Search and Social Results

Are there other bloggers currently blogging with consistency which you feel have the same philosophy on the subject you write about? Another great way to garner more readers, get more backlinks from relevant websites, and ultimately have a highly read blog which gets republished and referenced is [inter]networking with what you might consider competitors or same-subject bloggers. The search engines give you more credit for your keywords when sites that are on the same subject link to your website verses on off-topic sites. Secondly, if other bloggers in your industry like you, he/she will promote your posts as well to a much larger audience than you currently have.

Who are the Big Daddies which have a huge readership?
Before wasting your time networking with every blogger on your topic, you need a rating system to let you know who is worth going after and who is not. When a blogger does not owe his/her blog (hosted on wordpress.com, blogspot.com or Livejournal), it’s a little harder to tell.

If the blogger does own their domain, there are a number of yardsticks in which one can get a better idea of how valuable the relationship. Traffic, backlinks, RSS feed subscribers, PageRank, Alexa, comments/audience engagement are all great measures.  Add Search Status to your Firefox browser and you will be able to quickly judge who’s hot, who’s not. Also, using a site like Compete.com will give you an idea how much traffic a specific blogger is capturing each month.

How to Get on the “Radar” of Big Bloggers

Mentioning and linking to their posts from time-to-time will put you on their radar. Linking off of your site to get more traffic may seem counter-intuitive, but you have to look at the big picture. Aggregations of highly useful links add value to your readers. A-List bloggers knew this secret on their rise to the top, and they do it for a specific reason. The Law of Reciprocity.

Don’t think of this as “losing traffic,” because you’re actually adding value to readers, and gaining respect from competitors as a thought leader and team player in the community. Before you can be seen as a thought leader, you have to get on their radar. In the beginning you must think in abundance, not scarcity. Trying not to lose the very little traffic and influence you have currently will only aid in keeping your blog down on the search engines and in front of less people.

Here are nine ways to make them notice you:

1. Link to their blog often in posts using a DoFollow link and anchor text you think they would like.
2. Put them on your Blog Roll.
3. Subscribe to their RSS feed & be the first one to comment on their blog posts and do it often without SPAMMING or leaving extra links to your blog besides the one automatically provided in your handle.
4. Quote them with a link to their blog.
5. Be patient and develop a relationship over time before asking for links.
6. Befriend him/her on Facebook and Twitter & communicate with him/her often (don’t be discouraged by lack of response).
7. Guest post on other blogs he/she reads, but are not quite as popular yet.
8. Meet him/her in person at a conference and tell them you are a fan.
9. Have an excellent blog on a similar subject, mention you are a big fan, and offer to guest post pitching them on a specific and compelling article using an outline.

For almost five years, Dallas Internet Marketing Consultant Neil Lemons has worked behind-the-scenes to help create exposure, traffic, leads, and sales through major search engines like Google, Yahoo!, and Bing. Calling upon his diverse background in copywriting, advertising, marketing, and sales, he has been learning traditional SEO and SEM tactics since 2004 and implementing since 2005.

Flickr photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/67307569@N00/