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.

There are thousands of new blogs started every day, and that number is growing consistently. It’s so easy for anyone to set up a blog now that there are very few potential barriers, contributing to the huge number that are launched each day. Some bloggers are personal and others are for business. Those that are for business will need to find ways to attract visitors if they are to be successful.

Because of the huge number of blogs that already exist and the exponential increases that are occurring, getting yours off to a great start is key. The launch phase is a great time to promote your blog and pique interest from potential readers.

In this article we will look at a number of different things that you can do right away to start the traffic flowing.

1. Tell Your Friends and Family About the Blog

For many people, starting by promoting your site to friends and family is a great way to get a few people to visit the site and to start things in the right direction. These people will know you and will take an interest in what you are doing, and they may even become regular readers if they like the topics you are covering.

2. Link to Your New Blog from Your Other Sites

If you have built other websites or blogs at this point, you should take the time to add links to your new blog (assuming the sites cover topics that are at least somewhat related). Having multiple sites makes it easier to get a little bit of attention for a new site or blog, so take advantage of it if this is the case for you.

If you don’t have any other websites yet, this may seem like a disadvantage. While it may make things a little more difficult for you now, once you get your new blog established it will give you an excellent platform with which you can promote other new blogs that you may launch in the future.

3. Link to Your Blog from Your Social Media Profiles

Social networking sites are common haunts for bloggers. If you have some social networking profiles of your own, be sure to add a link to your blog from the profile. This is an easy way to get a few links, and the visitors that arrive at your blog will probably already be familiar with you, making them a higher quality visitor.

These types of links won’t send huge amounts of traffic, but when you’re getting a new blog started, link building will be one of your biggest challenges, so even these links can be a big help.

4. Write Posts that Target Social Media Users

There are any number of different ways that you can get people to visit your blog. Search engine traffic is highly sought after, but it takes time to build your site’s reputation with the search engines and develop any type of substantial search traffic. Links and recommendations from other sites are great too, but that also will take time (unless you are already well connected).

Social media is a great resource for new bloggers because with the right type of content, and with quality content, exposure to a very large number of people is possible, and free. New blogs can quickly become recognized in their industry with a few posts that generate interest from social media users.

Although social media has huge potential, many bloggers get poor results. Submitting the wrong types of content or not being genuinely involved at the social media site will likely lead to failure. Take the time to get familiar with the social media audience, and write quality content that appeals to their interests.

5. Leave Comments on Other Blogs

Leaving intelligent comments on other blogs with related content is a proven way to bring some visitors back to your own blogs. Like some of the other strategies mentioned here, this will not bring huge amounts of traffic, but they will be interested visitors.

If you want to gain exposure for your blog through commenting, focus on leaving helpful and intelligent comments. Most blogg commentors are just leaving generic garbage comments that ultimately add nothing to the post. Use your comment to show that you know what you are talking about and that people should pay attention to you.

6. Get to Know Other Bloggers in Your Niche

One of the most important things you can do for your blog is to start to build some connections to other bloggers, particularly those in your niche.

Leaving comments on other blogs will be a big help in getting to know others, but don’t stop there. Be active at social media and social networking sites, especially niche sites, and don’t be afraid to contact other bloggers just to introduce yourself. Most bloggers are very open to getting to know other bloggers, so your inquiries will generally be very well received.