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Today I thought I’d try to find some ways to increase traffic to my blog and website. I googled it. I only understood about eighty percent of what was written in the search results. I’m not bad with computers. I’m really not. I am far from the best with them and I may sometimes get through the day by knowing I will always win with a sledge hammer, but I can usually muddle my way through. I have a pretty good typing speed, make my own advertisements, know my way around Office, and can identify most scams/viruses on the internet before they attack. I have two Facebook profiles: one public
(https://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/profile.php?id=100002185045852) and one private, a Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Marys-Historical-Programs/160346230685123), a website (www.maryshistoricalprograms.com), and, obviously a blog. I used to have a Myspace before Facebook took off and I understand Twitter. I recently joined LinkedIn (http://www.linkedin.com/home?trk=hb_tab_home_top) and Bragadoo (which I currently can’t remember how to log in to…but I don’t know anyone else on it, so that’s okay). I currently have…five email addresses that I check frequently. I have had a total of ten email addresses since I was 13. Yesterday, I even removed a virus all by myself. I’m doing okay with computers…so I thought.
(https://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/profile.php?id=100002185045852) and one private, a Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Marys-Historical-Programs/160346230685123), a website (www.maryshistoricalprograms.com), and, obviously a blog. I used to have a Myspace before Facebook took off and I understand Twitter. I recently joined LinkedIn (http://www.linkedin.com/home?trk=hb_tab_home_top) and Bragadoo (which I currently can’t remember how to log in to…but I don’t know anyone else on it, so that’s okay). I currently have…five email addresses that I check frequently. I have had a total of ten email addresses since I was 13. Yesterday, I even removed a virus all by myself. I’m doing okay with computers…so I thought.
I’m still learning the lingo of having a blog and website. Fortunately, Sister 1 has blogs of her own (http://alittlecupoft.blogspot.com/ and http://adhdandt.blogspot.com/) and her own website (http://tmhediting.com/) and Teddy and his brother are certified computer geniuses in comparison to me. I’ve decided to name Teddy’s Brother Phil. (I need to backtrack to tell you why…I was trying to come up with a fun name for him (originally it was going to be Jethro, another fun story) but the name that developed was Bill. Because someday he could be my Brother In Law. (B.I.L.) Regrettably, the name Bill is forever sullied by an unpleasant character…also, he’s not my B.I.L. He could however be my FUTURE Brother In Law and since FBIL is not a name, I’ve dropped the B and there you have Phil.) Anyway, Phil has his own website too and I would link it, but it is a silly website and it is literally www.phil’sactualname.com* and that would kinda defeat the purpose of aliases. The three of them have been very kind in helping me when I get stuck.
Sister 1 helped me set up an RSS feed…still not fully sure what that is…and register with Technorati. According to some of the articles I read today, these are two important steps. I should also use Stumbled Upon, Twitter, Digg, and countless others. Seriously, the list goes on and on and on. Then there are the five million little doodads and toggles and whaddyacallits to add to your pages. And you can create pages on your blogs and blogs on your pages. Upload a resume. Add a photo. Good grief, it never ends! To be perfectly honest, I really enjoy blogging. I really enjoy all these forms of social media. As I said to Teddy, I get to talk and talk and talk and just assume people are listening. It’s wonderful. The problem I’m finding is the amount of time it all takes. Keeping up with all the social media is a full time job…that you pretty much do for nothing. Sure, I have a large number of Facebook friends…but how many are actually interested in my business and how many are increasing their own friend count?
I want to increase blog and website traffic, of course, but I don’t want to spend my days and nights making futile efforts to increase stats with “fluff” numbers. No offense to high school students out there, but if all my blogs are being read by them, my numbers might be high, but I’m not reaching my target audience. Furthermore, I do not want to be annoying. Another pointer was to comment on other blogs with your address. Isn’t that spam? Also, link blogs and website to your blog and website. I did that today. I think it makes this blog cluttered and jumbled.
I stated in my first blog that I never wanted to ramble on tangents about nonsense and I feel like I am beginning to do just that. I probably shouldn’t blog this late at night as my cranky side starts to come out, but if you stuck around for that whole kvetch, thanks and any comments/advice would be GREATLY appreciated!
P.S. The advice also said to blog daily…I guess even if you aren’t prepared to have a nice and/or happy blog.
* not a real web address
1. thanks for linking my blogs and websites!!
ReplyDelete2. I can help you with the linking your blog/website when commenting on other blogs/websites. Notice how my comment just says "T" but if you click it, it's actually a link to my blog? When I leave you (or anyone else) a comment, there's a box that says "comment as: [drop down box]" - when you drop down, pick "name/URL" from the list. It lets you pick what name you want to leave and the URL to which you want to link it. You can even preview your comment before posting to make sure you did it right. It's a nice, non-obnoxious way to leave your address when you comment on other people's related blogs or websites :-)
3. I also recommend joining Facebook groups related to your blog/page topic and commenting from that status. I "like" a couple of ADD-related pages on Facebook and I commented (just once!) on a post they had, using my ADHD and T Facebook page, and I got three new "likes" from it! I guess people saw my comment on the other page and decided to check out my page (and liked what they saw) - which made me really happy!
4. Finally, with regard to the time-commitment involved with social media: I totally agree that it can be very time-consuming and overwhelming. To help manage that, I follow two "rules" - I only try one new forum at a time, and I limit the amount of time I spend per day/week on social media. For example, I try to spend no more than 1 hour a day, total, on blogging/Facebook updating, etc., unless I have a free evening or weekend day where I want to devote a significant amount of time to learning/updating/revising my stuff. Otherwise, you will quickly burn out and come to view your business as a burden, which is obviously counter-productive!
Hope this helps :-)