New site: How to get someone (ANYONE!) to visit?! | Bloggers Lair | Yakezie Forums

Hi All,

I started the Challenge today (just need to make the announcement on my site). As such, my site (Personal Finance Utopia) is brand new and, while I've done quite a bit of research on blogging over the past few years, I'm still relatively knew to the "game."

So, my question is, how does one go about getting initial traffic? I'm not looking for any "magic pill" because I realize there isn't one (at least not legitimately anyway).  That said, though, surely there are better strategies than others. I imagine some form of networking is the optimal answer here, but how? Just commenting on other sites/blogs/forums? I'm probably not in the position yet to do any guest posting and obviously won't be getting a search engine traffic anytime soon. 

How do you get that initial foothold of traffic? Suggestions?

Disclaimer: I did not do a search to see if this topic has been brought up previously (just read the most recent 5 pages and didn't see anything). Apologies if that is a "no no." I wanted to connect with others though since I'm new here!

Thanks, Michael. I'm grounded enough to know that just the 2 posts I have now are in no way good enough. I probably should have titled this topic/thread something slightly different. I am not scratching my head as to why I have no visitors yet.  Rather, my query is: what's the best way to start getting that initial traffic concurrent with adding more quality content on a regular basis?

I'm seeking more general strategies and approaches rather than direct feedback on my site (although that is always welcome too – and I appreciate your observation on the lack of content).

Welcome to the community!

It's hard not to just encourage writing. Post with moderate frequency and high regularity. Whatever readership you try to foster, you want them to know how often to expect new articles. 

Post comments on Yakezie PF sites and others in the PF community. FOLLOW EVERYONE ON TWITTER! ;)

Share articles occasionally in the "Personal Finance" section of the forum.

Do exactly what you're doing: Network and share your site.

GUEST POST if you can. Did that and it's been great for traffic and community involvement.

Hope this helps!

100% agree with previous posters. I started my site in January and spent the first 3+ months with pretty much no traffic. Then I found Yakezie and started visiting a lot of other bloggers sites and commenting regularly. That, in combination with putting out regular content (3 times per week for me) has definitely increased my traffic. It's still relatively small, but it's growing and it far exceeds what it was. One of the benefits of commenting is that other bloggers get to know you and if you have good content will link back to your site. That gets other people to notice you as well. It's all a big spiral. But it definitely takes time so keep writing, comment in as many places as you can, and stay patient. Oh, and linking back to other bloggers' posts that you found particularly good never hurts.

Start commenting on a lot of other blogs.  Not just 3 or 4, but more. That said, start being a regular at a few of them.  Follow people on Twitter and start interacting.  Also, submit your posts to blog carnivals once you have a few more.

Being persistent and consistent can go a long way in getting a foothold for your blog. It's still early in the game for you, just do these types of things and have fun with it.

Hey there. First of all, congrats on launching. That is key.

I just launched http://kettlebellrebels.com — my plan has been to publish amazing content without focusing on readers. I now have 18 articles live, all close to 2k words. So I believe the first step is to create a site that sucks people in. Then you can comment, email, annoy, hit up forums, etc.

As for commenting: please avoid the following…

"Nice post" — that's lame.

"I agree." — great!

John @ John's Personal Finance Site for Personal Finance Fans — Use your real name and post cool stuff.