Tastybuds

Considering none of my traffic has come from search engines so far, I am now fairly convinced that it is essential to cultivate other methods.  This post is mainly to insert my Technorati Profile, which I needed to do to get my Blog listed over there. I have heard about Technorati quite a bit, and know it is a central area for bloggers, but I have never really used it. I will let you know what I think.

Other things which seem to be extremely important for getting traffic:

1. Commenting on other people’s blogs
2. Writing about other people’s posts (and getting a Trackback)
3. Digging stories
4. Twittering and Friendfeeding with people

The first 3 I have already started, and the 4th I am trying to get into, but I still don’t even really know who I should be following, or what exactly to write about on those microblogging platforms.

Let me know if you have other tips, or what you think the most important thing is to get traffic.

One reason I decided to start blogging is that I was so impressed by bloggers being able to ask a question, and get their readers to answer in the comments. I have seen Dave Winer do this several times, and I have always wanted the ability to do the same.

The funny thing is that I was just thinking about this very issue when I saw Shel Isreal post about it. It seems that even beyond blogging, simply using twitter is an effective way to get questions answered from the community around you. To take it one step further, TechCrunch then posts about ToAnswer, which seems like the perfect service for someone like me who has no community.

However, although ToAnswer might work well for me, I still would like to build up a base community of people I can learn from and share knowledge with. I have been reading a few blogs for a few years now, but I have never really participated. I have already started posting quite a bit on this blog, but my next steps will be to actually use my Twitter account, and maybe sign up on FriendFeed (which it seems is another branch that needs to be explored).

My main issue right now is finding what blogs to read, and who to follow on Twiter. I don’t think it will be too hard, I just have never tried before, so am a bit confused as to which directions to look. I just signed up on Digg, so I hope I will begin to find interesting stuff over there. I also am trying to be more active about searching Google for information I am interested in, and then commenting when something catches my eye.

Anyway, any suggestions of how I can build a community of people (through blogs, twitter) who I can ask questions to, and give and get answers from would be much appreciated.