3 Super Simple Ways to Get Traffic (Blog Success)

As I promised in my last post, I deliver to you a blog success. The extent of this post really goes beyond blogging. It encompasses any sort of content you publish online whether it’s an article, a web page, an e-book and so on.

That’s because this post is about getting traffic. And fast.

That’s one of the primary goals of why we publish content. We want people. Eyeballs to read, digest and interpret our content.

However, for most of us, getting hordes of people into the door is no easy task. Usually, it takes months of maintaining a steady flow of useful content, working connections and responding to reader comments. It’s hard work but it pays off.

But seriously, I want traffic now. I want people reading this post right now.

Well, here are three super simple tactics I employ to get some instant traffic. I’m not talking hordes of people, but a few individuals within my target audience who I know can appreciate the content. Who knows, if your content is good enough, they may even spread it for you (Malcolm Gladwell would call these people "connectors").

1) Brand It In Your Marketing Materials

This is one of those "duh" things, but if you have a blog, brand it with your marketing materials. This could be anything from business cards to letterheads to promo giveaways.

Your marketing materials are walking advertisements for your organization. And I would hope that these marketing materials are getting in front of not only your clients, but prospective clients as well. If you have a prospect who’s interested in your organization, they’re probably going to check you out.

I brand the Cavendo blog in several important places including:

• Cavendo’s web site (not just links, but post summaries as well)
• Email signatures (the cheapest of advertising!)
• Social networking profiles

That’s really it. If you notice, all of those marketing channels are electronic. That’s mostly because Cavendo is a web design business that lives on computers, but also because I want people to have one-click access to the blog. I could put it on business cards, but that would require effort on the other person’s end to access the blog.

I’m not saying that you shouldn’t brand the blog on business cards or other print materials (I would be contradicting what I said earlier). Instead, carefully evaluate where you place links to your blog. Is it going to get you maximum exposure? Is it in a spot that is going to facilitate ease of access? Maybe your target audience likes being handed a piece of paper with a URL on it to access at their convenience. If so, then advertise the blog on your business cards, letterheads, invoices, quotes and so forth.

2) Update Your Status

The internet is now a social medium. People thrive on social networking utilities such as Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, Twitter and others.

If you’ve just completed a masterpiece of a blog post, publish it in your status message. All of the social networking tools I mentioned have this capability. It draws immediate attention from your network to the blog post, and depending on the quality of your network, can result in a number of clicks and reads.

As a special case, Twitter is in a unique position to get you even more exposure. Granted, you need to build up your network to include a good number of followers, Twitter has the ability to enable others to spread the word for you. Called "retweets," other Twitter users can see your latest status update about the blog post and send it out to their network. The result is a potential brush fire effect in which you could have multiple people from multiple networks spreading your blog post. That’s the best case scenario, but even if you get a couple of retweets, you’re still getting some pretty valuable traffic with minimal effort and time involvement. Dan Zarrella, a self-professed social and viral marketing scientists, offers a wealth of research on Twitter and retweeting including when you should post an update, how you should ask for a retweet, how to plan a viral campaign and much more.

When I create a new entry, I’ll sometimes post it to my status and do a Twitter update. This has resulted in a number of easy clicks and reads. One of the previous entries I did was retweeted several times with no effort on my end except posting the initial update. The power of social networking is at your hands and it’s not difficult to employ. You just have to create a message that has stickiness (another Malcolm Gladwell word), sincerity and attractiveness.

3) Tell People About It

This is another point that should seem obvious, but many people miss out on it. When you post your next best entry, tell people about it.

I mean physically tell people about it.

If you’re at a networking event and you run into someone who you think might benefit from your knowledge, tell them about your blog and new entry. Or, if you strike up a conversation with someone at the supermarket, tell them. Co-workers, bosses, friends, family, business partners, suppliers, members of the media and even strangers. These are all types of people you could be talking to.

If I create a new post that I know someone from my network might benefit from, I’ll send them a personal message letting them know. I’ll even ask them to pass it on to their network if they find it useful. Basically, this approach is like Twitter except much more powerful in that it’s personal.

So there you have it. Three very easy and very effective ways to generate quick, valuable traffic to your web content.

There’s nothing special about these methods, either. I’ll be the first to admit that. However, chances are you’re only doing one or two of them, or maybe even none.

I used to be hesitant to send off blog entries to my network because I didn’t want to get criticized or judged. But I’ve learned to take the risk and the reward has more than paid off. These are your networks – use them!

What are some of the ways you spread your message quickly?

4 Responses to “3 Super Simple Ways to Get Traffic (Blog Success)” (Leave a Comment)

1. You’ll have Success With Blog Success. - mynichetips.com says:

   March 1, 2009 at 4:01 pm

   [...] 3 Super Simple Ways to Get Traffic (Blog Success) [...]

   Reply
2. Bill R. says:

   July 2, 2009 at 12:39 pm

   You’d be surprised at how often we need to remind clients to include the URL for both their website and blog on their custom marketing materials…

   Initially, “Duh…” would be the first thing someone would think. However, with several departments touching marketing material design projects, it’s not surprising that sometimes it “falls through the cracks.”

   Reply
3. Ashley says:

   September 15, 2009 at 8:28 am

   Like You said simple but effective! The basics are always the most profitable

   Reply
4. Mar Matthias Darin says:

   October 7, 2009 at 4:15 am

   Hi,

   Another area that I find that works well is business cards. I’ve had very good results with these and getting good discounts on lots of several thousand really makes a good bargain.

   Reply