A little tip from recent experience
@SpikeTheLobster (6403)
June 26, 2011 10:11am CST
I just learnt something that (after the fact) seems so obvious but which I'd never considered. I thought I'd share it with my fellow bloggers here.
My blog (yeah, it's in the profile) has no ads and most visitors come by as the result of a search. About 80% of my traffic goes to the same articles. The blog's layout is very clear and clean.
Today, I changed it a bit. I'd redone the page with my freebie ebooks on it (nice pretty graphics now) and figured I'd drop an extra graphic on the home page. So I put together a little "Free Stuff!" image and placed it at the top of a column of widgets.
Bearing in mind that there's always been a 'Free Stuff' link on the nav bar, the difference is enormous. It's been there for a few hours and about 75% of today's visitors have passed through the Free Stuff page. That's an enormous rise - it used to get occasional hits but nothing more. (Although my site has very low traffic, so the actual numbers are pretty small.)
Now obviously everything's free but think of the extra publicity from anything they download. And the fact that they've stayed on the blog for an extra click-and-load, which might encourage them to stay even longer.
I would never have imagine such a simple image, neatly placed, could cause such a big difference.
Definitely something to consider for your own blog: create an ebook, offer it free (or ask for subscriptions for it) and put an obvious graphic on the home page to shout about the fact that it's free. 
9 responses
@seobuzz (1120)
• India
26 Jun 11
Free things always catch attention of surfers. Also you re designed your blog plus added an image of your ebook at homepage. All these caused the boost in your traffic. It is true that certain tweaks can do wonder in term of traffic.
Nice and informative blog.
@SpikeTheLobster (6403)
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26 Jun 11
Thanks. Can't say it gets much attention, to be honest, but I'm not as regular as I should be (work always gets in the way!).
@SpikeTheLobster (6403)
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26 Jun 11
The worst thing is when I take a weekend (which I only do every few months, otherwise it's 6-day weeks). On the second day, when I've relaxed, my brain fills up with loads of new ideas I want to turn into reality... and, of course, have absolutely no time to do anything with. Really annoying!
@PointlessQuestions (15397)
• United States
26 Jun 11
Yep. I understand well about work getting in the way.
1 person likes this
@nichokongo (69)
• Kenya
27 Jun 11
hey spike, thanks for sharing your trick.i have been doing the same thing that's offering free eBooks without an obvious graphic on my homepage.though i have been getting some track but your tip will definitely enhance my chances of getting more subscribers.
@SpikeTheLobster (6403)
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27 Jun 11
Grab the freebie ebook on making ebooks, then - it has a bit in it about making those funky 3D graphics (surprisingly easy, even for one of my astoundingly limited artistic ability!). Well, unless you're good at graphics... then you won't need it. Glad the tip helped - isn't it just so obvious once you know it? 
@hdc4free (260)
• United States
26 Jun 11
That is a great idea! I can see a small change like that making a big impact, putting a graphic right where people notice it AND it's got free stuff?! Sounds like a great deal to me! Thanks for the tip, some great ideas here, now I want to make some FREE STUFF to give away on my blog! Any time you can offer a little something extra on a web site is great incentive for people to visit and keep coming back. Well done!
@SpikeTheLobster (6403)
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26 Jun 11
Well, the latest addition to the freebies is a little ebook on... how to create ebooks (and those funky 3D images that everyone associates with them), so hopefully that'll sort out your free stuff (or at least the presentation part - you'll have to invent the content yourself, of course!).
Best attention-grabbing font ever: Agent Orange. It's the one I used for the "Free Stuff!" lettering on that image, with a bit of flood-filling from Paint Shop Pro...!!
@surekharathi (14146)
• India
27 Jun 11
Thanks a lot my friend really this tip is good. If the user will use this tip then definitely they will received the profit to gain the traffic on their blog.
1 person likes this
@sophiecheer (931)
• Philippines
27 Jun 11
That's definitely one great pointer Spike!
Thanks for sharing your knowledge. Having an additional widget that offers free "anything" can really attract readers from all over and thus will increase site traffic. Congrats on your recent success.
1 person likes this
@SpikeTheLobster (6403)
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27 Jun 11
Umm, it didn't increase traffic, it just changed the way current visitors use the site - though it's still a bonus, given the potential increase from more visible freebies!
@PointlessQuestions (15397)
• United States
26 Jun 11
That's really neat that you got so much traffic to your blog. I used to have a cooking blog. I enjoyed it and got some pretty good traffic to it. I don't have the time or the interest for it anymore though. I'm so busy lately there just is no time for it.
1 person likes this
@SpikeTheLobster (6403)
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26 Jun 11
"So much" traffic is relative - my blog averages 60-80 hits a day. Hardly the Huffington Post. 
Still, it's nice to see that such a simple change made a significant difference in the way people visit. I'm sure a sociology student somewhere could write a thesis about it.
Still, it's nice to see that such a simple change made a significant difference in the way people visit. I'm sure a sociology student somewhere could write a thesis about it.
@akangirl (2436)
• India
26 Jun 11
That's a great tip , thanks for sharing with us. People like the free stuff so even if it doesn't work atleast it wouldn't matter much to them . If your ebooks are real good then you make a good reputation for yourself hereby having more loyal users coming to your site, they will discuss with their friends and they will also come so this way you make a loyal user base for your blog, people who would genuinely be interested in reading your blog. Best of luck
1 person likes this
@SpikeTheLobster (6403)
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26 Jun 11
There's no loss for me: the ebooks were already written (one's the beginner's guide, three others were articles and the latest was done on a prompt from SkinnyFace), so it's all a bonus if they decide to hang around. Amazing the difference a single (obvious) graphic on the homepage makes, though!
@petersum (4522)
• United States
26 Jun 11
I'm glad it works for you but don't go over the top! Free has different meanings on different sites. Generally it is a seen as a bad thing. Why? Well how many times do you see "Just add $9.99 for shipping and handling!" or something similar after this word? Americans in particular don't seem to understand the meaning of the word.
Obviously this doesn't apply to your ebooks but you should still be aware that "free" can be a dirty word.
1 person likes this
@SpikeTheLobster (6403)
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26 Jun 11
That's very true, especially on those 30-foot long landing pages where "free" turns out to be "if you buy all the other stuff"! My free stuff is completely free, of course, and I'm clear about that on the page they're on - that's the whole principle of my site.
@bmthepro (118)
• India
4 Jul 11
The impact of visual arts!! that's why we changed from CUI to GUI right? That is why we use windows even if we can manage with UNIX. Hail the capabilities of a simple graphic banner. Nice tip Spike will keep it in mind.
