How to increase traffic to your blog or website for free.
- Tag it on Digg, del.icio.us, and StumbleUpon
- Use Pingoat.com, if they ever freaking get it working again.
- Join a banner- or link-swapping program, in which you advertise for them, and they advertise for you. There are several of these, and most are free.
...but most, most importantly of all,
- say something on your blog that's worth reading.
Why would people go to your blog to read about how funny The Simpsons was last night? Anyone who cares would have watched it. Generate worthwhile content. Offer ideas. Ask questions. Share research about a specific topic, consistently. Give them a reason to search for it, find it, and come back to it. Be original. Not a gimmick, but something that's actually important. Perhaps you do this already, and I don't mean to be insulting. But statistically speaking, it's very unlikely. We hear more than enough about Paris Hilton from the media and tabloids - few people really want to know what she's wearing or who she's been seen with. Tackle a social problem maybe, and invite user feedback - engaging your users will increase their interest, and will bring them back to see how it's going with that. Create a webcomic if you have the talent, or a collection of mashup MP3s and reviews about them... or about something else. People talk a lot today about SEO (Search Engine Optomization) but it doesn't mean anything if there's nothing there to maintain your users' interest. =)
