Blogging is the latest communication tool on the Internet. From selling products to giving your opinion on subjects from banks to safety pins, blogging is here to stay. The blogger should understand how to strengthen the reach of his blog to as many browsers as possible- so that his blog stands out from the rest. The ultimate purpose of any blog is to attract as many browsers as possible to the site- and then convert the casual browser into a reader and finally, the casual reader into a subscriber.
The phrase ‘search engine optimization’ heard so often in blogging jargon refers to constructing pieces of writing around special words called keywords, which enable the search engines (like Google- there are several others) to pick up on these specially strewn words and lead the browser to the relevant article or blog. There are several reliable methods to redirect reader traffic to blogs.
Plug-ins and posts
One of the most common tools to attract reader traffic to blogs is by incorporating plug-ins and related posts at the bottom or end of a blog. Attractively-worded and catchy titles capture the browser’s interest and will finally coax to click on these posts to browse related information. For example, if the browser is glancing through a website about pets, he might click on the end of the page posts which may be about pet care products. Highlighting posts and including images and thumbnails with posts work well in making a post or plug-in stand out from the rest.
Interlinking as a blogging tool
The main thrust of interlinking is to keep the browser’s interest so that he does not casually move away from the site in mere seconds. Site hits are not only dependent on number but also duration of the reader on the site. Linking the keywords to a post or a tag increases the chances of a browser clicking on the tag. Interlinking should be done in both directions of flow of information- from old posts to new and vice verse. Linking must also take care to provide connections to other relevant articles. This results in a higher page rank which in turn attracts more page views. WordPress offers interlinking as an integral part of its hyperlink facility.
Sidebar widgets make another interesting linking tool that may accommodate up to five related posts.
Other tools
Categories
Categories are a good choice of tool for blogs, which are more matter oriented with fewer pictorial images to spice up the site. Follow-up links at the bottom of the blog page can offer categories where the browser can access more details on a related topic.
Excerpts
An excerpt is showcasing only a small tantalizing bit of the article at the follow-up links to make the reader actually visit the site for more.
RSS feeds
These work well only when the link is embedded into the RSS feed instead of the actual article. Otherwise the reader will read the blog without visiting the site at all.
Blogging tools behave like traffic signals in cyberspace to direct traffic to the right sites.
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