Start visiting blogs who write over similar topics. Read the articles, comment on them. Offer intelligent feedback, not just "good work" but detailed criticisms. Tell them why it was good, or what could have been improved upon. Make sure and leave a link to your blog at the end of every post, don't push them to view it, because if they enjoyed your post, they will check out your blog.

Writing a weekly newsletter to your subscribers will encourage them to visit often and tell friends. In the newsletter, don't include full articles, but samples that will beckon your audience to want more, thus going to your blog. I would advise Zookoda, they offer a hosting service for newsletters, best of all, its free! Zookoda allows people to subscribe to your newsletter and you get detailed information about click counts and subscriber demographics.

Cross promote other blogs. Talk about blogs you enjoy reading. Have those bloggers write an article for your blog, then write an article for theirs. This will keep fresh viewers coming in and plugging your blog.

Submit your blog to search engines. Also keep linking to your blog every time you post, on myspace, facebook, other blogs and on social bookmarking sites. Search engines work in a way that not only do they find relevance to keywords from the actual search, but also the number of pages linking to the blog. So the more your link to it, the higher up on the list it will appear. Don't annoy people though, because if you put your link up everywhere, some search engines might see this as spam and ignore your site!

Use Facebook, MySpace, Furl, Twitter, and Flickr to your advantage. Link into your blog from these social sites. Tell people when you have a new post. Keep the traffic visiting each one and they will frequent your blog. Email your friends and family, have them email some people.

Most importantly, keep your advertisements tasteful. Don't put flashing banners up all over your page. Let your viewers know what is a paid advertisement and what isn't, this will show them that you care about them reading your article and not just clicking your links.

Summary

• Link to other blogs.
• Post on other blogs.
• Write for other blogs.
• Include your link after every post.
• Submit to search engines.
• Use social networking sites to your advantage.
• Keep your advertisements tasteful.

Follow these tips to drive traffic to your blog through advertisement and make sure to view my other 3 articles on keeping your blog looking good and easy to navigate. Happy Blogging!

let your readers know who you are. Have an about page where they can read about you. Many times readers get attached not only to your writing or photos, but to you. Let your readers know how to contact you, via email, phone, post or whatever. Give them what they want. Include photos, education, where you live, and what you do. Don't be afraid to share your life with them, thats why your have a blog in the first place.

Update Frequently

By constantly updating your blog people will constantly check it, simple as that. If your viewers start seeing that you are putting up new post daily, they will check daily. If they see you only post every week or so, they will eventually just stop coming back. Give a time and date to every update, even if your just writing a simple blurb, do it frequently enough so that you embed that frequency in your readers mind.

Include Photos

This will keep your site visually dynamic and your viewers frequenting. Put pictures of you up with every post. Add photos you took or maps of where you are. Change your main page image weekly so that your readers know that you just updated your page, even if you haven't!

Write in Segments

Make a long story a two part story. Leave a cliff hanger at the end. Be controversial and opinionated. What these do is beckon your viewers to want more, learn more about you or even become frustrated. Don't be afraid to be on the edge, you'll anger some but they will usually come back to read more and begin to know you better and start checking your blog often.

Let Friends Write Articles for Your Website

Make sure that they are on similar topics. This will drive traffic from another blog over to yours and hopefully expose each others fan base and make it larger. Find a good writer who contrast your style or dynamic. This way you will have content and styles that relate to a variety of audiences.

Summary

• Make it personal
• Update Frequently
• Include Photos
• Have a bio page
• Write in Segments
• Use guest writers

By following these tips on content you can hopefully drive more traffic to your blog and keep that traffic coming back for more. If you haven't read my other perts in this series on making your blog aesthetically pleasing, navigation and advertising, I would advise you too, as they are geared towards keeping that traffic flow heavy. Happy Blogging!

When you first visit a blog, you usually see a banner, photo, logo, or name. Make sure that when your guests visit your site they are immediately hooked. Use a photo you took or a graphic you designed.

Many times the photo or graphic doesn't even have to do with what your blog is about. You could have a blog written about your new puppy and your love for animals but a picture of a green pasture or the ocean. Make it visually pleasing. You just want to make sure that your visitors are immediately hooked, and the image on top is what will keep them interested enough to not click away to the next blog.

Web browsers usually spend under a second before they decide to either stay on the page, or leave. Use a color scheme that relates to your content. If your writing dark poetry and prose, don't use light greens and yellows, but deep magentas and dark blues. This leaves a good sense of visual dynamic in the mind of the viewer as they navigate through your blog.

When choosing colors for your web page, pick complimentary colors and complimentary hues. Below is a color wheel demonstrating complimentary colors. Colors directly opposite are complimentary, and look good together.

After choosing a color theme, keep it simple. Don't use more than three colors or your viewers start to get confused and will leave. Remember, you've seen the site hundreds of times, but this is their first visit.

