Increase Blog Traffic 300% in just One Week, Part 1
My dear Blokesters. I have to be honest with you. I came real close to the abiss and almost quit blogging.
It all started with a frank email exchange I had with another blogger that left me feeling frustrated and depressed.
Combine that with comments being down on this blog and I drafted a farewell post (which is still in draft and I will keep it there as a testament for future reference).
Fortunately I never published it and I’ve written down my observations of our discussion which I may publish at a later date.
While I was away from blogging I’ve kept myself busy working behind the scenes and I managed to reach some major accomplishments for this blog.
- I increased my daily traffic more than 300% in just one week (it’s now up to 500%) without even writing a post. I accomplished this amazing feat with a combination of SEO tweaks, tagging, and amalgamating my blogging related posts under one domain by importing older articles from my other blogs.
- I’ve managed to claw my way back to the top 10 on Google for my “Blog Tips” niche that I created. Over the years the copycats had gradually usurped my number #1 position. Never again.
- I owe it mostly due to my switching over to Wordpress and I could never have done it if I had stayed with Blogger.
- I can see now I did myself a great disservice by staying with Blogger as long as I did. Blogger just doesn’t have the raw horsepower, finesse or plugins that Wordpress has for SEO optimization.
- I also messed up by diluting my niche under different domains. In retrospect why I did that still remains a mystery to me (duh) and is a reason why the copycats were able to take over my position in the SERPs.
- The copycats are still slightly ahead of me but mark my words I SHALL regain my #1 position back again.
Thank you Wordpress. I love you.
If I hadn’t taken the time off I would never have had the time to tweak the blog. Considering that I almost quit blogging, this is a reminder that sometimes when things look their bleakest there can be a silver lining just around the corner.
I don’t know if you’ve noticed but I also made a lot of refinements to the blog. There’s too many to list here but in a nutshell:
- I’ve improved the navigation to make it easier to get where you want to go.
- Fixed the margins so they line up better, look neater and make better use of white space to help separate the content.
- Added some subtle background color and borders to contrast the content so that it’s easier to read without (hopefully) adding clutter.
- I’ve managed to fix the middle column on the home page with PHP and CSS to enable borders, background colors and images.
- Settled on a color scheme that makes sense and ties in all of the blog’s features and theme.
- Fixed the line spacing for bullets and lists.
- And much more!
I’m encouraged with this turn of events and every day I’m feeling my passion for blogging returning.
This is the first part of a series of posts where I will explain in detail how I was able to improve my traffic more than 300% in just one week.
Stay tuned…
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Congratulations, Bloke! That’s a great story that everyone should be reading. People don’t realize how important the ‘technology’ is. I liken it to building a great store in the middle of nowhere. If people can’t find you, they can’t read your site. Making it findable is just as important a tactic as the content itself and the popularity!
So true my friend. Search engine traffic is still my biggest draw and is STILL probably the most important of all of the methods for increasing blog traffic.
No matter what anybody else may say, I know from my own personal experience that blog traffic can be improved by using simple SEO methods and common sense.
Out of the box Wordpress beats Blogger hands-down for search engine optimization, even without the tweaks. For anybody who’s serious about blogging, Wordpress is the way to go.
Thanks for dropping by and the comments.
Delurking to tell you how glad I am that you aren’t ending your blog! It is greatly appreciated.
I knew if I played hard to get I would smoke you out.
Thank you so much for your kind and encouraging words. If you only knew how much I’ve missed receiving your comments around here. I was starting to wonder if I’m just talking to myself.
Cheers!
Blog Bloke reply on October 4th, 2008 6:40 pm:
Such great news! However, do I get to say: I knew you couldn’t quit! After all, you’re the Blokester–Blog Star! You have it in you to shine. And sometimes what we do is retreat, re-align, and refresh—and then we can come back stronger and better than ever. You’re an inspiration!
