In a bid to share the love of all things stitching with as many people as possible, I have spent the last few weeks trawling the net searching for free ways of increasing blog traffic.
So far I have:
1. Increased the number of ‘entry’ sites to my blog by:
- Creating a YouTube Channel and posted some ‘videos’ which I made using Windows Movie Maker, Powerpoint and some of my blog photos. http://www.youtube.com/user/TheStitchSharer
- Setting up a Facebook page and added a ‘Like’ button to my blog – thank you to all of you who have liked it so far! https://www.facebook.com/TheStitchSharer
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Turned on the automatic Twitter update on WordPress so that any new posts are tweeted. https://twitter.com/TheStitchSharer
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Opened a Ravelry account – where I’ve posted the links to my free knitting and crochet patterns.
2. Connected with fellow bloggers and the crafting community by:
- Enrolling the help of friends and family (thanks guys – you are awesome!) – to hand out business cards
- Reading and following lots of fabulous posts, added comments, and ‘Likes’ to blog posts and Facebook pages.
- Telling lots of friends and colleagues about “TheStitchSharer” and the mission of spreading ‘stitching-love’. I was even lucky enough to met Kirstie Allssop when she reopened my local B and Q!
3. Tried to get my blog listed in on-line craft directories:
So far I’ve done this with Brit Mums,and Craft Bloggers Network. One of the articles I read also mentioned a think called Linky’s – anyone know anymore about these?
4. Maximized my blog content by:
- Blogging regularly (I’m posting about once a week so hope that counts!)
- Making sure my posts are tagged with key words and that they have a URL that includes the post title.
- Using lots of photos
- Adding link backs to old posts (check out my ‘business’ page!)
- Adding sharing buttons to posts to make it easier for other to sharing stitchy love.
One blogger, Sarah from The Whole Knit & Caboodle blog was kind enough to email me some of her top tips for increasing blog traffic which I’m most grateful for (I still need to find out more about how to participate in giveaways!).
5. Remembered to Have Fun!
In a world where it is way to easy to get obsessed by the number of views and likes you have had, the last and most definitely rewarding thing I have done is to join an international craft swap. The one I am involved in is being hosted by House of Pinheiro – I received the name of my ‘swap partner’ at the weekend, can’t wait to get in contact with her !
….and has it worked??? Has my blog traffic increased????? Well…………
A bit of a mixed picture…. perhaps it’s just too early to know if any of the above has actually made a difference. Although the number of followers and views I’ve received month on month has gradually increased ………the total number of visits I’ve had per week seems to have fallen. Let’s hope it’s juts a Maths trend thing!
If I have a ‘top tip’ to share based on my experience to date on how to increase your blog traffic it is to keep focused on the reasons you write and the quality of your blog. Hits are great, don’t get me wrong, seeing them increase is a real buzz and indicates the message of stitching love is getting out there, but if you measure your “success” by them, they can also be disheartening – especially if your views start to fall.
I think the best way of increasing your blog traffic (in the long run) is to write good quality posts that have an impact on someone – if I can inspire one person to pick up their needle(s) or hook and they gain a sense of achievement from it, then I’ve done what I intended.
Would love to hear more about what you have tried and what has worked for you – send me a comment!
thestitchsharer 
I’m just starting out as a blogger, so thanks for the tips!
About the giveaways, on SewMamaSew, they host a craft giveaway twice a year (next one is on May 5th!), and hundreds of blogs participate, that seems to be a good one to get involved in.
Thanks for the tip. Will check out the next giveaway. Sounds very exciting. X
Great tips! As a new blogger it really helped. Thanks for following me, I don’t think I ever would have found you if you didn’t!!
Thank you. X
Phew! Great Post and such interesting Comments after. So grateful that someone mentioned TIME or the lack of it. One thing I have noticed since blogging is how many great blogs there are out there – and I want to read them all! Then there are the FB Pages and once I am on Pinterest – well the hours just melt away…. What I have found useful is the set-ups that feed my blog Posts to FB and Twitter and my Pinterest pinning into FB and Twitter.
I know what you mean! Striking a balance between crafting and blogging (with all the networking it comes with) is always a challenge! X
Thank you so much for this post! I found it to be extremely helpful and informative since I’m in the process of trying to increase traffic to my blog!
P.S. ~ I just liked your Facebook page!
Thank you so much (and for liking my Facebook page too!)
Thanks for this post! I’ve been trying to keep mine updated regularly (failing here lately). I’ve been so confused about Linkys, someone needs to do an in-depth post on them! I also try to pin my site to pinterest every chance I get and use a lot of different keywords. It’s led to a few views, but not many.
