I don’t have any traffic secrets (100% newbie), ur alex ranking is better than mine

but I can share how I started out and what I’m looking at. I read quite a few ebooks on internet marketing and blogging before taking up a 3 days short course. During the first week after my blog got indexed by Google, search traffic alone shot up to 20-30 visitors daily. I was excited and expected it to go higher each day. so I posted more articles in my blog and sadly traffic went down to now 5 Google search visitors daily. Still trying to figure out why but roughly noticed that everytime I posted new article with new keywords, the older articles get ‘pushed out’ from the blog main page. so those old keywords don’t appear in Google search first page anymore. If the new article’s keyword is too competitive, I lose both old and new traffic. Do u have any idea how to make individual article URL rank higher than the blog main page URL? My understanding is the keyword density and proximity is higher in individual article URL, so it should have ranked higher than the main page for that keyword. Proves otherwise.

So now I’m focusing more in all the directories - articles (ezine, etc), blog (blotcatalog, etc), social bookmarking (technorati, etc) and networking (facebook). I just posted my first video on youtube (Links below). By the way, what did u mean ‘drive traffic from email links’? is it the opt-in list you built-up before? wow, didn’t notice this comment was that long.

http://awesome-movie-sword-replica.blogspot.com/

My First Youtube Video

I don’t have any traffic building secrets (100% newbie), in fact ur alexa ranking is higher than mine

but I can let u know how I started and what I’m looking at. Initially I did some research before starting so I read quite a few ebooks on blogging and internet marketing before going for a course. I use article writing, social bookmarking & networking, youtube (just posted my 1st video) and basic SEO.

I was excited at first during the first week after getting indexed in Google coz it sent bout 20-30 unique visitors to my blog daily. some of the keyword appeared in Google search first page. managed to make some affiliate sales as well. few days later suddenly they all disappeared, now bout 5 Google visitors daily (easy come easy goes). still trying to figure out why, but i noticed everytime i post new article with new keyword, the older articles get ‘pushed out’ from the blog main page and their keyword don’t rank on Google first page anymore. So I concluded my main page is the one bringing Google traffic and if the new article keyword is too competitive, I lose old and new traffic. Do u know how to make individual article page to rank higher than the blog main page? My understanding is individual page has higher keyword density and proximity, so it should be better.

What do u mean drive traffic from email links? is it the opt-in list that you built before?

Traffic can increase dramatically if the theme of the blog closely touches the heart (desirable), or deeply affecting readers emotionally or financially. Of course, you will need a huge audience that you have already built up elsewhere, such as one from a closely or related industry that must share a similar topic of interest.

I haven’t submit my URL to any paid directories yet. I prefer to build traffic the old fashion way first; deliver quality content and values to visitors, while occasionally exchanging RSS feeds or links with quality blogs or sites that share similar interests.

Another method I do consistently is to drive traffic from email links and social networking portals, such as Twitter and Facebook.

Do you mind sharing your traffic building secrets?

I’m still puzzled at how some blogs traffic suddenly shoots up from 10 visitors to 3000 in a matter of 2 days. How do they do it? I don’t think submitting to article directories, social bookmarking and networking can give that kind of result. Any ideas?

And is it recommended to submit our site to payable link directories instead of free ones (with reciprocal link required)?

Can You Really Make Money from Internet?

I Do NOT believe it at the first place until I make my first US$100 from Google AdSense in 16 DAYS using one niche Blog!

For more info http://www.alantanblog.com/

That’s a great accomplishment in under 1 year! That check has probably paid off most of your operating cost for the year (if you’re on budget hosting and domain)!

I gave up on Adsense publishing for a while after realizing the ins and outs of blogging business, but still working towards learning the ropes of quality blogging. These days, I focus on deeper research and quality writing, with the aspiration of developing copywriting skills in the future if I want.

My core focus now is not to monetize blogging, but to learn what kind of writing for long term works, and what don’t. There are some basic principles I thought I’ve identified so far that works, combining with various optimizations that seem to take solid effects slowly over time.

Anyway, do come back often and share your other findings or other discoveries. I’ll be glad to openly share what I know too!

I trust that you’ve enjoyed or learned something new and put your learning to good actions!

I’m surprised that you’re also IN for writing! Anyway, it’s really easy to get started with blogging platforms such, as Blogger, Wordpress, Typepad, etc.

Reality check: are you really serious about blogging for money, or are you using it to build personal branding, publicity etc, or all of the above and more? Starting a blog is easy, maintaining it and diligently building a following group of readership is real hard work!

Will you be serious enough to grow it slowly, or quickly? How about outsourcing, freelancing, occasional, mid-term or serious long term?

If you’re set for the right intention from start like I did more than 1 year ago, it will be a lot easier to formulate a theme and tightly coupled vision and mission. There are more non-technical questions to answer.

As for technical questions, I do not have good answers, but I can point you to some useful resources I use to control spam and hopefully discourage hacking. Some of the resources I use are plugins particularly for Wordpress (the CMS software I’m using) and as follows:

Akismet (Comes with Wordpress)
WordPress Database Backup
WP Security Scan

WP-SpamFree
(I don’t use this - it works so well that I’m scared that it kills legitimate comments!)
AskApache Password Protect
(Require thoughtful configurations, I’m not using at the moment)

Others Deterrences:
Use very strong and different randomized passwords for all your online accounts, including the blog database.
Backup often. Nothing beats a quick recovery when all else fails.

As for SEO (in particularly for blogging), I do know some simple techniques that not many bloggers are using. For a start, the following Wordpress plugins are a must:

All in One SEO Pack
Google XML Sitemaps
Ultimate Tag Warrior