What blog doesn’t need more visitors and eye balls?  A few days ago I posted six reasons why you need a business blog.  Today we’re going to look at how to increase the traffic to your blog using some pretty simple methods.

1. Comment on other blogs. It literally takes a few minutes to find blogs through Google Alerts (set up for your keywords), Google Blog Search or Technorati.  Once you find relevant blogs that are relevant to your topic, leave a short note with a link to your blog.  That simple action can get you hundreds of new followers.

2. Stay active on social networks. Whether you’re using Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or niche social networks, be aware that your traffic levels are directly proportionate to your activity levels. If you only post once a week on Twitter, you won’t see much return on your investment.  Consistently post on social networks, interact with others and you’ll enjoy a nice boost in traffic.  Also remember, that many of these social networks allow you to bring in your RSS feeds that automatically show posts on your profiles.

3. Write some articles. Article marketing is an often overlooked method of increasing the number of visitors you get to your blog. It’s also a handy way to build backlinks, which help boost your search engine rankings.

4. Write great content. This might seem obvious, but the sheer number of cruddy blogs out there means that this one is necessary to mention (And, I am not saying my blog is perfect J). If you do a good job on your posts, include keywords in your title and several times in the post, you’ll see a rise in search engine traffic as well as word-of-mouth buzz.

5. Link to other blogs. It might seem tempting to hoard all your traffic, but by sharing your favorite blogs, you’ll gain the attention of other bloggers. Often this results in a link back, which can be very beneficial, particularly if it’s a larger blog than yours.

6. Use social bookmarking. There’s nothing wrong with letting online bookmarking contacts know when you have a new and awesome blog post. If they want to bookmark it, then you will get more traffic. In order for this to work, you need to only forward your best work.

7. Include in e-mail signature. Include a link to your blog or RSS in your e-mail signature constantly reminding people to read or subscribe to your blog.

8. Highlight a featured post in your e-newsletter. Do you have a weekly or monthly e-newsletter (e-zine) that goes out to your opt-in list?  Include a synopsis and a link back to a featured blog post.  This way you are taking readers from your e-zine to your blog.

9. Submit to directories. Take your time doing research of the top blog and RSS directories.  Submit your blog to a few new directories each week.

10. Become active on forums. Find forums that are relevant to your industry and target audience, and keep your eyes open to people asking questions about a topic that you have already addressed in one of your blog posts.  Try to help them out by providing a brief answer and leaving a link back to your blog post that addresses the question.  You would be surprised how many people will appreciate this!

11.  Interlink old posts. Your older blog posts should not be forgotten if the information is still relevant.  You can bring them back to life by mentioning and interlinking them with newer blog posts.

12. Mention at speaking engagements. If you are a speaker or regularly present to prospects and clients, don’t forget to mention to your audience that you give great tips and advice on your blog.

Gaining traffic to your blog is rarely done by going with just one method. You’ll need to combine several, such as comments, writing great content and submitting to directories.  Don’t forget to measure your blog traffic with analytics to see which methods are working best.

Where do your blog visitors come from?  Please share below.