No Blog Traffic? Start "Blogging By Thirds"

I can’t accept credit for the concept.  But I call this blogging strategy I have adopted “blogging by thirds.”

Actually, I first heard about this strategy from Russell Fair, an Atlanta-area web designer and SEO consultant.  And until I actually put it into practice, the growth rate of my blog was slow.  Steady, but way slow.

The three-part strategy goes like this:

1.  Spend only one-third of your time on your own blog.  By this I mean managing and writing your own content.  Fresh content is very important, you need to update your blog at least several times a week in my opinion.  But people aren’t just going to magically appear and visit your blog if you spend all day admiring your own work.

2.  Spend one-third of your time finding and reading other blogs.  I hate to break it to you, but you are not the only person blogging on your subject matter.  There are millions of blogs out there, and more coming every day.  But don’t look at those as competition – look at them as a rich treasure trove of content and valuable learning information.

3.  Spend one-third of your time commenting on those other blogs.  Agree with writers, disagree with writers, but get out there and contribute.  Most importantly, include a link to a related posting from your own blog.  That tactic alone will have an impact on your SEO scoring.  And by commenting on other blogs, those blog hosts will appreciate your contribution, and will likely return the favor.  Or maybe even add you to their blogroll.

Until I learned this “blogging by thirds” strategy, my blog was growing very slowly.  But as soon as I started commenting on other blogs, I started to get noticed.  My readership started to grow – FAST.  And as a side benefit, I have made new friends and found some really great blogs that I follow to this day.

Mix in strategic use of other social media tools such as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, and you will be pleasantly surprised by your increased traffic.

But remember – it still takes time.  One thing I learned once I started reading all those new blogs?  The bloggers that have built a national following all claimed it took years to get where they are today.  So, patience.  Your blog will grow.  But you do have to market your blog as you do any other product or service.

Employ the “blogging by thirds” strategy, and you will start to see results.  Good luck!

Todd Schnick.  Be Intrepid.  www.intrepid-llc.com

Tagged as: Blogging, General Marketing Strategy, Marketing Plan, SEO, Social Media, Social Networking, Twitter