10 Great Tactics to Increase Blog Traffic

Guest Post By Brian Martinowich.

One of the biggest hurdles encountered by beginning bloggers is increasing blog traffic above a few dozen daily page views. Producing content for a small audience is frustrating, especially when you're unsure whether your efforts will ever be appreciated. Even more experienced bloggers who have more than 1,000 daily readers can find themselves on a plateau and in need of some tactics to kick their traffic up to the next level.

Blogs with several hundred thousand daily readers have more than luck -- they’ve built a loyal readership by creating a strategy that relies on a variety of proven tactics. If you're looking for more readers, try these 10 tactics to increase traffic to your blog:
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Color Code Generator

This Color Code Generator will help you get the six digit color code i.e hexadecimal value. It could be very effective if you want to get a perfect combination of colors for your blog and if you have a good experience about color picking and selection matching, this will help you to make your blog to look really professional. The Color Code Generator is also very useful when you try to blend the Google AdSense ads with the site content.


Instructions

- Drag the bar on the "Hue" selector to the area of your desired colour palette.
- Then click inside the Brightness/Saturation area and drag the cursor until you have achieved your desired colour. The "Swatch" bar shows you the final colour result.
- The hexadecimal colour code is generated in the "Hex" box. Simply copy the six digit code i.e #000000

How to add Hex Colour Code Generator

To install Hex Color Code Generator on a Blogger/Blogspot page or post, copy the following code and paste it in the post or page HTML:

How to submit your Blogger Sitemap to Google

What are Sitemaps?

Sitemaps are text files containing a list of all web pages that exist on your website and are accessible to crawlers and users. These helps visitors and search engine bots to find pages on website. Sitemaps are a way to help Google indexing pages on your site which otherwise might not be discovered.

If your blog is hosted on blogspot.com (or if you are using a self-hosted version of Blogger with a custom domain) you will be surprised to find out that the default sitemap file, contains only the 26 most recent pages of your blog which in normal case should contain all URLs of a website.
Many webmaster pretend to teach others how to drive traffic to blogs or websites yet leaving out the most important factors like sitemaps. There are still other websites who keep on providing the old methods of generating a sitemap for blogger which are not any effective.

How to add a complete Sitemap for your Blogger Blog

Step 1: If you haven't done this already, sign-in to your Google Webmasters account and add your blog. For details, check this tutorial on how to add a blog to Google.

Step 2: Once your blog is added to Google, go to Webmaster Dashboard  and click on your site address

Step 3:  On the left panel choose Crawl > Sitemaps - then click on the Add/Test Sitemap button.

Add each of the following codes:

/atom.xml?redirect=false&start-index=1&max-results=500
/atom.xml?redirect=false&start-index=501&max-results=500
/atom.xml?redirect=false&start-index=1001&max-results=500

If your blog have lots of pages, add the sitemaps below:

atom.xml?redirect=false&start-index=1501&max-results=500atom.xml?redirect=false&start-index=2001&max-results=500
atom.xml?redirect=false&start-index=2501&max-results=500
atom.xml?redirect=false&start-index=3001&max-results=500

Add Your Blogspot Blog to Google

1) Log in to your Google Webmaster Tools account.

2) Click the "Add a site" button at the top of the screen.

3) Enter the URL address of your blog (for example http://my-site.blogspot.com/) and press Continue
4) Select the method you would like to use to verify ownership. Here you can either upload an HTML file with a name we specify (which is not possible with Google Blogger account), or you can add a META tag to your site's index file.

Choose Alternate Methods:

5) Under Alternative Methods Click Add a meta tag to your site's homepage.

6) Copy the Meta tag Code generated.

7) Open a new tab and login into your blogger account.

8) Go to Template > Edit HTML

 ...and search (CTRL + F) for the following tag:

 

9) Just below of it, paste the META code and then click the Save Template button.

10) Switch to Google Webmaster Tools tab and press on the "Verify" button.

Now your site is added to sitemap account and the verification is done.

Blogger Dynamic Views Templates Now Have Docked Slide Out Sidebar Gadgets

Blogger launched Dynamic Views templates in March last year.Dynamic Views work great on some blogs but they are not for everyone, one of the features lacking was a sidebar for gadgets.Today Blogger have gone some way towards fixing this with a slide out sidebar.The sidebar is docked on the side of the page and appears on hover.Not all gadgets can be added, at the moment gadgets supported in Dynamic Views include: Blog Archive, Followers, Labels, Profile, Subscribe (a new gadget - automatically present if either Follow By Email or Subscription installed), and Link List. These gadgets make it easier for your readers to navigate your blog (archive, labels), and to follow it (followers and RSS).
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Style blogspot blogger date header

This can be a really cool addition to your blog which can be easily customized to suit your layout and design. What we are going to do in this tutorial is to change the Blogger date header background color with some simple CSS adjustments that will make the date header float on the left side of your post and be partially out of the structure, like a banner with a colorful appearance.

Customize the Date Header of a Blogger Blog

Step 1. Log in your Blogger account and go to Template > Edit HTML

Step 2.Click anywhere inside the code area and search (CTRL + F) for the following code:

.date-header span

Below this code you should see some lines like these:

.date-header span {
  background-color: $(date.header.background.color);
  color: $(date.header.color);
  padding: $(date.header.padding);
  letter-spacing: $(date.header.letterspacing);
  margin: $(date.header.margin);
}

Step 3. You will need to replace the code above with this one:

.date-header {
margin: 0px 0px -50px -190px;
}
.date-header span {
background-color: #DDEDAA;
color: #444;
padding: 16px;
border-radius: 70%;
border: 3px solid #bada55;
}
.date-header:before {
background: none repeat scroll 0 0 #FCFCFC;
border: 10px solid #FFBD54;
border-radius: 100%;
bottom: -50px;
content: "";
display: block;
height: 30px;
position: absolute;
width: 30px;
z-index: 10;
margin-left: 140px;
}
.date-header:after {
background: none repeat scroll 0 0 #F9F9F9;
border: 7px solid #bada55;
border-radius: 100%;
bottom: -17px;
content: "";
display: block;
height: 15px;
position: absolute;
width: 15px;
z-index: 10;
margin-left: 166px;
}

How to Customize the Date Header

To change the:
- background color, replace #DDEDAA with the hex code of your color
- font color, replace #444
- border color of the bigger circle below the date header, replace #FFBD54
- border color of the green circle, replace #bada55
- distance between date and post, change the -190px value from margin-left

Step 4. Click the "Save template" button to save the changes. That's it!

Now you've applied a new style to the date header of your Blogger posts. Please note that codes vary from template to template and if you have a custom template, there might be a different CSS selector for the date header.

Display post author, date, labels and comments with icons below post titles

In this tutorial, you will see how to add more info in the Blogger posts like blog author's name, a time stamp for published posts, labels and comment count links. The comment links will display the 'Be the first to comment!' text in posts with no comments and once we get a comment, it will show '1 comment so far'. On the left side, it will show the author's name, a clock icon with date when posts have been published and finally, the post labels.

How to Add Author, Date, Labels and Comment Bubbles to Blogger

Step 1. From the Blogger Dashboard > go to "Template" and press the "Edit HTML" button

Step 2. Click inside the code area and press the CTRL + F keys to open the blogger' search box

Step 3. Type or paste the below code inside the search box and hit Enter to find it:

Note: If you can't find the code above, look for this one:

Step 4. After this code add the following code:

| |


|


   
       
         
            Be the first to comment! Comment so far Comments so far
         
       
   

How to customize:

To change the icons, replace the URLs in blue from above with the image URLs:
- First one is the icon for the Author
- Second one is the Clock icon
- The 3rd one is the icon near the Labels
- And the last one is for the comment bubble

Related: How to Add Comment Bubbles to Blogger posts titles

Step 5. Click the "Save template" button and you're done!

Six Tricks to Keep Your Blog Posts Engaging

Guest Post By Grace Pamer.
Most article writers produce content for the Internet, and Internet readers are notoriously hurried. If your writing fails to grab and retain their attention, you lose your readership within the count of five. Really! The following are six simple rules that help a writer engage their audience and keep them reading.

Expert Writers are Always Avid Readers

Writing is an art. Just imagine being a painter who sees only your own work, or a musician that never listens to others. The talent fades away, or at best, never improves. The same principle of thriving on exposure to other's work is also true when writing. Reading a wide variety of works, from poetry to articles about article writing, enriches your own skills.
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How to remove/delete labels from Blogger posts

Many bloggers might find labels below posts (or post titles) unnecessary, as long as they are already in the blog's sidebar. So, this tutorial will show you how to remove them manually from the Template's HTML. To hide labels from the blogger post footer (or below post title), we could simply uncheck the "Labels" option; however, this setting might not work properly in some custom templates and then, we'll have to remove the code from our template.

How we are going to do this?

Hide labels in Blogger Posts using CSS

Step 1. Log in to your Blogger account > head to the 'Template' tab > hit the 'Edit HTML' button:

Step 2. Click anywhere inside the code area and search by using the CTRL + F keys the tag below (hit Enter to find it):

Step 3. Just above the tag, add the following style:

Step 4. Click the 'Save Template' button to save the changes and view your blog. The labels below the posts should be hidden now.

How To Remove Blogger Navbar

WHAT IS BLOGGER NAVBAR?

Blogger has got a Navigation Bar that appears by default at the top of every Blogger-powered blog. This navigation bar can be very useful when you are blogging, but sometimes, it can get in the way. The Blogger navbar is usually hidden in most of the third party templates, so this tutorial might be useful only for those who are using a default Blogger template.

Advantages:

- when you click on the B icon, it will take you to blogger.com;
- a quick link to your Dashboard and "Sign in /Sign out" dialog;
- you can easily search and find other blogs;
- you can "Flag Blog" (if you consider content of a blog objectionable);
- NextBlog - takes you to a random, recently-updated Blogger blog;

The only disadvantage is visual. If you have customized design, this navbar just doesn't fit in. So, how could we get rid of it? It is very easy. Just follow these steps below:

Turn off The Blogger Navbar

Step 1. Log in to your Blogger account, click on your blog and head to the 'Layout' tab > look for the 'Navbar' heading and click on the Edit link as shown in this picture:

Step 2. When the pop-up window appears, scroll down and select 'Off', then click the Save button:

And that's it! With only two easy steps and we have already removed the Blogger Navbar.

Add Stylish jQuery Text Resize Buttons To Posts On Blogger Blogs

I have had a few requests for a tutorial on adding text re size buttons to posts on Blogger.Back in 2009 i published a gadget that allowed visitors to change all the text size and fonts on your blog including headings, sidebar text and post text.But this time i wanted a gadget that onlu changed the text in the posts.I checked out a number of scripts and styles before settling on the one i have for you today.Using some simple jQuery and some colorful icons in a table we can create a stylish text resize section and float them on the corner of posts.The gadget has three buttons to increase text size, decrease text size and a reset button along with the standard text resize icon.

Take a look at the demo below :

Add Colorful Text Resize Gadget To Blogger Posts

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Tips And Guidelines For Accepting And Publishing Guest Posts On Your Blog

Guest Blogging has become hugely popular over the last few years.It is also hugely beneficial for both the guest submitting the post and the blogger publishing the post.The main benefit for the guest blogger lies in their work being shown to a new and often larger audience and of course those ever so valuable backlinks in the author bio section at the foot of their post.Indeed many articles have been written on the benefit of becoming a guest author and strategies in writing and submitting guest posts.

