Practical Tips for a Beginner Blogger to Increase Traffic

BLOG AWAY AND ENJOY DOING IT

It is estimated that there are over 200 million blogs online therefore if you only just started blogging, you would really have to tough it out with the competition to get noticed and to make some revenue if you so wish. You can have great content but without robust marketing, it would take you a very long time to break through. Here are four methods that had helped me increase traffic hence subscribers to my blog.

CONTENT

     The saying that “content is king” cannot be over-emphasised. Before you even start blogging you must know what you want to blog about. Every expect would tell you to have a niche but I insist that, not having a niche is even a niche as long as you have the knowledge in the area and can write great content on the chosen topic. All you need is intensive research. If you have no idea of what to blog about, join Quora, find some questions that people ask often and give answers. It may give you a fair idea of what you should blog about.  Having a niche and being an expert in the area will make life a lot easier for you, though. It makes you gain respect and increases your reputation as an expert, therefore people would always come to you for answers on a topic in your area of expertise. It also enables you to use the right keywords that would enable search engines to easily find you and put you on top of the search pile when targeted well. If you want some insight into SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) strategies. There several free E-books on SEO but Google itself is a good point to start. Go check out this link for a free ebook download on SEOs  http://static.googleusercontent.com/media/www.google.com/en//webmasters/docs/search-engine-optimization-starter-guide.pdf

UPDATE: As a point for S.E.O., Google has updated it's algorithm to ensure that those who optimised their site for mobile device usage appear at the top of the search pile so ensure that your blog or website is optimised. If you need more information on how to do this, check out their support page (https://support.google.com/sites/answer/1368620?hl=en). Also, to ensure you are on the right track, google your page with a mobile device and see how it looks like, then make the necessary changes if you have to.

GOOGLE+ FOLLOWERS

     Create a blogger profile, yes you heard me right, blogger!! I agree that there are lots of platforms on which you can create blogs. The advantage with having a blogger profile is that Google rules the search world. They have probably the best ethics in my opinion regarding blogging and advertising. They also have some of the best plug-ins like Google+ where you can join communities from all over the world and share your blogs with them. Therefore if you have no ‘evil’ intentions Google is your best friend.

1.      Create a Blogger profile, and add a Google+ profile,

2.      Find people and communities on Google+ with similar niches or interests as yours, add them and join the communities. I will suggest you find this guy +Daniel Stock . He would help you gain followers with is community building strategy.

3.      Participate actively in discussions within the communities and ensure you share every article you write in the niche community. The thing about joining and sharing your articles in Google+ communities is that, you get more searches directly via google.

4.      Show genuine interests in the blogs of people you follow and your followers by commenting and sharing their stuff. If they find something they like on your blog, they will return the favour and the word will spread.

SOCIAL MEDIA

     Join Linkis.com and automate the sharing of your blogs. Linkis is like a ‘one stop site’ where most, if not all social media sharing buttons have been harnessed for easy access. You will find buttons like Digg, Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc, there. All these sites are great marketing tools for your blog so create profiles on these sites. What happens is that once you have a profile on all these sites you can go directly to Linkis.com and share your blog on all these platforms from there. Becareful not to spam, though or you would lose your reputation. A good technique for sharing a blog on twitter would be to align the link to your blog with a quote. 

Example :

BEFORE LOGGING IN

AFTER LOGGING IN

You can do same for all social networks. Reddit.com is another great platform that allows you to actually share links and contribute to topics. Join Reddit.com but ensure you read their guidelines before sharing links or you would be banned.

BACK-LINKS

    Building back links can also help you boost traffic. There are several methods but I will focus on one popular method used on Quora. A lot of people on Quora are looking for answers to questions so it’s a great platform on which you can link people to your site. Quora however is very strict on spamming so becareful. You type in keywords for a topic you’re interested in and give answers to these questions only because you actually know your stuff. If you have written a blog about that topic, you can attach the link at the end of the answer so that people who see these answers can link back to you anytime they want answers.

