Traffic (second to content) is the lifeblood of any website. With it your website will thrive and life will be great. But without it you’ll be frustrated and lonely, since the only somewhat living thing occasionally visiting your website will be the Google bot. So here are three easy methods for generating free traffic.
1. Comment on Blogs in Your Niche
This is very easy to do, and take no more than 5 minutes per blog you visit. Just skim through the blog post to get the overall picture of what it’s about. Then reread any specific details that catch your interest. Finally, read what other people wrote and leave an insightful, original comment that provokes thought and enhances the conversation on the blog. It’s important that you leave good comments, otherwise you’ll be looked down upon as a ‘comment spammer’ and no one will want to visit your blog. Here’s a quick rule of thumb: If you don’t have something interesting to say, then it’s best to not leave a comment at all. Leave interesting comments on at least 5-10 blogs in your niche everyday, and you’ll see a decent amount of traffic coming through.
2. Participate in Related Forums
Find forums related to your niche, sign up, and join the conversation. You can leave a forum signature with the link going back to your blog that will display every time you make a post. The same rule of thumb for commenting on blogs applies to participating in forums - say something interesting. You don’t have to write a novel. Just say something that will either start a conversation, or provoke a conversation to grow and mature. The more interesting and valuable you can make the forum, the more you will get noticed. More attention = more traffic.
And you don’t have to spend hours in a forum to see some traffic. Take 20 minutes out of your day to create 2 new threads, and respond to 2 existing threads. Get involved by really saying something. And most importantly, show that you care about the topic and the people you’re talking to. It’s easy to spot forum spammers because they leave short, meaningless responses just so they can get their signature to show up. Don’t be one of them.
3. Regularly Post Twitter Updates
Twitter is a great way to make friends, stay connected, and drive traffic to your website. But just like the above methods, it’s important you have something to say. Now, with Twitter you don’t have to be as formal. You can leave short, informal messages that answer the question “What are you doing?” Submitting useful links and interesting updates will often get you noticed, but don’t expect to get surges of traffic like you would from Digg or Reddit. Try including a link to a newly published post in your Twitter updates by using the Tiny Url. Always keep things interesting and remember, a conversation can’t happen with just one person.
Although these three methods won’t send you loads of traffic, they’re a great way to expose your blog to new readers, and be part of the conversation online. Dedicate 30 minutes a day to these three activities and you’ll notice an extra stream of new traffic.
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