But what about the other side of the coin, the blogger looking to publish guest posts.Here i want to look at my personal experience as a blogger going from wondering if the link to submit guest posts on my blog was working to receiving up to 50 posts and enquires weekly.While it's fantastic having such an interest from bloggers all over the world in contributing, not all submissions have your blogs best interests in mind.I have probably only actually published between ten or twenty percent of posts submitted.

As the number of guest post submissions increased i realised i needed a system to deal them.I also realised i needed a strict policy and set of rules.

First i have 4 basic Guest Post rules.

1. Post must be on topic with your blog - On my blog that covers blogging tips and tutorials i have received posts on topics as far afield as Picking a cellphone to buying a used car.While you may think its easier to just ignore emails with such posts you may end up wasting time opening follow up emails, i reply with simply "No Thanks post is totally off topic".In one case a blogger has accidentally sent me the wrong post and the post that was written for my blog was subsequently published so do reply.

2. Post must have no links in the body - The accepted rule in guest posts is two Do-Follow links for the author in the foot of the post.However i have received countless posts stuffed with links to the authors sites.Of course there are exceptions, some posts use references that will require a link.In such cases links advance the post and are not an author looking to benefit.Recently i have been contacted by writers for SEO company's that submit

3. Quality - I know when i started to receive guest posts it was exciting in the same way as the first few comments you receive as a new blogger.This can lead you to perhaps letting your standards drop in an effort to publish those first few guest posts.However i feel you need to be strict when it comes to quality right from the start.If I'm unsure of a post i will delay replying and take a second look the following day, i find on a second read i usually know if it's up to scratch or not.

4. Exclusive - Every guest post much be original and not published anywhere else.Posts should be written for your blog and your audience.One post sticks in my mind when it comes to this.I read a post submitted for my blog and was extremely impressed but i had a feeling i had seen it before.I copied a few of the main phrases from the post and popped them into Google and sure enough when i searched i found the post published previously numerous times.

In Search Of Backlinks

One of the trends i have seen recently is SEO company's hiring writers to submit guest posts to blogs.Webmasters and Bloggers hire SEO company's to help their sites performance on search engines.One of the best ways for an SEO to do this is by building backlinks to their clients site.We all know building backlinks is not easy, even for experienced SEO's.With this in mind SEO's have taken advantage of the Guest Post.Writers create and submit posts with the sole purpose of linking to the clients website.

I guess this would not necessarily be a bad thing if the posts were quality and did not break any of the 4 rules above.But i have found these posts are written with the sole purpose of building links, not providing information to my readers.The posts are often off topic, stuffed with keywords connected to the site they link to and contain links in the main content.Indeed many posts submitted by these writers will have an external link in the first paragraph and no author bio, a real indication of the posts purpose.

Don't Be Afraid To Edit

Once you have received a post you are happy to publish it does not need to be a direct copy and paste, remember you have the final say on how it's published.Don't be afraid to make changes to the title or content if you think it will improve the finished article.

Saving Time

As mentioned i receive many Emails from potential guest writers.Replying to each individually can become very time consuming.With that in mind i have a collection of messages ready to copy and paste into my reply.Then all i have to do is add the name of the recipient and extra info if needed.

These include :

• A reply message to original enquires.
• A reply message accepting a guest post.
• A reply message declining a guest post.

This is an example of a reply message to original enquires :

Hi Name,

Thanks for getting in contact.

I'm always looking for quality guest posts so feel free to submit a post in the format your most comfortable with.

You will receive 2 links in the author bio section, but links (Unless necessary to the post) can not be added to the main content.

Further details can be found here - Link To Your Guidelines Page .

Regards,

Name.

Guest Posts can be a fantastic content resource, But don't lower your standards or let your blog become a link farm for cunning SEO's.Check out our Guest Post Write For Us page.

Drop Your Comments And Questions Below.

Adding Post Titles To Older Post Newer Post Links On Blogger

One Wordpress feature i really like that is not available on Blogger is last post, next post links at the foot of the page with the actual titles of the posts they link to.On Blogger we have got Newer Post, Older Post links but the title of the post is not shown.I feel these links would get a super increase in clicks if the titles were connected.With simply "Newer" and "Older" people don't know what they are clicking the titles will catch the eye and thus entice more clicks.The knock on effect of this will see more page views that will lead to more return visitors, subscribers and followers.

I said this feature was not available on Blogger, that is until now.A few people have created hacks to add the titles to the older, newer links including myself but every time it had errors.However one hack i have seen does the job perfectly.
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Add Animated Rainbow Changing Colors To The Links On Blogger

In this post i have a neat effect for the links on your blog.Using some javascript you can make the links on your blog change through different colors when the cursor is hovered over them.The effect comes from Dynamic Drive and we have a one click button to add it to your blog in seconds.Check out the demo below, simply hover your cursor over the post titles or any of the links on the demo blog.

Add Rainbow Links To Your Blog

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12 Best Free Current Wordpress Social Bookmarking Plugins

Almost very blog and website online have Social Bookmarking options for readers to share content on their favorite social networks.Some go with the simple Facebook and Twitter buttons below posts while others offer more networks in various positions on the page.For Wordpress users there are a countless number of plugins available to make their blog more social.In this post we have 12 of the best free Social Bookmarking plugins for Wordpress users.

12 Social Bookmarking Plugins For Wordpress

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How To Add Colorful Css Animations To BuySellAds Banners

I'm sure you will all have noticed the effect i have added to the BuySellAds.Com ad banners on this blog.I think the effect is awesome and brings more attention to the ads which keep our advertisers happy.The first time i seen this type of effect was on the awesome Css Tricks by Chris Coyier.With the help Of Harish from Custom Blogger Templates and Way2Blogging i managed to get a version for this blog.I have had many requests for the code in the past but as the idea was originally from Chris i was slow to share it.However as Css Tricks no longer use the effect and i have seen it used on lots of other blogs which i presumed viewed the source of this blog to copy the code I think it's the right time to do a tutorial.The effect is created using only Css.

Remember this is set up to work only with ads and Advertise Here banners from BuySellAds.Com.For the 125x125 banners your sidebar will need to be at least 300px wide.Wordpress and other users can add the Css from the scroll box below to their style sheet , below i have a Blogger tutorial.
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Latest Google Page Rank Update Underway Feburary 2012

I know all bloggers and webmasters keep an eye on their sites Google Page Rank.In short Page Rank is an indication of how Google rank your site in a scale from 1 to 10.Check out a previous post with more on Google Page Rank.We have been expecting a Page Rank update by the end of January start of February and i can confirm today that update has started.This site has seen a page rank increase from 4/10 to 5/10, i know this only happened today from a stats on our BuySellAds.

How To Check Your Blogs Page Rank

If you have the Google Toolbar Installed you will see the little green bar with the current page Page Rank.Other wise use our Free Google Page Rank Checker Tool right here on Spice Up Your Blog.

Hope you got a Page Rank Increase, Let Us Know In The Comments !

Drop Your Comments And Questions Below.

Shareaholic jQuery Slide Bookmarking Gadget With Tooltips And Counters For Blogger And Wordpress

Over the years on Spice Up Your Blog i have found Social Bookmarking gadgets to be amongst the most popular posts.Whats more the most popular Bookmarking gadgets have been from the "Sharing Is Sexy" series.Back in May 2011 we published a post with The Awesome Complete Animated Sexy Social Bookmarks V3 For Blogger, that post really did cover all options.Today i want to give you something similar but with some cool extras.The Shareaholic bookmarking widget still has the "Drop Down" and "Slide Up" features but also features tool tips and counters showing how many times your posts were shared.Take a look at the demo and screenshot below (for the demo scroll to the foot of the post on the test blog).

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