So you want MORE blog traffic, right? Who doesn’t want more traffic and more money? Every one wants M. O. A. R!
There are thousands of ways to get more traffic. Seriously. Thousands of ways.
But not every way is going to get you the expected results for the amount of trouble you put in.
You know that by now already!
You would have already tried hundreds of ways to get more traffic to your website, right?
But if you are still reading this post, it means you are not getting enough traffic. You still want more!
Right?
While I can give you at least 25 tips to help you get more website traffic, I am going to give you only ONE tip.
So, what is that tip?
Connect with others.
That’s it! Simple, right? It is a quite simple advice any blogger can follow to get more traffic.
This tip works in ANY niche.
And you don’t have to learn any technical stuff or keep up with algorithmic changes in order to implement this tip and make it work for you.
And implementing this tip is a highly enjoyable thing.
With my online activities there are a lot of tasks that I do on a daily basis.
Some are repetitive tasks. Some are intensive tasks. To be quite honest, some are boring tasks.
But connecting with others is an enjoyable task. Who doesn’t like to make a few extra new friends?
Who doesn’t like to start a chatter and who doesn’t like support each other along the way to growth and prosperity?
By connecting with others you can enjoy doing all these PLUS you can get a lot of professional benefits that help growing your online business.
One of such benefits is website traffic!
Over the time, I have connected with some very nice blogging pals who have played crucial roles in my blogging history.
Some have acted as my peers, and have given me critical advice and have corrected me on instances when I was wrong.
Some have encouraged me to try new things and have provided me with moral support.
Some have provided me with blogging advice out of their experience. And some just stay as cool nice friends!
And friends are forever.
When someone becomes your (genuine) friend you can count on them for life, which is cool.
Unlike a search engine algorithm, or a plugin or a software, which changes quite often, gets updated, breaks down, changes things by turning tables upside down and so on a connection can be trusted over the time.
[clickToTweet tweet=”Do something enjoyable to get more blog traffic” quote=”Do something enjoyable to get more blog traffic”]
And friends are forever 🙂
So how does making connections help you with increasing your blog traffic?
Now, let me make one thing clear before I start.
You should not “make” friends for the sake of increasing your blog traffic.
That is NOT the point of this post!
Making genuine connections should happen naturally and you should do it without expecting anything in return – that’s the base of friendship, right?
But when you do so, you can reap the benefits – a nice by-product is an increase in your blog traffic.
How?
- Peers, and friends don’t hesitate in mentioning you generously in their blog posts, if they have to.
- They don’t hesitate linking out to you.
- They don’t hesitate in sharing your stuff with their followers in social media.
- They are ready to help you out when you are launching something new (like offering feedback, etc.).
- They will help you with critical advice when you are doing something new.
- They will help you reviewing your product, to get the word out or even promote it for you.
- They could help you with joint ventures.
- They could help you when you are broke, about to quit and/or when you need to hear some nice positive words.
- They could be your inspiration.
- They could point you out when you are doing something wrong.
And all these WILL improve your reach in the blogosphere. These will improve the quality of your work.
You could get some critical opps to get featured or to be mentioned somewhere you never expected of.
And THAT is the power of having genuine connections. Things will happen naturally!
How to “find” people to connect to?
Again, let me make another thing clear. Making connection is not about stalking people.
You should not reach out and stalk others in a hope to grow your business or to make them tweet your post!
That is a rude thing to do.
You should genuinely reach out to people and see if the connection happens naturally.
Where to look out for people? If you don’t know all the people who exist in the blogosphere how can you possibly connect with them?
So, let’s get started!
#1 On their blog/website
Yup, right! If you want to establish a relationship with a blogger or an entrepreneur his/her blog or website is the most appropriate place.
Showing up at their own blog is the best way to reach out to them and connect to them, right?
Sharing their post in social media (tag them so they know), and leaving a comment on the actual post are great ways to connect with a blogger.
Once you consistently do the above two things for quite some time, you can then reach out to the blogger with a guest post request.
If the host is open to guest posts, then there is no reason he/she will reject your request – assuming he/she already knows you and assuming your post is of great quality.
A lot of the connections I made are result of my commenting on their blog posts and eventually writing guest posts for their blog. It is a win-win.
So how do you find the blogs/websites of the persons you want to connect to?
Read on …
#2 Blogging Communities
Recently this is my #1 place to find new connections in the blogosphere. I regularly visit a handful of blogging communities that help me unearth new blogs/websites.
On some communities I participate actively – by submitting others’ posts, voting, and commenting. On some communities, I only vote, and observe the others.
If I find someone who resonates with me, I go ahead and connect with them.
Or if I find someone’s work to be really appealing and to my liking, I share their post, leave a comment and initiate a connection.
And then I don’t continue to stalk them or pull them to connect with me.
Whenever I leave a comment, I don’t do so to stalk the person or for the sake of leaving a comment.
