How To Increase Your Traffic By 25%

Here is a story I got from my content search recently from one of my ever dependable source. I hope you'll enjoy it........

Let's get a definition out of the way before I go
on to discuss the traffic virtues of being a
member of a blog network.

For me, and for the purposes of this article, I'm
going to define a blog network as any group of
blogs that share links under the banner of a
"network".

The blogs in the network may overtly link to other
blogs, for example writing a post directly
discussing a post made at another blog in the
network, or more covertly by including links in a
blogroll, footer or header area.

The idea is that blogs in the network trade links
with other blogs specifically because of their
affiliation. There may be a central blog network
homepage that links all the blogs together or a
banner or icon that signifies the link.

It doesn't matter the form, it's the function (the
purpose) - to get traffic moving between blogs and
improve search engine rankings because of
increased backlinks - that matters.


ALL BLOG NETWORKS ARE NOT THE SAME

Across the web you will find all kinds of
different blog network formats. Some will be loose
affiliations under a banner or title. Others have
revenue sharing arrangements where the blogger
splits advertising profits with the blog network
owners, or where the blogger doesn't own his or
her blog and is considered an employee who is paid
a regular salary in return for blogging.

If you are looking for examples of blog networks
there are three major players you may be aware of
that demonstrate the three different formats I
just mentioned.

1. 9rules.com - no profit sharing and a loose
affiliation under a banner and a "network ethos"
that all member blogs must adhere to.

2. B5media.com - A revenue sharing blog network.

3. WeblogsInc.com - Bloggers are paid to write.

There are many more blog networks out there and if
you can't find one suitable for you then starting
your own network is a possibility as well.

The main idea is to increase you exposure, expand
your audience and help your blog(s) improve search
engine rankings. It's a good idea to contribute
something valuable to the "community" within the
blog network so you are giving something back and
not just leeching traffic.

I'm not going to recommend a specific network to
you because which you join, if any, depends
entirely on why you blog. What I can share with
you is how joining a blog networked impacted my
blog.


A TRAFFIC EXPLOSION

In mid 2005, after I had been blogging solidly for
a few months, writing quite a few pillar articles
and starting to earn some exposure for my blog I
was emailed by Paul Scriven (aka scrivs, the owner
of 9rules) and asked whether I wanted to join
9rules.com.

I had heard of 9rules before, but only briefly
looked at the site. I confirmed with Paul that by
joining 9rules I didn't lose any control over my
content or my revenues and agreed to join. I got
access to the member forums, looked around,
introduced myself, stuck the 9rules banner and
link on my blog, made an announcement about my
membership to my readers and then went back to
blogging.

A week or so later my "new member" announcement
went live on the 9rules blog and my traffic
doubled overnight.

I thought it was a traffic spike. I was wrong.

A few weeks later, although my traffic had dropped
somewhat I had effectively gained a permanent
increase in my blog readership, including my RSS
subscribers, of about 25%. I could only attribute
it to joining 9rules.

And that was only the start...


ITS ALL ABOUT THE NETWORK EFFECTS

Months later I wrote a pillar article on my blog
introducing the concept of Google's PageRank and
explaining how much attention we, as website
owners, should pay to it. (You can read it here -
http://www.entrepreneurs-journey.com/280/pagerank-explained/)

This one article did more to bring in traffic to
my blog than any article I had written previously.
It wasn't any better than my previous articles. It
wasn't necessarily covering a "hotter" topic.
There was one reason why it did so well -

One very prominent design blog linked to it.

The owner of this blog just happened to be a
9rules member. His blog was very popular and had a
significant audience. When he linked to my article
it caused a viral effect, with many other smaller
blogs linking to my article and so on and so on.

That one article brought in nearly 100 backlinks
and tons of new traffic to my blog. The only
reason I received the attention was because I
joined a blog network exposing my blog to all the
other bloggers in the network.


BLOGGING AWARENESS

The power of a blog network is not just the direct
traffic you get when you first become a member.
It's also about the awareness you create in the
blogosphere.

Other blogs are one of the most effective traffic
building resources available to you and by joining
a blog network you suddenly become a member of
special bloggers club that share a passion and are
eager to help each other grow their blogs.

Blog traffic building is about creating
communication channels. Directly you control your
own blog and your voice. You then want your voice
- your words - to be heard (and listened to) in as
many places as possible.

A blog network opens up hundreds of new
communication channels for your blogging voice to
travel on. You can't control these channels
because they are the voices of all the other
bloggers in the network. But hopefully every now
and then you will say something interesting enough
that other bloggers will pass it on. This can only
happen when someone is listening to you in the
first place.

Here's to your blogging success,

Yaro Starak
Entrepreneurs-Journey.com