Years of studying the blogosphere have revealed basic
principles of traffic enhancement, which I've never bothered
to explain in any systematic fashion. However, three points are
worthy of careful attention:
The blogosphere is a community. It rewards
those who contribute. Generosity is rewarded
and non-cooperation is punished.
Aggregation is the most important utlity of a
blog. If you observe what Glenn Reynolds does at
Instapundit, or what
Matt Drudge does at the Drudge Report, or the
automatically updated feed at Memeorandum, you understand
that the must-read sites are those that provide a steady stream
of links to outside content.
The principle of reciprocity is what makes the
blogosphere hum. Use analytical software to find who's
linking you, and link back to them, thus creating a
positive-feedback loop of traffic.
This morning the method was demonstrated for the benefit of a
protege (and, incidentally, to promote a worthy cause) as
"Full
Metal Jacket Saturday."