As we wrap up the end of the year I wanted to take a short look back. I have been blogging for over 4 years now but always for fun and never for success ( I really don’t think people wanted to read my blog about my holiday parties and what I thought about people I knew ) that blog was mostly for my friends, and can be found on my myspace page http://www.myspace.com/rapsmear.

Over the past two years however I have started 2 websites and 3 blogs.
My Websites are:
SwimUniversity.com
PoolPuppy.com

My Blogs are:
DIYPoolCare.com (which is the old SwimUniversity.com Blog I just changed over)
ArrestedDevelopmentblog.com
TheOvernightSite.com (which you’re reading)

These sites are all currently unsuccessful but I’m working on it. It’s a slow process, which brings me to my main focus, the biggest and best traffic tips I’ve learned this year:

It’s a Slow Process

Extremely slow! Which sucks cause I’m one of those folks who needs instant gratification. I have actually recorded a full length album overnight because I wanted it done. But my advice is to stick to it as best you can, it will pay off.

Write Good Content

Really? I didn’t know that? I thought I should write really crappy content that no one will want to read.
I know that’s what you’re thinking because every time I read that tip it’s the same explanation. Well I say “No Shit”, pardon my french.

Get Links!

If there is any tip that is worth mentioning over and over and over again until your brain can think of nothing but link building then so be it. I want you to eat, sleep and dream about building links to your site. You want to be #1, you want to have a successful website, then build links. Think of it as an obsessive collection. The more you have the better you are, the richer you are. Here are some ways to get thinks:

1. Submit to directories (easy and it still works but who knows for how long)

2. Comment on related blogs to your website or blog (comment more on the ones where you can leave your URL)

3. User Twitter, it’s the easiest way to ask for link exchanges. Just say “Hey would anyone like to exchange links.” I usually get at least one every time I do it. Actually I’m going to do it right now as I’m thinking about it.

4. Actually just Tweeting your link gets you links

5. Take the articles or blog posts from your site, re-word them and change the title and send them to ezinearticles.com and add your link at the bottom. This works like gangbusters!

Get on Twitter

If it wasn’t for Twitter this year, I would have no readers. The sole reason my blogs have any following is because I have a following on Twitter.
For example I have a blog about the show Arrested Development. I started a Twitter account called TheBluths and I signed up for TweetBeep.com. Now every time somebody on Twitter mentions “Arrested Development” I get an email and then I follow that person. Then that person sees me as TheBluths and naturally wants to follow me back. Then that person sees that I provide information on the show and joins my blog. Awesome.

So these are the biggest tips I have learned this year. Seriously this is all I do to get traffic to my websites. Please share your biggest web traffic tips that you learned in the following comments. Happy Holidays!

What next?

Subscribe to the RSS Feed

I read these blogs everyday and they help me in making my decisions and giving me new ideas as to what I should do with my own blog and websites.

Problogger

This is a blog run by Darren Rowse and I consider him the authority of bloggers around the world. He is a full time blogger that writes about how to blog and how to drive traffic to your blog and more.

CopyBlogger

Brian Clark is a blogger who writes about writing. I have been reading this blog for about a year and before that anytime I would search Google on how to write a blog post, Copyblogger would come up.

Seth’s Blog

If you think Online Marketing, you must know Seth Godin. He has written books and has one of the most popular blogs about internet marketing. This blog is a must read, I highly recommend it.

Smashing Magazine

This is a great blog that is dedicated to website design and development. They will often post freebies like, fonts, wordpress themes and icons. Infact I got the wordpress theme I used to make this site from Smashing Magazine. They have only been around for about two years but are in the top 100 blogs on Technorati.

SEO Book

The SEO Master himself Aaron Wall runs this blog. The great thing about this blog is that it is updated everyday with about 3 long posts which is a lot of content. He also has plenty of SEO tools on his site as well as free informative videos.

SEO Hosting Blog

This is a blog that is run by Hostgater which provides hosting but their blog is awesome. It’s updated about twice a day will quick relevant content. It’s fast becoming my new favorite blog.

Website Magazine

There is a free magazine I get in the mail every month that is full of rich content. Well this is blog of the website of the magazine I receive. So basically its a blog about websites in general and it’s mostly breaking news about internet sites and for web designers and developers.

HubSpot Inbound Marketing Blog

Hubspot is a company that specializing in providing internet marketing. They also have a fantastic blog about inbound marketing. You should also use thier Website Grader Tool, which I use to try and make my websites better. Oh and I almost forgot, they a great video podcast too you should check out.

Shoemoney

This dude has been around for a while now. He is an internet celeb. Jeremy Shoemaker has been helping bloggers and webmaster with internet marketing for years. He has that famous picture where he holds that Adsense check up. See below

Knowtebook

I’m not really sure how I feel about this one yet. Not to say it isn’t a good site but I haven’t been reading it too often. It’s fairly new to me, but check it out anyway and let me know what you think.

Bonus Blog – Gary Vaynerchuk

This dude is nuts but you gotta love him. I have always said, if you have ever seen “It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia” he sounds just like Charlie. He is an internet celeb with lots of funny and smart videos about making money online. This blog is really well designed. I suggest you check it out just for some inspariation if not anything else.

What next?

Subscribe to the RSS Feed