I must admit I was totally confused by linkys too! If you have a look at the comments by Hannah Elizabeth Smith she has written a great summary. So helpful.
These tips are great, thanks for the ideas 🙂
You’re welcome, hope they help others too! X
Great a post and great advice. Thank you!
Great post. There are a few points here that I haven’t tried yet. Thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome. x
Thanks for your post – definitely agree with your last point. I’ve begun blogging and wish I’d started sooner – it’s a great way to inspire people and personally I’ve loved the opportunity and excuse to sew more for myself!
I totally agree – it’s a great motivation to sew and stitch. x
Thanks for this post! It’s not easy starting out and it’s nice to have a few tips on how to increase interest. For the moment I’m really just taking my time and trying to enjoy it, will throw in some of your tips and see where it takes me!
Thanks alot, keep up the lovely blog and the good work 🙂
You’re welcome. Glad you are enjoying the blogging world – it’s a great way to find like minded people. x
Great post. I agree with nice piece of work, time is a really impotant one to remember. A linky is when you add a link to your page on another website. I regularly join in with handmade monday. It is a lovely party with great blogs. It takes time to read them all but it is mote than wortjh it on lots of levels. There are others around but their is badge on my site if you want to find out more. Twitter is the other way to buld up relatioships with others. Have you looked at hellocotton?
Thank you for your comment – I’ll have to check out Handmade Monday and Hellocotton. x
🙂
Congratulations. It certainly looks like all of the hard work you are putting into your blog is having a very positive effect. I find that it doesn’t just have an impact on your blog views, but also your confidence in what you do 😀
I will certainly be taking on board some of your tips 😀
As for Linky’s, these are link parties. This is where blogs, often the most popular, host parties where everyone can link up their latests posts or projects. it is a great way of reaching out to a wider audience and also gaining some inspiration for yourself. I participate in quite a few. Here is the link to the page on my blog where I showcase all of the link parties I participate in. just click on the image to take you through to them and hopefully you will find some you like.
http://madewithhugsandkisses.wordpress.com/link-parties/
If you hear of any more please let me know so I can add them to my list
Happy blogging
Hannah xxx
Thank you for your lovely words and the info on linky’s. I know this might seem a silly question, but how do you get involved and sign up? Do you have to put some code into your blog, make a post on a certain day or something else??
Oh no, nothing like that (and there are no silly questions when it comes to blogging!) 😀 you just pop along to the blog on the day they are hosting their link party and type in your name and the URL of you post, maybe add a picture and you are done. Sometimes they ask for you to follow their blog and display their button somewhere on your blog a a thank you, but that is all. you can come and go as you please, you don;t have to upload anything if you don’t want to, there is no commitment but it is generally understood that you will perhaps click on a few of the links made by other people and show support. links tend to only be open for a day or two so you have to upload before they close, Normally you just scroll down to the bottom of their link post, and just below the thumbnails of all the projects people have linked there is a little button that says ‘link up’ or something similar. just click that and it will take you through step by step
Hope this helps hun, sorry for the essay 😀 xXx
Thank you so much for the info on links, it has really helped me to understand them. I will have a go at joining in!
I do my own giveaways…I let the people that like my page share the giveaway to their friends, then they come like my facebook page and do what’s necessary to participate in the giveaway…I find this works pretty well so I don’t get innundated with traffic I can’t handle
That’s a great idea – how do you get the people who like your page share the giveaway with their friends? Would love to hear more.
I love the idea of having a YouTube channel do you have to pay for this? How do u make videos using PowerPoint??
The Youtube channel I have is a free one – I basically made some text slides on powerpoint and saved them as jpeg format and then imported them, along with the photos into Windows Movie Maker. I had look at some Youtubes videos to find out how to do it. If you need any help, just let me know x
Great post, great tips, thank you, it all helps. (I just liked your fb page, by the way ).
All your ideas are good, and with time should really start to come together to have a major impact. I think that’s what a lot of people forget about – TIME. It takes time to spread yourself around and maintain the spreading (if you know what I mean).
You’re doing great so far! And a give-away is a fab idea – I’ve done a couple (and in fact am having a draw tomorrow for my owl cushion) and generates lots of new interest.
Thank you for your encouragement and for liking my fb page – I think you are totally right about the time thing too! Your owl cushion is so cute – a great prize for a give away. If I wanted to do one myself, apart from putting the info on my blog and fb page, do you have any tips for how to let people know you are doing one?
I’ll mail you 🙂
Thank you – that would be great. I’ll look out for your email. x