If I read an amazing post, and even if I want to connect with the person, yet if I don’t feel like saying anything about that post, I simply leave without posting a comment.
The key here is not to “build” connections mechanically or forcefully.
You have to let that happen naturally (I guess I’ve repeated this enough times already :)).
#3 Social media
This is a great place to find people to connect to.
Most entrepreneurs hang out on social media – some are active on Google+, some on Twitter, some on Pinterest and some on Facebook.
You don’t have to go and look out for them in their platform of interest. That would be forcing it (and also would look artificial).
Stay on the platform where you are active, and where you have already established your presence.
For instance, if you are a Google+ person, find out people with whom you can connect in Google+.
If you like their social updates, Like/+1/Retweet it.
Jump in to their discussions if you found them interesting. If you feel like participating in the discussion, do so.
Over the time, doing this consistently you can gain a lot of new connections.
#4 Be nice to people
This is a simple and easy way to obtain new connections. Your inbox can be a good place to develop this kind of connections.
When people approach you for help, if you can do it, make sure you certainly do it.
You won’t know how much of a help it is to do that little thing you have been asked to do.
Most of the times, when I do those little things to people who ask me the same, they become lifetime fans of me 🙂 To me that’s a little thing that I do.
But to them, that could be a crucial thing, a big thing and/or a timely thing!
By being nice, you can not only connect to peers and the big fellas, but you can also connect to your readers.
This also includes begginer bloggers who have lesser professional experience than you (unlike the other three methods mentioned above).
This way you can expand your reach both ways, if you know what I mean 😉
Conclusion
Writing this post turned out to be a pleasant experience to me. Coz I am sharing an enjoyable thing here. Making connections.
[clickToTweet tweet=”How does this ONE THING help you get MORE blog traffic” quote=”How does this ONE THING help you get MORE blog traffic”]
I can boldly say that connecting with the others in the blogosphere is one of the pleasant blogging tasks that you can carry out every day – on a day today basis without any hesitation.
Making connections should be part of your blogging strategy – your blogging plan.
Just like content marketing, treat this like a crucial strategy.
But make sure you don’t do it for the sake of blogging success, or for your own benefit or to increase blog traffic.
The true success of this strategy depends on how genuinely you approach it.
If you start making genuine connections and build your pool of friends, over the time you can create your own blogging empire that will be filled with love, moral support, peer advice, fans, and much more.
Word of mouth marketing is very effective. By making genuine connections you don’t have to devise a separate plan for your word-of-mouth marketing to work!
Enjoy making connections and enjoy getting more website traffic.
Thanks, Jane. I need to up the ante in being in blogging communities. I have been in the throes of updating some things on my blog but now I need to get more serious about creating connections with friends, new and old. Thanks again, Amy
Hey Amy,
Yes it is time to catch up! Building those old and new relationships matter a lot and keeping this thing live keeps the business live too 🙂
Thanks for stopping by!
Cheers,
JAne.
Hi Jane,
You are So right and this is exactly how connections are built, which over time turn into beautiful friendships 🙂
Thanks so much for the kind mention and I totally agree with all that you wrote. Just for the sake of commenting is not the right way – you need to pour your heart out when you want to really build connections, and this happens over time and it surely does take effort but it’s so worth it I would say.
Speaking of myself, this has been the only thing that’s really worked for me, besides the strong social media presence, which again we cannot ignore. If we can manage to do this, the trust develops and these very connections become our pillars of strength in time of need, for anything.
Thanks for sharing. Have a nice weekend 🙂
Hey Harleena,
Thanks for stopping by dear. You and I know that commenting for the sake of commenting never works 🙂
Those mediocre comments are abundant in the blogosphere and they never stand out. They never appeal to anyone – so building a relationship off a name sake comment never works!
Just like you, for me too commenting and building relationships have given me great progress + it makes blogging fun 🙂
Thanks for stopping by. Have a wonderful week.
Cheers,
Jane.
Hi Jane,
Thanks for the mention! It’s so nice of you to include me alongside the likes of Ana, Ryan, Adrienne, Harleena, and Don.
I really appreciate it!
– Kevin
Hi Kevin,
You are worth the mention – the pleasure is totally mine 🙂
Cheers,
Jane.
Hi Jane, You are right. Connections can open a wide range of opportunities in front of you. It’s also true that one shouldn’t just build them for their selfish needs (as in to gain traffic). It will have a negative impact. It’s works similar to the real world interactions. Who like selfish folks ?
It’s also true that one will end up being friends who are similar to them. That’s how we meet your tribe. If we are selfish and only have our self-interest at heart, we will meet selfish folks who will connect with us for their own selfish needs. It works for neither one of them. It’s not even a relationship.
If we genuinely want to interact, help, and promote others, they will return the favor. The rule of reciprocity goes a long way.
I have been following your blog for quite some time. Keep posting such inspirational articles.