GOOGLE YOUR PAGE

Every now and then, Google-search your page  and see how it appears in search. You can also google-search topics you have written and see where it appears on the search pile. Do not google the exact topic but google closely related topics and see where you are in the search pile. For example if you have written a blog with the tittle "Why coconut is good for you", you can instead type "Benefits of coconut" in the google search engine and see if your page will appear. If it doesn't, then it means you need to work harder on your SEO.

FREEBIES

    

    Offering freebies is also a great way to increase traffic and subscribers. If you already have a niche, you can write an E-book on a subject area and offer it for free to anyone who subscribes to your blog. It’s that simple.

     All in all content and reputation is the key. In the end people have problems that need solving. That is why they would find your product. I would not suggest you put a timeline on increasing traffic because it takes hard work to garner a lot of it. However, maybe after a year of not being successful, you should know you are not doing something right. Go back, research and start again because the trends keep changing. Just don’t give up.

5 Things I Achieved After Deactivating Facebook for Two Months

CREDIT FOR THIS FACEBOOK 3D LOGO  GOES TO SCOT OF http://www.norebbo.com/

easel.ly

            You have heard it before, “turn off your Facebook and get a life” but you have not had the guts to do it. You’re scared of the friends you may lose or miss and family who live worlds apart that you may not be able to ‘cheaply’ interact with. You probably don’t believe that something would change in your life anyway. Guess what, I felt the same way but I dared to do it and the results were refreshing and amazing. Don’t get me wrong, I love Facebook. It gave me some of the most wonderful friends though I am yet to meet some in real life and it made communication with relatives who live overseas very easy. I am back on Facebook, oh yes I am but not as the same person after taking that two months break. This is my story but most importantly, it is intended to give you the courage to dare turn-off your Facebook if you have dared not. Take note of these five points and take the dive.

CUT DOWN DISTRACTION

I discovered the joys of blogging recently so I started blogging. I had a Facebook account which I have kept for a long time and just couldn’t avoid it. Though I had a blog and needed to do some writing, I realized that I spent an average of 10 hrs a day on Facebook just checking status updates, liking comments and pictures and making comments in groups. Now if that’s not total addiction, then what is? Deactivating my account for the next two months allowed me to take absolute self control and completely cut down the distraction. Now the longest time I spend on Facebook is 30 minutes and I do that only to reply to messages from friends and family. Rather, I’d be online doing research for my next blog, finding new online business ideas or engaging with my publics on other social media that I consider more relevant to what I do. If that is not time well spent, then what is? If I go beyond 30 minutes, it is mostly because I have slow internet that day.

FROM 1000% ADDICTION TO 5% ADDICTION

          

     Though the headline here is exaggerated, clearly, the first point should tell you that I have drastically cut down on my addiction to Facebook. When I initially deactivated my account, I experienced severe withdrawal symptoms, lol. The temptation was overwhelming for the first three weeks. Luckily, I had just created a Google+ profile which seemed to offer something different from my Facebook experience. I was starting out as a Digital Entrepreneur because I believe that is where the future is and Google + afforded me the opportunity to network with a lot of like-minded people and organizations. The regular great articles, blogs, webinars and variety of ideas shared by my network of friends kept me busy and that finally helped curb the withdrawal symptom. At this point I was even considering completely deleting my Facebook profile.

CREATIVITY UNLEASHED

          

      A form of creativity I never believed existed in me was finally unleashed and I became more focused on where I am headed with my life. Mine is to make enough for myself and to engage in social projects for those in need with the extra. How did I find my creativity? In two months, I had read more books, done more research and discovered wonderful genuine opportunities online than I have ever done in my entire life (I shall share some with you soon). I never did so much research even as a university student, though I love research. All this knowledge I had  acquired in just two months opened my eyes to a vast array of opportunities and a creative force in me was finally unleashed. There’s no looking back at this point in my life again.

