10 Sure-Fire Blog Traffic Magnets That Make NO Money But You Still Want Them

This is a guest post by Ana Hoffman (@WebTrafficCafe) who teaches how to increase Web site traffic in her WebTrafficCafe blog.

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You’ve probably heard it a hundred times, but apart from making money with your blog, there are several other reasons to strive for more traffic.

Some of the most important reasons include higher rankings on search engines, self-promotion and brand awareness.

After all, as long as your conversion funnel works like a well-oiled machine, as it should, you have a great chance of still converting a good portion of your blog traffic that didn’t come to your blog to buy – necessarily.

So let’s take a look at the following 10 blog traffic magnets that are meant to do one thing and one thing only: bring you tons of targeted traffic.

Traffic Magnet #1:  High volume, FREE searches

You will need: a keyword research tool

Method: Find searches related to your niche. These searches need to have good traffic, but not advertiser bidding.

If nobody is bidding on these keywords, there is no money to be made on the search upfront. However, there will still be sufficient traffic to be directed to your blog.

How do you tap into this kind of traffic?

There are 2 options: Using paid advertising such as Google Adwords is the quicker option; alternatively, you can use SEO to optimize your search terms to ensure that you are on the first page of Google. While this takes longer to achieve results this way, it is free.

Traffic Magnet #2:  Controversy Brings Visitors

You will need: A controversial blog post

Challenging beliefs or passions make controversial content.

Method: You need to have a plan in mind for how you will approach the post and how you will defend your position. The best places to create controversy would be via social media, blog comments and online groups. This will bring a good amount of traffic from various sources, but you should know that the bulk of the traffic would be from the group that opposes your views.

Warning: Be professional in handling objections, as this is a great way to win a good following.

Traffic Magnetic #3:  Cover Industry Events

You will need: A popular industry event in your niche.

Method: Attend the event, meet new people, socialize and rub shoulders with the big names. Be the insider for your readers by posting everything you learned in a timely manner to make your readers feel that they were there.

Traffic Magnet #4:  Create a Top 10 List

You will need: 10 great ideas with a common goal that will be beneficial to your audience.

Method: While this seems simple enough, you should bear in mind that many similar lists do exist. Make sure that your list stands out from the crowd. Think it through, ensure that it is targeted and ensure that it will benefit your readers. It has to work!

Traffic Magnet #5:  Explain Complicated Concepts

You will need: A good understanding of the topic, or a good publication, which explains it.

Method: Create a simplified version of the publication and include tips and examples. Simpler posts often outrank complex explanations on search engines.  That is the objective of the exercise – to make it simpler for the reader!

Traffic Magnet #6: Translator Plugin

You will need: Any translator plugin

Method: By using a translator plugin on your site, you will be able to increase page-views by readers who are not native English speakers.  While the translation will not be perfect (as with most automated writing applications), it will still attract an international readership.

Traffic Magnet #7:  Blog Carnival Submission

You will need: A good blog post and a niche-related carnival.

Method: Search online for blog carnivals and then find one related to your topic. The post will most likely be published, resulting in backlinks and increased blog traffic.

Traffic Magnet #8:  Social Bookmarking Sites

You will need: Fresh, unique, solid and targeted content using a great title and description.

Method: Submit your content to bookmarking and link sharing services. I would stay away from the big ones such as Del.icio.us, Digg and Technorati, StumbleUpon, and Reddit, but stick with smaller, but active services like Blokube, BlobEngage, Bizsugar, etc.

Traffic Magnet #9:  Top 10 Blogs in Your Niche

You will need: Research

Method: Be the first person to compile a Top Ten list of blogs in your niche. This type of post will rank highly in general searches, which will translate into a good stream of targeted traffic.

Traffic Magnet #10:  Giveaway!

You will need: Something to give away – duh.

Method: Find or create something niche related to give away. E-books work well, as do free consultations, marketing opportunities and more.

Marketing Takeaway

Your next step? To take what you’ve just learned and put it to the test!

Plus, remember: any traffic is useless traffic if you don’t know how to convert it to paying customers / subscribers. So make sure your conversion pieces are all in place before you go out and invest your time in this kind of blog traffic generation.

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GAIL @GrowMap suggestion: Be sure to follow Ana @WebTrafficCafe on Twitter and check out her blog!