The 10 Best Ways To Increase Blog Traffic

SEO
Without a doubt SEO has been my favorite way to get traffic to my blogs. The Google algorithm loves blogs, which makes SEO a very good way to get traffic to your blog.

Commenting
Leaving comments on blogs in related niches is a great way to get new targeted traffic to your blog. It is also an excellent way to build relationships with other bloggers which leads me to number 3…

Networking
Networking is possibly the single most important skill for making big money online. It is also a great way to build traffic to your blog.

Word Of Mouth
Simply tell your friends and family about your blog and/or specific posts on your blog. You will be surprised by how much traffic that can generate.
Linkbait
Create posts that are designed to grab people’s attention. Controversial posts are often associated with linkbait, but there are plenty of other ways to create linkbait. 101 lists make for good linkbait and so do posts that are out of the ordinary in some way.

Link Out
Link liberally to other blogs in your posts. Many bloggers keep track of incoming links to their blog and will come check out your blog when you link to them. This can also help you get comments.

Stumbleupon
I am a big fan of using stumbleupon for getting traffic to your blog. If you haven’t signed up for it you should. Stumbleupon is this blogs third best traffic source, behind retuning visitors, and Google.

List Posts
I have found that posts with lists (like this one) generate more traffic to your blog. They tend to get bookmarked and voted on more on social sites. The more list posts you write the more traffic you will get.

Blog Memes
Create a blog meme and tag other bloggers. Participating in blog memes has definitely increased my blog traffic. One blog meme in particular really helped this blog out and I never even participated in it.

Quality Content
Quality content is the key to keep people coming back for more. If you write posts that people enjoy reading, they will come back regularly to read your posts. Having regular readers is a great way to increase blog traffic.

Those are the ten best ways I have found to get traffic to my blogs. What are your favorite ways to get traffic to your blog?

5 Ways To Earn Money With Flickr

1. Market A Book
Creating your own ebook these days is very easy. You don’t have to be Hemingway and you don’t have to produce something the length of War And Peace. People will be quite happy to download sixty-odd pages explaining how to do one thing, whether that’s photograph birds, buy a camera or improve their workflow.

Set up a group. Give some practical tips that let people try out your niche. And keep reminding them where they can download your ebook if they want to become experts like you.

2. Sell Your Photos.
It does happen occasionally that a buyer will contact a photographer on Flickr about using an image for a commercial purpose. But it doesn’t happen often and the image has to be pretty exceptional. If you’re going to sell your images on Flickr then, you’ll have to be proactive. Look for organizations or businesses that will need the sort of photos that you sell and invite them to look at your photostream.

So if you like taking pictures of your local soccer team, contact a soccer magazine and tell them that you have a bunch of images ready for them to use. Keep the prices relatively low and with some careful marketing, you should be able to sell a few pictures to a select market.

3. Offer Microstock Freebies
One of the difficulties of selling photos on Flickr is that there are so many images available for free. But that also means that there’s no shortage of potential buyers browsing the sites, many of whom would be prepared to pay a buck or three if it cut their search for quality.

Post a few old microstock images in your photostream, and place a link on your profile to others on your favorite microstock site. Let the microstock buyers browsing Flickr see what you have to offer and where they can pick it up.

4. Create Products With Flickr’s Partners
Flickr itself is pretty simple. The real creativity now is coming from people like MOO, Zazzle and Blurb. Don’t turn your nose up at these easy ways to move your photos onto cards, t-shirts, cups and books. More people buy coffee mugs every day than digital photos.

5. Give Your Portfolio Some Extra Reach
There’s always something a little strange about seeing someone’s wedding photos on Flickr. They’re the sort of images that are only interesting to the couple and their families — and to other couples thinking of getting married and wondering what to expect.

Putting your best pictures on Flickr is no replacement for a professional-looking online portfolio. But it can bring people into that portfolio… and that portfolio can win you jobs.