ABSOLUTE TOTAL SELF-CONTROL

     Finally I can confidently say that I have gained total and absolute self-control over every aspect of my social life.  Until I got on social media, Facebook to be exact, I thought I was the most secure guy in the world, you know, the carefree type never to be bothered by petty issues like jealousy and all that BS. However, day in day out, I noticed how Facebook revealed a major flaw in that part of my personality; I actually thank Facebook for this one. I must confess that, though I was very good at controlling these flaws, I went days and days on end being distracted by them because of certain happenings on Facebook that I wouldn’t bore you with. Infact, these feelings took absolute control of my life. After two months off Facebook, I have been able to deal with these issues completely to the point that nothing on Facebook bothers me anymore though I am back on it. Awesome, I feel very refreshed and more focused on the things I wish to achieve in life more than ever.

SHOCKING DISCOVERY

            

     Deactivating my account for this short while offered me the benefit of hindsight to figure out what I have been doing wrong on Facebook. Therefore, when I went back to Facebook just last week, I decided to take a tour of my entire Timeline from when I joined Facebook in 2008, something I have never done while I was regular. I was shocked at what I discovered. A lot of my postings from the early years were absolutely immature. I realised that, I took a lot for granted. Thank God I was able to discover this and quickly do some clean up. 

           

      This is not a Facebook bashing article, far from it. I love Facebook and I love the fact that I have some awesome friends, there. Infact, I do not blame Facebook for any of the things I have stated above. I actually thank Facebook for letting me realize I have been procrastinating in life. The blame rests squarely at my doorstep. Even by being off Facebook, I have actually discovered a better use for it which I intend to apply in the future. So yes I am back on Facebook but I am back as a different person. Every now and then, when i need to, i will deactivate. If you are having doubts about taking a break from Facebook, there you have it. I have given you some evidence but it all rests with you because you can still take the break, do nothing and return the same as you left. The ball is in your court. If you have already done it I would love to hear your story. Feel free to share yours and this experience. It may help a lot of people out there.

4 Major Downsides of Online Long-Distance Dating

     
     

     

     

      In my previous blog (http://mickeyronny.blogspot.com/2015/02/this-is-favouritequote-of-good-friend.html), I wrote about my positive experience with online dating but the fact is that, there is a dark side to it as well. You may want to consider these and decide whether it’s your thing or not. The fact that you live miles apart may raise some trust issues. Your ‘friend’ may go about wondering what you’re up to once you’re not with them. These could stem fromdeep insecurity issues and block the building of trust but it’s justified. It’s just one of the difficulties in dating online from a long distance. It’s either you deal with insecurities by building trust through good communication or this is just not for you. There are several more but I wish to tackle the three major downsides that in my experience can destroy success in online long-distance dating.

SCAM

        The biggest headache at the moment for meeting someone online is scamming and oh, I know you know what I mean. If you don’t know this at this point in your online experience, then we have a major problem here. Strange but not strange, I still hear stories of foreign online dates being scammed of their hard earned cash. Scamming gives online dating a very, very bad name. Never ever assume that you know someone fully because you have had video chat with them. Believe me I live in a place where this happens everytime. Here’s a typical example (Note that the names used in this story are not real though the story is true): Peter meets Lucy online. They live in different countries. Peter has regular video chats online with Lucy almost every day. Every now and then, they talk on the phone therefore Peter had no doubt that Lucy was real. Lucy had sent him several pictures, some naked and Peter being a ‘typical male’ had his appetite wetted and ready for action. He wanted so much to meet Lucy that he granted all her huge financial requests from his hard earned savings through money transfers. He finally buys a ticket and traveled to meet Lucy in her country to make things real. Lucy books a hotel in which he stays and where she comes to him every day. Everything seems so real that he never hesitated to still grant her every financial request which included $5,000 for her to finalise traveling documents so that she can travel with Peter back to his country. This was besides the $10,000 and $5, 000 he had previously sent her for a surgery she had after an accident she claimed she had and another $7,000 to prepare for their impending marriage once he arrived. In the meantime, Lucy introduces a guy called Sam to him and claims he’s her brother; the only ‘family’ of Lucy that he had met so far. After spending a night with Lucy one fine Saturday night, he wakes up and realizes his luggage has been ransacked and all his money and credits cards were gone. Meanwhile, Lucy had vanished. Only then did he realize that he has been scammed. What he did not know is that, Sam was the person he met online who pretended to be Lucy. They are a scamming team who alternated ‘gender’ roles depending on who they met online. I AM SCREAMING OUT VERY LOUDLY, NEVER, EVER, EVER, EVER SEND MONEY TO ANYONE YOU MET ONLINE EVEN IF YOU SEE THEM ON AN HOSPITAL BED LIVE ON VIDEO, LOOKING BADLY INJURED AND IN BLOOD SOAKED BANDAGES. If you feel tempted to believe such a story, just ask for time off from work and do some thorough investigations even if it has to do with some travel and you have the means. There are several examples. For instance, if you have not met someone in real life just yet, to afford you the chance to get know them beyond the online thing, it would be very dangerous to show yourself naked on cam or send naked pictures of yourself. This especially goes to women looking for men. What can happen is that you can be blackmailed into paying huge sums of money if you don’t want to see your naked video or pictures on websites or on social media. I have personally saved two women i have never met online from scam in the past so i know what i am talking about. It’s good to take some risk in love but be smart and keep your head straight.

