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11 Techniques to Increase Page Views on Your Blog

Posted By Darren Rowse 7th of December 2005 Blog Promotion 0 Comments

Yesterday my brief study into page view statistics revealed that the average blog reader views around 1.7 pages every time they visit a blog.

I finished the post by indicating that I’d post more on how to increase your blog’s page views.

Of course more page views may or may not be what you want from your blog. At least one commenter on the previous post noted that they are happy with a low page view count because it could mean people are leaving their blog by clicking on an advertisement and thereby earning them money. While there could be some truth in this observation and I’m not adverse to this happening on my blogs – I’m also interested in building blogs that people find interesting and useful and one of the many measures of this can be page views. Of course to get back to the money thing again – those of you running impression based ads will be interested in increased page views also.

Having said that – IF you’re interested in increasing the number of pages that your average reader reads, here are a few suggestions that might help:

1. Highlight Related Posts – one of the more common practices of bloggers to encourage readers to read multiple pages on their blogs is to to highlight related posts at the end of your article. You’ll notice that i presently have a list of 5 posts at the end of each individual page that suggests other posts that readers might find useful This list is generated by a WordPress PlugIn. Those of you using other blog platforms might find similar plugins for your own system or might like to manually suggest related articles at the end of your posts.

2. Interlink within Posts – a similar but perhaps more effective technique is to highlight relevant posts within the content of your posts. If you’re writing a post that mentions something similar to what you’ve written before simply link to your previous post from within your article. For example I’ve written about this technique previously in a post on increasing the longevity of key posts.

3. Highlight Key Posts and Categories in your Blog’s Hotspots – I’ve often mentioned that the hottest posts on this blog are those highlighted in my top three menus. Specifically it is those in the top left hand box at the top of this page that are always at the top of my most read post statistics. Depending upon the goals of your blog – you may wish to fill your blog’s hotspots with ads or affiliate programs – or you may want to highlight key posts that are central to your blog and which will hook readers into what your blog is about (thereby increasing page views). Highlighting your category pages is also another similarly useful technique to encourage your readers to find more posts on the same topic. To explicitly name what your category is can also be useful. ie rather than just having the category name at the end of the post – try something like ‘read more posts like this in our ((insert category name)) category’ or ‘filed under ((insert category name))’ etc.

4. Compilation Pages – Extending the previous idea about highlighting key posts you may wish to use posts in these positions that sneeze readers not just to one post on your blog but many. The best example of this on ProBlogger is my Top 20 Posts at ProBlogger post which is in my top left hand menu. This post, as the name suggests, suggests 20 posts on my blog that readers might like to read. I know that this is a post with immense power on this blog and that many first time readers use it to bounce into all corners of my blog. One or two new readers have fed back to me that this page and the pages that it linked to was the reason that they became hooked on ProBlogger. Every post they read added to the chances that they would become loyal readers.

5. Series – While you need to be a bit careful with writing series of posts over periods of time, they are a great way to keep readers coming back and once they are complete to have them surf through multiple pages on your blog. The most popular series on this blog is my Adsense for Bloggers series which leads readers through 8 posts. I know many readers progress through this series because I occasionally get a series of comments from a reader who is obviously progressing through it – 8 comments over 30 minutes or so as they comment on each post. Don’t just do a series for the sake of increasing page views of course – this can really frustrate readers but use them on longer posts or when you’re genuinely wanting to interact with a larger topic over time.

6. Excerpts on Front Pages – I know there are a segment of ProBlogger readers that detest seeing excerpts (extended entry feature) on blog front pages and are very cynical that it’s just a ploy to get more page views. While I personally like using excerpts on front pages it is not about page views for me (although I guess it is a side benefit of it). Personally using excerpts in this way is more about keeping my front page manageable and highlighting multiple posts on the front page. ie if a reader can come to my blog and see not only the last post but the title of the second and maybe even the third post then they are more likely to explore more than just the last thing you’ve written. I tend to only use the extended entry feature on longer articles and allow shorter ones of a paragraph or two go up on the main page – unless I either forget or see the post as an important one.

7. Excerpts in RSS – Once again there is always debate over this topic of full or partial RSS feeds. I know some bloggers main purpose in partial feeds is to get bloggers directly onto their blog – thereby increasing their impression/page view count. While this is certainly a benefit of partial feeds it is not my own reason for using them. Rather I use them for copyright protection and to stop people scraping my full content onto their site’s via RSS. Whatever reason you choose to use partial/excerpt feeds – you should also realize that doing so will cause some readers to unsubscribe to your blog completely. I know in going only with partial feeds that there are some other bloggers who refuse to visit my blog – this is a cost/benefit scenario that individual bloggers need to weigh up.

8. Enable links in RSS Feeds – Another way that I know a couple of bloggers use to get RSS readers to actually surf to their blogs is to enable the ability to post html/links in their RSS and then using links to previous posts in their blog, especially in the first paragraph or two of their posts. This is not a technique I’ve tried but I know of one blogger who swears by it and says it significantly impacted the number of visitors to his blog from RSS as well as the number of pages that they viewed.

