More tips on how Edith Yeung is driving traffic to her website and blog...
How to Drive Traffic to Your Blog or Website by Edith Yeung, continued
Several friends from National Speaker Associations (NSA) have asked me to write about my lessons learned (so far) about driving traffic to my website. Keep in mind that the following is based my own personal experience and results. Obviously there are many other ways to drive traffic, but I prefer methods that are simple, repeatable and incur zero cost.
Squidoo.com - As some of you know already, I am a big fan of Seth Godin. Seth started Squidoo.com to allow people not only to talk about specific topics that matters to them, but also to allow others to comment on the same topics.
You can also make money if your readers decide to purchase anything because of your content. For example: In The Dip Squidoo, you will find EdithYeung.com gave a blurb about Seth’s new book “The Dip”. One tenth of my traffic comes from Squidoo.com.
Stumbleupon.com - StumbleUpon helps readers to discover and share great websites. Users download a StumpbleUpon toolbar. When the user finds a website they like, and they click the “Stumble!” button, the toolbar delivers pages that match the personal preferences of the users. You can also recommend and rate any websites that you like.
I got hundreds of referrals one day from Stumbleupon.com a couple weeks ago. Admittedly, I am still fair new to StumbleUpon, but I would definitely recommend this as it has been generating some nice traffic.
Mylot.com Mylot is very similar to squidoo, but not necessary focused on specific topics. Users can participate in online discussions or check the latest blogs. It will provide news based on their personal preference. You can also submit your blog to Mylot.com and it will fetch the latest content from your site. I have had very good experience with MyLot.com and I participate in some online discussions once a week for about 15 – 30 minutes. The readers referred by Mylots.com appear to be my most loyal readers to date.
LinkedIn.com LinkedIn is an online network of millions of professionals. Each user creates a profile (similar to a resume) with professional accomplishments. LinkedIn uses your profile to match former colleagues, clients, and partners. You can add your own connections by asking them to join. It is a free service and a great way to find connections. I receive about 5 – 10% from LinkedIn just because my former colleagues are curious to know what I have been up to. Feel free to add me to your LinkedIn network.
{Note from Patsi: be sure to check out LinkedinBloggers@yahoogroups.com, a popular forum for bloggers.]
Blog Top Sites.com – Blog Top Sites is a directory of blogs. Ranking of the sites is done according to the number of unique visits each blog receives every week. You can register your blog on Blog Top Sites and categorize it to specific topics. If your content is great with good traffic, you will be ranked towards the top which drives even more traffic. Edith Yeung.com is ranked 569 in the business categories right now. I probably should change categories as my focus really is on personal development. I will work on that.
Google Analytics – I use Google Analytics to track my traffic. It is a great way to know what is my top content, number of visitors, where are they from, how long they stay on EdithYeung.com, etc. There are many other engines out there which do exactly the same thing, but I found Google Analytics very user friendly and easy to understand. Just like playing a ball game, you need to know and keep track of your score, right?
Email Signature – This is a very simple thing to do, but I am surprised a lot of people don’t do it. Every time you respond to an email, make sure your signature (with your website) is included. This is how you declare who you are. A lot of my friends (who I forgot to tell that I left corporate) found out about my recent decision to leave corporate America because of this.
Note: I am also working on How to Drive Traffic to Your Website or Blog - Part 2. Coming soon!
Thanks, Edith for sharing your success and for reminding readers to pay attention to these success strategies.
