Well after my first post yesterday I realised that I have fallen into a really common blogging trap...
I wrote my content and then tried to work out how to get more people to read it - Doh!
Luckily I read an article by Racheal MacGregor (http://rachaelmacgregor.com/how-to-increase-blog-traffic-overnight-in-3-easy-steps) that has put me right - for example no one is going to search on "how I came to be here?" - I see that now.
I did say yesterday that I wasn't going to pretend to be an expert and maybe some of you will read this bit before making the same mistake yourselves - if you want to get more blog traffic make sure you have titles that contain keywords that people want to search for.
Also if you are using Blogger there is a change to your template code so that the post title and the blog title are reversed so that Google (which tends on only look at the first 62 characters) lists you higher.
The easiest instructions I found for this are http://www.corenetworkz.com/2009/07/how-to-optimize-blogger-template-for.html
(top tip - be careful that the ' in the code don't get turned into &apos - it catches lots of people out)
And finally be sure to put some keywords on your blog to help people searching on the blog site itself.
So now, armed with this new found knowledge, I'm heading off into the fray once more my friends!
If you found this useful please share this article with your friends and you can also head on over to my facebook page using this link http://tinyurl.com/63p6lqd and "like" it to see future posts.
Hi Kate,
ReplyDeleteGood post but I see you are on Blogger.
Stop right there and get ourself a real domain name and some hosting.
I changed my blogger blog, which has been running since 2007, to a Wordpress blog on my own domain name and my own hosting, last week.
Blogger is great but it is shared hosting and no proper domain name.
You will see very little search traffic for a blogger blog. Loads for your own domain. It seems that google does not attach much weight to its own blogging service cause its free.
You want a workpress install on your hosting not the wordpress.com hosting as they are two different services.
I found http://www.poldings.co.uk who run a automatic install program for wordpress via a web prog called fantastico.
Basically.
1. Go to http://www.poldings.co.uk
2. Buy a keyword rich domain name
3. Buy the basic home hosting
4. Wait 20 mins for it all to get up and running
5. Log into the domain control panel.
6. Navigate to Fantastico
7. Click on the wordpress link
8. Follow instructions through. Give yourself a user name etc.
9. It will install a new version of Wordpress on your domain.
10. Have it email you the login details.
11. Go to your email - click on the login and enter your details.
12. Explore the blog dashboard.
13. import your existing posts from blogger.
14. add google analytics
15. watch the traffic come in!
Hi Kate - also going down the same track with my Blog. Have just joined to follow you! I am currently upgrading my template with DreamUp Studios to tie it back nicely with my website, but interested in Ben's comments as to Wordpress over Blogger for wanting to grow the traffic flow. Look forward to your tips and tricks! Nikki - Bespoke JaNik
ReplyDelete