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Wednesday, July 15, 2009

High traffic on my blog - tips anyone?




HIGH TRAFFIC. This is an aim every blogger has - whether or not he really agrees to it. Only the ones with a private blog are exceptions). In order to achieve this, there are many different tips and tricks and I tried many of these in these 3 years of blogging. Let me recount what all did I try to do:

1. Write quality articles:
I tried doing it. There were aberrations depending on mood swings and others, however, overall I did try doing it. I also tried emphasizing on current affairs and those which will catch the attention of readers.

2. Be regular:
Every month, I wrote articles. Though it was not possible to post each day, yet, the counts were substantial.

3. Focus on a specific topic:
I did not do this, simply because as a person, I have varied interests and that persona got reflected onto my blog as well. So, one would find topics that are very close to my heart, very personal and also those which have been written mainly to drive awareness among the masses.

4. Have a blogroll:
I have one of the longest blogrolls in the blogosphere - which boasts of some of the most exciting writers.

5. You comment, I reply:
I always do that. There are hardly any posts which have not been replied to. If your post belongs to that category, I am sincerely sorry. Let me know, I shall surely reply.

6. Read others' blogs and comment regularly:
I do that regularly. That is why my blogroll has blogs sorted by 'most recently updated'! I support constructive and healthy commenting.

7. Got my blog listed in directories and submitted to search engines:
You would find Blah blah blah... listed in many blog directories all over the world surpassing regional and ethnic boundaries.

8. Have an attractive look and feel:
I think mine is not bad. What do you think?

9. Have Google index my pages:
I have done this as well.
10. Have a high page rank:
Frankly, I had managed to have a maximum of 1 (only! :( ) at one point of time. Today, it is zero! My Alexa rank is not too attractive either, but since Alexa counts visits from only those nodes where Alexa toolbar is installed, it may not be a very accurate measure of a blog's popularity.

And in spite of all of these, I am unhappy with my visitors' count. I am unhappy with the amount of distinct hits that I receive. I am sad because my efforts are not really bearing fruits.

Now, readers, question for you: Why is it so? Suggest me what can be done to increase my blog appeal, its attractiveness, its visitor count. Be specific. Mention, where there is scope for improvement. I am really looking forward to some constructive criticism.
Image reference: My blog stats from June 14 - July 14' 2009. (Google Analytics)

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17 comments:

pawan said...

Chiranjib,
I understand the situation you are in and I know how it feels like. I see that you are a regular and a very experienced blogger hence your blog value would be more!.

I have some tips for you which worked for me,

1) Every time after you publish a new post, mail your blog link to every last person on the world through Orkut,Facebook,Yahoo,Gmail. These are the best blog promotion sites than any other.

2) Select a band of your personal friends and make them read your blog regularly, and it will work, after a few days time they would be happily willing to share your link with others,I promise it works.

3) Go to a new blog everyday, a blog which you didn't visit before, comment encourage the blogger and follow his blog, the pest part in blogging is the followers part, once you follow a blog, automatically it shoes that you are interested in the person's blog no matter what. This works for sure!

4) As a help from my side, I'm adding up your blog to my blog roll and my site users would be too happy to hit a click upon yours!

And thanks for you warm comments on linkreferral and my blog, the the reason I'm here now, and the reason which will bring me back here, time to time!

Cheers Mate!

YOur's is really a good blog!

Chiranjib Mazumdar said...

@ Pawan
you made my day! Thank you so much! :)
Regarding your suggestions:
1) I do not have an online presence apart from this blog. I have mail IDs with blog link placed in signature, but I use email rarely!
2) Yeah, I try to engage my friends. But unfortunately most of them are too busy with their mundane works!
3) Yes, man I agree... which is why you see so many blogs on my blogroll. I just love bloghopping.
4) Thanks. Thanks. Thanks.

And yeah, this post was indeed a ploy to generate people's interests in my blog! Not too bad eh? ;) :D

pawan said...

Not at all mate!
I forgot to add one point!
Have a healthy relationship with ur readers!

vimmuuu said...

All the points that you had put up there are valid and I dont see any other way to increase traffic. Frankly, honestly, I have never made any conscious efforts to increase traffic in mine. It just happened that way. I am sure your hard work will be recognised in the way you want it to. Relax and do whatever you are doing now. Everything will fall in place.

Chiranjib Mazumdar said...

@ pawan
yes buddy, that is of utmost importance! :)

@ vimmuuu
hey thanks mate! :D
I shall continue with the work that I am doing. Rest... lets see :D

Sundeep said...

Dude..

Just dropped in to see who commented on my blog.
So, you gained one more follower.

And probably you watch only the number of hits while you access analytics, check the bounce rate too.. 67 % is a high bounce rate.. and as you know indexing a personal blog in google doesn't fetch many people.. and page rank is dependent on how many link to you and the page rank of people who link to you .....

pawan mentioned a good tip... get into facebook and twitter and the numbers will double for sure.... I will mention more when I find some more time...

cheers!!

Sundeep said...

Also use Google's web optimizer... That gives the data on which searches your blog has appeared..!!

Indyeah said...

A lot has been said by Pawan..which I think are good ways to increase traffic on one's blog.
BUt dont concentrate on it too much or you will lose interest in blogging.
Just let it be and keep writing and keep dropping in at various blogs:)

thats the reason I dont have page ranks because then one tends to get involved in it..



comment when you really like a post:) or when you think you have soemthing to say
and a genuine comemnt will always be appreciated:)

on my early posts I have barely three or four comments..and sometimes none..

bUt the purpose of my blog was to write whatever I happened to be thinking of at that point of time..
later as Vimmuuu says the visibility improved slowly..
so it will happen Chiranjib..just keep writing..
take care:)

SomeOne said...

