Networking and Socializing On Blog Directories Has Benefits

One thing that I have learned from using social websites like blog directories is that you gain not only friends who blog but also traffic. It is important to remember that when you socialize you voice your opinion to others and on blog directories you are voicing your opinion to thousands at a time. Getting that kind of exposure for free is absolutely priceless.

Jumping in on a discussion every once in a while is good, but you have to keep in mind that not everybody is going to read what you have to say. Even though not everyone is interested in what you are blogging about getting your name out there is extremely important when you are trying to build traffic. There are other ways to bring traffic to your blog as well.

If you can create an ad for your blog you can advertise with that. You may not get the type of quality traffic you are looking for but you will at least have more visitors who are not just bloggers. Plus there are other ways to make money online with a blog other than relying on Google AdSense to earn you some dollars. I'll have more in my next post.

Social Websites and Blogging: Can the Two Be Mixed?

To be blunt and to the point; the answer is a resounding yes. The reason social websites and blogging should be mixed is because of a known fact: 75-95% of traffic on your blog are from other bloggers. It is incredibly important to remember the type of readers you will have when you are producing your own blog trying to make money from it. Your traffic pretty much depends on it.

You always have to advertise your product which in this case is your blog. Taking part in social websites will increase your exposure to your audience. Bloggers also want to know who is behind your blog so a well designed about page will work. Look for social sites that attract the average blogger, make friends in the blogging world while you are just chatting with other bloggers on the forums. Talking about your posts as well as other posts you enjoy helps build traffic and link backs.

Generally the only way to use a social website to its fullest is only if there is an active forum for members to meet. Other Social Websites like Digg is a social website designed to help articles become popular. Using Digg could greatly increase your traffic. I've just started using digg on one of my blogs and I am still learning how to use the website. Another website like Stumble Upon is another example of different social websites that bloggers can be found frequenting.

In short, when you first start looking to promote your blog join some social networking website and get the word out. Part of taking part in the discussion forums is to get the word out about your blog another form of "Word of Mouth" advertising which has always been effective. Happy Blogging.

Leave A Comment Get a Visit

One of the easiest ways to promote your blog is to leave a comment on another blogger's post. Most of the time people who leave comments will come back to see what others have said about the post and if you have comment moderation on they will want to know if you have approved their comment. I have had more people come back to my blog to leave a comment after I have left a comment of my own. Most bloggers actually care about the comments that are left behind when you visit their blog and a lot of bloggers will respond to comments that you leave, whether it be just a short thank you for your comment or something that will add to the discussion in the comment section of your blog.

Part of getting comments on your blog is to be active in leaving comments on the blogs that you visit. A lot of bloggers have an image on their blog that simply says "U Comment - I Follow" which tells you that they will come back to your blog to see what you have to offer. Now not all bloggers will do this, and not all of them that do have one of those images. The fact that you are participating and helping other bloggers to get to know you through what you have to say is important.

Friends made through blogging are some of the best Internet friends you will make. Interacting with them will help drive traffic to your site. It is important that you make yourself known if you are promoting your blog. All of the click exchange sites are bad for Google's Adsense programs and I recommend that you do not use them. You have to create a buzz for your blog to get people to visit and read what you have to say.

Now of course you have to have good content. Content is always key when you are blogging. If you are running a News and Media blog, you are going to want to stay up to date and keep you content entertaining to keep your readers coming back. On important thing to remember is that your readers do not have to comment to keep wanting to come back. If they enjoy your writing style they will comeback as long as you keep giving them something new to come back for.

In conclusion, the best reason to leave a comment it to let the reader know that not only you were there but also that you have enjoyed their post. I'm not expecting any comments here on this post because this is my youngest blog and I do not receive a lot of traffic. I have been using alternative ways to promote this blog opposed to going to Entrecard and adding this blog to just to get a few visitors. I have been using word of mouth advertising and will begin leaving this link behind on some of the comments I leave. Thanks for reading and come back for more tips on blogging.

Finding a good Blog Directory

There are quite a few different blog directories out there and the one that I usually spend the most time on is Blog Catalog. Just by taking part in the discussions on their forum you can drive anywhere between 10 to 50 visitors a day when you are just starting out. As I have said in a recent post, "Traffic is the life blood of your blog" this is so true when you are trying to find the best blog directory that will get you the most traffic for your effort.

