In our last post "Which Social Media Tool is Best for You?" one reader asked "About how long does it take for traffic to start picking up?" Honestly, that's a tough question to answer. It's possible to take a blog from 500 visitors per month to 80, 000 per month; and do that in two months. I've done that on a previous blog. It was a full time job! However in hindsight, I wish I would have properly planned for that blog, as the traffic would have been more focused. Don't get me wrong, I retained a lot of the readers, but I could have used my time wiser, and in a more productive manner. As such, I hope this post will help other "newer" blog owners out there; those who are trying their best to build traffic. Before I go into the details below, I'd just like to point out a caveat. Most new blogs struggle to gain exposure, they need to be found by readers. Subsequently the issue of long term, sustained growth versus sudden spurts of short term growth (as new reader communities discover a blog), becomes the fulcrum (so to speak). In my opinion, the best approach ...

Whether you're going to write your own blog content or hire a copywriter to create content, it's important to ensure that the writer is a good fit for blogging (your blog). While blogging (in my opinion) ranks among the most powerful web promotion tools, it's by no means the end all and be all. Let's face it, some people are just not a good fit. They may not be interested in writing, they may be inconsistent posters, be more sensitive individuals with regards to feedback, are better talkers than writers, and so on. Quite frankly, some solutions might be a better fit for your organization or personnel; such as Video streaming sites, wikis, forums, "traditional" static (hard coded) sites, etc. And (as a side note) all of these can be integrated into a blog. Irrespective, you may have your heart set on blogging, and have decided that a blog is the best tool for your needs. What are the best traits of successful bloggers? What qualities do you need, or need to ensure your blog writer has? One of the most common issues I've heard from my clients and the public at large is the discouraged feelings some of them develop after ...

Most business owners are well aware of the role SEO (Search Engine Optimization) plays in promoting their web site. That's actually the number one issue raised by every single client I've ever had. They all want to rank high in Google. Some are so focused on SEO, to the exclusion of more effective site promotion tools, that they actually do their site harm! But they all want traffic... Given the lure of increasing traffic to your web site and the inherent increase in revenue that traffic can bring, it's no wonder how this seems the priority focus when attempting to increase traffic (and revenue leads). SEO is but one aspect that can benefit any business, there are incredible tools to this effect, one of the most beneficial is to use a blog. Side note: Don't know what a blog is? Then, you might be interested in my earlier post "What is Blogging? What's a Blog". That post also has a short video showing how a blog performs. In another earlier post on this blog (Quality Content is Not "the" Key to a Blog Success), I suggested focusing on the intangible elements to help further increase traffic. It may logically follow therefore, that one ...

When I launched my first blog (a Linux based niche blog) at Ubuntu Linux Help, initially I did not have much content. As content built and traffic grew, I ended up writing some posts that went viral. Three of them were: Top 100 of the Best (Useful) OpenSource Applications. Why I Quit Windows and Switched to Linux. Why is Linux Faster than Windows? I enjoyed the traffic those posts provided (and still provide to this day) as they helped my blog grow. I think they were popular because they provided a valuable resource as well as elicited fair bit of discussion, as some of the posts and resulting comments were very outspoken and opinionated. One of the above posts (Why I Quit Windows and Switched to Linux) was a very personal story describing some of my career experiences and how they effected my professional life and thoughts. Imagine my surprise when I found another blog with the identical content on it. So much so, that the author who scraped my content claimed it as his own! At that time I had more than enough technical knowledge to initiate actions that would catch-out scrapers, but I’d not yet fully experienced some of the nitty-gritty administrative ...

I received an email message from a client asking me if I had any solutions for an eNewsletter system that could be run under their own domain name. Some of the feature suggested were: Automated subscription management (subscribe/unsubscribe). Statistics/Click through rate. Ability to send in both text and html (at the same time). No installation of software on their PC. Automated server transmission of email. Automated server management of bounced email addresses. And the list goes on... Suffice to say, it did make me think about some of the aspects I've experienced in emailed newsletter subscriptions, good and bad. In many cases I've observed individuals launch a newsletter - full of excitement! Only, later to find that they did not garner their anticipated results. Inevitably, after review, it became evident that the root causes of an unsuccessful newsletter system was in poor planing. In every public seminar I present, I almost always touch on the importance of solid planning (and sticking to the plan!). It does not matter how small or large the project is, it always needs a plan. Which brings to mind the old adage... "If you want some exercise walk around, if you want to get somewhere, plan your route!" Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting ...