Starting From Zero Traffic: My Initial Traffic Strategies

I started the RealFirstSteps.com blog on April 6, 2009 (the blog you are reading now). I started with:

- Zero traffic
- No list
- No backlinks
- In a very competitive market (online business, blogging, make money online)

So, I started just like everyone else–I had determined what I wanted my blog to be about and I did some keyword research before I published my first post. That’s about it.

As of May 29, 2009 this blog had a page rank of 2 and had a traffic increase of 880% over the previous month:

I would have to say these numbers are not bad for a 7 week old blog with 41 posts on it.

With that said, I’m going to reveal the initial traffic generation strategies I used to get to this point with a very new blog.

I’ll also provide you an actual case study at the end of this guide showing you just one example of my placement on the first page of Google for a very competitive search phrase and doing that in less than 2 weeks with a single blog post that was less than a month old at a time.

Many of my personal traffic generation strategies are covered on this blog. Those that aren’t covered below will be covered soon.

Here are the 11 initial traffic strategies in a nutshell that I used to get traffic and search engine placement in a new blog:

1. I expanded my ping list and implemented a custom permalink structure for my blog posts.

2. I conducted some simple research using Google’s free External Keyword Tool.

3. I use the Google XML sitemap plugin.

4. I made sure that each blog post I publish is optimized using the All in One SEO Pack plugin, with a keyword optimized title and description.

I use this plugin to optimize my original content posts, as well as my auto-generated Amazon resource review posts using Amazon Autoposter Premium.

Note: I don’t use the Amazon Autoposter Premium plugin for Amazon affiliate commissions or the automatic posting feature (which I don’t use–I produce drafts. I am more interested in the keyword relative content it generates that I can edit, expand and optimize for blog content and traffic).

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That covers the very core of my traffic efforts so far. Fairly simple, without the need for a bunch of different “programs” to try to sift through.

I have a tendency to move slowly and methodically, using only one “major” program at a time to increase traffic to my blog. Otherwise, I won’t know what works and what doesn’t.

When it comes to blogging, I don’t want to spend one minute on anything that’s not going to bring me more traffic (and income).

But I do want to give you an example of just how powerful these simple things I have described can be…

I wrote a blog post May 6, 2009 (original publication date) called How To Make Money Watching TV. The search phrase make money watching TV is a very competitive one in a very competitive market.

If you click here, you will see that my blog post is on the first page of the Google search results (#8 the last time I checked). That blog post was listed on the first page of Google within 7 days of posting.

I cannot tell you that it was all backlinking that has caused the search engine placement and significant traffic increase that I have experienced. But I can tell you that I believe that it has certainly played a significant part.

I will keep you up to date as this blog continues to develop. I hope you are getting my newsletter…

Cheers,
Steve Roye
Online Business Consultant

About the Author/Founder of The Stand-up Comedy Tips Blog

Steve Roye is the author of the Killer Stand-up Comedy System and author of the content made available in the Comedy Pro Membership Program.

Over the past decade, Steve has established himself as a leading, globally recognized expert in the field of stand-up comedy material development, delivery and entertainment business strategies for comedy entertainers as well as speaking professionals.

For more information about Steve, please check out the About The Author section on this site.

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