BaseKit

Make Your Content Current

Whatever topic your blog is written around, you’ve probably already mastered the art of getting to a distinct point in the space of one post. You can make that point all the more powerful by embedding it in an example that is current – ideally topical on the day. If you’re writing a news-based blog then you already have this covered, but if you’re not, then basing your post on current events will see far more traffic flow through your site and readers who have something urgent to say.

Backlink With Cunning

If you’re not already, you should really be reading blogs (even inferior ones) based on your subject, or one that’s similar. Traffic-sharing can be achieved by making comments on competitors postings, so long as you get to create a backlink when submitting your username. It’s win-win for you and your competitors, creating a benign sense of competition between bloggers. No doubt they’ll start doing the same back to pick up some of your juicy traffic. Presto – we have ourselves a bulked up comments section.

Find Yourself Some Link-Partners

After you’ve created this blogging alliance, and when your presence is felt as a regular comment contributer, it’s time to start getting yourself on your competitors’ blogrolls. The blogosphere is like no other working environment, in that links are essentially free, so traffic between sites can only be viewed as a healthy flow. The Internet’s fluid nature means that readers are unlikely to give up reading one free blog for another – instead they’ll just read both. So email those other blog owners and suggest a link exchange. Eventually they’ll be posting entire articles on their blogs recommending some of your stuff.

Ask Questions Of Your Audience

People are moved to speak when they’re enquired upon. So ask questions of your readers. Let them know that your blog isn’t a one-way mouthpiece, but rather a means by which to express themselves and share their views. Eventually, once a strong base of commenters is built, you can begin to devote posts to their responses. A simple question or challenge in the headline followed by a short post is no challenge to write, and readers will jump straight in to see which commenter is winning the race to be the cleverest of the bunch before leaping in themselves. Often they’ll get involved without even looking at preceding comments.

Be Subtle About Being Contentious

Though it’s liberating to have a soapbox, some of the most tedious blogs online are essentially opinion-holes. One person’s opinion is rarely of great importance and can be a real turn-off for readers, even if they share the same point of view. If you’re outraged by something in the press or have a genuine gripe you want to air, then approach it with caution. Again, ask a question in an ‘is it just me?’ fashion rather than mounting a direct challenge against your readership and you’ll more than likely have people sympathising rather than taking offence – moving them to get involved in the discussion.

Involve Your Real-World Friends

The one place that you’re best placed to receive clicks is from real-world friends. They know you best and are more likely than most to be interested in what you post, so it’s essential to let them know what you’re doing with your blog. Thanks to Facebook, this won’t require spamming them daily in their inbox. Rather, use the ‘book to post a link to every article you put up. Chances are they’ll take a look, even if only to see what you’re up to. And if you hook them in, you’ve got yourself a reader and a potential commenter.

Involve Your Virtual Friends

It sounds terrible to say it, but – in this context – your virtual friends are more important than your real-life pals. Utilise Twitter to it’s utmost potential by linking to your articles there, with a short explanation regarding what the post is about. Since Twitter flourished in January ’09, most blogs have seen that their number one source of traffic has become this rapid-fire monster of status updates, so it’s an invaluable tool. Build up your followers (always keeping an eye on the number you follow) and link them with every post you put up. Chances are, if they follow you, they’ll be interested enough to pop in – and ultimately comment.

Don’t Overdo It To The Point of Spam

Spreading links all over the web is essential, but it’s important to know where to draw the line. If one person is seeing numerous links to your post, clearly put up there by you, you’re probably overdoing it. That’s not to say you should link it  all over the place under numerous assumed names. That would just be weird. The key is to be aware of the various audiences your link will be seen by, on every site you place it, making sure that there’s no overlap. Multiple audiences converging on your site from different sources – and backgrounds – is a recipe for debate.

Be Sure To Comment Yourself

As the writer of the piece, it’s often tempting to sit back and see what reaction you’ve received in virtual silence. Though it may seem awkward and self-celebratory, it’s good to show that you’re willing to take on feedback and contributions, responding to readers’ points in the comments section. Obviously it’s best not to react to trolls and it’s unwise to become involved in a never-ending, spiralling debate, but a presence in the comments area from the author of the post is one that readers often find reassuring. People like to be listened to.

Aggregate And Spread The Word

Even if it seems alien to you, Digg, Reddit and Stumbleupon are a blogger’s friend. If you’ve seen a past post picked up by Digg that’s then gone on to go viral, you’ll know that the amount of traffic a post can pick up from a presence there can be ridiculous. These social media aggregators are great for getting your posts read and reacted to – so sign up if you’ve not already, and have yourself a nose around.
Even better than user-generated aggregation is getting your stuff noticed as a regular source on a trusted aggregation site – and they don’t come much better than Google News. Getting on their source-list is much easier than you might think, though getting signed up is purely at their discretion. All you can do is give it a go. You may be surprised by the result.