9. Search Function – most blog blog platforms have the ability to use a search feature on your blog which enables users to search your blog for keywords. This feature obviously helps your readers to locate other posts on your site and as a result increases the potential for a multiple page view visit.

10. Build an Interactive Blog – one way to get readers coming back to your blog many times over a day is to have a blog that people want to interact with. I know some ProBlogger readers visit this site at least 10 times per day just so that they can engage in the conversation that happens in comments. Since I added the ‘subscribe to comments’ feature on this blog I’ve noticed some readers coming even more than normal – this can only be increasing page view levels as people return throughout the day. I’ve written (some time ago now) a few ideas on interactive blogging here and here.

11. Quality Content -This should go without saying but needs to be reinforced. Obviously if you write quality content your readers will want more of the same. Useful, original and interesting content should leave your readers hungering for more. Work on the quality of your blog and you’ll find that things like traffic levels and the numbers of pages being read should look after themselves and be on the rise.

There are no doubt other techniques for increasing page views. I’ve heard bloggers who swear by writing loads of posts per day to encourage readers to come back numerous times per day as one such technique – but I’d love to hear your experiences in comments below.

About Darren Rowse
Darren Rowse is the founder and editor of ProBlogger Blog Tips and Digital Photography School. Learn more about him here and connect with him on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
Comments
  1. More effective blogging

    See a great post on blogging more effectively, i.e., to get more traffic to your blog site ……

  2. Some Like It Partial: The Full Vs. Partial RSS Debate Continues

    Read Robert Scoble’s thoughtful explanation of his disdain for partial RSS feeds.  Scoble says he won’t subscribe to a partial RSS feed – one that displays only the first part of each post ("except for my brother’s blog," he admits).&…

  3. Thanks bro! Real good work!
    What I am actually saying is that we need to be willing to let our intuition guide us,
    and then be willing to follow that guidance directly and fearlessly.
    I would like you check out my nice blog about backgammon @ http://realmoney-backgammon.blogspot.com/

    backgammon

  4. Feel free to visit my blog. i have post my jurnal on how to get more traffic to my blog. Hope enjoy it.

  5. […] En Problogger han creado un interesante post sobre 11 t�cnicas que pueden ayudarte a la hora de mejorar el n�mero de p�ginas vistas de tu weblog. […]

  6. Congratulation, great article. Thanks!

  7. […] 11 Techniques to Increase Page Views on Your Blog 几个色块的颜色不错 (tags: color design) […]

  8. Increasing Traffic to Your Blog…

    I was asked yesterday how one would go about increasing traffic to your blog. After doing a little research (Google search – whenever you have a tech question, chances are someone has run into the same problem before you and……

  9. 3 Scattered Ideas on Blog Traffic Improvement…

    In December 2005, Darren Rowse at Problogger shared 11 excellent tips on how to increase page views at your blog.  His tips still hold water today.  Reading those classic tips again sparked three thoughts in me today:1. In June I……

  10. […] I have been reading some very interesting articles on generating more interest and participation for one’s site. I am not particularly interested in traffic for revenue issues, but rather for the discourse and exposure to other ideas that many times come along with it. I greatly encourage you to bring up any thoughts you may have on how you think this site could be improved, on the content that is currently being created and any general strategies you think may be helpful. To put everything in perspective, I know the greatest improvement I can make is to increase the quality and quantity of content. I know there no are easy shortcuts to good traffic. What I am hoping is rather than expect my traffic to explode, is to help some of those surfers stay on the site a little longer and perhaps find something else they may enjoy. […]

  11. […] 11 tips to increase pageviews on your blog […]

  12. Incredibly, when I took some of this guy’s advice, the hitrate at my site increased some threefold almost instantly!

    Our site promotes BMW parts suppliers, dealers and accessorizors to a pretty wide segment.

    Thanks!

  13. Thanks darren
    I learn a lot

  14. Roger Pookworth says: 02/26/2007 at 3:53 am

    This article leaves me sad and chastened. I’m not a blogger; I’m a reader. And it turns out that the once-egalitarian Internet has now become just like TV and other mass media, full of tricks to manipulate audiences into delivering the best statistics. Witness that the LAST item on the list to increase page views is to write high quality material — and that ‘almost goes without saying!’ I don’t blame anyone; business is business, I suppose. But it’s clear that the starry-eyed days of idealism on the Web — if ever there were any — are over.

  15. […] Ytterligare tips är att korslänka till andra inlägg på bloggen. Både genom att ha listor över populäraste inläggen, relaterade inlägg och föra fram viktiga inlägg för bloggen. Samma inlägg föreslår även att skriva inläggsserier, något som jag har funderat på också och kanske ska försöka satsa på. Bara man inte gör det i för stor utsträckning eller enbart för att få fler sidvisningar. […]

  16. […] has already been written for you. Thus, I present you with How To Increase Your Blog Traffic (as presented by ProBlogger). Since most of you don’t really want to read the entire thing, here are a few tips that I […]

  17. Hi,
    Really nice info for increasing your websites relevant visitors.Although i have a website not a blog. I m surfing net for to know how to increase visitors to my site. Is this book really nice? I want visitors for Handicrafts my URL is http://www.indianhandicraftsexporters.com
    If you have any suggestions please mail me or comment here i will check. Thank You
    Samay Ahuja

  18. […] Increase Pages Views on Your Blog […]

  19. I thought the RSS thing odd when I first read it over here awhile back. I always preferred the short version when I’m reading because it helps me to skim a lot of info and click only on those I want to read.

