How to get more eyeballs on your blog

It's time to revisit this question:  how do I get more people to see/read my blog?

This question comes up in every conversation we have with clients. It comes up in every teleseminar we do about blogging. It comes up in every presentation we do about blogging. First, I direct you to the category on this blog called Driving Traffic to Your Blog, currently with 98 posts. Lots of tips and tactics there.

Next, I'll rant a bit. Blogging is an activity which requires consistent dedication. When blogging for your business, it's important to keep in mind that the blog is a marketing tool and like every other marketing tool/task, must be maintained, nurtured and not neglected.

Getting people to see/visit/read your blog is an ongoing activity. It is not a one-time task. Patsi and I have been blogging non-stop, consistently, 3-5 times per week for three and half years. Even we don't have as many readers as some of the "A-List" bloggers, but our readers are dedicated, they comment, they return day after day AND our readership does grow daily. Quantity is good, and quality of reader is better.

That being said, here are the things we do to attract readers:

1. Post nearly everyday on three blogs each focused on different areas of online marketing
2. Cross post to drive readers to each of our other blogs
3. Write and submit articles to directories with links to the appropriate blogs
4. Write and post news releases online, about once a week, with links back to appropriate blog
5. Links in email signature
6. Comment on other blogs (neither of us do this enough, but it does work)
7. Write posts with links to other blogs and mention the blogger's name (if they're watching Google Alerts then they know we've posted about them and usually visit our blogs)
8. Usually thank people via email who post comments on our blog posts
9. Put links to our blogs in product thank you emails
10. Put links to our blogs on thank you pages people see when they purchase our product and services
11. Encourage people to subscribe to our blogs in follow up email autoresponder messages
12. Put links on LinkedIn profile, MySpace profile and Facebook profile
13. Put links to our blogs in our ebooks
14. Put links to our blogs in our bios
15. Tell people about our blogs when we do presentations
16. Encourage people to visit our blogs when they sign up for our Savvy eBiz Tips ezine so they can get EVEN more free info
17. Put a featured blog post with a link in our weekly ezine
18. Pull blog feeds into my Facebook profile
19. Include blog links in sig blocks on forum posts
20. Submitted our blogs to all the blog directories and search engines
21. When appropriate, direct people to specific blog posts to answer their questions in discussion forums
22. Most importantly, write informative content using keywords that will be picked in organic searches

I know there's a heck of a lot more we do. This is what immediately comes to mind. You see, this is just part of our everyday marketing for our business.  Writing on our blogs not only helps us attract new prospects but helps keep our names and sites very visible on the 'net.

What do you do on an ongoing basis to get readers to your blog? Please add to the list by commenting below.

Comments

[michael gibbons]

Not sure ya'll have seen this or that you necessarily want to but the Blog Squad may have met their match -- let's call them the "odd squad"-- My friend Pam Slim points to a very funny video here
http://www.escapefromcubiclenation.com/get_a_life_blog/2008/01/wickedly-clever.html

[John Trosko]

I have occassionlly created a contest for new readers, via feedblitz. I have also done a contest with entries for each time they make a commment. It works!

- John

[Nick - road2blogging]

I always try to come up with post titles that will intrigue readers to read it. Sometimes I do feel like I've written a really long post and people will become bored with it, but these are the ones that get the most comments and discussion on.

[Rosalind Joffe]

I think it's like all marketing - you spread lots of seeds and see which ones grow for you. Different seeds need different conditions, don't you think? The only thing I know for sure is that nothing concerning marketing is rock solid science.

[PitchPanel]

For anyone looking for a new marketing channel in which to advertise your blog, I invite you to checkout PitchPanel.

I recently launched PitchPanel and am inviting bloggers to post a 125x125 banner ad for free. You can opt-in to cost-per-click fees, but only if you want premium placement of your ad. Otherwise, just enter zero for your CPC bid and your ad will stay on the site at no cost.

[Anthony Lorizio]

Thank you for sharing this valuable information. Looks like plenty of work but your example proves it is worthwhile.
Onward!