AdWords Makes Cents

I haven’t had a lot of luck with Google AdWords. Although I haven’t spent much money on AdWords. The most I’ve ever spent on Google AdWords in a month is probably around $100. I didn’t get really anything out of it but a couple hundred extra visitors. I used GoogleAdwords to drive traffic to one of my CafePress shop with mild success, but not too impressive. Maybe I should experiment with it more.

Digg can be Delicious

If you want fast traffic for absolutely FREE, social networks such as Digg and Delicious are the way to go. The best way to do it is to write a great bookmarkable article. Blogging a great list of resource that relate to your blog’s niche is a tried and true way to get lots of free traffic. Write a great intro and setup an ordered list of 50 - 75+(we’re trying to get dugg here) of valuable, bookmarkable resources. For each item write a brief summary, why the resource is useful, pro & cons, include a link to the resource or other contact info, be sure to format. Don’t forget to always check your grammar and spelling. If you hone in on these to networks and learn how they work and what they like you can have instant traffic success and if your blog stands out from the crowd, will gain many loyal readers in the process.

Best Bang for your Buck

Another way to get instant traffic to your blog is to pay for the traffic. StumbleUpon offers a very low cost per visit price structure at $0.05 per visitor. Simply sign up and create a campaign. Be sure to click on the advanced options. This allows you to hone in on your target audience. You can select to show your ad only to visitors from a certain city, state, or males and females or even age range.

Most people can afford $25 - $50. Think about it; that is 2,500 - 5,000 visitors. It could take a few months of blogging for a new blog to receive that many hits. I use this technique frequently with moderate success and it works particularly well with t-shirts too. The hits are guaranteed; the sales and stickiness of your website are another story.

You can use many other social bookmark sites in this way. The trick is using the right network for the right niche blog. But we’ll leave that discussion for another day.