Hey Harsh,
Well said! Relationships built on a selfish purpose never lasts in the first place. And even if it does, it won’t serve the purpose.
Plus the selfish wave usually spreads as you say. In my opinion, such a thing is not a relationship at all!
Thanks for stopping by. Have a wonderful week.
Cheers,
Jane.
Wow Jane, thank you for the mention but what a great post and you KNOW I so agree with you.
Everywhere you turn someone is going to give you some advice about how to get traffic to your blog. I’m sure that a lot of it is great but some of it may resonate with you and some might not. We each have to find what does work for us but to me and what I share on my blog all the time is that it’s about the relationships that you make with other bloggers.
I always love to share this story and I hope you don’t mind me sharing it here as well but people will tell you to go after your target audience and only concentrate with connecting with them. So I blog about blogging, how to get traffic to your blog and how to build relationships with your readers right! It doesn’t really matter what niche my readers are in, I can help them.
When I connect with people though that are really in a niche I have no interest in I don’t ignore them, just the opposite. So I connected with this guy and he seemed very smart and I found him just fascinating although he wasn’t in my niche. I just liked him and thought I could still learn some things from him and now he’s my go to guy for problems with my blog and my hosting service. I had no idea when I met him that he’s also a genius in that area too and he helps me because he cares about me.
Do we have time to be friends with everyone online? Probably not but don’t discount what your gut tells you because like you said, it can lead to partnerships, them promoting your content and even your product when you need the help and support and word of mouth is bigger than Google any day of the week in my book.
Just my own personal experience but I’m glad you have so many wonderful and supportive people who have been there for you when you’ve needed them or just moral support. I think very highly of you Jane and you are someone who just has so much going for them. I’m honored to know you and I appreciate the mention here as well.
Thank you so very much and you enjoy your weekend okay!
~Adrienne
Hey Adrienne,
Thanks SO much for the awesome comment! You are right, we won’t have the time and energy to build relationship with everyone online. But we should make connections and build genuine relationships on the go – as much as we possibly can.
It doesn’t hurt to build and maintain a relationship. Above all the other benefits (like the traffic, promotions and other stuff), I love relationships because it makes blogging so fun.
In the middle of all the serious work, relationships help me get some fresh air. Leaving a comment on someone’s blog post is like getting out of my chair and having a talk with a friend in a cafe. It means a lot!
Thanks once again for stopping by! Have an awesome week 🙂
Cheers,
Jane.
Hi Jane,
Awesome! Thanks so much for the kind mention.
You are dead on.
We can reap endless benefits from blogging if we make friends with pro bloggers without any ulterior motives. Detach from outcomes.
That’s why I like blog commenting so much. My latest eBook explains how when you comment, make it all about adding value to the blog. Sure you can tell your story and sure you can reference your experience but intend to add value to the post.
Comments are content. Adding content to your blog helps it do better in search engines and it also builds your brand and blog, making your blog a cool place to hang out.
This giving freely helps you receive easily. Like you said Jane don’t make friends to get traffic, make friends to form bonds with pros, to learn from them, to be inspired from their posts, and their stories, and to lift them up as best you can.
Just be a friend, promote others, build bonds and you’ll become a friend, and the sky is the blogging limit for well-connected bloggers.
I’d add Jane that after having been featured on now about 35 blogs in 13 weeks, that making friends for the joy of making friends accelerated my blogging success quicker than anything.
Thanks!
Tweeting soon.
Ryan
Hey Ryan – building relationships has accelerated your blogging growth. This is SO true. And I’ve had the same experience too.
I was doing everything to set up my blog and promote it but I didn’t get the expected results. Only after I started to go out and build relationships, my blog’s growth actually started.
But this was a nice by product for me coz I never realised that relationships can help with taking my blog to higher levels – I was ignorant – so to speak.
Now, there is no looking back 🙂
Thanks for stopping by! Have a wonderful week!
Cheers,
Jane.
That’s the very reason I was able to take Traffic Generation Café from nothing to a popular blog within months – build relationships and you won’t have to worry about traffic; others will drive that traffic for you.
Of course, important to remember: relationship building never stops! You and I have known each other for a long time, Jane, yet it still takes nourishing and an occasional ping to refresh it, right? 😉
Yes Ana. Relationships need to be refreshed and kept fresh all the time 🙂 Constant contact and keeping in touch is a must 🙂
Thanks for stopping by!
I really enjoyed this blog post! Hope you don’t mind me tweeting it? Ever since I got started in internet marketing and started my own blog, my mentor has been emphatically stating exactly what you wrote here. Of all the techniques I have used to drive traffic, this one resonates with me the most. It may not be the fastest method, but like you said, if done correctly, the connections I make this way will be the most genuine and organic and stand the test of time.
Cheers,
Katja
Comments are content. Adding content to your blog helps it do better in search engines and it also builds your brand and blog, making your blog a cool place to hang out.
These are more important and effective tips need to consider to increase more traffic for the blog.