My blog is finally getting some views

[jdub]

I am finally starting to see some results from my blog. I started it in August, and have been writing posts and doing various other things trying to get some traffic which are finally beginning to pay off. I can also tell that my writing ability has gotten a lot better, so if I get nothing else hopefully it will lead to better grades in class. I'm not rolling in the money yet, but I just renovated my site and started implementing some ads, so I hope that I can make a little from that.

If anyone here has any advice for me or ideas for my blog, I'd greatly appreciate it. Also, check out the new design and tell me whether or not you like it and any ways you think it could be better.

[AdamF24]

Congrats. I too started my blog last August and am finally seeing some steady views on a daily basis. I don't think my own writing has gotten any better, but if anything I am able to write more easily.

[jdub]

has anyone else started one in the last 6 months and started seeing some success? I like to hear success stories b/c they encourage me to keep going

[mellom]

Both of your sites look great.

Success story? Well my blog is less than a month old so you won't see any miracles here. However, I have accomplished quite a lot in just under a month:

1.) Technorati rank of 200k
2.) 30-35 RSS subscribers
3.) Indexed by Google and Yahoo

Each day my viewership seems to rise - so it's very encouraging. I guess you just need to be level-headed and understand that it's not an overnight process -- it takes time.

[JimD]

I'd like to see more on blogs also. Mine wont be up until January 6th but between now and the launch date I want to learn as much as possible.I like the blogs I've seen on this thread.

Web, blog, design isn't a problem but at present know nothing about RSS feeds and all of the other tools that help make a blog successful.

[jdub]

Jim, as far as RSS feeds, check out feedburner.com. It is free and tracks subscribers, popular pages, and where your viewers are coming from. They also have decent help screens that explain all of the RSS stuff and what each individual feature on the site is.

I feel like my main problem with my blog is getting viewers. Mellom, that is really good for one month! That is about what I'm at after several months! Do you do anything to get viewers? The main way I go about getting views is posting on message boards, making comments on other blogs, and putting links everywhere I can. I also submit to several different blog carnivals.

To everyone else out there, what do you do to spread the word about your blog?

[mellom]

Originally Posted by JimD

I'd like to see more on blogs also. Mine wont be up until January 6th but between now and the launch date I want to learn as much as possible.I like the blogs I've seen on this thread.

Web, blog, design isn't a problem but at present know nothing about RSS feeds and all of the other tools that help make a blog successful.

You might be interested in following my blog. I have serveral articles that start from the ground up on topics like blogging, RSS, and AdSense.

Plenty of reading for you to do!

[JimD]

jdub,

Thanks for the head sup on Feedburner. I'll definitely look into them.

what do you do to spread the word about your blog?

One thing you might do, as time permits, is submit some of your blog articles to some of the article sites.

Take a few of your best, add a tag line with a link back to your blog, and submit them. Most sites prefer articles in the 200 to 300 word range. Just be sure to completely read the submission rules carefully at each site. Some allow embedded hyperlinks and some require you to list the full URL of any link.

Here's a site that lists many submission sites: Index of Lists - Sites to Submit Your Free Articles - Writing Do a google search for article submitter sites and you'll find more than you'll ever need.

Mellom,

Will be checking in on your blog as much as I can. You've got a lot of great info from what I saw yesterday.

You're right I do have a lot of reading to do.

[C0282736]

I started my blog about a month ago and have not seen much in terms of traffic. A good day is 5 views. My article writing ability is growing. I'm still not spectacular but I'm not as timid as I used to be. I will keep you updated when my traffic starts to grow.

[jdub]

C0282736, don't worry about not getting much traffic. try to write as much as possible, at least 2-3 times a week if not every day. once you feel like your writing ability is where you like it and you have some good pillar articles, start some marketing. That's what I did, which is why I am just now getting some decent views on my blog. A good day for views on my blog is anything over 100, but it is up and down a whole lot. As time permits I plan on doing a lot more marketing, but I just haven't had the time yet.

