Traffic traffic traffic. We want more! Give us the secret, what are your tips? How can we scam Google? What is the hidden trick to getting to the front of Digg?
Wooah there!
Haven’t we forgotten something?
When all those people you have cajoled, tricked or bought rush to your blog, what are they going to see?
Focusing on traffic before developing rich, valuable, compelling content is like gold-plating a house of cards. It doesn’t matter how much you polish, eventually the whole thing will crumble into an expensive, but pretty, mess.
By all means build your traffic using whichever techniques make sense, but after you have a good solid foundation of worthwhile content!
Rather than a big-bang flood of visitors, consider building slowly by providing real benefit to readers. