Vandelay Website Design Blog

Driving Search Engine Traffic to a New Blog

This week I am happy to be participating in a five-day series of posts about growing your blog. This post is the 1st and each of the next 4 days there will be posts by other bloggers on their own blogs. Each of the bloggers involved in this project has been experiencing growth and all have valuable information to share that will help you with your own blog. I personally subscribe to all of the blogs in this project and I highly recommend that you do the same. Here are the participants in the series:

Monday: Vandelay Website Design
Tuesday: Blogging Tips - Be Selfish and Help Someone
Wednesday: Blogtrepreneur - What is Your Best Source of Web Traffic?
Thursday: Super Blogging - Be Community Involved to Get More Traffic
Friday: SiteFever - Drive Traffic By Commenting First

Be sure to subscribe to each one to learn about strategies that are working for other bloggers.

New bloggers and website owners can easily get frustrated with the lack of search engine traffic that they are receiving. Typically, search engines take several months before they will show new sites very prominently in the SERPs (search engine results pages). If your website or blog falls into a very competitive market (like this one does) the situation can be even worse.

From the time period between July 1 and August 31, I experienced a substantial growth in search engine traffic, especially from Google, and I’d like to share the results and my conclusions with you. I think this information will encourage you and show you some ways that you can increase search engine traffic to your own blog.

To start with, here are my stats from July:

  • 587 visitors from search engines
  • 563 visitors from Google (#4 traffic source)

To give you some background information, this website was launched in February and the blog was posted on very sporadically from then until June. Traffic was very low and little time and effort was devoted to the site. The first week of July two different posts had a great deal of success with delicious and StumbleUpon (16,252 visitors came from StumbleUpon during July). That traffic helped bring some links, which wound up influencing search engine rankings.

As you can see from the stats above, search engine traffic in July wasn’t non-existent, but it also wasn’t substantial.

Here are the stats from August:

  • 2,217 from search engines
  • 2,173 from Google (#2 traffic source)

From July to August there was a 286% increase in traffic from Google searches, and a 278% increase in total search engine traffic. The graph below shows the visitors sent by Google from July 1 to August 31.

Google traffic graph

In July:

  • Google sent visitors to 65 different pages on my site.
  • The most common were:
  • Only 2 visitors came directly to my homepage (which is not the blog homepage) through a Google search.
  • 62 different pages had anywhere from 1 visitor to 29 visitors from a Google search.

In August:

  • Only 14 visits came directly to my homepage through a Google search.
  • 106 different pages had anywhere from 1 visitor to 99 visitors from Google.

The lack of search traffic to my homepage isn’t surprising since there is so much competition for website design and my site is still relatively new. Despite traffic to the homepage still being low, search engine traffic overall grew by almost 300%.

These traffic results show that creating content on your website or blog is extremely important. Although my homepage competes directly with thousands of more established websites for phrases like “web design” and “custom website design,” each blog post has its own keywords and phrases that have far less competition and they are much more likely to be highly ranked by search engines. Of course, these pages are still on topic since they relate to some specific aspect of website design and development, blog development, or internet marketing.

The reality is that most of your visitors will not come to your site through the homepage. Every time you write a blog post on a different subject you are creating a page that will compete for search engine traffic from different keywords. As a result, the more posts you create (assuming they have quality content) the more chances you have to draw search engine traffic.

Say for example you have 10 pages on your website and each one draws 10 visitors from search engines each day. In this situation you would have 100 visitors each day that come from search engines. Now assume that you start a blog and for 1 year you add 5 new posts per week. With 50 weeks in the year (to use a round number) that would mean 250 new pages that were created through your blog. Now you have 260 pages on the site and if each one draws 10 visitors a day from search engines that would total 2,600 visitors each day.

Obviously, these numbers are fictional, but it shows the significance of creating new content in order to draw visitors from search engines.

How Can New Blogs Increase the Amount of Traffic They Receive from Search Engines?

1. Start with a solid, SEO-friendly blog structure. Search engine optimization was not something I focused on in the last few months, but rather when I created the site and started the blog. (For more information on this topic see SEO Basics for Blogs.) WordPress users have access to a wide variety of plugins that will enhance the search engine-friendliness of your blog - see our list of the top 10 SEO-related plugins.

2. Post Frequently. I saw an increase in the number of pages that received traffic from Google searches (from 65 to 110 pages) primarily due to new content being added. I expect this to continue as new content is consistently being published. The new pages may not be indexed instantly, but with blogs it may only take days or hours.

3. Get links from other websites and blogs. Most of the pages on my website that drew significant traffic from Google are also among the pages on my site with the most external links. For example, Find the Perfect Colors for Your Website had the most Google traffic in August and it also has the most external links of any page on the website (According to Google Webmaster Tools it has 3,310 links. The homepage in comparison has only 2,169 and the blog front page has only 600.)

