Increase Impressions With the Same Amount of Visitors

Do you want to increase your page views/visitors ratio? Basically what I am asking is how would you like to increase the amount of impressions based on the same amount of visitors to your blog? So let’s say you had 1,000 visitors to your blog last month and you plan to do that this month to. Without increasing your visitors there are techniques you can do to increase your impressions. All you have to do is keep your visitors at your blog longer and have them click on a few links.

One of the best ways to increase page views on your blog is to link to other articles in your archive. Not only do we want to have people come and read your current blog post but we should be redirecting them to other articles you have written in the past that pertains to the current post you have now. This takes a little more energy and effort. You should have a mental image of what posts you have done in the past. Also browse your older posts often. When I browse my older posts I usually can think of ideas to blog about but it also reminds you what you have saved away. Just because it fell off the home page and gets archived doesn’t mean it is no good. Link to it a few times.

Our goal is to get our readers to click on links that lead to internal blog posts. Make sure your internal links are not set to open in a new browser. This will make it more enjoyable for your readers to click through your site searching for articles they want to read.

How about the Read More –> feature? There are theories out there about using the <–More–> tag in your post. What this allows you to do is create an article and by placing that tag after the first few paragraphs will force the reader to have to click on a link that says “Read More” before taking them to the full article where it is archived away. The theory behind this technique is to force another click from your reader giving you another impression. If the majority of your readers actually clicked one more time to finish reading the article then ultimately it could almost double your impressions? But does it work?

I have actually experimented with this technique a bit and I have to say I did see an increase in overall impressions. It was probably a 20% increase. Am I certain it was due to using the Read More feature? No I am not certain but other areas where I was not using that feature, the page views remained constant. I do think the Read More feature is something you personally should experiment with. It will only bring you short term boosts of impressions. We also have to try and implant long term techniques and the best way is to link all the time to previous posts. Whether it is hyper-linking words from your article or leaving a list of related posts following your article, the key is to entice your readers to continue deeper into your blog.

How about placing your category list located in your sidebar higher up the page? We have learned that people browse the Internet by topic and not by date so placing your category list high up in the sidebar would be a way to help show your readers there are many topics to browse through. Not only should we be emphasizing categories by moving them higher up the page, but you should take time and be creative in creating your category names. Think about your niche and what interests your readers. Then compile a list of categories you think would entice readers to click on. When you create articles in this fashion it will also spark ideas on what kinds of topics to blog about.

What else? How about enticing readers to comment. By enticing readers to leave a comment it forces your readers to click a few more times in order to leave a comment. How can you entice readers to comment? Ask a question. Blog about topics that are interesting or controversial to your readers. Leave a half written list of good ideas but tell your readers to help you finish the list. These are just a few ideas on how to get people to comment on your blog. But if you want to increase your impressions, having readers comment often will help.

In addition to having comments, make sure you have the feature on your blog where commenters can subscribe to that post. This will give the commenter an instant email notification when someone else leaves a comment. This feature will remind people that they had left a comment and to go back to see what others have said. When they go back to read the comment and possibly post again, you will be getting even more impressions provided by the same visitors.

So let’s rehash and bullet things we can do to increase impressions with the same amount of visitors:

• Use the Read More feature
• Link to old topics often and consistently
• Create well thought out categories
• Move your category list near the top of your sidebar
• Entice readers to comment through various techniques
• Implement the “subscribe to post” feature to remind commenters when a new comment has been made

Steve Remington

Welcome Domka Outdoors to Skinny Moose

We have a great new blog that has been recently added to our Network. Please welcome Domka Outdoors. Also make sure to check out their website here. There are six people who make up Domka Outdoors and so don’t be surprised to see all of them over at their blog posting. We have David and Erin, Gary, Derek, Eric, and Ryan. Meet Team Domka Below:

David and Erin Domka
David and Erin have been married for 7 years and live with their 4 children in southeastern Michigan. Between the two of them they have 17 years of hunting experience and they both have been fishing for as long as they can remember. David is a Navy veteran and was in the service for 5 years. He traveled to Central and South America doing counter drug operations. David and Erin’s real passion is whitetails, though they do look forward to future hunts for elk, pronghorn, mule deer, and red stag. They also look forward to taking their children with them in the field. Read more

Four Ways To Improve Google Page Rank

One of the great things Skinny Moose Media has achieved over time is a fairly nice Google Rank. We can obviously improve on it but when it comes to our own niche, we have a very nice page ranking. More times than not, when we post about a specific topic, within 24 hours you can Google that topic and Skinny Moose will be somewhere on that first page. This isn’t the case all the time but it is happening more and more lately. So I have compiled a list of 5 things (not 4 as suggested in the title) that we have done as a Network to help better our search engine results. If any blogger can really work hard to accomplish all of these then they are well on their way to a better found blog through searches.

