The next thing that you want to do is write everyday. Updating your blog everyday is the best way to get it picked up by the search engines. Search engines like Google and Yahoo index blogs and websites based on their content. If you are updating your blog everyday and are putting more and more original content up, your blog is going to rank high in the search engines.

So you have a blog that has a ton of content and a great niche, but you’re still not seeing any traffic? This is where people get stuck. It’s the all too common tale of somebody with a great product, but no knowledge of how to sell it. This is where one-way linking comes in. As you researched your niche, you probably went though a bunch of discussion forums. Discussion forums are great because they always rank high in the Google and Yahoo rankings. Join two discussion forums a day and post comments on your topic. They should allow you to link to your blog through your profile. This way when somebody researches your niche, they will see your post and click on your blog.

Article marketing is another way of getting the word out about your blog. Take a couple of the posts that you have published on your blog and re-write them. Now you can submit them to various article directories on the Internet like Ezine and Articlebase. These websites also rank very high in the Google rankings. Just like in the discussion forums, you should be able to post links to your blog from your profile page.

Viral marketing is another way to get an extreme amount of traffic to your website. Sites like Metacafe and Youtube have brought thousands of people’s blogs onto the map. If you enjoy talking about your niche or doing short how-to videos, film a couple of videos and include a link to your blog in the information bracket.
Another great way to build readership to your blog is by giving away free items. You don’t have to have a raffle for a new TV or anything, but you can post downloadable articles, ebooks or software to your blog. This is great because people are always looking to get something for free. When one person gets a free ebook, they are extremely likely to send the link to other people, thus giving you more traffic.

Staring a blog is not an easy task. If you’re looking for something that you can update a couple of times a month and share with friends, then you don’t really need to worry about traffic. But if you’re looking to make some extra money or even a full time income, you are going to need a very high volume of traffic and a decent ranking in Google and other search engines. Blogging is a great way to make additional money online. The use of viral and article marketing is a proven way to bring you the traffic you need. Posting on discussion forums related to your niche is also a great way to get the word out about your blog. Stay away from ebooks and online sites that will try to sell you blogging tips. Most of the materials you need can be found through Youtube videos, online articles or just a little digging.

Many people fail at blogging because they have no or very little knowledge on the subject they are talking about, knowing your subject is key can help a great deal when you know what you’re talking about therefore you’re providing useful content to your reader. It makes it so much easier picking a subject that you’re passionate about and what you have knowledge about, I would have no joy talking about china dolls for example I have no interest in it and nothing to provide the reader with. If you’re going to blog as a full-time job it really should be about something that you’re passionate about otherwise the enjoyment will not be there and the drive that needs to succeed in this industry will not be there, so many blogs fail because of this.

So is the market to saturated for another blog? Well possibly, it really depends on what you pick as your subject. You really need to pick a niche to be successful in this game, I’m not saying that if your subject is already blogged about that you have no chance in success, because if you know more about the subject or can provide better  and higher quality content with good SEO techniques I would say you have a good chance to profit within time, it may take longer to build a name for yourself and get your content ranked correctly but it can be done.

Is there a long-term future in blogging? Well the Internet changes every day, new technologies and ideas are born, but if you use these news technologies and keep on top of all these new changes you can use them to your advantage, a popular example recently is Twitter a mini blogging service keeping your followers  updated by mini feeds (for example you could use this service to tell your followers when a new post is available to read on your blog). Another worry for bloggers is if their revenue stream dries up, have you ever heard of the saying “don’t put all your eggs in one basket” well that is also true in blogging don’t just have Google Adsense revenue have a few income streams, they are out there believe me.

Should I quit my job today and just concentrate on blogging? No no no, please don’t do that… As I said earlier most people fail at blogging, test the water tried talking about a few interests and see how many hits you get, start small as a hobby build up your article base and advertise and monitor your traffic.  You will know when it’s time to quit your job and concentrate on blogging when you’re making a side income that you are happy with, it will take time and you may not get their better least the now you have the relevant safety of a job whilst you experiment.

If you are looking start blogging I wish you the best of luck and hope that it can provide what you’re looking for out of this venture.