    But I switched mine just because it seemed to be the recommendation and my page views actually increased about the same time. Of course, I changed a lot of things right about then, so who knows what it is due to, but I haven’t had any fewer people visiting from the feed than before.

  20. can you see if i could improve my website any more from here .
    thanks in advance

    cheers
    balaji

  21. Any suggestions regarding submitting to search engines?

  22. How to increase rank on search engine?

    ————-
    http://paydigitalway.blogspot.com

  23. There are two more things you can do to increase your blog views…

    1) Post everything you put on your blog on Digg. I have doubled my views in one day by doing this.

    2) Post on other peoples blogs and make sure to leave behind your address.

    http://www.techaspect.net

  24. What if you don’t have multiple pages? I just want to get good results in search engines.

  25. i have to say that quality content is the best.

  26. You have offered some god advice on how to get more page views which we all want and the advice offered will I’m sure help in that matter.

  27. I have recently worked in linking the pages to older posts and also revisiting the older posts to update and spruce up the content.
    The two things I have noticed has increased my page views are:
    – Writing good content – as you say here – and I endorse it is very important to provide quality to the readers
    and
    – Writing often – the number of page views is directly proportional to the work you put in. The more you post and the better quality your PR increases and your page views as well and what’s more you become more credible in the blogosphere.

    http://careerbright.blogspot.com

    Thanks for all your suggestions Darren!

  28. Well, my blog finally reach over 100 visitor per days. :)

  29. Hi Darren, This is Deep Sukhwani here!

    I have just started blogging about 5 days back, I am completely new to this Blogging World, I need some guidance and some ways to go ahead and be a successful blogger.

    I was searching for ways to increase traffic to my Blogs and I just came across your profile. Please help me out.

    I have started blogging, because I am too much interested in knowing about this and be something as a Blogger.

    Please direct me some ways to be a successful BLOGGER and have a good earning by this Blogging.

    Please reply as soon as possible.

    Will be waiting for your reply..

    Thanks & Regards
    Deep Sukhwani

  30. Hi Darren, This is Deep Sukhwani here!

    I have just started blogging about 5 days back, I am completely new to this Blogging World, I need some guidance and some ways to go ahead and be a successful blogger.

    I was searching for ways to increase traffic to my Blogs and I just came across your profile. Please help me out.

    I have started blogging, because I am too much interested in knowing about this and be something as a Blogger.

    Please direct me some ways to be a successful BLOGGER and have a good earning by this Blogging.

    Please reply as soon as possible.

    Will be waiting for your reply..

    My mail id is [email protected]

    Thanks & Regards
    Deep Sukhwani

  31. […] how do you increase pageviews on your blog? Darren Rowse wrote about 11 tips to help visitors stay longer. I’m highlighting 7 of my favorite ways to […]

  32. Hello there,

    I like your article !

    I already use some things and other like Highlight Related Posts and try to group same topics under a group I will have to think in how to do it.

    Thanks for the hints !

  33. 1. Avoid stuffing of keywords in title; the keywords should be placed in the beginning.
    2. Write title keeping in mind the user, what are the users typing in general
    3. Write a title such to give the page a heading.
    4. Do keyword research before writing title tag, so you can include most important
    keyword
    5. Write title in a proper sentence.
    6. Every page should carry unique title
    7. Make your Title tag short and targeted for some particular keyword

  34. Thanks for the traffic increasing tips.

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  36. thanks daran this is a really nice article i have use some of them and result is same as you said there is little increment i should try more and go through your whole post I’ll tell you my result later

    http://www.tutorial-net.blogspot.com

  37. I want more than 500 visitors can I have this target within 15 days or how much time does it need. please help

  38. Great post as always you are informative and well read. I have been implementing some of your strategies on my website we will see if they have any effect.

  39. Great article – very practical. This topic comes up often in my line of work. Thanks!

  40. What a great post on increasing page views! It is very brief and to the point. I needed these without knowing myself.

    I got here through google search and other linkings. That also shows the use of linking through posts.

    Thanks to all for sharing valuable information that can help make the reader surf more on our blog.

  41. Do you know anyone who is a wiz w/the WordPress Plugin? I love the idea of showing a top 5 to get more readers to dive into all your other great information. Of all the topics on the matter you have a great understanding and provide a lot of information. I will bookmark this information to review more at a later date.

  42. Nice tips to increase traffic. Useful for new blogs.

  43. Thanks a lot for sharing such cool things like that of adsense. I have been through many pages of your blog and especially through those of adsense and i really liked all those.
    you know, i think you share very simple things in the sense most of them are well known but what i like is you present them in a different and interactive way.
    Good to find your blog.
    Thanks again.

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