Thanks Kuanyin and yes, I give you full credit for the prophetic word. I only hope I can live up to your expectations. I also hope your trip with your daughter is fruitful.
Blog Bloke reply on October 5th, 2008 2:30 am:
Phew that was close, welcome back! Looking forward to that traffic post…
Dennis Edells last blog post…My First Contest! Time To Put Your Thinking Caps On…
Thanks Dennis and welcome back to you too. I hope your Dad is doing Ok.
He is and thanks
I’m however still playing catch-up from two months out with a torn ligament…
Why haven’t you entered my contest
Dennis Edells last blog post…My First Contest! Time To Put Your Thinking Caps On…
OUCH! My prescription is stay of your feet and spend time more behind the computer and get those “coming soon” boxes filled. I’m putting my thinking cap on as I speak.
Blog Bloke reply on October 5th, 2008 5:09 pm:
Dennis Edell reply on October 5th, 2008 12:57 pm:
Blog Bloke reply on October 5th, 2008 2:26 am:
Everybody needs a little vacation, even if you never leave your computer
They say a change is as good as a vacation, even if your geography hasn’t.
Blog Bloke reply on October 5th, 2008 10:06 am:
Hi Bloke - glad to hear you didn’t quit! Any chances you’ll be writing a post on SEO for those of us who still don’t quite get it? All the posts I see on it assume that we know what we’re doing with it, and honestly, I just want to write but if I knew how to get some more readers by making a few tweaks on my blog and not spending all my time networking, I might be inclined to try it.
Sure Kirsten.
I’ve hesitated to write about SEO in the past because it is a subject that has been badly abused over the years. There is no shortage of self-appointed gurus out there and opinions are wide and varied. It is dependent on a lot of factors including which blog platform you are using, so what I will do is write about my own personal experiences with Blogger and Wordpress.
Personal experience is the best way to write it…..most of those “opinions” are just tweaked hear-say from OTHER blogs.
Dennis Edells last blog post…My First Contest! Time To Put Your Thinking Caps On…
Dennis Edell reply on October 5th, 2008 12:59 pm:
Thanks, Bloke - anything that might help me understand it a bit more will help. I’m looking forward to that post.
Kirstens last blog post…Full of Insight and Wisdom
I’m working on it right now. Please be patient because I want it to be a good one.
Blog Bloke reply on October 5th, 2008 5:07 pm:
Kirsten reply on October 5th, 2008 2:30 pm:
Blog Bloke reply on October 5th, 2008 10:57 am:
I cannot wait until you write that SEO post. I definitely need a little more help in that department. Glad you didn’t quit, but for a while I sure was wondering….
asithis last blog post…Yogurt a Health Food? Do You have Dental Insurance?
Thank you for the words of encouragement Asithi. It’s really appreciated.
Blog Bloke reply on October 6th, 2008 12:40 pm:
Glad to hear your staying with blogging. I am feeling the same at the moment. Might just keep my saved garden blog and let the tech blog go(tech blogging being saturated as it is).
Thanks Curtis.
Blog Bloke reply on October 9th, 2008 5:33 pm:
Good to see you back, BB. It’s kinda tough to come back after a long break - I should know! - so glad to see you’ve resurfaced and hope the renewed passion for blogging fires you up to write some more of your inspirational posts.
As for the other blogger you reference, it’s only jealousy because you have more hair
Mikes last blog post…No Online TV For UK Firefox Users
Yo Mike! It’s great to have you back man. I am soooo looking forward to your series of guest SEO posts here at Blog Bloke, and so are my readers.
By the way, you called me out on the hair piece. Wigs are looking real good these days don’t you think.
Blog Bloke reply on October 7th, 2008 3:31 pm:
Oh no! For just one blogger you’re quitting? DON’T!
I think you’re getting famous (and easily found in Google) and you’re doing great. I think many SUCCESSFULLY famous people learned to manage those who hate them (think of celebrities). We know a lot of celebrities who also had a bunch of haters, but still they managed to do best and earn heaps of money - even if they had not even earned their degrees in college.
