Are You Working Too Hard to Get Traffic to Your Blog?

You created your blog in high spirits. You know that it is nothing without traffic. So you work very hard posting once or several times a day or in the week to your blog.

The first traffic comes trickling in and you pump up your hands and grin like you’d hit the jackpot and posing for the big newspapers.

But all too soon, you realize that the traffic stagnates around 100 or 200 and your shoulders slump.

You look for remedies and learn some few tactics to get traffic, and settle mainly on posting to the social Medias because that’s where it’s easier to suck traffic. And like magic you see a big jump in traffic (from 100 to 400, 500, 600 and 700 or more) and thank your guardian saints you’re succeeding at last.

But soon your excitement fizzles out. What traffic is this that doesn’t react to your ‘quality content’? What aren’t you doing right that the traffic isn’t converting into leads which should bring you sales? What the heck is happening here, you yell to yourself in exasperation, and how on earth do the others attract all that big traffic, you wonder with jealousy?

Thankfully, I stumbled upon the answer on this blog (www.socialtriggers.com), precisely in this post (http://socialtriggers.com/why-bloggers-fail/). And the secret, I realize, is not to work too hard but smart. How, you ask?

Okay, let’s go.

The first thing you need to know is that you’re competing with over 164 million blogs out there, some of them already well established. So you’re up against the odds.

The second is what Derek Halpern (the owner of socialtriggers.com) calls ‘“time-wasting things”’ which bring no results and demotivate you to eventually quit. He advises eliminating these time-wasters from your blogging schedule so that you can beat the odds.

Are You Concentrating on Creating Too Much Content?

 

Content is king, we all learnt so you spend all your time creating too much of it for your blog. But Derek says that’s counterproductive because a blog with few readers doesn’t need more content to succeed. Such a bog, which has maybe 100 readers may be lucky to get 1 new loyal reader and that comes up to mere 101 readers, which isn’t the way to build your readership. You need to jump from 100 readers… to 500 readers, then, from 500 to 700 readers, and so on.

How, you wonder.

Promotion is the key. Derek says if 100 people are patronizing your content, chances are that 10,000 or even 100,000 more people could like it. So you must get your existing content towards these people. In short, you need to blog less now and promote more.

I can hear you breathe hard and see the stress of producing daily content (which was interfering with your other activities and running you crazy) ease away.

Promote Right Instead

 

For the moment you’ve been sharing your articles on Twitter, Facebook, and other social media networks, and as we have already seen, that is not bringing the expected. Why should it when you’re sharing your content to your limited and often inactive social media accounts? According to Derek, the secret to exploding your readership is to convince a successful blog “to loan” you readers.

Create an Original Blog or Refocus Yours

 

If your blog is too similar to the others, this isn’t going to work for you. Why should the readers of a successful blog leave it for yours if you’re going to offer them the same thing they’re so happily getting there? People are looking for fresh content not monotony. A new thing always creates a lot of waves.

Does this mean inventing the wheel?

No, it has already been done. But adding something to the wheel differentiates yours and that pays. Derek cites his own example.

To break into the highly competitively marketing space, instead of also writing about marketing, he rather dwelt on how to leverage proven psychological principles to improve conversion rates.

If you’re worried that can pigeon hole you into a small audience, Derek agrees with you but says nothing stops you from expanding out later when you make a name in your niche. So the secret is to focus on specific leadership topics and blog about narrow topics that could benefit your readers.

Get Huge Traffic at Last

 

Now is the time to convince a successful blog “to loan” you readers.

How?

First, check out successful sites in your blog niche.

Second, leave a comment on that blog’s post. Derek advises that you include in your comment 1 dream website and 3 others that you would thankfully get a link from. He cautions not to go for the biggest websites but some smaller ones that would serve your brand well. In any case, don’t ever forget to explain why you think those websites would do you good.

If you’re serious about taking your fledgling blog to the next level, I can’t advise you enough to check Derek Halpern’s http://socialtriggers.com/why-bloggers-fail/

Go there right now (Procrastination will keep you struggling) and leave your impressions in his comments column and why not mention my blog as the one which directed you there.