News

As chief operating officer and head blogger at New York Parking Ticket, I wanted to jumpstart the traffic to our fledging website. So I followed the Hubspot blogging blueprint religiously, then started to measure the results.

The Results:

• 904 visitors stumbled onto our website during our first full month of business, including my Mom and Dad, during which I blogged regularly.
• 1232 visitors (probably thinking we were the NYC government) strolled through our Internet property during the second month, when I increased the frequency of my blogging, at times publishing two posts a day.
• To my utter amazement, traffic exploded during our third month of operation to 4,000 visitors.
• We are currently basking in the warm glow of >20,000 monthly visitors (as of December 2011).

Step 1: Analyze the effectiveness of blog topics 

• Literary classics - only 134 views (sad but true)
• Off point - 25 views (my Mom viewed this post 23 times)
• Famous person in the NYC parking ticket space - 48 views (Jimmy Justice videos get an incredible number of views onYouTube; but sadly the written word about Jimmy Justice didn't increase my website traffic)
• NYC parking ticket tips and tricks - 6,145 views (wow!)
• Current parking ticket events - 3,142 views (that's the ticket!)

" target="_self">Learn how to identify blog article topics using HubSpot >

Step 2: Analyze the effectiveness of headlines

Here's an eye-opening comparison between two similar headlines sitting on top of two similar posts: 3 Valuable NYC Parking Ticket Tips versus How to beat 3 NYC Parking Tickets. One post earned 312 views while the other keeps on giving with 21,627 website views, and 16,735 Slide Share views. Can you guess which headline is our annuity? Take this poll to find out!

" target="_blank">Learn how to create remarkable blog headlines using HubSpot >

Step 3: Keep writing

I cannot emphasize strongly enough how important it is to blog frequently. I currently post a blog article three times per week, on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. When I started blogging, I posted 3-5 times per month. HubSpot data doesn't lie. Blogging totally turbocharged my site's traffic, which grew from 1232 visitors in February 2009 to 4000 visitors in March 2009; and increased continuously to a high of more than 20,000 visitors per month in December 2011.

" target="_blank">Learn how to create remarkable blog articles using HubSpot >

Commentary

The HubSpot tools that we used to unlock the front door to our HubSpot-hosted website were:

• The Blog Analytics tool
• The Keyword tool

It would be impossible to condense all the elements of blogging success into three tips. But these tips are a great starting point.

You would also be well served to:

• Optimize each post using Hubspot's blogging platform reminders which magically appear when you forget, for example, to include a keyword in your meta description
• Include relevant and alluring images, using Hubspot's image tool
• Conclude with a strong call-to-action, using Hubspot's CTA builder
• Build a landing page using the Hubspot landing page wizard
• Build a thank-you page using Hubspot's webpage builder
• Publish high quality, evergreen blog posts, free white papers, guides, E-books, etc.

If a 63 year-old dinosaur like me can do it, so can you. Try it. You'll be glad you did!

Thanks for listening. Now it's your turn. How 'bout sharing some of your secret tips to blogging success? Your opinion matters to all of us.