5 Tips for Increasing Your Blog Readership

I try to stay away from New Year's resolutions.  They never work...at least they don't seem to have any staying power.  This year, however, I'm going to take a leap of faith.  Let's call it a leap of faith by necessity...  My broker has asked me to present my 2010 business plan next week so I intend to center much of my plan around my internet presence.  (Can a strong internet presence translate to meaningful real estate sales?)  All I ask, is that I get a minimum of 750 comments on this blog in the effort to convince him that blog readership has impact.  Do you think you can handle that for me?  ...or, you could go to "Kent's Sandpoint, Idaho / Schweitzer Mountain Blog" and you could comment on some of those posts.

Actually, this particular post is a piggy-back on a great post by my friend Kristie Lorette.  Her post is my first 2010 attempt toward my "new and improved" presence.  Thank you, Kristie.

5 Tips for Increasing Your Blog Readership

Many businesses and business owners view blogging as a waste of time, but there are specific ways you can turn your blog into a moneymaking venture. In order to make money from your blog, you have to accomplish two things. First, you have to drive a significant amount of traffic to your blog. Second, you have to maximize the income you can earn from the traffic.

Ways to Increase Your Blog Traffic

Use Links. Your blog should contain links to other blogs that are related to your website. You should also include links in the posts or articles you put on your blog. This positions you as a resource for your readers to get more information on topics of interest to them. It can also create a relationship between you and the blog or website you’re linking to.

Be a Contributor. Find websites and blogs where you can submit your articles or be a guest blogger. Include a link to your blog in your bio, which is a primary way of garnering the attention of a broader audience and driving more traffic to your blog. Also, include your blog URL on your social media profiles such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

Leave Comments. Visit related blogs and leave meaningful comments or pose questions is relation to one of the posts or articles. This exposes your blog to your niche and drives traffic back to your website. Leave insightful and well thought out comments that are intriguing enough to grab the attention of visitors to blog and push them to want to check out your blog.

Offline Marketing. Think of offline ways you can promote your blog as well. Adding your blog URL to your business card and being a speaker on a panel related to your blog topic are all ways you can promote your blog offline and drive traffic to your blog.

Share Useful Content. Make sure the content and information you share on your blog is useful and meaningful to your readers and followers. Sharing high quality content keeps your readers coming back for more. No matter how much traffic you drive to your blog, if your content disappoints the readers when they get there then your blog will quickly fail and have the opposite outcome of making you money.

Business blogs can make you money or increase income to your existing business. When you follow these five tips, you’ll find more traffic landing on your blog. Once you get the right traffic to your blog, these tips also help to capture them and keep them coming back for more.