What you have to do is make a list of topics you plan on talking about in your blog and keep track of the number of times you write posts about each. I prefer to balance out the types of posts I make to appeal the widest readers of my blog.

Content can be in the form of blog posts, pictures and videos. If you consistently insert these items, you can’t go wrong in appealing to your audience.

Currently the best form of content (other than text posts) is in videos. Videos have proven to be very effective in generating a lot more views for your blog. Another popular way of getting your content useful is to comment on other people’s blogs. I personally found that, after commenting on one other blog, I received 20 backlink visits from that blog within one hour after posting. Very dramatic results.

What it comes down to is to generate content on a daily basis. I used to post once or twice a week but now, with more “blog” competition, I find that posting once a day keeps my stats very active. It doesn’t have to be a long drawn out post. A post of 150 words is all you need as a minimum. Just keep on writing!

When you make comments on other blogs, really get into the content you are talking about in the current discussion going on with those blogs. Darren says too many bloggers are lazy and simply “copy and paste” other blog content and never take the time to share quality feedback and contribution to other blogs.

Make a real effort to give back to the conversations and in turn you will get more people going to visit your site.

How do you get to know your audience? Simple, get yourself in front of you potential audience that you are catering to.  The most obvious and easiest way is to join online groups, forums and comment on other industry related blogs. This is how to engage immediately with your core audience. Remember that these people will gravitate towards you if you have something of value to offer.

When entering a forum or established group in your industry, kindly introduce yourself and start participating in meaningful “conversation.” There will be a lot of discussion threads so make sure you only pick the ones where you have some expertise or something meaningful to contribute to. You will gladly be accepted into the “group” if you prove yourself as helpful and friendly.

Forums and groups have a way when you registered as a user, to enter your URL back to your blog site or any site you want people to return to when click on your name to get further information on you. This is how the long term benefit comes back to you.

In the end, the object is for you to reach out online to your targeted audience in order to gain readership to your blog.

Yes, it is advisable to make comments on other blogs that are related in the same industry or niche. That way, a high quality rank from the search engines will be achieved. But there is also favor from the search engines if the comments are not related.

Here’s the kicker, it is ok to make comments on other unrelated blogs. For instance, say you have a blog about shoes and you make a comment on a blog about cell phones. Although this may seem pointless to make comments on an unrelated blog, you are still forming a one way backlink to your site. How does search engines feel about this? Well, currently you will be getting legitimate backlink count from search engines because they can’t tell the difference! The focus on current search engine technology is that what matters most is the quantity of one way backlinks to your site.

Now I said “one way” backlinks. These kinds of links are going to get more count than two way links as I have mentioned in the previous post.

Remember, if you do make comments on unrelated sites, make sure you make constructive comments on the topic in that site. A short blurb on that topic will work wonders and it will help that site get more comment count as well, so it is a “win-win” for both of you.

One other thing, make sure the site you make unrelated comments to have two things; first it is a “do follow” site. On this kind of site, it allows the link back to your site from the site you are making comment on, and secondly make sure there is a place when you register to make a comment, that it gives you a box to insert your website URL. Some basic comment registration boxes don’t have a way to allow you to fill in your return website link, well you can skip that site.

The hot topic these days to get a high ranking is to get as many backlinks as you can to your site. This is the number one thing to get search engine optimization. Make it part of your plan to go out into the blogosphere and make comments!

I have several blog clients that maintain their blog on an inconsistent basis, which in the long run, hurts your blog. You need to get on a schedule, even if it is once a week, to add a post. You really should post to your blog no less than two posts a week. This will give enough notifications to the search engines that your blog is still active. Search engines tend to “visit” your blog more often if you make changes to your blog more often. This is key if you want to move up the search engine ranking for your blog.

There are several different philosophies of making comments to other blogs. The reason we make comments to other blogs is twofold. First, it is to generate one way links back to your blog, and consequently add “juice” to get higher rankings with the search engines. Second, it helps grow your reputation and participation in the blogosphere. Since you have chosen to enter the world wide web community, you might as well get connected with other like minded people.

How important is it to have “one way” links? When we say one way links, we mean some other website or blog that has a link to your site. You do not have a link back out to their site. Now search engine giant, “Google” sets the rules for favorable page rank and this is one of them. In a nutshell, the more backlinks you have to your blog or website without you linking back out to them is going to get you ranked far higher than “crosslinks” or links that goes out and in from the same sites. The reasoning behind this is that the more sites linking to your site signals to “Google” that your site is truly an “authority” site. In other words, a site that is a valuable reference to people who want a relevant search to find an answer or solution to. 

If you link back out to those same sites, “Google” will suspect that you made an “agreement” with those sites to swap links and values those less. Actually, consider one way links to your site as a complement to you that you have valuable content to be shared with others.

So, when making comments to other blogs or websites, contribute something of value to the reader. You don’t want too short a comment with saying, “come to my blog” in it. Make it relevant and your comment will be looked at and visitors will click through your comment to go to your blog or website to read more about your valuable content.

In our next post, we are going to cover over something controversial…making comments on “unrelated niche” websites.

Guest blogging is definitely a hit and miss proposition to do because you will get more no’s than yes’s from other bloggers. There are as many different personalities out there as there are blogs. Many bloggers may consider your competition and not be interested in you guest blogging on their blog. It could be jealousy sometimes that would motivate another blogger to decline your offer. The main thing is that you reach out to as many bloggers as you can that are high in quality and high in page rank.

You have to remember that there are over 200 million blogs on the internet and it is just a “numbers” game to find the right fit for your services. I guarantee that you will eventually find some quality bloggers that will take you on as a bonified guest blogger.

You must do your research too. You must find a blog that has good design, complements your blog in terms of content and style.

On the other side of the coin, always be open when another blogger approaches you to guest author on your blog. You may hit the “jackpot” if you find that the requester is an ace expert in your industry and has a sizeable following and has a high ranking blog. There are so many advantages for you that there is no need to second guess what value he/she will bring to you and your blog.

It can be hard and easy at the same time. First, you need to know your customer completely. Where do they “hang out” on the internet. Get yourself in their “space” where they are and make your presence known.

An example, let’s say you are a home repair business. Go to other home product or service related websites. If you can make helpful comments, go there and make them. Make sure you leave your real name (of your person) and a backlink to your business blog. Now, there is an interesting strategy that goes along with this. You seek local customers who live in your physical area so they can go to your business to actually buy your product or service. First thing is to go to the local directories.

Here are a few local directory sites that you can list your blog for free.

www.usa-local-search.com
www.citysearch.com
http://www.areaconnect.com/
http://www.cityslick.net/
http://www.localpages.com/
http://www.thinklocal.com/

Also, give out a flyer or printed card with your blog URL and give them incentive to spread the word to their friends and associates in return for a discount or gift.

The object here is to promote consistently to every avenue possible and within reach that is cost effective. You will find that eventuall, your business blog will become popular.

The video below may get a little “techy” for some, but take a look and you will get the idea of how powerful making comments on other blogs really is.