As it turns out, I was only partially right when I posted that writing about podcasts helps to increase traffic. Last week, I saw another massive spike in response to my review of the “Veggies Go Crunch!” blog.

I guess this means that reviews in general will generate traffic. Put another way, we can apply a basic rule of marketing to success with a blog:

If you want results, don’t talk about yourself. Talk about other people.

In marketing, this usually gets expressed by emphasizing how a product will affect a customer, rather than the features of the product on their own. In a blog, this means literally talking about other people. This helps generate traffic in several ways.

• People with internet alert trackers will become aware that you mentioned them, then come read out of curiosity.
• Those interested in the subject covered by what you’re reviewing may find your blog while searching for the primary subject.
• Folks you review may point out your review to friends, or mention it on their own blogs.
• Reviewees and their fans may place a link to your blog from their own web pages.  This not only creates a direct route for their readers, but also elevates your page in most search engines.
• People you review are more likely to comment on your post than many other folks. These comments can generate discussion and attention, leading to still more visits.

As I’ve said before, I’m still learning about this blog thing – but math can be a good teacher. The highest scoring days so far appear to be my podcast review post and the day “Veggies'” author found out I was talking about her.  And both of those posts continue to be the most viewed overall.

So that’s what I learned today. Thanks for listening.