And for those copycats… That is something that accompanies success; and of course, they want to improve what you have discovered - and write about it. I think the best way you can do is to stay well ahead of the game. Celebrities also have their copycat versions, but still.. they learned to diversify and come up with new things to “upgrade” their image, so copycats are left behind.
Nice improvements you got here and thanks a lot!
Gems last blog post…Make Your New Domain Work with SocialSpark, PPP and SponsoredReviews
Awe, you are so sweet. Now I know why your name is Gem.
Thank you so much for your kind words, and your words of wisdom.
Something that I can do.. for return.
Gems last blog post…Other Sites that Lets You Earn Money From Blogging
Gem reply on October 14th, 2008 6:08 pm:
Blog Bloke reply on October 8th, 2008 5:19 pm:
congrats! i can tell you that i am a little jealous. i use wordpress, i have used seo a lot on my blog and i write daily. i write original content …no copy-and-paste. despite all this i dont get a lot of traffic and i am steady on 500-600 visitors…what can i do? sometimes i feel like quitting but in the end i go on because i really like writing and helping people solve their daily issues with the computer and the web…
web talks last blog post…Change Google Gmail theme with Better Gmail
Hi there.
Getting that many unique visitors a day is nothing to sneeze at. A lot of bloggers would die for that much traffic.
If I may offer some advice, just looking quickly at your blog my first impression is I think your branding might be confusing. I went through this recently myself with a complete makeover including a change in domain name.
If it is a tech blog then why call it web talk? Neither does your theme design reflect a serious tech blog to me. Your commenting is also low which needs to be bolstered.
These are just my first impressions of course. I will discuss these matters in more detail in my next posts.
I hope this helps.
Maybe you are right maybe not. I agree when you say that i need to boost traffic and in fact i was thinking to use something commentluv (but i dont know if i want to use it. i am afraid to get lots of comments and among them some comments coming from spam sites disguised as good sites…what do you advise me?). as far as my theme is concerned. I dont know. i spent some bucks on it and i dont feel like spending some more to change it again. Changing my blogs’s theme may be an issue since it could devaluate my serp (this is what i think). besides my blog’s name reflects my domain. If you want my opinion i think that the subject of my blog is quite “common and overused” meaning that a lot of blogs speak about the same stuff i do. this means that the competition is tough. you said that my blog’s theme is not serious. you may be right but in my internet wandering a see a lot of websites whose theme are really stupid, similar to other blogs or too childish… anyway they have 2000-3000 unique visitors. so what’s the deal? is it possible that changing my theme and getting something else, something ordinary can boooooost my traffic? another thing i think is this. i made webtlk.com back in 2006. i used mambo but after a few months i quitted. after some months i visited my blog again with the idea to use another platform and i saw that it was pestered with many spam comments about viagra, casino and the usual stuff. i deleted the whole blog, i waited some more months and after that i installed wordpress. I think that google may have penalised my blog in some way since it contained a lot of spam…but that’s just an idea of mine. the only things i really think are important are: writing and getting known in the Internet…theme is just a surplus. Anyway thanks for sharing your time to look at my site!
1. How about www.techtlk.com? webtlk sounds like a blog about the web.
2. What I mean by design confusion is the floral patterns don’t make sense to me for your tech niche.
3. Your theme design shouldn’t affect your position in the SERPS.
4. I just use Akismet for spam.
Blog Bloke reply on October 13th, 2008 1:57 pm:
web talk reply on October 13th, 2008 1:24 pm:
Blog Bloke reply on October 11th, 2008 5:05 pm:
Glad to hear that you are picking up some traffic from the the changes that you have done. SEO, really does make a difference to gain web traffic. I have pretty good traffic, now if I could get them to comment.
congrats bloke, make our blog easy to read will make our vistitor come back…
Oct 10th, 2008 at 1:54 am
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