Friday, February 4, 2011

A Fashion Bloggers Guide to Growing Your Blogs Traffic









The easiest and most overlooked way of boosting your traffic is by submitting your blog to the search engines. You won't end up with huge traffic from the start but it will build up over time and you never know some of the visitors may become subscribers or regular visitors. The main search engines are:

Yahoo

Dmoz Open Directory

Google

MSN

Dmoz is one you may never heard of but its the biggest directory on the web and google and aol are some of the search engines that use their directory.





This section is more suited to Wordpress users. A blog trackback is basically a way of informing a blogger that you've linked to their post. If they approve the trackback its listed in their comments section. Not only is it a polite way of letting the blogger know you've mentioned their post but it can drive traffic to your own blog as their readers will know that you've posted something related and hopefully check it out. So its a win win situation. How to do a trackback If both yourself and the blog you are linking to are on Wordpress you can just link in your usual way but if you for example are on wordpress and the post your linking to is on blogger (i.e different platforms) you'll need to check their post for a 'trackback url' or 'permalink' and enter it into the section on your posting area titled 'trackback url'. But it really is that simple!




Guest posting is another great way of driving traffic to your blog and opening up to a new audience. If you write a guest post for another blogger it gets linked to your own blog and if they've enjoyed your post they are likely to visit your blog. If you have a guest blogger posting on your site they're obviously going to promote the post which again drives traffic to your blog. Either way you'll be introducing a whole new readership to your blog. If your looking for a guest poster try adding a thread to the IFB groups page.



Twitter is a great tool to utilise and in my opinion all bloggers should have a twitter account with the link clearly displayed in their sidebar. It's actually my top referrer. Also make sure to have a retweet facility so your readers can share all those fab posts you write with their followers. I'm always surprised when I discover blogs without share buttons and it is the easiest way of sharing a post. Set it up so that all your posts are automatically posted to twitter as its a great source of traffic and it can have a viral effect meaning it can spread quickly. Wordpress has plugins for exactly this purpose. You can do this with facebook too. Apart from the traffic building aspect of twitter it has other benefits for a blogger. I've detailed them below:

Networking - communicating and conversing with other like minded people whether that be other bloggers or people who share your interests

Business Contacts - prospective advertising clients or PR agencies for example

Blog Post Ideas - conversations can often lead to blog post ideas

Asking Questions - whether it be web design related or SEO the twitterverse is full of experts on all kinds of subjects

Fact Checking - you might need to check a certain aspect of a post and there may well be people who have the knowledge you need So as you can see Twitter really is a vital tool in blogging.





Comment, comment, comment I can't stress this enough. But make them meaningful and genuine don't just post generic comments and add your link. Commenting is a really good way of developing a community feel to your blog as well as increasing your traffic. A lot of bloggers myself included visit the blogs of those who leave comments. You never know they may love your blog and leave a comment or follow/subscribe. It improves traffic in another way too as other readers may find your comment interesting and visit your blog which is another good reason for ensuring you only leave genuine, interesting comments. But please refrain from leaving comments telling the blogger you've followed and asking them to follow you back. This is really offputting and can make the blogger less likely to visit/follow your blog.




IFB is a vital resource for fashion bloggers. Jennine has succeeded in creating a community to network, share and learn. You can dramatically increase your traffic by actively participating in discussions and submitting your best posts for links a la mode. Check out Grit and Glamours guide to submitting to links a la mode here. IFB is also another great way of fostering relationships with other bloggers and has a wealth of resources available. Visit IFB here




Obtaining a high spot in search results is no easy feat but you can help yourself by selecting your keywords very carefully. Make sure your selecting words relevant to your post/blog. The optimum length for keyword phrases is 2 or 3 words as almost two thirds of searches are of that length. Another important aspect for SEO is to include your keywords in your blog post title. So those of you who choose song titles or literary quotes for post titles are missing out on increasing your search result placing. Titles are highly searchable, that's not saying you have to do this with every post but it is important if you want to fully utilise SEO. Another way of capitalising on SEO is by renaming your images to include your keywords. Many people find my blog through google image search and that is why. Don't make the titles overly long though. The last thing to mention is - DO NOT tag your posts with tonnes of different keywords as the search engines can penalise users who do this. Use only relevant keywords.





Different readers have a preference for different methods of subscribing so utilise all the different ways of subscribing and display them prominently on your blog. I'm always surprised at the vast amount of blogs without an email subscription form its so often overlooked but its actually my favorite way of subscribing. The other ways of subscribing are :

Google Friend Connect

Bloglovin

RSS

Kindle (check out my post on setting up your blog on kindle here)

Subscribers increase the amount of visits to your blog so they are a vital part of building traffic (and a community). They keep readers updated and encourage return visits. I hope this guide is useful and if you have any questions or feedback leave me a comment!

85 comments:

  1. hello love thank you so much for this one...I really love the post...very interesting!!!
    I will be following your post my dear!!! perfect love thank you thank you thank you!!!