To start getting some links you can submit your posts to blog carnivals, find reciprocal link partners, or comment on blogs that have removed the nofollow tags (like this one). You can find a list of “DoFollow” blogs at Courtney Tuttle’s D-List. Another way to draw links is to develop posts that become popular with social media, which is another topic altogether (stay tuned, I think Adnan from Blogtrepreneur has more on this subject on Wednesday).

4. Choose keywords wisely. Each of your blog posts can target different keywords and phrases, which will help you to show up in a greater variety of searches. A collection of valuable keyword tools can be found at 30 Keyword Tools for Your Website. The are a variety of tools listed, many are free, that will help you to find the right words and phrases to target.

I hope that by taking a look at some of these examples you have seen some ways that you can grow search engine traffic to your own blog, particularly if it has just recently been launched. Try applying some of these conclusions to your own blog and see how it affects your traffic.

Originally Published September 9th, 2007

41 comments from readers

  • 1 Tay Sep 10, 2007 at 12:59 am

    Steven,

    This was a magnificent article! I’m still not achieving very high search engine traffic to my blog at all but I need to do work on using keywords and such. This was a great read and opened my eyes to a lot of things about SE traffic.

    I can’t wait to see the rest of the posts in this series, and I cannot wait to write mine either (I will get on that so I’ll have it done beforehand). Thanks again for the opportunity!

    Happy blogging,

    Tay :)

  • 2 DerekBeau Sep 10, 2007 at 1:46 am

    Interesting read. It always frustrates me how long it takes before Google starts sending decent traffic to a new website. There is always that beginning stage when Google loves your website because it is new, then it seems to drop from the listings for months.

  • 3 Adnan Sep 10, 2007 at 12:25 pm

    Great article Steven - and yeah I just find that creating content for readers rather than search engines, can help you get more traffic from search engines anyway.

    I can’t wait to write my article in the series, I might focus on Social Media as a whole if this is OK?

  • 4 Search Engine Traffic for Blogs - My Online World Sep 10, 2007 at 12:55 pm

    […] Steven of Vandelay Website Design, another Top Commentator for August, has a really awesome post about increasing your blog’s Search Engine traffic. This post is Monday’s post for a five-day series of posts about growing your blog, and offers up some solid advice about increasing traffic to your blog. […]

  • 5 Average Joe Blogger Sep 10, 2007 at 1:01 pm

    Great set of tips. I’ve found that the All-in-One SEO Pack plugin for WordPress seems to really help.

    I look forward to reading the rest of the articles.

  • 6 life.strikes Sep 10, 2007 at 1:54 pm

    I founf you blog from list of Top 100 Money Make Blogs list. Im new to blogging and still in learning phase. I’m using blogger to get used to blogging. All the tips and tools list you are providing is very useful. I havent explored SEO till date. But, now I found enough resources from this blog to explore new area.

  • 7 website design company Sep 10, 2007 at 2:39 pm

    Great article search engine optimization is becoming an essential blog do. It’s good to have the people who are looking to find your blog capable of finding your blog.

  • 8 Vandelay Design Sep 10, 2007 at 5:32 pm

    Tay,
    Thanks for your comments. I’m looking forward to seeing your article in a few days.

    Derek,
    Thanks for visiting. I have read some of your stuff on your blog and read more about you at other places, like eMonitized, so it’s nice to see you here.

    Adnan,
    You have a good point about creating content for readers. That’s what I have focused on more so than SEO, and things are improving.

    Avg Joe,
    Thanks for your feedback about the All-in-One SEO Pack, it is definitely one of the best plugins for SEO.

    life.strikes,
    Thanks for visiting and for letting me know how you found the blog. I’m glad you are finding information here that you can use.

    website design company,
    Yes, with all of the blogs that are starting up every day, SEO is pretty much a necessity to compete. Thanks for your feedback.

  • 9 GnomeyNewt Sep 10, 2007 at 11:48 pm

    Cool series to come and I look forward to learning from all the post in this series. My top sender of visitors is still stumbleupon but I want it to be the SERPS which I’m working toward slowly and is the #2 sender for me currently. Those are some awesome stats you are bringing in from the search engines, wowers!

  • 10 pablopabla Sep 11, 2007 at 3:10 am

    I agree with you Steven.

    My food recipe blog has been getting almost 40% of its traffic through searches on recipes (which I am fortunate to have them on my site), 40% through referral sites and 40% direct (probably RSS or bookmarked by readers).

    My blog on blogging, however, does not fare as well for searches probably because the topic I blog about are less searched for by readers compared to say, your topics - which are good self-help articles.

    I suppose the niche of one’s blog and the contents itself are the key to driving search engine traffic.

