The unsung traffic builder

One of the most effective ways to generate targeted traffic to your blog is to leave comments on other blogs in your niche.  Unfortunately it’s also one of the most overlooked tools in a bloggers arsenal.

After all, it’s easy to forget to drop by other blogs in your niche and even if you do, the pressure of getting your own posts published can detract from the courtesy of leaving a comment when you’ve found another post that you find interesting.  This is something that should never be forgotten. In fact, it should be a regular part of your daily routine.

I’ll lay bets that if your blog is receiving regular comments, there is a group of core people that are doing so.  Most of these will be other bloggers in your niche that have not underestimated the potential of community driven traffic.  Check out their blogs for yourself and you’ll see what I mean.

Get Out There And Comment!

Make commenting on other blogs a part of your daily routine. Comments build community  They also allow you to form relationships with other blog owners, which can lead to a wondrous variety of opportunities for your blog and the bloggers you’ve built relationships with.

Remember that comments should be more than “hey that’s great” or “love the blog, keep up the good work.”  Comments such as these leave the blog owner or spam filter ready to simply delete them when seen. (I know I do.)

Instead, be sure to comment specifically on the post topic at hand.  If you’ve written a post that answers another commentators question, feel free to leave a link, but only if it is relevant. Comments should not be used directly to drive traffic to your blog, but rather to entice the readers of another blog to come check your work out for themselves.

Leaving comments on a subject you are familiar with not only lets potential readers know that your blog exists, but it gives you a chance to help out other bloggers in your own niche.  Most bloggers find that as their blogs become more popular, time becomes a very limited commodity.  If you can answer a question for a reader on their blog, you’ve done them a favor. If you’re dropping a link in every comment, you’re being spammy and will most likely be blacklisted.

Know When NOT To Comment

From the advice given above you might think that you should make a point of being the first to comment on very popular blogs each and every day. While this will drive traffic, the result will probably not bring you the results you’re looking for.

Comments are only a tool to get visitors to your own writing.  If that writing is substandard or infrequently updated, you are going to end up losing most of the visitors attracted by comments the minute they arrive at your blog.

Also; focusing on comments may lead you to leaving comments that are not entirely relevant to what the writer intended.  This simply makes you look a fool and does little to attract traffic.  Do leave comments, but always ensure that they are relevant to the post, well written and have something to offer the blog owner and the readers of his or her blog.  Failing to follow these simple guidelines may do more to harm your traffic than to help it.

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