The most important part about finding a blog directory to join is one with an open discussion forum. I really enjoy the forum over at Blog Catalog. There are many interesting discussions on the forum as well as discussions found in the groups. It is very easy to network with Blog Catalog. Entrecard also has a forum but the design of it does not appeal to me also it is mostly for questions related to Entrecard and not much else is discussed.

One thing to remember when on the forums is that the number of responses you give to different discussions will help boost your popularity. What has worked for me is that I take part in discussions that I have something valuable to add. When you have something valuable to add to a discussion other bloggers will start to get to know your opinions and begin to respect what you have to say.

As with any forum, you have to take part to get noticed. The more active you are in discussions the more traffic you will drive to your blog. It is important to remember that your responses should be relevant to the discussion and not always accompanied by your URL as a signature. Your avatar in the forum serves as your signature so it is not necessary to leave a link to your blog every time you take part in discussions.

The most important thing to remember about blog directories is that you are there not only to network but to socialize. You have to connect with people to give them assurance that there will be something there for them to read when they visit your blog. Another thing to remember is to make sure you update your content on a regular basis so your readers will have something new to read every time they stop by. I will end this little tip now, I hope you take something with you after reading this post. Ciao!

Get Targeted Traffic

Welcome back to Earn Online with Majik. This time I will be talking about targeting the right type of people to visit your blog. Now as I have mentioned in my previous post, 95% percent of your traffic will be from other bloggers. It is very important to make sure that you are aware of who your audience is; it is very hard to attract readers to your blog with out some kind of gimmick.

When writing your blog the only gimmick you should be using is quality posts that appeal to the type of reader you are looking to bring in. If you are writing a blog about making money online you should orient your posts to appeal to bloggers who are interested in making money online. If you are writing a personal blog you should be writing it in such a way to invoke thoughts and emotions. In any case the best thing to do before deciding on which way you want to go in terms of niche, take the time to do some surfing through the category you think your blog will fit in.

One thing that has been changing through out the past few years is that alternative media is becoming more and more popular. You could almost say that "Bloggers are the journalists of tomorrow." With that in mind you could always start a blog on current events. My first dabble into the world of blogging was with a blog oriented towards current events, unfortunately current events does not give you a niche blog but more of a page with out a strict niche. This first adventure into the world of blogging has been the most popular of my now three blogs. If you want to go see the blog that has grown the most out of my trio visit Majik's Thoughts and see a Canadian view on current events.

Now another thing to remember when you are looking for targeted traffic is: where can I find other bloggers to visit my blog? The answer is simple, hang out on blog directory forums. Every day there are hundreds even thousands of people constantly jumping in and out of discussions on these forums. Before Entrecard I was able to get an average of 30 people to visit my blog just by spending about an hour on the forums. Another key point is not to get too long winded in your posts, like this one! Forums are always good to bring traffic to your blog. Remember traffic is the life blood of a blog. But that's enough for now, till next time, Peace out!

Where Does Everybody Get Their Traffic From?

I am sure that any new blogger is going to be asking that question right after they check their stats for the first time. One of the biggest sources of traffic that I have found is Entrecard. I don't like the high bounce rate that goes with the traffic from Entrecard buy you could easily go from 1 or 2 visits a day to averaging two or three hundred visits a day; that is if you have the time.

If it is quality traffic you are looking for than you should be trying blog directories. There are hundreds of people on blog directories just looking for quality blogs to read. There are also a lot of different social bookmarks that you can use to help drive traffic to your blog. But the best method for driving traffic to you blog is word of mouth advertising.

Word of mouth advertising is one of the most effective forms of advertising for your blog. I have had more people visit my blog just because I told them I can make money from blogging than people from some social bookmarking websites. Here's a tip for you, if you want to start spreading the word about your blog, go out and get some business cards with you URL on it. Give your card to random people you meet throughout the day. Chances are that you will get some quality traffic from it as well as the possibility of loyal readers.