    Kisses
    Sweet
    PensandLens

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  2. This was a very informative and interesting post! Great tips, many of them I have never done but will consider doing now :)

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  3. this is a really interesting post. I think I have done most of these things but the numbers build slowly. Reading the post about connecting my blog to kindle next!!
    Thanks!
    www.fashnlvr.blogspot.com

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  4. great advice hun, you really know what you are talking about!

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  5. Excellent tips!

    I can't stress enough on how commenting is important, even tho sometimes I don't leave comment, I read everything in my feed hehe Also, I think it's important to reply to comment, show that you read them and you appreciate them :)

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  6. Hey fuyeme, your blogs are always so supportive and helpful. I've given you a Versatile Blogger award :) check it out: http://orlabegood.blogspot.com/2011/02/versatile-blogger-award.html

    Orla x

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  7. ahh *fuyume damn spellcheck! xx

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  8. how do you submit to search engines? don't they just pick up your site if it gets enough traffic?

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  9. They'll pick up your site eventually but submitting your site speeds up the process.

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  10. Thanks hun :) yep commenting is vital to help your community to grow :)

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  11. Traffic may grow slowly bt you'll get there.

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  12. thanks nikki. I've still got so much to learn bt i'm getting there.

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  13. Thanks hun and thx 4 the #FF :)

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  14. i'm glad to hear that leia :) let me know if your traffic increases :)

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  15. These tips are awesome & I definitely hadn't seen many of these before (had no idea we could even connect to Kindle!!) Thank you so much for sharing this info :D ...and omg - 60K views a month?! Bananas! <3

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  16. thank you for the advice very helpful and you've included things I wouldn't have thought of, thank you for being unselfish, and sharing. xx

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  17. Thank you so so much for this helpful guide! I am quite new to blogging and this is so handy for me. I just joined twitter last week so I am hoping that will bring in some traffic. Right now facebook is my biggest referring site. I am going to work on my keywords and submit my blog to the search engines. Thanks again for the help!

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  18. Hey Fuyume,

    Very interesting post.
    I agree that twitter is a must. It's also great to do guest posting to meet a new blogger friend, draw different traffic and also write about something different than maybe I would normally do.
    I am already coming up in google searches so I will look into the other search engines.

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  19. I think it was a good starting guide for anyone that wants to build up their traffic. It was easy to read and clearly set out. I personally love twitter although I'm never sure about which method people prefer to subscribe to blogs, I've yet to put google friend connect on my blog but tend to see most blogs have their highest number of followers on google friend connect... so I have been considering it.

    www.arashmazinani.com
    @arashmazinani

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  20. I'm glad you think so :)

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  21. I definitely think the more options ppl have the better. I have the majority of my subscribers via gfc although i have 350+ via rss so its pretty close :)

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  22. awww im glad you liked it :)

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  23. guest posting is fun too :)

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  24. yay! im glad you found it useful.

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  25. aww what a sweet comment. Thanks :) and hopefully we'll get 2 catch up soon :)

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  26. awesome post, very informative!! i definitely need to get more motivated to get my blog out there more. your post is very inspiring- i look forward to more great posts! have a great weekend!

    Beneath the Glass

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  27. I'm glad you thought so :) Thanks for following :)

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  28. Thank you for the great tips! I'm going to spend tomorrow revamping my blog :)

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  29. Great tips, thanks for this!

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  30. I'm glad I could help :)

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  31. your welcome and thx 4 stopping by :)

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  32. You're a marvel! You've obviously worked really hard at your blog, and it shows. Great tips from a great blogger! :)

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  33. Hi ,I saw your post on the google groups Friend Friday.. thanks for the info on this post above.. very informative.. you have sure grown your blog quickly, I am in awe! I guess I have been kindof shy about sharing about mine but did incorporate some of your tips (the others to follow) so thanks so much.. so much to learn!!

    anyway, thanks and nice to meet you!!! xoxo Jodi

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  34. This was my first visit to your blog, and I couldn't have come over at a better time! Thank you for all the great tips and content, I'll definitely put some of these to use :) & count me in as your newest follower!

    XXXO
    M

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  35. awww so nice of you to say so and thx 4 following :)

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  36. Im glad u liked it and awww thx 4 saying im pretty on the other post :)

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  37. i work extremely hard at it bt i enjoy it :)

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  38. This post needs to be bookmarked, and added to Blogging 101. EXCELLENT post.

    Thanks so much for sharing!

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  39. Thank you so much for this!! Incredibly informative and helpful post - awesome! x

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  40. Thank you for sharing these tips, Fuyume. I found a few here I will implement. Congratulations on your success in such a short time!

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  41. Great job hunnie....LOADS of useful advice:)

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  42. Very imformative post and extremely helpful to a new blogger! Thanks so much :)

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  43. Great information!! I'm lucky enough to have a hubby who is an internet marketer by night. LOL But he seems to be too busy to show me all the ropes lately so this is some great info girlie!! I've been doing everything besides the Guest Posting. I need to get on that.

