How to increase blog traffic!



Hi all!!! Since here at Design It Chic we're putting our blogs in the check-up spot, today we'll focus our attention over some new tips to improve our blog's traffic!
Everybody wants to know they're not alone! Even if we are a food critic, a professional blogger or we're journaling our family life, we definitely want to know we're not the only ones who read our blog. We want to be connected with people that share our interests and be part of a stronger community that supports, understands and encourages one another. There's nothing wrong with that; it's in our human nature to be social creatures, so don't feel bad you want to be surrounded by people. But the big questions is how do we provide the context to attract people to our blog?

And naturally this will make our topic today: how to increase your blog traffic!


1. It all starts with a catchy name! Many of us get their name by their most important activity at the moment or in our life: either our new job, our baby, our new marital status or simply the newest most important event that happened to us. There's nothing wrong with that, but as you grow and you find your path through blogging, you figure out what you want to write about and remain consistent in, and suddenly you find that your blog name is no longer fitting your new blog's concept. In that case you need to be able to let go of the initial name and find a new one, that is more generic, yet catchy and could allow you a wider specter for future changes. You don't want to change your name too often though, because that itself is a big "NO-NO" to attract readership; it will become misleading and confusing. So whenever you decide is time to change, think for the future as well!

2. Read-proof your posts before publishing them! Nobody expects us to be grammatically correct 100%, but there's many times that we're either tired, either in a hurry and mistakes can occur. To prevent this happening too often implies reading our posts once or twice after we're done writing. Think about it: every good article in a glossy magazine is verified by writers, proof-read by a few editors, then approved by the editor in chief and so on.Now on a smaller scale your blog should go through the same process, but since the majority of blogging people don't have an entire team to work and divide the process with, it's kind of in our own hands to do that. But it sure goes a long way, since people get often tired by grammar mistakes or bad concept's explanations.


3. Reward your readers! Even if you're not a giveaway blog, every once in a while, rewarding your readers with some kind of gifts is very important to maintain and develop your readership. It shows appreciation of the people who daily read your posts or they stimulate the new people that just landed on your blog! Think about it: every television channel, every magazine, every radio channel, they all do it! Don't you wonder why? It was proved in time that people respond positively to this kind of actions every once in a while. This is called great marketing campaigns! Therefore everyone should do it, regardless of what your main blogging theme is all about. But as in all cases, excess drives to either completely switching your profile or a big failure, so be careful with that!


4. Do tutorials! Everyone wants to learn something new once in a while, so why not be you the one who shares what you know?! "How to's" are very popular these days, so if you shared the picture of your new living room makeover, you might as well come back and tell your readers how you got there! Or if you just shared a picture of your daughter's fabulous birthday cake that you made it yourself, why not come back and tell everyone how you did it?! No matter what you're writing about, there's definitely subjects you can write a "how to" post. Be careful tough, to remain true to your blog's concept: if you're documenting your family life you can't give your expertise in chemical engineer, or if you're sharing your recipes you can't give a validating opinion over programming languages, or if you're a computer geek you can't give your expertise in great wine; it just doesn't work that way! You need to sentence your opinion around the domain you have authority over, and that surely is the one you're daily writing about! So stay true to who you are when writing tutorials!


5. Get a great logo for your Gravatar and FavIcon! This is like every big brand's logo, it's just that it goes online with you! Your Gravatar is the little image you have next to your profile description(and it appears every time you comment on someone else's blog) and your FavIcon is the little image that goes to the left of your URL(and it appears in everyone's bookmarks). I bet everyone could name all the previous FavIcons! See, it works that way that you recognize a brand after their small signature! They're such small images, but with such a huge impact! Just like the little "f" for Facebook and "t" for Twitter, they're your signature outside of your blog. The more you'll make your presence known outside the blog, the more you'll need a very well defined identity, and with that comes these little logos that represent you outside your blog. It's like your business card:) What does your Gravatar and FavIcon say about you?? Do they represent you well?? This is a great question to be wrapping up today's post!

Hope it helped! Check back to see what comes up next in Blogger tutorial section, take a look at the SEO department for more tips to improve your blog's traffic or join us to learn new HTML tricks and tips every day!


And don't forget to sign up our awesome retro-modern giveaway while it still lasts! I'm out now! Peace!

41 comments:

EnAirRaH said...

Hi have a good eve, thanks for the follow returning the favor to you. Well you are right I am going to need so tips from your blog...enjoy the day/evening!

Diana Mieczan said...

Those are a great tips:) Have a lovely day,sweetie
Kisses


Ps: I am hosting a $50 gift certificate GIVEAWAY later on today, so please join in :) ...I bet you will love it!!!

Happy Homemaker And Momma said...

