How to increase traffic to your blog
Getting started.
I believe one of the keys which contributes to traffic growth is setting a goal. My site traffic in the first few days saw only a handful of site visitors. After seeing the number at 37, I said to myself silently, “this is not good enough, I want massive traffic.” In those days, 10000 visitors per month seemed like fantasy to me. It seemed impossible to get 10000 different people visiting my site. Really, there’s like billions of websites. Why would they would want to visit my site?
Well, instead of worrying about the “why” part, my only focus was to reach “10000 visitors per month.” That’s the first lesson. Whereever you want to go, you cannot get there without knowing where you want to be. Don’t think “IF you can get there” or “how to get there”. Just decide WHERE you want to be. You’ll learn the rest as you go along.
Site statistics.
A few months after the site launch, I wondered how to count traffic. After trying different systems and stats software, it appeared each gave me different results. Now, personally, Google Analytics worked best for me since it showed smaller numbers compared to others, like AwStat. Smaller numbers were important because I wanted to be sure my goal was met, no matter how you measured visits. Since Google Analytics had many other features too, it was the one used.
Site updates.
While reading problogger.net, it was mentioned to update your site daily. For my blog, this seemed realistic (since writing is fun to me) and so “daily”updates would be my unique feature compared to other sites. Many gaming sites were updated only a few times per week or month. Some webmasters recommend updating several times per day, but 1 post per day seemed best for me.
For me, if writing isn’t fun, there’s no point doing daily site updates. When you enjoy writing, visitors can tell. Nonetheless, keeping a site regularly updated was a major contributor to getting traffic.
Site content.
You need quality (unique) content that provides value. This is very important.
If you have nothing to write, don’t write. But, there’s always something to write about. So, if you get writer’s block, look around the web. There may be something you have an opinion about. Or, put together some useful resources for your visitors.
The key is to be sure your content has value to others. For me, practical tips & hints are interesting to me, so I focused on them. They may have been things like “use forum signatures” as an example. This may seem obvious to you, but not everybody is a professional. For someone, this is useful information.
The majority of my content is totally unique and written from my own experience. Of course, there are news items and quotes from other blogs. Yet, I add my personal touch when writing about them.
For example: one guy (on another website) wrote an article listing “10 things about something”. In my article, I mentioned it, had a link to the article on my site, wrote a sub-headline, and commented on it.
Let’s suppose the article said, “Lesson 3: Company X is great because bla bla blah.” My comment could have been “Lesson 3: He thinks Company X is great, and I agree since Company X they have good products Y and Z.” This allows me to provide unique content and write my own thoughts rather than just quoting another article, with a link.
Using Interviews.
This is a good way to get traffic. Find people in your area of interest, and interview them. While this requires more effort than your typical article, they have been one key reason other sites to link to my site. Major websites like to hear interviews.
Suppose you have a website about marketing. Find some marketing experts to give you an interview. There’s always someone willing to talk with you if you briefly explain what your site is, its audience size, and how the interview benefits the other party. In some cases, if the interview might be really valuable, consider offering an incentive (like a monthly link, banner ad, or (gasp!) money) to get someone to talk).
Personally, there hasn’t be a situation where an incentive was needed. Currently, there more than enough people who are glad to be interviewed for free. While some have refused an interview, there have been some people who I never dreamed of meeting who were willing to do an interview. Once you interview one major guy, it gets easier. Now you can mention, “I interviewed the CEO of company X and the article is <here - some link>.” Think of it like a testimonial for getting an interview.
Site promotion.
Try promoting your site using news submission, forum posting, and press releases. Writing quality content does no good if no one reads it. I have submitted featured articles (interviews and popular content) to major websites and received lots of traffic in return. Also, I posted to several gaming forums and created some press releases. All of this helped build traffic and all are free to do (other than time, so I guess it’s not really free 
).
Site advertising.
This is just my personal preference, but don’t fill your site with ads. At least, don’t do this initially. You don’t want to chase people from your site when you are getting started. You want visitors focused on your content. Once you establish yourself traffic, then ad saturation is up to you.
Bottom line
For me, providing value and setting a goal are the key factors to success. Unique content, such as your own articles, interviews, and promotion (news, forums, press releases etc.) will go a long way.
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