Using Blogs To Drive Traffic To Your Website
by Dana Willhoit

Today we're going to talk about harnessing the power of blogs to bring free traffic to your site.

So you've picked a niche, and you've created a website or blog dedicated to that niche, and you'd like to start getting some traffic.

And not just any traffic, but targeted traffic from people who will be interested in what you have to say.

Where can you find this traffic?

Well, odds are pretty good that you are not the first person to have created a website or blog in your niche. In fact, odds are good that there are at least a few successful blogs that are devoted to your niche and that get a lot of traffic.

This is not bad news, however. In fact it's completely the opposite.

One of the truisms of internet marketing is that it's easier to go where the traffic is congregating than it is to drag the traffic to you.

Let's say that you have created a blog about weight loss. There are a lot of blogs about weight loss. As soon as you have your blog up and running and looking good, you would start visiting blogs in the same niche.

Blogs are interactive by nature. Almost all blogs allow visitors to comment on each post. And almost all blogs allow their visitors to include a link to their own website with their comment.

What you need to do is read posts on all of the popular blogs in your niche and leave comments on those posts, with a link back to your website.

Your comments need to be helpful and shouldn't just say something like "Great post!" If you read a post about good snacks for dieters, you could compliment the blogger and then add a few suggestions of your own. It always helps to include some helpful information in your post, so that when people read your post, they see that you are knowledgable in your field and they are more likely to want to visit your site.

Here is a very useful tip: the most read comments are the first few that respond to a post. This is especially true if there are dozens or even hundreds of commenters who regularly frequent the site.

There are plugins which can notify you that one of your favorite bloggers has made a new post; get one of those plugins, and comment immediately when a new post is made, so you

If a blog doesn't allow you to include a link back to your website in your comment, honestly, you shouldn't bother with them.

It's also helpful if you allow people to comment on your site, because if they can interact with you and other visitors they are likely to come back. They will want to see what your response to their comment is, and what other people's response is as well. So you will encourage repeat traffic if you allow comments. And of course, allow people to link back to their own sites when they leave a comment on your site or blog. Fair is fair!