Lesson 19 - How to Increase Traffic to Your Blog

[Collette]

Hello Challengers!

You’ve labored to choose just the right niche. You’ve done exhaustive market research. You’ve blogged and linked your fingers to the bone. The only thing missing? Traffic. Without it, even the most meticulously crafted site will not get you closer to that first dollar.

Today is a theory lesson about getting you more traffic.

There is one video in Lesson 19:

How to Increase Traffic to Your Blog - Ed talks about why free traffic isn’t really free. He then introduces the various types of paid traffic, and lays out why pay per click advertising is the logical next step. And for those short on cash, Ed explains why pay per click advertising is optional and how you can still make your first dollar without spending a cent.

The video runs about 15 minutes.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE DAY 19 VIDEO

Cheers,
Collette

[Wade]

It's now clear that what we've been learning thus far is a keyword testing process Ed calls "Maximum Edge". The process, generally, consists of 1) Finding a possibly good keyword 2) Creating a small blog page with an affiliate link 3) Gaining search standing and traffic by through use of social networking 4) Observing whether the page can generate 200+ visits in a certain length of time and 5) Reviewing to determine the keyword's value. Perhaps I missed something when the audio was low, but the one part of the process I'm fuzzy on is the length of time between post and review that the page should have received 200 visits. If there is to be "no guesswork" involved, that should be a pretty exact length of time for test purposes, I would think. Any thoughts?

[Nez]

Hi Guys,

Cliff notes (transcripts) are now online for day 19.

Cheers,
Nez

[web20guy]

Originally Posted by Wade

I'm fuzzy on is the length of time between post and review that the page should have received 200 visits. If there is to be "no guesswork" involved, that should be a pretty exact length of time for test purposes, I would think. Any thoughts?

As far as length between post there is not set rule other than if you post once a day, do it once a day. If it's 3 times a week, do it 3 times a week. Consistency.

The number 200 is a guide. If the phrase you chose during your research indicates traffic of 167 visits a day for the #1 spot then you can expect 41% of that traffic(organic)which is 68 visits . So with that math, 4 days organic traffic should give you a idea if there is a market there.

So in short: days to 200 visitors could be 10days to 100+days once organic search results have begun. Of course traffic from social networks and bookmarking sites are a factor but organic refers is the true test. IMHO

I would not count StumbleUpon traffic in your traffic numbers. You can get thousands of stumbles a month without a single sale/action. Just the nature of a Stumbler. There are ways to cater specifically to Stumbler's but will have to save that for another day.

[Wade]

Thank you very much for the excellent answer, web20guy. I see it more clearly now. I probably do need to go back and check some of the early transcripts, though. If traffic of the #1 search listing is 167 visits/day, there must be a formula based on your actual ranking position that arrives at the 41% figure you mentioned. I'll check for that.

--Wade

[lrminton]

Hi Collette,

I know I am off topic and am suppose to do a search before posting, but
this is what happens when I try to search. I wanted to find the

Thirty Day Challenge TVs

So I filled out the search box with:
Thirty Day Challenge TV

I got back the following message:

The search term you specified (Day) is under the minimum word length (4) and therefore will not be found. Please make this term longer.

If this term contains a wildcard, please make this term more specific.
---
What do I not understand about using the search box.

Also, earlier I saw a thread about new post and I cannot find it again - no search.

My problem is how do I start a new thread. It seys down below that
"You may post new threads". However, I cannot figure out how to do it.

Thanks, and sorry for being off topic.

Lonnie

[SusanB]

I guess I am having a question about the word organic search.

From post above: Of course traffic from social networks and bookmarking sites are a factor but organic refers is the true test. IMHO

So how come we do social bookmarking if that traffic doesn't count?
What exactly is an organic search?

Also, what is IMHO mean? I don't understand all the slang. Is there a place to go to find out what all the slang means?

Most of my traffic is from social bookmarking? I guess I am confused now because when you first put a blog up, no one will know you are out there until you introduce yourself, via all the tools we have been doing.

Any help in clarifying would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[SusanB]

Originally Posted by lrminton

Hi Collette,

I know I am off topic and am suppose to do a search before posting, but
this is what happens when I try to search. I wanted to find the

Thirty Day Challenge TVs

So I filled out the search box with:
Thirty Day Challenge TV

I got back the following message:

The search term you specified (Day) is under the minimum word length (4) and therefore will not be found. Please make this term longer.

If this term contains a wildcard, please make this term more specific.
---
What do I not understand about using the search box.

Also, earlier I saw a thread about new post and I cannot find it again - no search.

My problem is how do I start a new thread. It seys down below that
"You may post new threads". However, I cannot figure out how to do it.

Thanks, and sorry for being off topic.

Lonnie

I am including here the post that I wrote that Caro responded to...I had the same question as you. Hope it helps



The first tip is: don't give up.

Second tip: "put the phrase in brackets" , so I typed in "rss feeds"

Third Tip: pick the posts option as opposed to threads - unless you know that it's a thread you are looking for.

Thanks for being gracious to the request to search first

Caro
__________________
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[Wade]

I can answer a little of what you asked, SusanB, though I've got plenty to get clear, yet. We do social bookmarking to improve our ranking on the search engines. Direct traffic is good, but not directly applicable to the test. IMHO is an internet abbreviation for "in my humble opinion". I wondered, too, and looked it up. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe by "organic search" he means traffic that comes directly off the search engine.

--Wade

[web20guy]

Originally Posted by Wade

I can answer a little of what you asked, SusanB, though I've got plenty to get clear, yet. We do social bookmarking to improve our ranking on the search engines. Direct traffic is good, but not directly applicable to the test.

Correct. Yes, using social sites, and their authority, is helping build links and in general let's the se's and the community know you exist.

IMHO is an internet abbreviation for "in my humble opinion". I wondered, too, and looked it up.

Correct - In my humble opinion

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe by "organic search" he means traffic that comes directly off the search engine.

Correct - organic=natural search results

Greg