Optimizing Blog Hits

People; more specifically bloggers, are always looking to increase the readership of their work. Just putting up a blog and writing in it constantly won't get you many readers. Sure, there may be an off chance that a couple of people find your site through a search engine like Google or Yahoo if they know what they're looking for, but for the most part, your blog will go unread. This is where traffic generating websites come into play.

The first one I recommend is Blog Explosion. It's my first recommendation simply due to the fact that they have been around the longest and have the largest user database. They work on a 2:1 ratio, which basically means . . . you visit two blogs for 30 seconds to ensure one 30 second visit to yours. Simple as that. They also have "Mystery Credits" that you can win that range anywhere from two to one hundred, if you're lucky. It's random and extremely rewarding when you hit upon one of these "MC's" as they are called in the site's "Shoutbox", their member chat forum. BE has a few other features that you might find interesting. Blog Rocket is a good way to generate traffic for free. You only have to surf through one blog/day to qualify to use this service. Your blog gets listed with 25 others, and people randomly click on them in seach of MC's. Battle of the Blogs is another way to net fifteen visits to your blog, but it'll cost you 10 credits. It's a bargain if you've got the credits lying around. And if you win the battle, you actually get 15 creds for that 10 cred investment. You can find more information about this service here.

My second recommendation as far as blog-centric traffic generators is Blog Soldiers. They're not as established as BE, but they're getting there. Same format as BE, 2:1 ratio, and the possibility to win bonus credits. The difference lies in the amount of bonus creds that you can net with BS. Their bonus creds are always worth 10 creds, and you can win as many as 5 times per hour (personal experience may vary from user to user). I've personally won about 200 creds in one day surfing casually. Now, BS's blog database is not as large as BE's, so you'll run into the same blogs again and again. The good thing is that you only have to be at the blog for 20 seconds as opposed to the regular 30 second interval with BE. BS also has a pretty great surfing incentive. If you collect all the letters in a word search you get a minimum of 200 creds on the spot. I've gone through 3 levels so far, and the next level I achieve will net me 350 creds. For more information about this service, click here.

The last traffic generator that I use regularly is not a blog specific generator. It's not actually specific at all as to who uses it, so it's easy to get approved. TS25, which stands for Traffic Syndicate 25, is nothing but a raw hit generator that, if used properly, can net you a couple of hundred hits per day while costing you just a couple of hours of casual surfing. They're hit ratio is a little strange, as it's on a 5:1 scale, but you earn 2 creds per 15 second visit. I'm not going to do the math for you, but it's pretty close to the 2:1 ratio . . with only a 15 second visit per site. Also available for winning are bonus credits, and a word search game that I've never completed, so I couldn't tell you what that will get you. What I can tell you is that if you have banner ads that pay on a "per impression" basis, then TS25 will get you just what you need to increase that banner ad revenue. You can find more information about this site here.

Listing your site on Technorati will also net you some visits. They are currently listing 14 million blogs, so you'll be in that gigantic pool of blogs. Their search engine is decent enough that your blog could be easily found by a large readership. Everyone visiting technorati is looking for blogs to read. One great way to stand out in Technorati is if you're being linked by other Technorati users. The more links you have in other people's blogs leading to yours, the higher your rank is. The only way to get linked is if you link others. It's the basic "you scratch my blog, I'll scratch yours" premise. It builds a sense of community. Plus, if you notice someone linking your blog by using the handy "who links to this blog" tool, then it would be a considerate thing to link them back. Not that I've gotten around to linking everyone that links me, but hey, I'm getting to it.

So, there you go. Try those out. You will notice a dramatic change in your blog hits that you can easily keep track off by installing a hit counter in your blog's template. A simple search on google *ahem*check my sidebar*ahem* can get you to a wide variety of free hit counters out there.