Its really a very informative post .

Chiranjib Mazumdar said...

@ Frisbee
Hey thanks for dropping by! It always feels good to see people come and visit my blog - feels as if I have a guest at my home! Really... so keep visiting and encouraging me! Regarding facebook and twitter (and others), well, I left social networking sites long back and concentrated on blogging, so, probably am not gonna get back to them. But yes, Google optimizer seems to be a good tip! Will check that for sure! Thanks!


@ Indyeah
Thanks again for coming back! You have been kind enough to give my blog a frequent visit and also give your well thought out comments. Pawan's points were very much valid and would serve as a good tip to anyone in the blogosphere. Agreed that too much concentration on ranks and all ultimately diverge attention from the main thing, i.e. blogging! But you know, I get so much inspired by people visiting and commenting that I just want more and more and more of them! I love writing on a variety of topics and I shall continue doing so. Thanks a lot for the encouragement shown. And finally, let me see where it ends! or will it end? :P

@ Dinesh Rohilla
Welcome friend! Come back again and again! :)

irtiza said...

Hi, i can clearly understand how low traffic can cause frustration to a blogger. I think i can give you some suggestions how to improve this blog and increasing the traffic.

~~~~~~~~~~~~Social Networking:
1. In the list you didnt mention anything about social networking on the net. if you havent joined any social network sites till now, it's time to do that now. join stumbleupon, twitter, mixx, digg, facebook and learn how to use them for blog promotion (by searching on google).

2. join and "actively" participate on blogging forums. join blogcatalog and submit your blog there. interact with the other forum members and be a helping hand.

3. after publishing your posts Stumble, RT, mixx, digg your articles. you can also submit your articles to zimbio.

~~~~~~~~~~~~Connecting:
1. Replying to blog comments is a nice thing to do, which you do.

2. when someone comments on your blog, visit their blog and comment. but be very careful about writing a constructive comment. comments like "great post" are hated by bloggers. comments are a great source of information which enhance the beauty and depth of a blog post. so make sure you contribute properly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~posting:
1. post regularly. you dont have to post everyday. just select a goal (like twice a week, once a week, thrice a month etc)

2. post quality posts which are useful for others. always write keeping the readers in mind.

3. learn how to communicate through blogs effectively: http://lifeasiknowit22.blogspot.com/2009/07/communicate-through-blogs-effectively.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~SEO:
1. you didnt mention anything about SEO. seo is search engine optimization. you have to include good seo in your blog and in you posts to have search engine traffic. search for "SEO tips for bloggers"

2. choose keywords/tags/labels carefully.

~~~~~~~~~~~~Design:
your design doesnt look bad. but there are some room for corrections.

1. reduce the number of widgets, badges and links on the main page. every extra thing you add to the blog, it hurts your page rank. more widgets also increase the loading speed of your blog.

2. no need to stuff your sidebars. for example, you have three different copyright badges which are not needed at all. just keep one. another example: you dont have any PR in this blog. then why did you embed a widget which shows you 0 pr?

3. having more widgets and stuffs on the sidebar takes the importance away from the more important things on the sidebar like "about me, copyright, blogroll, blog archive, subscribing option, top commentator". actually these are the only widgets that you should keep.

4. REMOVE MOST OF THE WIDGETS.

5. i dont think that there is any need for flag counter or feedjit. you can collect same (or more) the data from google analytics, whithout hurting the PR.

6. again, REMOVE REMOVE REMOVE. dont distract your readers with all that widgets.

7. reduce the number of posts on the main page. keep 3-5 posts per page. this will increase the loading speed. we, the readers are bunch of impatient persons who dont like to wait for a website to load.

8. if you want to know more about "your blog" you can consult mrsblog. find out how her review affected my blog: http://lifeasiknowit22.blogspot.com/2009/05/blog-improvements.html

best wishes. i hope you fulfill your blogging goal soon.

irtiza104

Chiranjib Mazumdar said...

@ Irtiza104
I do not have enough words to thank you! Each and every point is equally valid and true. I won't reply to each and every point that you mentioned, but yes, I would definitely take your suggestions! I had been looking for exactly these sort of feedback from my readers and people like Pawan, Vimmuuu, Frisbee, Indyeah and you have provided me with diverse opinions and definitely, I take them. I am optimistic. Let me try and see how much can be done!

pawan said...

Well Chiranib!
Looks like you have a LOT of fan following here!
Keep moving on man!

Chiranjib Mazumdar said...

@ pawan
Hey, thanks! Am trying to get a move on, of course with the support from all of you! :D

Anonymous said...

i must say irtiza has already said what i wanted to say.

remove all the less necessary items. as it really takes a lot of time for the page to load.

also there is a problem in the commenting area. it takes twice to post one comment and not everyone has the time, patience and intention to do it. especially the new comers.

one more thing you could change to WP as Vimmuuu has it might make a difference.

one more small thing.. try any other colour background many people think black is depressing. though i love black personally.. but for a blog.. use some lighter colour. keep changing till you get what you want..

you write well.. and you can make good friends...

the main intention of blogging is not just traffic.. though it is always welcome...

Chiranjib Mazumdar said...

@ oorjas

Exactly, I want to find out what is different in Wordpress from Blogger... Comment area is one.. anything else?

I don't have an issue with black, as it only glorifies the colors of dawn at the top.. and I love the contrast..

One can only appreciate light when he sees darkness.. that precisely is my idea! :D

Anonymous said...

yeah... thank you for this text )