ECONOMIC MIGRATION

        Followed closely by scamming is the problem of economic migration. This may come in differing forms. Sometimes you may meet someone online who is real and all but in truth, they intend to take advantage of you. Example is, when the subject of your desire is located in a place considered as economically deprived. It would be difficult to determine whether this person is genuinely interested in you or whether he/she just wants to migrate to a better country by using you as the tool to attain that purpose. This is a pretty difficult one and you may have to do a lot of tests to know his/her genuine feelings and intentions for you. Look, I am not saying you should not help someone in need. Several great love stories have developed out of such situations, where one helps the other out of love and they stay together ‘forever’. Afterall if you can’t help each other when in need then you can’t be friends or lovers. I have a cousin whose fiance helped him migrate to somewhere considered as economically better. They are happily married with three beautiful kids but there are equally several tragic stories out there of spouses who helped only to be abandoned after their men/women gained regular stay in their countries. All I am saying is if you’re tempted to help someone out of love conduct more tests to be sure if his/her intentions are genuine. One way to do this is to have the person make some form of commitment. For example, I know a lady who helped a guy financially to gain travel documents out of love because he couldn’t afford it but she insisted the guy paid for his travel tickets to her country. The guy went out of his way to find the money somehow to buy the tickets. That to her, was a show of commitment. Now, Can I confidently say the guy’s feelings for the woman and intentions were genuine? No, but all I can say is that, I know they have been married for close to ten years now. I am not saying you should deploy the same test because since I just told it, the story will be out there. You should create your own commitment tests and be smart about it.

LACK OF PHYSICAL CLOSENESS

       There is no denying the fact that physical touch enhances a love relationship. This is what meeting long-distance online lacks. If you are one whose affection develop with regular physical touch, then meeting online from a long-distance may be very difficult for you.

JEALOUSY AND THE ‘DEVIL’ CALLED SOCIAL MEDIA

       

      Jealousy is probably one of the most difficult issues in long-distance online dating by my experience. Social media is one of the causes. It cuts both ways; it can make your long-distance online dating great or totally collapse it. Seeing the object of your desire flirting and liking the pictures of other men/women and ignoring yours can stir up the green eyed monster big time, though it could just be harmless fun. If you’re one with insecurities then you need to work on yourself or you might do something stupid that would destroy your chances of being together. Communication, communication and more communication is the only solution to this, trust me. If one is willing to communicate but the other is not then this will simply not work.

     All in all, technology has given us the opportunity to cast our nets wider in the hope of finding that special someone. I believe that it’s really possible to meet genuine people online from my personal experience. Fact is, whether offline or online finding that special someone is like trying to find ‘a needle in a haystack’.  Therefore meeting online is not to blame but human nature. People will still hurt you anyway whether online or offline. We are all not perfect so let’s love people with all their imperfections. If you have met someone online but you are having doubts about whether they are real or not. Share your story with me. I may be able to tell you who you are dealing with. Feel free to share.