help you as a web developer
Getting exposure as a blogger when you start out can be hard. Today there’s so much competition from other bloggers, and grabbing an audience’s attention or standing out from the crowd can be hard when you’re just beginning. Below are 10 things to help you stand out from the crowd and get more exposure.
Whenever you comment on somebody else’s website, it will usually ask for your website’s URL, which it will link to in your comment. Think of it as a little thank you from the admin of the website for commenting. This link back to your site will certainly garner you a few visitors, and may well increase your Google page rank. On top of that, you’ll make the admin of the website really happy.
Now lets concentrate on your own little comment section. When you get a comment asking a question, or pointing out a mistake in your writing, it is important to reply. It helps your users to see that you’re a human too, and not some cyborg from the future sent here to write blog posts. On top of that, it makes you seem part of the community, and willing to help.
Another useful thing to think about adding to your blog is the ability to subscribe to comments. If you’re running Wordpress there’s a nice little plugin which you can find here that allows your users to subscribe to comments. This allows them to stay in the conversation, and they might even return to your website to reply to replies if they’re subscribing.
Communicating inside your blog’s niche (the topic it’s concentrating on) is a great way to not only get exposure, but to make new friends and solidify you presence in the community. The more friends you have in your niche, the better, and communicating with people (whether via social networks or by direct message or whatever) will again help your users see that you are part of the community just like they are.
This is a bit of a no brainer. If you’re willing to put out the cash, advertising is a great way to get your name out there. It’s especially useful if you’re advertising on websites inside your niche (more potential readers). Advertising is a quick way to get a sudden boost in visitors, and many of them may stick around to see more of what you have to offer. Not only that but advertising lets you become more of a public name.
Writing for other blogs is a great way to expand your exposure and influence in the community: if you write for a very big name in your niche, it’ll often make people notice you. On top of that, blogs will often link to your website or twitter in the blog post, giving you even more exposure.
In my opinion, the writing style incorporated into blogs is very important, and when I read a badly translated post I’ll often just leave (because I find it so hard to read). Therefore, I think it’s pretty important that you have your own writing style when you write your posts, and keep it as legible as possible to the reader. It’s nice to read a well written article, and if you write a few your readers might just subscribe.
Another way to get a bit more exposure is to be controversial. This is going to be difficult depending on what topic you’re covering, but if you’re in the news business, you shouldn’t have too much trouble. Controversy breads conversation (comments) and interest. While you want to be controversial, don’t go overboard: you don’t want a huge list of comments that all show pure hatred towards your being.
If you’re in a niche where controversy is hard to come by, you could always question the status quo. Questioning what everyone else accepts in a way that’s interesting or thought provocative will also help to get the conversation going on your website. Most importantly though, be individual.
Another great way to get explosive exposure is to leverage websites like Digg, Stumble Upon and Twitter. As is common practice amongst blogger nowadays, link to various social networks in your posts, so your users an easily get to them if they feel the need to. Getting noticed on these websites is hard, but once you do your website will be flooded with visitors.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is a great way to get more exposure: where else to get hits than from some of the biggest websites in the world (Google, Yahoo, Bing). One of the most common ways to optimize your SEO is to use meta tags. Although I say that Yahoo and Bing are important sources of traffic, your main search traffic is really going to be coming from Google, who has about 86% of the market share. That’s why it’s so important to have a good Google Page Rank, as that will determine how far up the page your search results will appear.
This sort of goes without saying. If you write something good, people are going to flock to it like a fish to water. The more original and useful your content is, the more it’s going to appeal to people. Think about it: if people can’t get what you’re offering anywhere else, the only choice they have is to visit your site.
On top of that, writing something good will increase your subscriber/twitter counter, as people are going to want to see what else you have to offer in the future.
If you have a good design, you might be able to get put on web galleries that showcase very pretty web designs. One that pops to mind is Best Web Gallery. Getting added to such a website will offer a continuous stream of visitors for a while, and is likely to increase your subscriber count.
If your website isn’t handsome enough to get put in a web gallery, it is still very important to have a usable, nice looking websites which users enjoy visiting. Users are more likely to come back to a website which is usable and has a nice design that one that is not.
Comments
very useful, thank you very much.
I’ve found that commenting really does help trickle in some traffic, it’s not much but generally if you make a comment worthwhile people tend to want to see who this person is or what blog they write on.
As you touched on, Guest blogging really does wonders. You may spend hours writing a single guest post where in the end you feel very tempted to simply post it on your own site but the guest post facilitates 2 key advantages:
1. Blog Networking – Building better relationships with other blogs in your niche (remember: they’re NOT your competition)
2. Reaching a wider audience – If a larger blog decides to publish your guest post, you can guarantee that people will come over to your own.
All in all, it’s like a playground. Those who share with others tend to be more accepted and the people you want to talk to. You get no where when you keep everything to yourself.
Yeah, guest posting is something I’ve never tried myself but I know it can work wonders. Nice analogy, I like to envision the web design world like a playground too. :D
Great article, which is usually overlooked is #3 Communicate within your niche. You can build some great relationships with folks who have similar site(s) and/or interests.
Nice article with good points highlighted… Was happy to find I follow most of them :)
I’ve just relaunched my blog, as I used to have one blog, then switched it something else, but now my blog is the main part of my site.
I find that posting my blog posts to social networks like Twitter and Facebook is a great boost, and it can be so easy if you use plugins like Wordbooker (WP>Facebook) and Wordtwit (WP>Twitter).
Nice article, really gives me lots to think about having only just launched my own blog. I do find that hits do trickle through from leaving comments, and this is a great way to start. Twitter also helps massively. I find most important is to write good, relevant, debate inspiring content, as people will likely want to read it and share it for you, helping you along the way!
Thank you, this has been a very helpful article. The web is a funny thing, there are a lot of people writing on subjects who really don’t know a thing about them.
You seem to be knowledgeable about this subject, I have spent a lot of time looking for something new to help me get, and retain more traffic.
My bog is written to a very niche audience of visitors, it has it’s following, but as you know, you can never have to many people visiting your web site.
Most article on this subject are just re-hashing that some old things that I all ready know, after 10 years you learn a few things.
Thank You
David C. Atkin