Aggregators

What's an aggregate? In short it's a website that compiles lists of blogs by subject, giving readers more choices. For example, I write a blog about Columbia, MD. In order to reach out to readers who may not find me through Google or a referring link, I've added my blog to the list on hocoblogs.

Adding your blog to an aggregate site increases your traffic. Most aggregate sites rank blogs by the time of the most recent post. If you publish a post at 8 a.m., before the morning rush, your blog will be ranked somewhere at the top of the list. Chances are good that readers will scan the top five or six blogs on any given list, so positioning your blog within that list becomes important.

Also remember that there are three main ways readers find blogs on the internet. The first is through a referral. Blogger readers may find your blog through the blog roll of a fellow blogger. That's why its important to put yourself out there and build relationships with other bloggers.

Next, readers find your blog through search engines like Google. More often than not, readers type keywords into their search queries rather than the name of a blog or specific post. Hence the importance of Search Engine Optimization or SEO for short. Finally, readers will access aggregate sites or simply look up your blog's url. Remember the more you put yourself out there, the easier it will be for readers to find you.