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  44. I had intended to ask but forgot, what plugin do you use that automatically emails your reply to my email address I know beautifullyinvisible uses the same one too??

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  45. Yea i found out about it from B - its called ReplyMe :)

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  46. Wow great post! I found your blog through your comment on Laura's post (http://forthoseabouttoshop.ca/2011/02/07/what-do-you-believe-in/) so I definitely agree with your commenting advice :)

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  47. This makes me feel like I'm on the right track :)

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  48. Fuyume, thanks for such a helpful post. You're a doll!

    :)

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  49. This is a brilliant post doll! congrats to you on reaching that many readers doll.

    I'm not a fan of one hit wonder comments, especially the ones who are asking you to follow them back, and then never visit your blog again, ugh!

    x.o.x.o
    p.s i can imagine you looking amazing in tones of orange and getting away with wearing colour very easily!

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  50. Thanks hun im quite proud at how far my lil blog has come :)

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  51. its always nice to be reminded that your doing it right :)

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  52. it really is a good way of creating an active community :)

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  53. Great post, I going using these tips to get my little fashion blog that could, up and running!

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  54. Wow, this is really helpful, thank you so much for the great advice! For example, I didn't even know about all the other search engines that I could submit my url to!

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  55. Also, how do you tag your images so that they are searchable?

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  56. you dont tag them you just name them as the file names are searchable :)

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  57. Oh okay, I didn't know that- thank you!!

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  58. I am completely new to blogging and just recently started one of my own mainly to keep track of my inspiration & share it with others with a similar aesthetic as mine. I came across your wonderful tips today and must say I didn't realize how important it is to use key words. I have only a few posts up to date but with your useful advice I'm sure they'll probably get noticed more...;) Thanks so much for taking the time out to help others!

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  59. im so glad you found it helpful :)

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  60. Hi! Thanks a bundle.... Its all quite exciting I must say.. I am a bit of a computer dummie so have to do it all very step by step... when you say keywords, what exactly do you mean?

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  61. I was looking for more info on how to grow my blog and I stumbled upon this guide. I'm happy to see that I've already implemented many of the recommendations on here, but I still found a few others to try out. This guide is great for anyone wanting to grow readership. :)

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  62. Thanks so much for this information. So helpful. I will add 3 more:

    Technorati
    Digg
    StumbleUpon

    xoxo,
    Jane

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  63. I was thinking of starting a fashion blog but coming up with unique content is pretty hard. Though I suppose ideas will coming as I get more used to tweeting and spouting my own opinion :)

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  64. I find that those 3 don't generate much traffic that's why I didn't include them xx

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  65. It is hard work bt well worth it!

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  66. Start my blog. It's fun! You're right it's hard but it's fun! I'm letting people help me pick my wardrobe :)

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  67. How very helpful! I've started by submitting my site to the search engines and I'm working on the other steps :)
    Thanks!

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  68. Thank you so much, your information was very useful to me and my new Hair/inspiration blog...!!can all be a wee bit overwhelming at times and you've really inspired me forward. Cheers i will be following you all the way x

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  69. Thanks so much for all the info! It was really helpful :)

    Ciao,

    Ariel

    www.sfstreetthreads.blogspot.com

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  70. What a great post!  Thank you -- I just started blogging as a project to do in Paris and after law school and a whole new world is opening up.  So much fun!

    http://laperleaparis.blogspot.com/

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  71. Really helpful advice, thank you! I've recently started a fashion and beauty blog, but am finding it hard knowing what will really grab the attention of other readers out there. What do you think has made your blog so popular?

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  72. Fantastic post. i shall retweet it inmediately.
    Much love.
    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

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  73. This is a very informative post! I didn't know about the DMOZ.org submission possibilities but while reading this I submitted my link right away! Thank you!!

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  74. Thanks for sharing this informative post with us.I like this post& would like to read your more updates in future too.Keep sharing with us in future too.

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  75. This was really helpful! I started a beauty blog this year and I've been trying to increase traffic. I've been somewhat successful but I've overlooked some of these ideas. Great post!

    Ashley

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  76. Great post! Really useful tips. x

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  77. Just came arcoss your post - so helpful! I follow your blog/read your content regularly, but I somehow missed this! 

    Thank you so much for the comprehensive write-up on increasing blog traffic. Hope you had a happy Thanksgiving, lady!

    xx Hallie
    www.coralsandcognacs.com

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  78. Thanks for sharing these tips with us.Interesting I found this blog by accident. Really glad I did though, I'll be back from now on.Would love to read more on the subject.Some interesting thoughts on the subject. Looking forward to see what else you post in the future.

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  79. Well  written article.You have done a good job by sharing this post with us.I really like this post & would like to read your more updates.Keep in touch with us.

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  80. Informative post.This is my first time reading this blog. Definitely won’t be my last though, really enjoyed it.Its really a superb post.Keep in touch with us in future too.

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i love comments i check out all your blogs :)