Hahhahha-you asked me to come over and check you out;) Well, I am already a follower-and I would follow you again if I had the chance;)

Thank you about putting together this article! Have a wonderful day!

Kirsten said...

Thanks for the tips!

Sew Many Mamas said...

Great information! I need to do some tweaking!

Radhika said...

Hi there! Thanks for the response on my blog! I like your blog design, it's very catchy. I'm still working on my site, Marketing n' Design. There is still a lot to do so will keep you posted when it's all final!

Till then I'm following you now so will keep dropping by to say hello!

Thanks again.

Kelly said...

Thanks! Great article! ;)

Grace Matthews said...

Blog Hop. You have a lot of good stuff on here :)

Karen said...

Saying hello on Friendly Wednesday:) I am a new follower!

http://practicalfrugality.blogspot.com/

Sheri, RN said...

Great tutorial!

Brian's Home Blog said...

Great info! There is a lot to think about!!!

Meagan At Fairly Fabulous said...

Hi there. I just found your blog from a comment you left on a WIWW post from Get Craftin (another new blog I discovered today!). Great tips, thanks. Do you have or know of a great tutorial to make your own gravatar or favlcon? thanks for sharing!

JC's Loft said...

Great tips!!

Vanessa said...

How do you get a image/add a image for the Favlcon?

Lacey said...

Hi! I'm following back from Tag Along Tuesday. Thanks for the great tips! I look forward to reading more!

Java said...

Wow what a great post! Thanks for the tips!!

Unknown said...

Thanks for the tips, I need all the help I can get!! x

Kelli said...

i really love your tips, thank you so much

Misty Mills said...

Pure awesomeness!! Now, I just have to figure out how to insert my Favlcon :) lol

~ said...

Following you via Fun Follow Friday.
Please follow me back at
http://gardenofgiveaways.blogspot.
com
Thanks!!

BrettBMartin said...

Stopping by from blog hop friday! i gfc follow!

www.mamalovesherbargains.com

Unknown said...

love this post! I am always misspelling things...ahhh...I always need to be reminded to double check ;) have a great weekend.
www.lilyslaundryboutique.blogspot.com

Diva's Thoughts said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog! I hope you stop by often. You have some really great tips here!

MMAR said...

Thanks for following me... I have been a follower for a while... I think from Tammy's Two Cents?! Thanks for all of the helpful tips, I know who to come to when I have questions : )

Mary EH! said...

Love the blog; I'm now following! Thanks for following my humble little blog and leaving such a nice comment :D

Mary
sweetmaplelife.blogspot.com

Jennifer said...

Here from Follow Friday and the comment you left on my blog! Thanks for stopping by!
Love your blog and I am your newest follower!

Unknown said...

Thanks for the tips, everyone could use a little more traffic.

lesapeamusings.blogspot said...

Here from Follow Friday, I know I always need tips. Thank you so much.

Kirsten said...

Great tips- as usual!
I'm here from the hop. Come check out my new blog:
~The Review Revue~

Travel Queen said...

Excellent tips especially for a newbie!

Fiona said...

Here from FollowFriday.
These are some great tips. I've literally only just started blogging so any help I can get tips wise is great.

NennyS said...

Hi, very nice tips! I bookmark your site ^_^

Thanx for sharing!

Nicole @ Some Call It Natural said...

Thanks for the follow. I'm following you now, too. Looking forward to the posts!

Nicole @ Some Call It Natural said...

Thanks for following me. I'm following you now too. Looking forward to your posts!

cris said...

What a great website I am going to learn so much from your tutorial!

So very nice to meet you, we actually met on Bloggy Moms. So anyway I am Crystal nice to meet you, what a great blog!

Please visit and follow me at http://www.armytankerswife.com Thanks

Cris

An Apel a Day said...

Very helpful!

I love your blog! I awarded you the Stylish Blogger award http://sugarcookieart.blogspot.com/2010/12/stylish-blog-award.html
Congrats!!

Art of RetroCollage said...

Like your ideas!

funandfabulouslife said...

Thank you so much for this post! I am new to the blogging world and cannot seem to get enough followers or people checking out my page. I guess Im still sort of trying to figure out what exactly I'm trying to accomplish with my blog, but it's mostly about parenting since I have 2 little ones. I'd love to get your feedback! And I'm excited to try and come up with a neat logo now! Anyone have suggestions on the best way to do that? Thanks!!
http://funandfabulouslife.blogspot.com

Crystal

SJ @ Homemaker On A Dime said...

I'm a follower now because you've got awesome contents! Thank you for hosting this party :)

Bloggomy said...

Just stumbles on your blog and so glad i did - new to blogging so need all the help i can get!!

Unknown said...

I love all these tips! Thank you so much!