Latest posts by Cosmin Stefan (see all)
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Google loves this site and indexes it multiple times per day and posts always get lots of comments so you can be sure of some excellent exposure.
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When I first found out about the traffic generation contest, I knew there was going to be a big buzz about it. I was expecting to find out some great tips on traffic generation. And I was right.
- Wong aka The Bad Blogger shared with us some often overlooked traffic sources and told us how to create viral content.
- Lisa advised to think outside the box but keep things simple.
- Mavis told us how to stay on top after the recent changes with Google.
- Brankica shared with us a whopping 50 traffic generation sources.
- Michele reported on the most effective traffic generation techniques with 3 golden stars.
All posts were great, with awesome insights, arguments and ideas.
But I was a bit disappointed by the fact that no one approached the subject of targeting your traffic and knowing your audience. This is the first thing a blogger should consider when planning his traffic generation strategy.
So, I decided to take a chance and participate in the contest with my own guest post. In this article I will talk about:
- Determining your target audience;
- Finding your target audience;
- Making your audience find you;
- Measuring the results.
And without further ado, let’s go back to the start!
Determine who your target audience is
This one is a no-brainer and quite an obvious step when starting a blog. But is it really that simple?
Here are some simple questions to ask yourself:
- What gender are the majority of your audience?
- What is their education? Their social class or income?
- If you plan on selling something through your blog, will your audience be willing to buy it?
- Is your audience structured in different segments? Does each segment have different needs and behavior?
Know your target audience as best you can. What they want, how they act, what is their common interest. These will all help you when working on your traffic generation techniques.
Drag your potential readers to you
First, you get yourself out there. Gain exposure and let them know you. Remember! Targeted traffic. How exactly can you do this?
Hang where they hang
Forums
Most forums have a “links” section where they allow you to announce your site to the community. Provide a nice description, include a link to your site and make sure you subscribe to that thread through your e-mail so that you may respond whenever you get a response.
If you decide to become an active member of a forum, you will also be able to get traffic through your signature links.
Blogs
Find blogs in your niche and get traffic through commenting or guest blogging.
Remember step #1. Let’s say your blog is about dating advice. You can find blogs and forums in that niche. But those looking for a date would also be interested in looking good right? Fitness, healthy living, fashion, cosmetics”¦ all possible niches for you to explore.
Analyze
the competition
- Find your competitors and do what they do.
- Go to Yahoo Site Explorer and find out where they get their backlinks from.
- Are they active on a specific social bookmarking site? Consider joining them as well.
- Do they have a blog? Start spamming them! 😀
Make your potential readers find you
SEO
- Go to Google AdWords or use a paid service to find out what kind of searches are made that could relate to the topic of your blog;
- Pay attention to your title tags;
- Install SEO tools which can help you on your blog;
- Get quality backlinks to your site;
- Write quality and informative content.
Of course, Seo is much more than this. These are just some basic things to get you started.
Social networks
In order for your audience to find you on social networks, you have to be present on those social networks. Also, make sure you keep your current readers in mind and you encourage them to share your content.
When someone is sharing something on Facebook, they are actually recommending that to their friends. That can be a very powerful message.
Measuring the results: did you attract the right audience?
After successfully attracting traffic on to your site, it is time to measure your results. Some things we would need to find out at this point:
- Who are your readers;
- How did they find you;
- What they want from you;
- How they act on your site;
You can find this by:
- Using Google Analytics: find out how people are reaching your site, which pages are the most visited, what they are searching on your site, what links they click on, etc.;
- Checking your blog’s comments: talk to your commentators, visit their site, find out who they are, what they do, etc.
- Measuring your blog’s social impact: use bit.ly or backtype to see who tweets your posts, use TweetEffect to see which twitter statuses made you loose or gain more followers;
- Ask them: put up a survey and politely ask your readers what you want to know about them.
The last method is my favorite, since you can gather a lot more insight from it. Besides, surveys are fun to take.
These tools can help you in creating a survey for your site:
- PollDaddy.com which does have a free version you can use;
- Online services such as eSurveysPro.com or the free trial version from SurveyGizmo.com. You can announce it on your site through a widget, a post or HelloBar or you can send out emails if you want only your subscribers to complete it;
- Use Google Docs to create a form and embed it on your site. Just go to “Create New” and select “Form”
And, since we’re on this subject, are you willing to complete the small survey below? It’s about a topic which I’m sure everyone will find interesting. You guessed it! Guest Blogging.
I promise to share the results in another guest post after the traffic generation contest ends.
Please take a moment to fill out this survey.
Thank you! I would love to hear your thoughts on the survey.
