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JoshuaZ · Dec 3, 2009, 03:08 AM

An honest to god real question for you bloggers out there: How do you advertise your blog? Do you list your site on other sites? Comment on a bunch of related blogs? Put your posts on digg or reddit? Pay for advertising?

I only ask because my wife is bugging me to help advertise her writing site. She's given up trying to get published so she's just putting her stories online. I know she obsessively checks how many people view her blog each day (I think it averages five a day) and I wouldn't mind generating a few views to brighten up her day.

I keep telling her to post some kinky photos of her on the page to generate hits, but she shot down that idea with a 'look of death.'

downinflames68 · Dec 3, 2009, 05:33 AM

Post photos of other kinky girls on her site for her.

JoshuaZ · Dec 3, 2009, 06:55 AM

Or together....

he he he

turtle777 · Dec 3, 2009, 09:06 AM

Secretly pay your friends to generate hits.

-t

Eug · Dec 3, 2009, 09:57 AM

Originally Posted by JoshuaZ

I only ask because my wife is bugging me to help advertise her writing site.

Well, you just did.

Anyways, the only way I advertise my blog is to put it in my sig. And I guess responding to forum posts about blogs, too.

P.S. No ads on mine, but there is an option to "monetize" the blog. I haven't done so because I don't like blog ad clutter myself, but I'm just wondering what the average blogger makes off the ads. $10 a year?

mduell · Dec 3, 2009, 01:31 PM

Spamming forums like this.

JoshuaZ · Dec 3, 2009, 08:15 PM

Originally Posted by mduell

Spamming forums like this.

Well I would spam this forum, but I don't think it would actually generate a decent number of hits. Plus it would probably annoy some or the more annoying members.

It really is a real question, and any ideas would be helpful.

besson3c · Dec 3, 2009, 09:11 PM

Joshua: I mean this respectfully, this is pretty generic advice you could offer many sites...

What is on this site that I should care about? Why should I read these posts? What does this site offer me that I can't find somewhere else?

I'm not trying to infer negative answers to each of these questions, but making it very clear once I hit the site what the answers to these questions are is job #1. There is no point in advertising if there doesn't appear to be a focus and purpose to this site. When I hit the homepage the first thing I see is a start to a story of some sort. Why should I read this text, as a lazy visitor that comes across enough text as it is?

You can start by making front and center a little blurb about why this blog kicks ass, what it offers that is unique, and why I should care.

JoshuaZ · Dec 4, 2009, 03:07 AM

These are things I keep telling a certain person... so its great to have it in writing from someone else...

I certainly would have designed the site a different way.... if I was allowed near her wordpress install...

Art Vandelay · Dec 4, 2009, 01:25 PM

Originally Posted by Eug

Anyways, the only way I advertise my blog is to put it in my sig.

I would never guess that your sig was advertising a blog. I always figured it was just an image.

Eug · Dec 4, 2009, 01:39 PM

Yeah, I'm not very good at advertising it.

It's not "monetized" anyway, so it's not as if I'm looking for advertising hits.

Veltliner · Dec 5, 2009, 04:26 AM

There are some books on Amazon on how to use social networking sites to promote businesses.

And a blog is a business, even if you don't get paid directly (but by generating income through google ads).

besson3c · Dec 5, 2009, 04:54 AM

Originally Posted by Veltliner

There are some books on Amazon on how to use social networking sites to promote businesses.

And a blog is a business, even if you don't get paid directly (but by generating income through google ads).

I really think that the whole Google ads thing seems to generate some naive ideas about what expectations are reasonable.

A lot of people think that just by having a blog and having ads that you'll be rich. In my opinion, it's better to build up your traffic before devoting time to figuring out how to best run ads. Without any traffic this is pretty much a waste of time, and no matter what site you are talking about it takes a while to build up that traffic. While you are doing so it can only help to *not* have the ads that might annoy your visitors.

mduell · Dec 5, 2009, 02:25 PM

Google AdWords is easy fill, although the CPM is in the toilet these days.

Veltliner · Dec 6, 2009, 05:25 AM

Originally Posted by besson3c

I really think that the whole Google ads thing seems to generate some naive ideas about what expectations are reasonable.

A lot of people think that just by having a blog and having ads that you'll be rich. In my opinion, it's better to build up your traffic before devoting time to figuring out how to best run ads. Without any traffic this is pretty much a waste of time, and no matter what site you are talking about it takes a while to build up that traffic. While you are doing so it can only help to *not* have the ads that might annoy your visitors.

Sure, everyman's blog will neither attract a large number of readers, nor advertising revenues.

Usually a business related blog is a connection between the business and its customers or potential customers.

But the rules on how to attract people and to read (if the content is worth it) should be the same.

There are blogs that create a huge readership, and they are, of course, few and far between. But they exist.

Eug · Dec 7, 2009, 03:41 PM

Originally Posted by Veltliner

And a blog is a business, even if you don't get paid directly (but by generating income through google ads).

My blog is not a business, and I specifically do not have ads on there because I don't want it to be a business. It's just a blog.

JoshuaZ · Dec 7, 2009, 08:33 PM

Originally Posted by Eug

My blog is not a business, and I specifically do not have ads on there because I don't want it to be a business. It's just a blog.

I have to agree with that philosophy. Nothing is worse than a small personal blog FULL of ads.

Chuckit · Dec 7, 2009, 08:48 PM

IMO no site should be full of ads, business or pleasure. If you need ads that overwhelm your content in order to make ends meet, either your content or your marketing is deficient, and all those banners just make your site ugly on top of whatever problem you already had.

Eug · Dec 7, 2009, 09:20 PM

Speaking of which... That MS bing ad here is damn annoying. If you accidentally roll over it, the music starts, with (AFAIK) no way of shutting it off.

But I digress...