[AdamF24]

Also to anyone with a new wordpress blog, make sure you install some SEO optimizing plugin so your posts get noticed by google searchers.

[CBlokland]

I started in August and get around 120 visitors a day. I haven't yet installed the feedburner tool, maybe this week.

I usually only post about twice a week and will try to limit it to that because I don't want to set up an expectation for my readers that I will post every day. It' s not my intention to create a job for myself (to become a full time blogger).

[jdub]

CBlokland, have you done anything in particular in the way of marketing to get visitors?

[VacMan]

jdub,

Congrats on getting your blog up and running. I like the custom blogspot skin you have going there!

Are you mainly trying to monetize your blog through ad revenue? Or what's your long term plan?

[JimD]

jdub,

I noticed when pulling up your blog page sometimes it loads completely and sometimes everything loads except the text. You may want to check that on some other computers if you can.

If the page doesn't load correctly ever time it will cost you visitors. Even people that are still on dial up modems want a page to load instantly and if it doesn't they go on to the next thing.

Some of what I'm seeing could be due to the setup on my computer. I run the google tool bar with pop-up blocker turned on, IE6, and cookies must be manually approved or denied. Admittedly, this is a more restrictive setup than most people use.

[jdub]

vacman: I actually googled blogger templates and got that off of one of the websites. I am trying to monetize through ads and affiliates, but I haven't quite figured out what I'm doing yet. I'm thinking of taking down the banners and just doing text links, because the banners take a while to load and I know that I personally don't even pay attention to banners on sites because I know they are ads.

JimD: thats interesting. I'm glad you pointed that out, I haven't heard of any other problems. I'll try to check on that. So you are able to see the ads and all of that sidebars, just not the main text? It seems like it would be the other way around. I'll have to ask some of my tech savvy friends about that.

[schola]

Cool. I'll definitely keep an eye on some of these blogs, guys.

My blog is kind of a similar idea, about me, a college kid trying to make some money for school.

The Scholarpreneur

Tell me what you think.

[VacMan]

jdub,

I think you're off to a great start!

One thing that just came to mind.

I know that you might take the banners down... but at the moment, if you don't have your window all the way open, then you can't see the banner ads.

People who can't see 'em, won't click 'em.

[jdub]

i took them down b/c i was having trouble getting them into the blogger template. i don't have time to deal with them right now, and they weren't makin anything anyway. I'll work with them later.

i think i'm going to try to incorporate some ads into my posts, maybe that will yeild some results. right now i need more traffic before i can really worry about any revenue, but it is slowly growing.

blogger is getting on my nerves, i may buy a domain soon. i just don't know a whole lot about web hosting and stuff, so i'll have to do some research

[jdub]

schola, looks good from my first impression. I'll look at it more when i get some more time.

it looks like a similar idea to my site

(edit: none of the links are working. i'm getting timed out messages. you may want to check that)

[vladtess]

That is good man! I hope that everything goes well with your blog - there is nothing better then seeing more visitors coming to your site.

To be honest though, I don't blog for money. That was the initial idea that I had in mind, however now it's all about making my visitor happy.

[4Mind4Life]

Your site seems to be coming along well, but it's a little bit too plain. I suggest making a more colorful title. To help drive more traffic to your site I suggest getting the program "StumbleUpon". It has definitely helped me get extra pageviews.

Good luck & best wishes!

[jdub]

I'll check on the stumble upon thing. I've heard of it but haven't really looked into it much. As far as the template, I change it every so often because I can't find one that I really like. I just got this one because it has 2 columns, but I may go to a different one. Eventually when I buy a domain I will probably switch to wordpress, I think it is much better than blogger.

does anyone else think I need to change it up some more? I'm looking for all the opinions I can get, because without feedback its hard to know what others are thinking!
thanks for the feedback 4mind4life

[mellom]

jdub,

You might want to check out my new free service: http://www.sivatar.com

[TheFlyingMan]

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