How To Drive 2,841 Visitors To Your Blog In 13 Days

[Jeff McCall]

Back in December I came to this forum seeking the help of Warriors in achieving a blog visitor challenge. Through the advice I received I was able to meet this challenge so I decided to 'pay it back' and give an account here of how I did it so other Warriors may benefit.

So what was this all about?

Well, at the end of last year I signed up for Alex Jeffreys' coaching program as a way of getting my business back on track. At that point I had just started to build my blog and had no significant traffic to it. Alex ran a competition related to blog traffic; the winner being the person who generated the most traffic to their blog between 19 December 2008 and 31 December 2008.

So I decided to set myself the challenge of achieving 2009 visits to my blog by the start of the New Year (I thought the 2009 target was quite clever - OK, I know! LOL).

So here are the methods that actually worked for me in generating quick traffic:

1. Blog carnivals

When I asked the question about generating traffic to my blog on this forum one Warrior suggested using ‘blog carnivals'. I hadn't heard of these before, so I did some research to find out what they were all about. I already had a few articles on my blog so I submitted links to as many relevant blog carnivals as I could find. I actually got accepted by 4 blog carnivals and this drove some traffic to my site.

I mentioned that I was using blog carnivals in a post on my blog and received a number of comments asking what they were. So I recorded a screen capture "How to" video to explain what I did. If you're new to the concept of blog carnivals then you can see that video on my blog at...

How To Drive Traffic Using Blog Carnivals | Jeff's Blog

2. Christmas gift report

Another Warrior recommendation was to give something away for free at my blog. I gave some thought to this and came to the conclusion that it would have to be something perceived as valuable if people were to make the effort to go check it out as there is a lot of free stuff about. So I knew that a PLR ebook or something similar wouldn't cut it.

As a result, I decided to write a brand new and original short case-study report outlining a particular success I had achieved when email marketing to a very small email list.

I created a post on my blog where I gave away a download link to the report without any sign-up being required as an added incentive. Then I came back here and posted a link to that blog post in the warriors ‘Make Money Online (free ebook)' section of the forum. That forum post did quite well in comparison to other posts and I got a lot of nice feedback from warriors who had downloaded the report. This I think encouraged even more people to visit.

You can see my 'Christmas gift' blog post at...

My Christmas Gift To You! | Jeff's Blog

You're welcome to a copy of the report if you'd like one. Only now I'm using it to build a list rather than as a ‘no sign-up' gift so the link leads to a squeeze page with some weird looking geezer rabbiting on.

3. Blog commenting

This was the main traffic generating method recommended by my coach Alex. I visited a lot of blogs that had similar content to mine, and where I thought it was appropriate I added a comment.

I took the approach that I didn't want to be too mercenary here and post comments just for the sake of it. I considered that I was more likely to get traffic back through my link by posting comments of value. So I only commented when I could add a tip or some advice for the benefit of anyone who saw my comment.

Another thing I didn't do, also on the advice of my coach, was that I didn't pimp my blog in those comments. Unless it was to draw attention to one of the "how to" videos on my blog when relevant. The only link back was through the one generated via my name from the comment form, i.e. I didn't include a straight link back to my blog in the body of the comment itself.

Now you might think that this was pretty naïve of me. However, my server log shows that I generated some pretty good traffic from 4 or 5 of these comments in particular. And I feel as a result that I haven't added to the general blog spam that all bloggers seem to suffer from at times.

4. Forum commenting

I spent a few hours at this forum and two other reasonably high profile marketing forums trying to add some value by commenting on posts and answering people's questions. Again I took the view that it would have a negative impact if I tried to pimp my blog. So the only reference to my blog was a simple link in my signature. In fact it's the same signature that you see at the bottom of this post.

My server log shows that this forum was in fact the second highest source of traffic during the period of my traffic challenge. But that would have been from the effects of the comments and giveaway combined.

5. Article submission

The final method I used was to submit some articles to ezinearticles.com. I didn't need to write any special articles to submit there as I already had some written and posted on my blog. So I simply submitted a few of my best ones with a link to my blog in the resource box.

I should point out that if you're after rapid traffic this may not be the best method for you, because if you're a new author it can take up to a week before your articles are approved and show up in Google. However, as I had an active account and had submitted articles before I already had the author status that ensures my articles are approved within 48 hours.

