I have been trying to figure out what the best way to bring more traffic to this blog, as well as others that I write, might be. I continue to try several things, with differing results. Some thing seem to bring in quite a bit of traffic, while others haven’t produced nearly as well as they have been billed. I’ll give you 3 that I have been working with, either here or elsewhere, as well as my assessment of each.

Entre Card–EntreCard is certainly a popular element popping up on many blogs today, and provides a way to exchange traffic, browse blogs, and get to know different blogs and bloggers. This has been a steady producer of traffic whenever I have the time to sit and browse through blogs. That luxury is becoming more and more scarce by the time I read the blogs that I like, and then finish all the writing I want to do. Overall, this is a great program, and you should sign up and give it a try. You should be warned that most traffic generation will be reciprocal in nature, so you will have to look at a lot of blogs. I haven’t had a lot of luck with building a readership from this yet, but this blog is still new.  One big drawback I have seen is that many people only stay on the site long enough to click your EntreCard widget, and then move on.  They don’t actually read what you are writing.  I wish EntreCard users would prove me wrong here by leaving a brief comment on this post!

Blog Catalog–This has been one of the greatest tools that I have used across all my blogs. Blog Catalog provides a way for bloggers to truly network. It is easy to find bloggers with similar interests, and interact with them. For one of my blogs in particular, I have hooked up with a lot of bloggers with a similar mindset, and have been able to develop good blogging relationships, and a pretty good amount of readers. If you have a blog, it is a good idea to join up with Blog Catalog, and get networked with other bloggers.

Blog Rush–This has not produced like I thought it would, but I haven’t tried to use it too much. After beginning to write this review, I went and signed into my account (which I haven’t done since setting it up) and found that I have had several visitors from there. The trick, it appears, is to make sure and write a very catchy title. That makes sense since it is the only thing that appears on the widget when your feed is broadcast on the network.  I am going to give this a bit more time, and effort, just to see if it can be productive.  I think I will spend a little time over at their site, and see if there is something I am missing!

I know there are a lot more ways to generate traffic, and I will cover more of them later.  However, these 3 will get you started if you need to get some traffic to your site pretty quickly.

If you are not using StumbleUpon, then it is time to sign up and get your free account. This is a tool that I am just now beginning to see the benefit of. The tool is simple to use, and it will begin driving traffic to your site almost instantly. Basically, all you have to do is go to the StumbleUpon website, and download their tool bar. Once installed, you can simply click on a button to submit sites to directory. You can either choose to like a site, or to dislike a site. When you “discover” a site (that is, it has not been submitted to the directory before), you place it in a category, and can write (if you choose to) a brief description of the site.

Because the sites are classified according to topic, the StumbleUpon system also can help you surf the web according to your own likes. Simply choose the topic you want to “stumble through”, and the directory will load a new page with every click of the “Stumble!” button on your tool bar. This is a great way to find some sites that you may not know about that are in the same niche that you write for, or about. Be sure to cast your vote for any sites that you stumble across, as it will help the engine to learn your own preferences, and will enhance your surfing.

Once you sign up for an account, make sure and “Stumble” your own posts. Once you identify your blog, or website as something that you “like”, it is in the system. You will begin to see visitors coming to your site almost immediately, and you will see a definite increase in the overall traffic to your site.

This tool is valuable to anyone who wants more traffic, whether you only get a few visitors per day, or whether you get thousands. We all know that more visitors makes for a more successful site! So, be sure and sign up at StumbleUpon today, and start identifying the sites you like!