When it comes to the aesthetics of your blog, make sure and always keep it pleasing. Don't have flashing banners or scrolling text, these make the viewer uneasy and they tend to click away. Avoid hard edges, keep corners rounded and use fades to lead in and out of your images and to match your sites background.

Having a solid photo atop your page with a smooth gradient fade into your background will lead your viewers eye from the top banner down into your content. Always be aware of your focal point and secondary focal points. Human brains are attracted to lighter colors, especially reds and oranges. Use this knowledge to guide your viewer through the website.

Have a strong set of colors where you want your viewer to look first, then lead them away with similar hues of varying brightness, so they naturally want to stay on your page longer and keep reading.

Think of your blog or web page as a piece of art. Step back and look at it as a whole and consider what will pop out and what won't, and use this knowledge to reshape your blog and guide your viewers attention.

Summary:

• Use a strong photograph or graphic to immediately hook your viewers.
  
• Keep it visually pleasing.
• Use complimentary colors.
  
• Pick a theme.
• Guide your viewers attention through your page to keep them reading.

Make sure and view the other parts of this article on blog navigation, content and advertising to continue to drive traffic. Happy Blogging!

Navigation placement is possibly the most important part of running a blog or website.

De-clutter your navigation. Instead of having 12 links to all the pages on your website, use 3 or 4 links with sub navigation on those pages. Not only will this help your viewer find what he or she is looking for, but it will drive up the page counts and clicks!

Example. You have a blog on your travels. You also include travel writing and photography from your adventures. Instead of having a navigation that has every place you've been too and links to your photography and writing from those places, put up just three links, Travel, Photography and Writing. Under your writing link, put a page with links to the different cities, countries and places you've been and the writing from those place. Do the same for photography.

By doing this it will help your viewers navigate around what they are not interested in and find what they do want to read. Those interested in your writing can directly find it, instead of having to click through the different places you've been, same for those interested in your photography.

When working on content pages and post, make sure and include links outside of your navigation bar to other pages on your site. If we take our travel blog as an example, at the end of one article leave a link to the next article or a link to view photos from the place that you wrote about. By doing this you will keep your viewers on your page longer and exploring more and more of your website.

Navigation placement is key. Many blogs have links, and archived articles all on the same page. The human brain naturally lends itself to the left and to the top of a web page. Place your most important links on the top of your web page, and keep them simple. Place your ancillary links, such as an archive or outside websites on the left. Stay away from the right side of your page when it comes to important links or information, most viewers tend to skim over those parts.

Summary

• Keep it simple!
• Use as few links as possible.
• Use sub navigation pages.
• De-Clutter your navigation.
• Link to the next article at the bottom of every page.
• Keep important links on top and ancillary links on the left side of the page.

Hopefully these tips will help your viewer navigate your page easier and keep them on your blog longer! Check out my other articles in this series, on Blog Aesthetics, advertising and content! Happy Blogging!

Well, that is the golden question and are many ways to do that, and many kinds of traffic. If you need low quality traffic (to just raise your statistics) You simply join some traffic exchange program and that's it.

The problem begins when You want traffic that is interested in what You have on Your site and would like to come back time to time to see new, cool things. I know some tips, that I actually do to raise traffic for my site, and I'd like to share it with You.

1. Commenting On Other Blogs

   As it's may sound, it is quite actually easy and can bring a lot of good traffic. When You're writing a constructive comment (with link to Your blog) on blog, that has similar niche like Yours, showing that You know a little on a subject that You commented then it is most probably that users reading comments would like to check Your site, and even maybe discuss at your posts.In addition when You leave link to Your site you're adding one more backlink to Your site.

2. Release Free Useful Stuff

   If You're writing about Your hobby, that it is quite logical that You're better in certain subjects that average user. That's why users want to visit Your blog - to know more, or having hope that they can download things that they were searching for. For example, I know that most of people starting their first net business mostly are choosing to create a proxy site. That's why I release some free proxy templates from time to time ( of course with backlink to my site in template ). the users are happy, that they've given something useful for free and You're happy that You have more traffic.

3. Write Articles

   Well, to do it You need to know what You want to write, and on which subject. But this is one of the best way to have a unique content on your site and attract more people to the site.Any subject is good, if You know some useful things and want to share them with an article. Also, when done writing and posting in to Your site You can add articles to free article directories. In my opinion this isn't the best thing to do. People will read the article not on Your site, but at the article directory site. No traffic profit for You )although Yo can leave a backlink in the directory, but the easier way is to comment on peoples blogs).

4. Add a Link To Your Forum Signature

   Everyone visits forums and discuss groups. They are fundamentals of the internet. Good choice will be adding a link to Your site in Your signature. Free backlink and maybe some traffic, if that what You post has good value and help the user.

5. Add a Footer To Your E-mails

   When You write a e-mai, be sure to put a link to Your sites in the footer of the mail. Every mail You send is a chance, that You'll interest the user with Your links, if he decide to visit, and see good content he would surely be back once a day or so.

