How to Spike Your Blog Traffic

I've been earnestly blogging about hair extensions for a couple of months at the No More Bad Hair Days Blog I created for the makers of Ultima Natural Protein Hair. Traffic has been slowly but steadily rising. Yesterday, a rather silly post about how I'd used Benny Bix Ochman Labradoodle's conditioner on my own curly hair, produced a major traffic spike, doubling our greatest previous number of page views.

My experience over six years of publishing What's Next Blog and blogs I've created for other clients is that a spike often leads to a permanent traffic hike. The kinds of posts that spike traffic include those that:

o Tell a story by personal example
o Include helpful advice
o Have a sense of humor
o Are not common knowledge
o Are self-effacing
o Include cute photos or videos
o Include lists :>)

First, I rarely ever have bad hair days anymore. (Gotta see a photo of me to understand why. :->)

Second, I've noticed that when I have traffic spikes I can expect to retain a percentage of the unique traffic. For example, I've gotten on TechMeme a couple of times lately and had terrific spikes on those days. Some of that seemed to linger as the traffic average was up over the course of the next several days.

While I don't worry too much over my blog traffic (it's not like I'm making any money off it), I'm always grateful for any and all I can get.

Paul - re bad hair days - easy to understand why you don't worry about your hair :>)

I worry about clients' blog traffic because they do. But as you well know, there's so much more involved than traffic. The No Bad Hair Days blog has already astronomically increased the company's search ranking and engagement with customers.

i consider myself very fortunate that so many people seem to like reading my blog. i do put my heart into it. :>)

on this blog, the biggest spike ever was from a rumor told to me by a VC who said Yahoo would be bought by the end of the month. And that traffic has stayed with me ever since - something i'm grateful for.

Good list, B.L.

One very important issue is traffic quality.

Often when your blog post hits the first page of Digg or other similar place, it generates a ton of traffic, but very little readers come back later.

That's why when we are talking about how to generate traffic to the site, we always must think about traffic quality. It is far better to have one reader from the target group than a hundred surfers who leave after a second.

Your list is really good, because all points are relevant to the target reader, not just the surfer.

My non-profit's blog is currently in the midst of a traffic spike due to our postings about volunteer opportunities in the wake of the Chinese earthquake. It's heartwarming to know that people want to help... and hopefully they'll stick around the blog to learn about ways they can help in their own country as well.

I find one tactic that makes posts stickier is to add "related posts" at the bottom of each entry. I'm currently doing it manually, but I think there are a number of ways to have it down automatically. It keeps readers around longer.

Greetings BL - I love this advice! And did you notice that your "How to Spike Your Blog Traffic" post actually demonstrated all the items in your helpful list? (I bet you did) Very cool. In your opinion, how important is the content in a blog's "About" section for return traffic? Also, you do a great job of mixing your personal and professional posts. Heather Hamilton's blog is a good example too.

Chicken and egg question: Do you think mixing helps authors become popular or that mixing works because the author is already popular? Then there are other popular professional blogs that don't mix at all or very little. Anywho, curious about your thoughts...

Also, I hope that one day when I am visiting NYC again that there's a chance I could meet "His Fuzzyness, Benny Bix Ochman" in person (o, and you too). ;) P.S. I am glad that blogging will remain a part of your "next chapter" whatever it may be.

JP - yes, I did notice :>)

the About lets us know with whom we're having the pleasure, but the content is what brings the return visits. SOme interesting people have dull blogs, so about isn't enough.

re Chicken & egg - good question - and i think the answer is that the mix works because the author is already popular in most, but not all, cases. Again, the answer is content. If people find the content interesting, a mix can work.

It would be fun to meet when you're in town. give me a heads up and we can make a plan.