Conclusion

At the end of the challenge period my server log showed that I had actually generated 2,841 visitors and had therefore easily achieved my challenge. I didn't win the competition but was over the moon with what I had achieved and the traffic I had generated. It just goes to show that this stuff does work!

I'm very grateful for the valuable advice received here on the Warriors Forum. So if you're one of the warriors who offered a suggestion back when I asked for advice then thanks very much.

I hope that if you're looking to generate traffic you found this post useful and I wish you every success with your own challenges. I have found that the first essential step to reaching your goals is simply to "Take Action". If you have any questions, comments or suggestions then please leave them here for the benefit of all by replying to this thread.

Be successful.

Jeff McCall

[SoEasyMoney]

Great post Jeff, thanks for sharing. Some really good ideas. I just got my wp blog installed last night so now I'm trying to figure out how to start adding content. Don't want to scare off the visitors right off the bat so it's hard to figure out what to put on your first page.

[jasmithjr]

Thanks for the information about blogs. I just set one up for a friend that I am running a texas holdem poker tournament and raise money for her. You can visit her blog in my sig. this would be great to help her in raising some money hopefully.
Thanks, John

[nicholasb]

I use these methods as well, I also use a few others and traffic is good. Sales are rising everyday.

[Jeff McCall]

Originally Posted by SoEasyMoney

Great post Jeff, thanks for sharing. Some really good ideas. I just got my wp blog installed last night so now I'm trying to figure out how to start adding content. Don't want to scare off the visitors right off the bat so it's hard to figure out what to put on your first page.

My view is that a blog is about building a relationship. It's like inviting someone over to your house. Be natural, be yourself. Write like you're writing to a friend. Not everyone's going to like you or what you say, but hopefully enough people will to make it worthwhile.

And it's fantastic when you get your first blog comment!

Just dive in and best of luck!

Jeff.

[Takuya Hikichi]

I just liked Jeff's approach to this post. It displays his humility.

[dowa16]

Thank you for sharing your tips Jeff!

[johnmags]

Thanks Jeff, that was very informative,

Said this is the second highest traffic forum, what is the first then?
Can you please elaborate more on blog carnivals? Thanks

[dean_holland]

Hey Jeff

Fellow AJ student here !!

You did smokin in that traffic comp huh brother.. Well done

All in all I think what you learnt in those 2 weeks about driving traffic is worth a million times more than the prize money !!

A LOT of people would kill for that ammount of traffic to their sites and you just hammered it

It just shows that it actually is simple to do, it is a planned stratagy that just takes some hard work. The method of doing it though is simple dont you think ?? Just time brother thats all it is

Man .. I think I finally get it

Good on ya man

Dean

[Easy Cash]

Awesome Post

Thanks for the great post.

[locke]

Great work Jeff! I think these are great strategies to get social traffic.. Unfortunately social traffic doesnt convert very well if you're trying to make money from your blog.. The benefits of social traffic in my opinion include, the ability to network and build linking partners, friendly and honest advice about your website or article and an increase in morale (its boring when a site doesnt get much traffic).. Just my 2 cents

[Jeff McCall]

Originally Posted by johnmags

Thanks Jeff, that was very informative,

Said this is the second highest traffic forum, what is the first then?
Can you please elaborate more on blog carnivals? Thanks

Hi John,

If you check my post you'll see there's a link to a video on my blog where I go through using blog carnivals step-by-step.

Regards,

Jeff

[Jeff McCall]

Originally Posted by dean_holland

All in all I think what you learnt in those 2 weeks about driving traffic is worth a million times more than the prize money !!

Dean,

You're absolutely right. I haven't been that focused on a task for a long time. Plus I had a great time.

Regards,

Jeff.

[Teresa Coppes]

Great job Jeff! I really love how you stated specifically that you found blogs and commented on others only if you could truly add input. Not just a "check out my own blog" post with your link. It's really great that you helped another with your input but yet still was able to generate traffic.

Keep up the good work.

[Samuel Lee]

Top post Jeff, thanks for the share! Truly excellent ideas. I totally agree about viewing your blog as the ideal opportunity to building a friendly atmosphere with your prospectives. Will check out your site!