You can't go wrong with blog directories though. One thing you have to remember about blogging is that 95% of your traffic comes from other bloggers just looking for something to read or to bring you back to their blog. As a blogger you will need to visit other blogs, not just for layout ideas but to leave a comment for others to read and hopefully bring traffic back to your pages. One of the good things about leaving comments is that you can leave a link to your blog which helps with Google's PR (Page Rank). I will get into some of the factors that affect your PR in future posts, but there are a lot of factors that determine your PR and a lot of factors that get your PR dropped. Anyway I've gone on long enough, till next time, Peace out!

Get the Blog flowing

In my last post My First Step I told you what I did to get started earning online. The second step was writing the blog. It took a long time before I finally started to get an average of five visitors a day so blogging will not get you rich quick. However it is a good way to earn a few dollars on the side. But more than just writing you have to build your traffic.

When you talk traffic in the blogging world you need to know a few terms. CTR is your Click Through Rate, advertisers will be looking at this aspect of your traffic a lot. Your CTR determines a lot of different things for an advertiser. For example if your page gets viewed 100 times in a day but only 1 click on an ad then you will have a CTR of 1%. Obviously just by looking at it you would want to improve your CTR considering the higher your CTR is the chances of getting high paying ads on your page will increase.

Here are two more terms you will need to know about your traffic, Page Views and Bounce Rate. Page views are exactly what they sound like, every time your page gets viewed counts as 1 page view; pretty simple. Bounce Rate is also very simple as well. Your bounce rate is determined by how often one of your visitors click on an internal link or just view briefly and leave. The higher your bounce rate the more people who are just visiting for a few seconds and leave. If you want to improve your bounce rate, you have to post frequently and quality posts. This brings me to my next point, posting regular gives your readers something to comeback to as well as helping search engines to find your page.

There are a lot of different search engines out there but most people are prone to use Google for their searches so don't be too surprised when you find out your first hit from a search engine came from Google. A lot of bloggers are concerned with SEO or Search Engine Optimization, of course optimizing your blog to bring in more traffic from one of the millions of searches performed every day is good. You are going to want to keep people who find your blog from searches to stay for a little while and actually become readers; you will need good content for that.

When your first starting out you will have to focus on creating quality posts so those bloggers who do find your page are willing to comeback and read some more. (My this post is running long, hurry up and end it will ya!) Anyway I will get into building your traffic in my next post, I think this one is getting a little long. Peace out!

My First Step

My first step towards earning online was some what lengthy and to make a long story short a lot of trouble that was completely unnecessary. The first thing I did to earn online was PTR emails. I don't know if anybody has tried this or maybe you have and you are looking for something better and more rewarding. I'm not going to tell you to avoid PTR websites but I will tell you that you are definitely not going to make much more than ten cents a day. I have tried these before and so far definitely not the best money maker for your valuable time.

I trundled around the Paid To websites for close to eight months before I realized that there has to be a better way to earn online. It wasn't until the end of September last year that I finally found what I was looking for. I didn't realize the full potential of blogging until it finally made me some real cash not a lot of cash but it was enough to make a withdraw from my Paypal account. I'm not going to tell you that I am the most respected authority on making money online, just that I have made money online. I'm going to share some of the things that have helped me to make money online.

The first step towards earning online is to just get out there and get started. If you do not have anything for people to read no one will visit your website or blog as the case may be. I have chosen to use blogging to make money online. Getting started is easy. My favorite platform to blog on is the Blogger or blogspot platform. The reason is that Blogger allows you to publish Google Adsense and it doesn't cost you anything but time to get started. So my first tip for you is just to get started.

My second tip goes hand in hand with my first tip. If you are going to start blogging, look for a niche that you can easily fit into. Targeted traffic is easier to get when you are publishing a niche blog. The best way to do this is just to figure out what you love to write about and stay focused. I will have more tips for you in the future, this will help you to get started.

A New Blogging Adventure Begins!

Hello and welcome to "Earn Online With Majik." This is just my first post here but I know that this blog will grow just like my other two blogs have. I haven't decided if I will be using Entrecard on this blog just yet. I may just try to build my traffic through Blogcatalog. So many things are up in the air and right now I will be focusing on all three blogs. The first thing I will be working on is schedule to post articles to my blogs. "Majik's World" is already on a schedule but this blog and "Majik's Thoughts" are not on a posting schedule. This is on my to do list. I will look forward to writing more posts for this blog as well as my other blogs. Peace out!