All business bloggers have a more than healthy interest in who is linking to their blog posts. And when you're not one of the blogosphere megastars and you are struggling to lure targeted, valuable traffic to your site, it's easy to put the destination before the journey.
While it's perfectly fine to use logical strategies to encourage quality posters, encouraging shouldn't become the be-all and the end all of your blog posting focus.
Here are 5 tips to help you increase your links without even trying - while turning your attention elsewhere.
1. It's about your reader. Listen to what they're saying, and blog about (answer) asked and un-answered questions
2. Think of yourself at a party, and do your best to chat - and entertain. Very often if something is truly entertaining, people will make time to engage where they normally wouldn't. After all, if some guy came up to you at a party and proceeded to lecture you about the importance of Search Bots, totally ignoring your statement about never using the net and doing everything on your mobile, you'd probably think he was a self-important, clueless bore.
3. Create a Date. If your posts of necessity are always fact-filled and dry, create an official day when you'll blog about anything and everything. "Whining Wednesday" (save all your griping for that day)... or "Weekly Wall-Off", where you leave your regular weighty subject of cellular technology and discuss the chicken you saved, named Eleanor, who turned out to be a capon. (You might be surprise at the relevant people - your regular but silent readers - who actually comment on this seeming frivolity!)
4. Add a Link. You've been told that this is absolutely verboten: That you should on no account ever encourage people to click away from your blog... but the truth is, back when I was starting out, one of the most traffic-generating, page-rank-improving posts I ever made was one where I pointed my readers to a really handy and unique resource! That generated buzz, got passed around - and the megastar I sent them to graciously commented, leaving his link on my blog.
5. Interview an Expert. This can be a related professional in your niche, it doesn't have to be Oprah: And hook them in by only asking a single question - it's a blog post, so this keeps it short. But make it a doozy; one your readers will really be keen to discuss - and link to.
In each of these 5 techniques, you're focusing on your subject, your competition, your life or your readers. Pull one of these randomly out of a hat, whenever you find yourself fretting about the resounding cavern of silence that is your blog comment section - and have some fun, seeing what generates relevant or even "famous" links.
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All the best,
Patricia Thomasson, EdD
