Ever wondered how to get more visitors to your blog? Well, Stephane Grenier has interviewed forty of the top bloggers and documented all their best advice in Blog Blazers
These prominent bloggers answered questions exposing their secrets on how they created high-profile, high traffic, and high profit blogs!
The cool thing is that Blog Blazers isn’t just one person’s opinion on how to get more blog visitors. Stephane asked all 40 successful bloggers the same questions. This approach is awesome because it gives us insight into not only what they all have in common, but also what makes each one of these gurus unique!
Advice from Blog Blazers on how to get more blog visitors
If you are serious about building a successful blog, then you really need to read this book. I found a ton of great ideas, resources and a lot of encouragement reading through the interviews.
There are many reasons that I write this blog, but one of them is to satisfy some of my entrepreneurial desires. Blog Blazers is to blogging what books like Good to Great
Here’s some of what you can learn from reading Blog Blazers:
1. Find out which blogs the top bloggers read
Aaron Wall from SEOBook says:
I read every post Frank Schilling writes on his Seven Mile blog. I am a regular reader of SearchEngineLand.com. And while it is not updated as frequently as those two, I love TropicalSEO.com by Andy Hagans. CopyBlogger.com and Paul Kedrosky are equally refreshing.
2. How long it takes to become a successful blogger
Anita Campbell at Small Business Trends says:
Unless you’re backed by a substantial financial stake and can hire researchers, writers and marketers, it really takes a good two years to get established today. Blogs are an example of the network economy and the “law of increasing returns.” At first the gains seem small, but as the network effect increases, it increases exponentially. So once a blog starts growing, the growth rate seems to accelerate.
3. Ways to successfully market and grow your blog
J.D. Roth from Get Rich Slowly says:
I build and maintain relationships with other bloggers. I accept and contribute guest posts. But I don’t do these things with marketing in mind. I do them because I *like* to and because they foster community. Marketing is a side-effect.
Don’t worry about SEO. Search engine optimization does *not* make a successful blog. Writing content that people want to read makes a successful blog. (I’ve literally done zero SEO at Get Rich Slowly.)
4. Most common pitfall new bloggers fall into
Seth Godin says:
The mistake most blogs and books make: they are about the writer, not the reader.
The things that fascinate you about your life are almost always banal to strangers. Strangers want to read about their lives, not yours. And guess what? The same thing is true about prospects and customers and just about anything you can imagine marketing.
5. The best monetization methods for making money with a blog
Trent Hamm from The Simple Dollar says:
Google Adsense is my best money maker. FeedBurner is second. Everything else trails far behind.
Penelope Trunk from Brazen Careerist says:
I sell my blog posts to print and online publishers.
I earn a six-figure income from my blog.
Blog Blazers is a terrific resource for growing your blog!
I’m going to hang on to my copy of Blog Blazers
Are you a blogger? What advice do you have to get more visitors?
We will always respect your privacy.
Great post! Thanks for the information. As someone with a very new blog, it’s helpful to read direct advice from people who are already so successful. I’m going to check out Blog Blazers. . .
Read Beth @ Smart Family Tips´s latest article – Featured Do-Gooder: EWG & The Kid-Safe Chemicals Act Project
I think I might have to disagree with adsense. I my experience adsense is usually an ineffective way to make money from a blog although its the easiest.
The fact that Get Rich Slowly has never done any SEO is amazing for a blog with 70,000 readers. It is probably a little misleading too. I think it would be more accurate to say he never intentionally did anything SEO related. WordPress is pretty SEO freindly, permalinks are SEO, and archives, etc.
Read The Happy Rock´s latest article – Screw Saving Money…I Want a Snowblower!
@Beth – I’m glad you found this useful. There really is a lot of good info in Blog Blazers to mull over for bloggers at any experience level. I encourage you to check it out, but let yourself become overwhelmed!
@Happy Rock – I hear what you are saying about Adsense, but it is certainly mentioned numerous times by the top bloggers as their key source of revenue. Hard to argue with success!
You make a good point about the built-in SEO features of WordPress. I think what J.D. was trying to point out is that he never spent time worrying about SEO. A lot of people think SEO is the key to success and might overstress about it.
Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts!
Really inspiring reading! I’d like to read the full book, too. I’m new to the blogosphere, but enjoy hearing about everyone’s sucesses.
Read Jules @ Lovely Las Vegas´s latest article – Romantic Las Vegas Recommendations
Another top post and I will be buying the book! In term of SEO, there is organic SEO (a function of time and writing great content that gets linked) and active SEO (pro-active marketing and paying for search engine listings). I think GRS is much more organic, whereas other MM blogger are active SEO types.
Adsense is my main revenue source though trying to grow affiliate programs as never want to be reliant on just one source/company.
@Jules – Glad you liked the article! You should definitely take a look at Blog Blazers. It will give you lots of good ideas.
@Andy – The book is worth every penny! I like how you distinguished between organic and active SEO. I think you are right on the money.
Thanks for your contributions!
I agree with #2 listed above – it takes time to grow your blog and network, and then growth comes much more quickly. I have been blogging for almost two years now and it seems like growth is accelerating much more quickly than before.
I need to check out this book and read the rest of it.
Read Patrick´s latest article – How to Start a Blog for Fun or Profit – Introduction to a Series
Great post. Two years to be successful huh? Counting down the days…
Read Christopher´s latest article – Teen Shields Boy from Bullet
Here’s my secret, I started my blog for me. I put up a few ads to make enough money to cover my hosting expenses. Anything beyond that is a bonus.
Read the weakonomist´s latest article – Weaky #11: Sweet Home, Nigeria
Thanks for sharing… this sounds like just the resource I need to be checking out!
Read Do You Dave Ramsey?´s latest article – Focus, On What Is Yours?
I agree with #2 listed above – it takes time to grow your blog and network, and then growth comes much more quickly. I have been blogging for almost two years now and it seems like growth is accelerating much more quickly than before.
Thanks
Read rashid´s latest article – Forex Ambush 2.0