In my opinion, before participating in any social bookmarking network it is important to understand what they are and how they are different. Some social bookmarking networks are dedicated to serious Internet content while others accept just about anything else that its members have found interesting to bookmark and share with other members that are in their networks.

What is social bookmarking?

Social bookmarking is a unique service allowing its members to save, review and share websites, articles, photos and music that they discover on the Internet. Once a website is discovered, then the social bookmarking member can write a review about the website and share it with the rest of the social bookmarking community that they belong to. If a website has already been discovered by another member, then in this case the other members can visit the website and later write their own review as well as vote on the website either up or down depending on the impression that the website had left on the visitor.

How many social bookmarking services are there on the Internet?

There are hundreds of social bookmarking services on the Internet, but right now there are only a handful worth participating in, because of their size and popularity. Not all social bookmarking services are created equally and if marketing is the purpose for joining, then targeting the biggest and most popular of these services is the way to go.

How can I locate these social bookmarking services?

Really they are quiet easy to locate using search engines like Google, Ask or any one of the hundreds of other search engines available to the general public on the Internet. Try using keywords like “Social Bookmarking” or “Social Networks” when conducting a search while using your favorite search engine. Search engines respond more accurately when using descriptive keywords that are more precise or focused on the actual subject that is being searched for.

StumbleUpon

StumbleUpon is one of my personal favorite social bookmarking websites and the community is very friendly thus making each visit more welcoming. The members can invite other members to join their friends' internal networks or just be a fan of another member's website discoveries. The types of bookmarks that are added vary from very serious to light and humorous.

For Marketing Purposes

StumbleUpon is an excellent social bookmarking service for bookmarking anything light and humorous or top 10 lists that are useful and entertaining. There are much better social bookmarking services for bookmarking more serious articles, videos and websites than StumbleUpon.

Digg

This social bookmarking service is by far the biggest and most popular on the Internet and its members reflect all of the signs that any wildly popular website on the Internet has shown and that is there willingness to spend countless hours reviewing, discovering and sorting through the junk websites sometimes submitted by its members, so to discover a real gem. Digg members are very serious people and it sometimes reflects in a negative way as to how other members are treated by their fellow members. Digg is not always the nicest place to visit, but it is by far the best website to visit and submit new content to, if you are a Webmaster or blogger wanting to increase traffic to a website or article that you like and want to share with millions of other potential visitors.

For Marketing Purposes

Digg is a social bookmarking service that generates millions of page views per month and attracts new members from all four corners of the world. Use this website to Digg more serious websites, articles, videos, music and photos. Submitting poetry is a waste of time and doesn't generate much traffic or interest from the larger Digg community.

Blue Dot

While this is not the biggest or even the most active of social bookmarking service on the Internet, it is one of the best to learn your way around a social bookmarking space at your own pace. Members at BlueDot generally are very nice and like to share humorous bookmarks as well as serious natured articles and photographs. It is a waste of time submitting poetry or short stories here at BlueDot, because they do not do well here on this website.

For marketing purposes

BlueDot is not your run-of-the-mill social bookmarking site as humorous bookmarks rules the day at BlueDot. Eager members can quickly build a social friends network consisting of hundreds of like-minded members in just a few weeks, thus increasing the sheer number of potential visitors into the thousands. Building a private friends network is the key to attracting and earning the respect of new readers and visitors from around the world in a short period of time.

Fark

Fark is quite unique as it is a social bookmarking service where members bookmark mostly odd, weird and humorous websites, articles, videos and photos. Visitors and members will not find too much serious natured websites or articles here at Fark. The community is pleasant to interact with, but remember this is a serious community where laughter fills the air and jackasses are quickly put into their place.

For Marketing Purposes

Use Fark to submit any odd, weird or humorous articles, photos, videos or websites. This is really not the place to bookmark anything of a serious nature, because it is not the reason that its members or visitors choose to visit this website. Submitting anything of a serious nature is a waste of time, but the weirder the bookmark content is, then the better for this website and your marketing efforts.

Shoutwire

This is an excellent website for anyone who enjoys political or religious articles, photos, videos and websites. Although, other types of bookmarks can be discovered here at Shoutwire, it seems that the majority of bookmarks are political or religious in nature and that is fine by me, because I personally enjoy this type of thing every once in a while. Members are able to review and leave comments on their own bookmarks or for other members' bookmarks, just like the other social bookmarking websites.

For Marketing Purposes

Use this bookmarking service to bookmark your favorite political or religious article, photo, video or website. Although, members can bookmark non-political and non-religious photos, articles, videos or websites that they like, the bookmarks that attract the most viewers are political and religious ones.

Ebizmba

Use this website to locate the top 30 social bookmarking sites and their overall rankings. Great ways to easily and quickly obtain the marketing information that you need to know.