How To Get 200 Page Views A Day

UPDATE
(Since I have a fold on this article, I’m posting this update at the top.)
Internet searches for Emma Stone account for 1/6 of all hits on this article (which is relatively active for this site), proving the power of Rule 5.

Oops, make that nearly 1 in 4 as of 1224 on 20120405. Proof Rule 5 works.
As of 1540 on 20120405, more than 1 in 3 hits on this unusually active article were a result of my Rule 5 photos of the beautiful young Emma Stone. Need I provide more proof of the wisdome of Rule 5 implanted into your regular articles and in your Tags?
– – – – – – – – – – – –

Robert Stacy McCain has a set of rules on how to get one million hits in less than a year. The First Street Journal has made an effort to at least partially follow some of the rules, and is on its way toward 100,000 hits and 200,000 page views in its first year.

(Note, the above image, taken from Site Meter, will continually change as it is not a pic of the image but a link to it. As of 4:45pm CST, TFSJ had over 1,100 hits and over 2,700 page views for the month around quitting time of the 4th day of the month of April.)

A great many bloggers know about and use Rule 5, which is to show pictures of beautiful women for the purpose of showing pictures of beautiful women (and driving traffic to your site).

I have used Rule 5 on occasion (such as using the gorgeous young Emma Stone in pictures above). The First Street Journal has chosen to use Rule 5 to increase its footprint on the internet, but has changed it to fit the Editor’s own value structure. And it has gotten some viewers because of that. I have also used military photos (of my daughter) to provide pics of beautiful women — inside and out — to the blogosphere. Alternately, click on that great big star on the top left of my blog site for a couple pics.

That was a gas!

And for some self-abasing humor from my daughter:

But she's a frizz ball when they're removed.

(Both the above pics (and the captions) are from articles I previously posted on Truth Before Dishonor.)

Having read Robert Stacy McCain’s rules designed to draw 1,000,000 hits in under a year, and having agreed with them, I expect my own rules will likely be similar, and hitting the same material. I also expect my own rules, as I’m writing them on the fly, will be incomplete.

Rules To Get 200 Page Views A Day

Rule 1: Be Consistent
Inconsistency will do major harm to your hit-count and your page-view count. Like most words, Consistent has multiple, sometimes unrelated definitions. And I am using two different definitions.

You absolutely need to set your own political position and stick to it. Do not sway in the wind. Neither Liberals nor Conservatives respect a principle-free, sway in the breeze mush-mouth. Take a political stand. Have an overarching political position. And stick to it.

You absolutely need to post frequently. If you do not post every day (or you don’t have other authors who, combined, provide your site with daily posts), you will lose regular readership. And consistent regular readership is absolutely necessary to average 200 or more page views a day. I strongly suggest an average of more than two posts per day, every day, to maintain and build readership.

There is no rule, in my book, that is more important than this one.

Rule 2: Link Bigger Sites
Do everything you can to link to sites that show your pings and trackbacks. They draw readership, oftentimes new viewers. And if you abide by Rule 1 while using Rule 2, your new viewers will become regular readers, driving up your hits and page views. Robert Stacy McCain actually links back to those who link to him (if he knows they did).

Rule 3: Use Categories AND Tags
If your blog host allows both categories and tags, use them both. If it doesn’t find one that does. Tags will draw more new viewers from browser services (such as Google and Bing) than will categories. But categories will draw blog provider readers and will also cause your regular readers to read more of your articles. And if you’re wise enough to limit your Category listings, Tags will allow a much wider range of available “hit” targets than will your Category listings, while your Category listings will help narrow down people’s searches on your site.

Rule 4: Advertise Your Best Articles On Your Site
You have a side-bar. I have two side-bars. Use your side-bar or two to promote your favored articles. An old article you wrote can produce a surge in traffic if the right people see it. And, occasionally, those “right” people visit your blog, not knowing what you’ve written prior. Linking your strong articles in your side-bar can cause renewed interest in them if big names find them and link to them (as my “The Dixiecrat Myth” article recently did, producing over 300 page views in a single day, roughly 10 months after I wrote it (after one of Breitbart’s bloggers found it and tweeted it, causing Dan Reihl and others to also find it and tweet it).

Rule 5: The Pretty Women Rule
Just about every blog author knows about Robert Stacy McCain’s Rule 5 Blogging. Use it. But remember my Rule 1. If you are wholly against women showing their ta-tas, don’t show their ta-tas in your pics. You will lose the respect of your regular readers and, in the long run, lose your regular readers and the hits and page views they produce on your site. But don’t be afraid to promote your version of the beautiful woman on your site. Eye candy sells. (There are even sites that produce “Rule 5 for Women” (that is a Rule 5 link-fest, which includes Rule 5 for women).)

Rule 6: Actively Seek Outside Linkage
Comment on other sites (bigger sites helps a lot) that allow your name to link to your site. Even if you don’t link to your own articles, your linkable name will draw interest. When the opportunity presents itself for you to declare that you have already written a lengthy article on a subject, do not be afraid to link to your own article on those other sites. But I strongly suggest that you declare parenthetically that it is, indeed, a self-link when you do so. Self-links, especially when they’re declared as such, draw visitors. And find the emails of administrators of the bigger sites and email them links to your quality articles, telling them why they should read and promote your articles. I have done the same, getting “Post of the Day” status on Legal Insurrection as a direct result, and getting over 300 hits in one day, plus another 100 residual hits the next day.

Rule 7: Develop A Following
New visitors are always welcome. Without new visitors, your blog cannot grow. But if you do not have a following, your blog will die. New visitors cannot keep your blog active all by themselves. Build a core group of blog followers who will read your blog weekly, daily, multiple times a day, what have you. And then expand on the number of regulars you have.

But always, always, always remember Rule 1.