How to increase blog traffic without financial investments (part 2)

You can access the first post, related to the Blog Content highlights and recommendations (part 1), through the following link:

http://webfreebies4u.blogspot.com/2007/11/how-to-increase-blog-traffic-without.html

In the second part we will discuss the posting techniques and approaches to improve overall blog visibility and get the genuine traffic of your visitors – people, who are interesting in the same topic as you are, and who eventually might become your virtual friends, fans, and supporters.

Part 2: Blog Posting

1. Content Posting.
* Post your content during weekdays, since you can get a wider audience.
* Post your content on weekends, as there are fewer posts, and your post can get more attention from the readers.
* Post at different hours of a day. The post is the most active as it is brand new. At the time it is fresh, it has the biggest exposure opportunities in your community. Later, the newer posts will push your publication lower and lower, until it disappears completely from the recent posts listing. Posting at the different schedules will help you reaching the customers from different time zones and with various computer-using routines.
2. Tagging your posts. Tag your content accurately and smartly, so your visitors can find you post by focusing on their particular area of interest. Do not try using the tags or keywords, just because they are popular and will attract the most expensive AdSense advertising. If the tags do not match your content, your visitors will never come back.
3. Linking to other Blogs. There are several valid reasons to make a link in your post to other blogs or publications. Giving legitimate references to the articles and posts, which you used for your blog entry, or providing more information on the other sources related to the topic of discussion, will not divert your visitors away out of your page. Instead, it will reach the following potentially positive outcomes:
* You help your visitors to get the full picture on the topic of interests, and they will appreciate your openness and extra-efforts to assist them.
* You build the audience that will trust your judgment, as you are not just a source of the posted information, but also an expert in the deeper informational research on the topic.
* You save yourselves from the legal consequences, if you are accused in plagiarism. As far, as you point out on the text author, you are free from the possible accusations and banning from your host for unethical behavior. Just, be sure to check your hosting site, if the non-original content is allowed, when you intend to copy the borrowed article, or any part of it, “as is”.
* The authors of the posts, you give references to, might notice your links, and take a look on your posts. It is especially useful, when you refer to the blog, which is much more established, than yours.
* And finally, when you notify the author on linking to his posts, it can be considered as a polite way of hinting on the possible link exchange. Just remember, that it is not your main target at the moment. Do not be aggressive on the link exchange requirements, otherwise instead of getting the good reputation, you are striving for, you will end up with a bad one.
4. Leaving Comments and Participating in Discussions. Improve your rating by giving quality comments on other people’s blogs. Your point of view and your thoughtful remarks might also drive visitors to your personal blog. There is nothing wrong to post link to your blog in the comment, if it is relevant to the comment topic. Posting irrelevant link or non-informative comment will bring you more harm than good, as readers will consider your comment as spam. Anyway, if you have a good post, the link in your signature can help; even in the case it does not match the topic of discussion. Readers, attracted by your nice comment, might want to explore your other posts as well. Give them the opportunity.
5. Replying to the Comments on your Posts. Always make sure to reply to the comments and questions, your readers are leaving on your posts. If they spent their valuable time to write the note, you should respect that and show your gratitude by replying, or giving them the advice they are asking for. It also makes the post more interactive and drives more visitors.
6. Inspect the reading statistics from your current posts, and learn which posts were the most successful. Investigate in depth your own content and try to understand, what exactly in these particular posts could contribute to the booming exposure. It might not be just content, but also formatting, timing, hosting community influence, else. As you figured out what all your popular posts have in common, try reproducing the success in the future publications.

To be continued.