In the pre-historic days of the Internet (say, ten years ago), it was not uncommon to come across websites that were basically digital versions of a calling card. Beyond the name of the company, a short pitch and some contact information, there wasn’t much to it. The message of these websites was basically, “Here I am. Take it or leave it.”
Today, besides the multi-media bells and whistles” used to draw visitors in (and distract their attention from the competition), the most successful commercial websites try to reach their visitors – and clinch their sales – by simultaneously using a number of different marketing techniques. One of the most popular – and the least understood – is the Blog.
The Blog as “Traffic Bait”
A blog (short for web-log) is a personal online journal. Frequently updated, blogs are usually posted to a single page in reverse-chronological order, in order to create an on going “autobiography” of the site, or the site host. Blogs can be devoted to anything under the sun – and can serve as an important engine for bringing in more web traffic.
If you add a blog to your site, and feed it regularly with new postings, you’ll instantly make your site more interesting, and give your first-time visitors a reason to come back for more.
When you blog, you can – and should – include a mechanism for comments. This builds community, increases your visitors’ sense of loyalty, and makes the “conversation” more interesting for everyone. What’s more, the comments can give you important feedback about your site – or the goods and services your site sells. This can be parleyed into a stronger presentation that will appeal to more people, drive additional traffic to your site, and ultimately increase sales.
The Great Blog-Link Conspiracy
Publishers of blogs will frequently approach other bloggers with the following proposal: “If you link to me, I’ll link to you." Of course, getting links to your site posted around the Web is a positive thing. But there’s more. You can generate more traffic by seeking out blogs that discuss topics related to your own area of expertise. Join the discussion. Comment frequently. Do your level best to be helpful. And by all means, be sure that every time that you comment, you include your name, contact information, and a direct link back to your site.
Conduit – Add “Draw” to Your Blogging Efforts
Conduit community toolbars can increase the effectiveness of blogging as an engine for increased web traffic. Every time you add a new blog post, you can alert your toolbar subscribers with a “teaser” that appears in the toolbar as a link or widget, and encourages them to click through to your site.
Conduit toolbars are also an excellent way to “dress up” your blog and make it more attractive. With Conduit, you can easily incorporate news feeds, music, streaming audio and video, podcasts, games and applications into your toolbar – all of which can be become part of your blog. You can even take advantage of Conduit’s standing agreements with syndicated content providers, and offer your visitors a selection of top-quality articles and media, absolutely free.
Best of all, by publishing a Conduit toolbar, your blog becomes part of the Conduit network’s 38 million subscriber base – making it possible to bring in more traffic, from more parts of the web, than ever before.
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