Today I wanted to talk about traffic… no, no not the same old boring stuff where some self proclaimed pro wants to teach the world about improving their targeted hits. I’m talking about all natural baby! That’s right, good old fashioned traffic and what it means to the success of a blog. After designing and optimizing websites for years, I’ve come to love studying my stats and this article sets out to explain why. Grab a chair and a hot cup of coffee because we’re going back to the basics!

Any traffic is great for any blog… so use it dummy!

The big thing these days is targeted traffic optimization. You know… “make money online” or “make money blogging”… whatever! And that’s great and all, but how does a newcomer get started taking advantage of traffic in general? Afterall, traffic albeit un-targeted traffic, is like gold to a 49er when it comes to setting up your new blog or getting the blood pumping into an old one.

Organic natural traffic is the foundation of a successful blog and it’s way under used. I’ve assembled a hit list of great reasons to value these visitors in the hope that it might awaken your senses and maybe instill a little hope in those of us feeling a bit unwanted or discouraged.

Increased traffic increases your stats.

Stats are important to show advertisers and buyers that you’re in it to play hard ball. Even if your blog is one day old, and your loaded up with one tiny article, your still going to get some traffic! Newbies need to understand it and seasoned pros need to value it. It’s that simple.

Without getting remedial here, I’ll quickly state that stats are the single most important tool a new blogger has in his or her tool box. With 10 articles, and no comments… studying your basic site stats can be enough to motivate you to write post number 11.

Increased traffic increases the potential to gain loyal readers.

Loyal readers are pretty damn important to all of us. They are the people who check on your blog twice a day (or more) and faitfully visit to either stir a comotion or offer some great commentary. Your loyal readers will are great for keeping your stats pretty even keel even if you don’t post for a few days. Having an even keel flow of traffic means quite a bit.

Since stats are simply a numbers game, so is loyal readership. Obviously you’ll never hit the nail on the head with everyone that passes through, but it’s fair to say the more traffic, the better your odds in finding someone who does appreciate what you’ve got to say.

Increased traffic increases the possibility for new feed subscribers.

While sometimes e-mail subscribers don’t help out your stat counters… they are defiantly worth something. The resident blog flipping pro, Bryan Clark mentions that feed burner subscibers can be valued at somewhere around $18.00 each! That’s a hell of a lot of money if you ask me!

Again… the more traffic, the better your chance of finding a loyal reader. The more loyal readers, the more likely they are to join your feed. The more folks that join your feed, the more your blog is worth.

Increased traffic increases earning potential.

Let’s continue… with increased traffic comes increased potential for loyal readers. With an increased number of loyal readers comes new subscribers. Traffic, subscribers, and readers, all mean what? More page views. The more page views… the more motivation an advertiser will have to spend his or her money on your blog. It’s simple math!

To be quite honest… as a potential advertiser, I really don’t give a squat about how many feed burner subscriptions you’ve got… (unless it’s a review/ post). My main concern however, is how many times people will see my ad. This is a BIG factor in obtaining private advertisers. The industry rule of thumb says that the more frequent you brand is seen, the more it will be remembered. The more often it’s remembered, the more it becomes an authority brand. You don’t have to be a genius to understand the value of being an authority in a niche right?

Increased traffic increases your comment count.

The more people visit, the better your chance of finding new participants. For example… my blog sports a comment average of 18.7 comments per post. Yes, this does include my own, but the point is that comments inspire other comments. Active comments, shows that your blog is alive and kicking and that’s worth a ton to a new buyer. But why?

When your comments increase, so does user activity. With increased user activity comes increased page views. (same theory applies to “deep linking“) With the increase of page views, come an increase in your earning potential. Increased earning potential means the chances of becoming a full time blogger goes on up with it too!

Increased traffic increases your ability to become an authority figure!

Well it’s been a journey hasn’t it? But your finally there! You’ve slowly but surely become and authority figure by default! Not because you’ve optimized your blog for “I’m a professional blogger” but because you’ve taken what you were given… studied it… and then applied it. Not only have you earned you place in the blog world, but you’ve risen to become a guiding light of sorts… a leader… someone to look up to!

I read somewhere that around 80,000 new blogs are created every single day! And while some of these are pros creating BANS sites or Affiliate Marketing campaigns… a vast majority is the ever growing population of people getting online to communicate with the world. That said… your leadership role become more dominant and more profitable. What else could you ask for?

Falling prey to the targeted traffic mantra…

The point here is a simple one. Traffic in general is valuable. Very valuable. Once you have visitors, start narrowing the gap a little at a time, do it naturally. Narrow to much to early… and your blog won’t grow. Both newbies and the pros fall trap to the targeted traffic mantra. Yep… we all do it. We all think we’re never doing enough to make a name or take a stance so we try and “choose” a targeted audience to early on.

More important than your blog’s targeted traffic reach… is the growth of yourself as a blogger and online entrepreneur! It’s a tough world out there and staying motivated isn’t easy! Writing post after post… staying up till 4:15 in the morning all week long… forcing yourself to not check comments while at work… brainstorming again and again… talking aimlessly at your loved ones looking for inspiration… it all takes it’s toll on the best of us. Using, learning, and accepting your natural traffic is essential to creating a solid foundation for your blog’s future.

Take a deep breath, relax… go check your stats, and make it a routine… one day when you’re famous… you’ll thank me for it! I hope you enjoyed it.