  • 11   Be selfish and help someone Sep 11, 2007 at 8:01 am

    […] Steven got the ball rolling yesterday with a great post entitled ‘Driving Search Engine Traffic to a New Blog‘. Tomorrow, Adnan from Blogtrepreneur will be following up this post. On Thursday Tay from Super Blogging Tips will be writing a post and John from SiteFever will finish the series on Friday. I’ll update this post when they publish their articles. […]

  • 12 Roy Van Rivero Sep 11, 2007 at 10:28 am

    Hi! Good day!

    It is very nice to get new ideas on how to drive search engine traffic to my blog. You’ve emphasized the importance of article content and the numbers of topics that must be written. Yes, I agree, the more your blog is updated with significant content the more traffic could be generated. I have also realized that blog should have a great number of links so that it performs with more power. How nice to read a blog like this. It is really very informative and I am very much excited to read another yet substantial information—like this—from you. And now, I have to start working hard for my site—with great content and substantial numbers of article.

    Have a nice day and more power!

  • 13 Vandelay Design Sep 11, 2007 at 5:38 pm

    I just wanted to let everyone know that Kevin’s article Be Selfish and Help Someone has been posted at Blogging Tips. He’s got some great advice that you won’t want to miss. Check out the article and leave any comments that you might have. Thanks!

  • 14 Vandelay Design Sep 11, 2007 at 6:56 pm

    GnomeyNewt,
    Yeah, StumbleUpon is still the top for me (especially after today - it was my record for a single day). Hope you found some info here that you can use.

    pablopabla,
    You’re definitely right. I’m sure the recipes are great for searches with the right keywords. Keep adding content to the other blog and it should improve. Thanks for your comment.

    Roy,
    Thanks for your kind words. I look forward to seeing you here again.

  • 15 Paul Sep 11, 2007 at 9:16 pm

    This is helpful, especially the do follow link. I think it’s important for bloggers to help each other out and allow this link. I know spam is a problem, but there are filters on Wordpress for the obvious. Good job!

  • 16 Vandelay Design Sep 11, 2007 at 9:22 pm

    Paul,
    Thanks for your comment (and I hope the do follow link helps you). I think spam will be a problem regardless of do follow or no follow. I started using do follow about a month ago and I haven’t noticed that much more spam. I have gotten more legitimate and significant comments though, and that’s what counts.

  • 17 What’s Your Best Source of Web Traffic? Sep 12, 2007 at 11:35 pm

    […] When Steven from VandelayDesign invited me to be a part of his 5 day series on growing your blog, I jumped at the chance of being involved in a community project. So far, Steven and Kevin from BloggingTips have posted, with Tay from SuperBloggingTips and John from SiteFever coming up on Thursday and Friday. […]

  • 18 Vandelay Design Sep 13, 2007 at 5:43 pm

    Adnan’s post for the series is up - What is Your Best Source of Web Traffic?

    And so is Tay’s - Be Community Involved to Get More Traffic.

    Please visit their blogs and get involved in the conversations.

  • 19 Drive Traffic by Commenting First | SiteFever.com Sep 14, 2007 at 7:02 am

    […] Part 1: Driving Search Engine Traffic to a New Blog Part 2: Be Selfish and Help Someone Part 3: What’s Your Best Source of Web Traffic? Part 4: Be Community Involved to Get More Traffic Part 5: You’re looking at it! […]

  • 20 Jar Full of Links: September 14, 2007 Sep 14, 2007 at 10:04 am

    […] Steven Snell has started a growing your blog series, he starts off with driving search engine traffic to a new blog. […]

  • 21 Vandelay Design Sep 14, 2007 at 5:31 pm

    The final article of the series is now up at SiteFever - Drive Traffic by Commenting First. John’s got some great information that you really should see for yourself.

  • 22 What Makes Good Blog Design? << Vandelay Website Design Oct 7, 2007 at 6:58 pm

    […] Readers will come to your blog through search engines, links from other blogs, RSS feeds, social media sites, etc. Only a small percentage of your readers will enter your blog through the front page. This makes navigation even more important. The sidebar typically will include the majority of the navigation with links to categories, recent posts, and sometimes popular posts. Footers are sometimes also used for additional navigation. […]

  • 23 SEO vs. SMO << Vandelay Website Design Oct 8, 2007 at 5:37 pm

    […] New websites and blogs need to start getting quality inbound links in order to start getting search engine traffic. Why not use social media to promote this content, make it visible to as many people as possible, and draw inbound links? […]

  • 24 Michael Weir Oct 16, 2007 at 9:26 am

    Thank you for this article. It’s always nice to stumble upon a blog with quality content that can be put to good use.

