How To Double Your Traffic

In Half The Time

In a post last week, a reader asked if I would do a post comparing my traffic stats to a few months ago and talk about what I have done. So I thought I would take a look back and compare my blog a few months ago to the current one and share some insight on how to increase traffic free.

The easiest way for me to do this, is to pick a date a few months back and talk about before and after. So lets start with the before stats.

The Beginning Through July 11th, 2008

As of July 11th, 2008 my blog had been up for almost 6 months. This domain was purchased in February and went live in the beginning of the month. As far as stats go, here is the results my first 5 (and a half) months of consistent blogging:

• 51,361 Visits
• 19,235 Unique Visitors
• 64,649 Pageviews
• Alexa Rank: 200,000 – 300,000

If you visited my site on July 11th, this is what you would have seen:

Old School Life of Justin

A little different huh? The theme was a lot different then and I must say I am very happy with the improvements. It is amazing how things evolve over time. Even the graphics and photos have gotten a ton better.

July 11th, 2008 Through Today

Things have changed in many ways since July. The theme, header, and pretty much everything else look completely different now. I have learned 1000 times more about Wordpress and how to use it. My posts have gotten longer, more informative, and more traffic. I have posted more consistently which is a big step in the right direction.

So now for the stats. Check out the stats since July 11th:

• 49,511 Visits
• 44,490 Unique Visitors
• 94,949 Pageviews
• Alexa Rank: 65,350

I must say, it is one heck of an improvement. I basically doubled my unique visitors in half the time. I have also passed the 1000 comment mark on the blog and enjoy all the feedback I have been getting.

How Did I Improve So Much?

By spending A LOT of time marketing, writing, and getting to know other bloggers. There is no replacement for hard work especially when it comes to blogging and seeing results.

Here are the 3 things I would recommend to fellow bloggers to help your traffic:

1. Comment On Other Blogs

Not only does it create backlinks (although most are “nofollow”), it also encourages other bloggers to come and check out your blog. I have found a lot of readers by visiting other blogs and leaving feedback. Depending on how good of comments you write, you can also expect other readers of blogs to click on your name to see what your site is all about.

2. Submit Articles To Directories

This is something I started doing recently, but it has helped. By submitting articles to various websites (such as Ezinearticles), you can get more publicity as well as a link back to your blog. It helps increase your readers as well as search engine traffic since a lot of article directories rank very well.

3. Learn More About Internet Marketing

Although blogging is one form of internet marketing, it is not everything. By hanging out in forums and reading about marketing, you can learn a ton of tricks to help boost traffic and search engine rankings. I personally use the Wealthy Affiliate program, which has helped me tremendously. It runs around 30 a month but well worth it in my opinion (look for a review soon). There are also some free forums such as DigitalPoint that you can use to learn more.

There are many other ways to increase traffic for free, but these are the most productive ones I have used so far.

Where To Go From Here?

My goal is to keep on going. I hope to keep getting more and more readers along the way. I feel like I have already made it passed the breaking point of blogging so there is no need to give up now.

PS. Feel free to share your stats or tips on how to get more visitors.

Posted on: October 28th, 2008

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