Easy Shortcuts for Increasing Blog Traffic

Mike Licht
NotionsCapital.com

Have you launched a company blog to promote your brand? If you’re already generating quality content on a consistent basis, you need to promote your blog to gain traffic and raise brand awareness.

With limited time and resources, what’s the indiepreneur to do? Here are a few Information Slinger approved articles for quick (and cheap!) ways to generate blog traffic:

How to Promote Your Blog With Only $100 offers tips for (mostly) free blog promotion. Some tips, such as gaining a following in Twitter and getting involved in the blogosphere will take a lot of time, effort and strategy (but are probably worth the effort!). The minimum shortcuts to success:  Activate Google Alerts for mentions of your business or brand, and offer giveaways and donations to charity.

How to Promote Your Business Blog with Social Media offers tips for utilizing the strength of social networking. Highlights include: Use automated feeds to push content automatically from their blog to select social networks. However, remember to follow the 80/20 rule. Only 20 percent of your posts should be promotional; the rest should provide value to your customer.

How Not to Promote Your Blog by the folks at ProBlogger provides an overview of blog etiquette. The best tips include: Be genuine. Focus on writing for your customers (rather than search engine optimization), and avoid cold-calling for link exchanges.

Do you blog for your business? Here’s your chance to show us what you’re working on! What topics have generated the most interest?

Today, I picked up The Huffington Post Complete Guide to Blogging at the public library. I'll review it, and let you know if it's worth the read.

Should You Use Groupon?

Flickr User Jo Jakeman

I’m a self-proclaimed cheapskate, and as a customer, I love using Groupons. But a friend and I were discussing the recent horror stories we’ve heard from local business owners’ Groupon experiences.

As a small business owner, should you use Groupon or other deal-of-the-day websites to promote your business?

After reading these articles, I’d say the consensus would be: Perhaps, but use extreme caution! Check out this ‘net roundup for yourself.

The Social Media Examiner makes these important points: Groupon is not for everyone, and carefully weigh the pros and cons against your business objectives. They ask some poignant questions regarding your expectations and offer tips for success if you decide that Groupon is a solid move.

PC World focuses on the cons of using Groupon for your business. This article demonstrates how Groupon may not help you achieve promotional goals and may cost you money, branding, and client perception.

Inc. offers solid tips for using Groupon appropriately for your business’s price points, limitations, staffing levels, and marketing buzz.

So before you buy into the Groupon buzz, make sure you do your homework!

Have you used Groupon as a customer? What worked, and what didn’t? Have you thought about using deal sites for your local business?