Posting Frequently: Even though some of our blogs don’t get updated for a few days, the Network updates several times per day. This trains the Google robots to come and “crawl” our website a couple times each day to check if there is any new content. Google likes posting frequency. It basically keeps them in business and helps better who they are and what they stand for. For Google to keep up with the demands of the average web browser, they need to place not only relevant content in their search results, but the newest content.

Keyword Rich Titles: This is something we still need to improve on but Titles that are rich in keywords are important. People search the web primarily by topic. In order to help people find your blog, you really need to hone in on those keywords starting right in your title. I have seen many times when people put a title up that is not attractive to the average browser. For instance… “Hey Check This Out, This Is Horrible”. Maybe it is an attempt to lure the reader in via suspense or it is just a lack of understanding how to pull your readers in through facts and not suspense.

Keyword Rich Posts: As most professional bloggers will tell you right now “Content is King” there still needs to be good content. Content definitely is king and in order to really suck your readers in, you have to blog about things that are interesting to the reader in your niche. We all remember the Jim Zumbo fiasco. Make sure your Title and your post is peppered with keywords you think will get used in a Google search. Sometimes thinking about how people will find you will help provide you with great words to use in your posts.

Linking to Relevant Content: Did you know that Google likes it when you link to other sources? And did you know they like it even more when you link to related content? Simply linking out isn’t as important as linking to similar content. Drop the fear of sending readers from your blog to other sources. In fact, it is proven that if you provide resources time and time again, readers will return to your blog as a source of information. In fact, studies show that the top rated and most highly visited blogs link out to related material more than mediocre and low traffic blogs. The reason for that is people view highly resourceful blogs as…. well…. “highly resourceful”. In turn, people will return often to find information. So link out and make sure it is useful links.

Go the Distance: In other words, be in it for the long haul. For those looking to be found over night or even in the next month are setting themselves up for disappointment. You need to blog frequently, post good content rich in keywords, post good titles, and link as often as you can to highly resourceful information, and do this over a long period of time. Google will reward you for your hard work and dedication. Those who have been blogging for just over a year are still spring chickens. If you can maintain a gruesome pace for 2 years or more, you will become known as a leader in your niche. This is highly rewarding. So just like dieting, do it for the long term benefits, and go the distance.

Blog For Skinny Moose Media and Receive a Free Subscription to Northwoods Sporting Journal

I would like to thank the Northwoods Sporting Journal for working with Skinny Moose Media. The Northwoods Sporting Journal would like to offer all of our Skinny Moose Media bloggers who have been blogging for 1 year or more a free 1 year subscription to their magazine. We currently have a few bloggers who have been around for a while who would enjoy reading the Journal, which is the largest hunting and fishing publication in the Northeast. Read more

Citi Merchant Services Refuses To Process Credit Card Sales For Firearms

Citi Merchant Services and First Data Corp. have put the true meaning of “this is a hold up” to federally licensed firearms retailers, distributors and manufacturers. Banning these sales is a move which will severely limit available inventory of firearms and ammunition to military, law enforcement and law-abiding Americans.

Who is blogging about it? Read more at:
Black Bear Blog
Camo Girl

Read more

Camo Girl Joins Skinny Moose Media

After the new year we made some changes to the network. We whittled out a few sluggish blogs that were very inactive and have focused on the quality of new blogs and bloggers. We are happy to announce our newest addition to Skinny Moose. Please welcome Sharon, aka Camo Girl. Her blog is “For Women Hunters by Women Hunters.”

Learn more about Camo Girl Below: Read more

John Stabley Interviews Jeff Hajari, President of Tree Apron Products

John Stabley, the host of Stabley Outdoors Interviews Jeff Hajari, President of Tree Apron at the 2008 ATA Show.
To find out more about Tree Apron Products, visit them on the web at www.treeapron.com.

Listen to the interview now.

(18:47) Read more

Update With John Stabley At Archery Trade Show

I just got off the telephone with John Stabley, V.P. of Global Operations at Skinny Moose Media, who is covering the ATA trade show in Indianapolis, Indiana for us. He gives us an update about the show, some information on new products and prospects for the coming year.

Listen to our conversation now!

Tom Remington

Top 10 Stories For 2007

From the Pennsylvania deer management problems, to epizootic hemorrhagic disease, to the increased bear attacks in the West, to Bear Spray, to Jim Zumbo, and the Scent Lok lawsuit; Tom Remington covers the Top 10 Stories for 2007 in the following episode of Open Air. Listen now below to the podcast…