Welcome to part 2 of "Why Every Artist Needs a Blog", a series showing how a successful blog can help you sell more art. Now that you have successfully published your artist blog and have tested your dedication to frequent blog posting, it's time to get your blog exposure on the web. Using blog-specific online marketing techniques, you can promote your blog to a target audience and build quality traffic to it - for free. 7 Steps to Build Traffic to your Artist Blog

1. Submit to Blog Directories

A list of the top 35 blog directories with direct links to submission pages and inclusion requirements is available at The ARTrepreneur. Keep in mind that the process of submitting to directories is always long and tedious, but will absolutely prove its return on the time investment, especially considering that it's free online promotion for your blog.

Create a record of submission document for your blog to keep track of submission dates, member registration information, etc. Many of the better blog directory sites require a reciprocal link or tracking script to get listed, so work with your technical support person to place a reciprocal link on the page.

Make sure that the information you submit to the directories is consistent. Meaning, always submit the same title and description for your blog. The title you submit should be the title tag and meta description for your blog - both written using optimized copy rich with your blog's keywords. (See Part 1 of this series for tips on writing optimized copy for your blog)

2. Ping Blog Services

"Pinging" is a way of letting blog directories and search engines know that you have updated your blog. By sending a ping to each service, you let them know that a new post has been published so they can come check you out.

Bookmark Ping-O-Matic - a site that lets you ping many blog sites with one click: http://pingomatic. com/

3. Optimize each blog post for search engines

Getting visibility in natural search for a blog post is no different than getting visibility for a web page. The same rules of "writing for search" apply - meaning keyword rich titles, content length, optimized hyperlinks, alt tags, etc. Here are quick tips for optimizing each of your blog posts for higher rankings in natural search results:

Identify your keyword phrase. Is it something people actually search for? If not - phrase it differently. For example instead of using "The Dorm Diet" for a title, you might consider "Lose the Freshman 15" since freshman 15 is a very popular searched phrase. (source: http://inventory. overture. com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/)Blog Entries should be at least 300 words long. Your targeted keyword phrase should appear 3-5 times in the entry (once in the title, in the summary and throughout the blog)Use the keyword phrase in any hyperlinks you have in the blog as well as in any bulleted list. Use ALT tags for your images

4. Build Links to Your Blog

A link building campaign is the best way to get quality and relevant traffic to your blog. These methods, although time consuming, are the best ways to get links pointing to your blog.

Link to your blog from the main page of your site. Use your blog as often as possible in the "related links" area of articles published on your site. Post legitimate comments on other blogs with related topics and include a link back to your blog with your signature. Offer to exchange links with other similarly themed blogs and websites.

5. Promote Bloglet

Bloglet is a free service for people to sign up for an email alert each time their favorite blog publishes a new post. It's perfect for people who have not jumped on the RSS bandwagon just yet, or for those that never will (sorry mom!). Set up a Bloglet subscription form on your blog and invite everyone to subscribe: http://www. bloglet. com

6. RSS Feeds

Set your blog to display RSS feeds and submit your blog's RSS feed to the major RSS feed directories online. Go here for a list of the top RSS directories: http://www. rss-specifications. com/rss-submission. htm

Make sure you have an RSS feed URL that people can subscribe to. Test your feed here: http://feedvalidator. org/Use the same submission guidelines listed in step 1 above (Blog Directory Submissions) to have consistent results.

7. Email Signature

Use your mail program to create an email signature file that will be included in every email you send. Keep it short with your name, email address, blog title and URL. This little trick will work wonders! Become an active member of a relevant online community forum and add your blog title and URL to your signature line at the bottom of each message you post.

Building traffic to your artist blog is not a scientific process. It takes time, hard work, and persistence to build a loyal audience and create your niche interactive community on the web. Tracking your success is a key motivational tool that will help get you through some guaranteed trying times that come with building a successful blog. Be sure to benchmark the current state of your traffic, your rankings on the major search engines (Google, Yahoo, MSN) and the visitor commenting activity on your blog before implementing these free online marketing techniques. Kristin Royce is a search engine

optimization and online marketing professional contributing online

marketing and promotional content for artists to The ARTrepreneur E-Zine and newsletter. The ARTrepreneur offers articles helping artists focus on proven techniques to accomplish any goal. Read More: http://www. theartrepreneur. comCopyright? 2005 Arctic Mouse, Inc. All rights reserved.

Author:
Kristin Royce