Latest release: New tools to build traffic

Ever feel taunted by a flat-lining pageview count on your dashboard? Stats don't always show us what we want to see. When it comes to finding a new audience and increasing traffic, discovery is everything.

Facebook, Twitter, RSS, email, Google Reader, Google search... all these things are outposts for your content that you can update to draw people back to your blog to catch up on your latest posts. Of course, showing up is half the battle.

As bloggers ourselves, we like to build tools that help you get out there and be discovered. So, here's how today's release from the TypePad Team can help build your traffic through discovery

1) Know your audience

Discovering where your readers are coming from can help you tailor your content for the right audience. Your Stats now give you a clearer picture on social network traffic.

Don't forget to share posts to Facebook, and cross post to Twitter to increase visits from these places

2) Allow your readers to share what they find

The TypePad network is a large and engaged community you shouldn't overlook.  Adding the new improved Follow Me module to your blog will help you build a following on the TypePad network. You can use this rapidly expanding network to build a community around your blog.It's a sure fire way to bump your pageviews in the right direction.

The module now automatically adapts to the design of your blog.

Here's how to add the it                            

• Design  
• Content 
• In Categories select About You
• In Modules select Follow Me and then hit Add this Module.

Here's some more detail plus the advanced template tags. To start building a community in TypePad why not start following some of our featured bloggers?

3) Reach a wider audience

Commonly voted The TypePad Team's most favoritest feature, Reblog and the Blog it Bookmarklet have created a whole new dynamic to posting on TypePad. When we discover great posts, Reblog allows us to capture a snippet of text or an image and repost them to our own blogs. The posts contain a link back to the originating source. This is a huge time saver and instantly gives credit to the inspirational blogger.

So, what's new? Well, now when someone reblogs your post you will receive an email notification with a link to review the new post and see their take on it.  It's a bit like commenting but gives the commentor the opportunity to introduce their community of readers to your ideas and your blog. Cool, right? Your post will also indicate where and how many times it has been reblogged.

But here's the thing. Your posts can only be reblogged if you add the "Reblog" option to your post footer. 

Fortunately it couldn't be easier. Here's how:

• Design
• Content
• Click the edit pencil next the Post footer bar in drag and drop area
• Check the "Reblog" option
• Save changes

Again, here are the advanced template tags for this feature.

Try hitting Reblog in the footer of this post and just see what happens... (don't panic it won't automatically post!)

What do you find most effective for driving traffic to your blog? We'd love to know in the comments.

Comments

[Kofla Olivieri]

You ask, "What do you find most effective for driving traffic to your blog?" Visiting and commenting in other blogs and creating blog posts titles that grab the attention. Is that simple.

[Rob Jones]

Relevant subject matter and posting almost daily is what I found drives traffic to artPark.

[Jurgen Wolff]

Three that seem to work:

Increasing the percentage of original posts (rather than ones that substantially are composed to quotes from other sources);

Posts that warn about scams (in my case, scams in the writing field as writing is my main topic);

Useful brief videos.

[Anastasia]

Facebook, of course! Since 2004 I've visited many TypePad blogs and spent time commenting on quite a few. I've never had any feedback except recently from a couple of bloggers. My page views have rocketed since TypePad featured Facebook. I have practically given up commenting on TypePad bloggers' posts as this seems to be a waste of time! I don't expect a comment back. But when I ask a question , I certainly expect an answer back! I may not be a great blogger like the ones you feature but I always answer my readers' questions!

[Claire Alcock]

That's a great practice Anastasia. It looks like your posts are regularly commented on as well - which shows your audience are very engaged by your writing. Interesting that you find Facebook so effective for traffic. We recently added a tip on the TypePad Facebook fan page to add a link to your blog from your public Facebook profile. If you are commenting within Facebook it will help people you don't know find your blog.

[Claire Alcock]

Thank you Jurgen - these are great ideas

1) Post more - it's that simple. Use a quote or image as a jumping off point and then expand with your own views and opinions. (Reblog is good for this)

2) Establishing your niche topic and then working out which type of content in that niche drives the most interest is a great one.

3) Video - using a variety of media not only drives traffic through engagement but also increases the time your audience spend on your site - leaving more time for them to discovery other articles while they are there!

[Claire Alcock]

Thanks Kofla - that's certainly how we found your blog!

Interesting point on the post title - it should be a balance between a descriptive title that works well for search engines i.e. include the keywords you think people will search on, as well as have some spice to cut through the noise. Great suggestions.

[Claire Alcock]

Thanks Rob - you are right, relevance is a top priority when it comes to search engine optimization. Be clear about your area or niche and stick around there.

Also - Engines like Google are searching for content on active sites so the more you post the more likely Google is to find your content than someone else's. Thank you!

[Anastasia]

Hi Claire. Thanks for the tip. Sounds like a great idea.

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http://adversecreditremortgage-usa.blogspot.com/ thank u for wonderful information.

[Manuel Molina]

Grat advice. nevertheless, I think typepad is focusing too much on its own community building platform. I think it should open itself more to the possibility of including other tools, such as the teweetmeme button on each post, not only for advanced templates, but as a widget for standard templates.

[Mie]

Hi Manuel,

I hear you, and will pass on your feedback to the team. User input is important to us.

For the retweet button, I assume you know it can be used with Adv. Templates. For Standard Templates, TweetMeme didn't create a nice widget like ShareThis which we tend to use now. It would be nice to make it easier!

[~ yolanda]

No, but if you figure it out please let me know :-)

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