Starting a new blog is a lot of fun, but getting people to actually visit the site can be very challenging and frustrating. There are literally millions of blogs out there, with more coming each day. With so many options it’s hard to make yours stand out from the crowd.

Great content is essential to any long-term blogging plan if you want to be successful, but as a new blogger, if no one is seeing your content it really doesn’t matter how good it is. At first you will have to get some eyes on your content, then hopefully people will take notice, keep coming back, and spread the word to others.

As a new blogger there are a lot of things you can be doing with your time to promote the blog and start to build an audience. In this article I’ll point out some of the best ways that bloggers can focus on getting that new blog off the ground.

1. Use Social Media

Social media websites bring tons of traffic potential. Best of all, they are free to use and even new blogs have a chance to get some love from social media. For these reasons it is a must-use for new bloggers.

Many bloggers use social media unsuccessfully. To have the best results you need to be an active user yourself. Pick a few social media sites that you want to use to promote your sites and start visiting regularly to get familiar with the site, the users, and the types of content that draw response.

At this point you will want to create content with this audience in mind and try to get some help from your friends with voting for the content and promoting it.

2. Social Networking Profiles

Although you won’t get a huge traffic rush from it, linking to your new blog from your profiles on sites like Facebook and MySpace can be a good start to build some links and start getting some visitors to the blog.

While this may not have huge results, it will only take a few minutes and will be worth your time.

3. Twitter

If you’re not already using Twitter, you need to start in order to avoid missing out on a great promotional tool. While Twitter is a conversational tool not created for marketing, many Twitter users post links to their blog posts.

Of course, you don’t want to only tweet about your own links, be a real Twitter user and promote your posts occasionally. The more followers you have the more likely you are to get re-tweets which can lead to a lot more traffic.

For those who already have an established Twitter account with some followers, this is an excellent opportunity.

4. Online Advertising

If you are willing and able to invest a little bit of money into the blog, adverting can provide a good return. Banner ads are a popular online option and they can be great for increasing your exposure and bringing new visitors.

PPC ads are a cost-effective way to bring new visitors. With Pay-Per-Click advertising you can bid on certain keywords and you will only pay when someone clicks on your ad and visits your site.

5. Blog Carnivals

Blog carnivals are really nothing more than a collection of posts on a specific topic. A blog will host the carnival and other bloggers can submit links to their own posts on the subject. You won’t get big traffic from this method, but you will easily start to build some links.

To find carnivals, visit www.blogcarnivals.com.

6. Guest Posts on Other Blogs

One of the most effective ways to promote a new blog is to write guest posts that will be published on other blogs. Guest posts will help to get exposure from a new, targeted audience, plus you will be building links through your author bios that link back to your own blog.

You may get some visitors that click through from your guest posts, but not that many. Those that do will be highly qualified visitors. Writing for others is also a good way to build some connections with influential bloggers.

7. Blogroll Link Exchanges

Link exchanges are popular among bloggers because links are needed for search engine rankings. Find some other blogs in your niche that offer solid content and see if they would be interested in exchanging blogroll links with you.

Starting to get some in-bound links can help to establish your blog in the eyes of search engines.