  • 25 tonilah Oct 20, 2007 at 11:20 pm

    thank you for this great post, it is very useful!

    i know it can get very frustrating for new blog owners to wait for that flow of traffic to come, but i think the biggest thing to remember is to be patient.

    to many people give up on their blogs. thousands of websites/blogs are created everyday..how many people give up on their blogs? How many people are willing to stick it out 3, 6, or 9 months?

    The longer you’re out there contributing, the better. I think of getting traffic to a blog/site the way somebody tries to loose weight/get fit. When somebody works out or goes on a diet, they don’t see results right a way. But after an accumulation of hard work, eating right, lifting weights…..they might start to see visible results.

    same with blog owners. What you write today might not net a whole lot of traffic that instant…but who knows how many people that article will reach 3 months from now.

  • 26 Vandelay Design Oct 21, 2007 at 2:45 pm

    Tonilah,
    You’re right, the benefits are usually delayed for new bloggers, and many people don’t wait long enough. I think it’s also a matter of perspective. If you know going in that it’s going to be hard and it’s going to take time, you’re more likely to last.

  • 27 Search Engine Traffic for New Blogs - Update << Vandelay Website Design Oct 25, 2007 at 5:37 pm

    […] month I posted an article with some pointers for new blogs that are trying to generate traffic from search engines. In that post I covered some of the methods that have helped me to quickly increase the traffic […]

  • 28 Putting Your Network Into Action << Vandelay Website Design Oct 27, 2007 at 2:34 pm

    […] week I participated in a series with 4 other bloggers. We each published a post on a specific day covering a topic that has helped us to grow our blog. […]

  • 29 Redefining Your Purpose << Vandelay Website Design Nov 21, 2007 at 11:04 pm

    […] started blogging as a way to add a little bit of content to this website so that it would draw more search engine traffic. My goal at the time wasn’t to post frequently or to gain a large group of readers. I wanted […]

  • 30 Nathan Ketsdever Dec 1, 2007 at 11:04 pm

    That post is sick!!! Great job!!!

  • 31 Free Web Traffic Guy Dec 16, 2007 at 7:57 pm

    I like your policy and comment about dofollow
    comments policy.

    It really helps the whole blogging community.
    Another day i installed a plugin for Wordpress,
    which helps to enforce the dofollow policy but
    also helps to change any link/comment to nofollow
    if it seems that some bot is posting spam comment LOL.

    Thanks for sharing this information.
    Best
    Traffic Guy

  • 32 internet marketing pr Jan 1, 2008 at 12:18 pm

    Great article, this is such an important concept. the many pages besides the homepage is the advantage of a blog. When each page gets a couple of views it starts to ad up and your web page gets the traffic.

  • 33 Techniques to Promote Your Blog : BlogSandwich News Bites Jan 6, 2008 at 10:07 am

    […] Participate in a group writing project with other bloggers […]

  • 34 GrotoMoffsoda Feb 16, 2008 at 4:22 pm

    Waiting. Fine. You’ll have your money.

  • 35 Blogging Community | Blog Traffic Increase | Make Money Blogging | Generate Traffic | Super Blogging Feb 18, 2008 at 4:05 am

    […] Vandelay Website Design - Driving Search Engine Traffic to a New Blog Tuesday: Blogging Tips - Be Selfish and Help Someone Wednesday: Blogtrepreneur - What’s Your […]

  • 36 NetDr Feb 19, 2008 at 10:43 am

    Thanks for the informative seo tips! but what for blogger blogs abt seo plugins?

  • 37 eyes on here! Mar 13, 2008 at 1:28 pm

    Have you seen the Easy Viral Traffic blog yet? They provide some pretty cool information about how to get free website traffic… check it out http://www.easy-viral-traffic.com/blog/

  • 38 Information Be Community Involved to Get More Traffic - DN For United Mankind Forum Mar 14, 2008 at 10:40 pm

    […] so you can be one of the first to know when they write new tips. Monday: Vandelay Website Design - Driving Search Engine Traffic to a New Blog Tuesday: Blogging Tips - Be Selfish and Help Someone Wednesday: Blogtrepreneur - What

  • 39 m4Aark__ » Want Your Blog To Be Famous? Try These Methods Now ( 100 Free Promotion Methods ) Apr 3, 2008 at 1:34 am

    […] Participate in a group writing project with other bloggers […]

  • 40 Malshi May 8, 2008 at 1:03 pm

    This is very useful.

    Malshi.

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    . Free SMS and free mobile ads!! Its fantastic

  • 41 Muscle Post May 21, 2008 at 2:38 pm

    This is a terrific post! I started my first blog over a month ago and am just starting to see a few visits per day from search engines. It’s a great feeling, and I’ve been posting very frequently so hopefully it continues and grows.

    Check out my site if you are interested in building muscle and gaining strength.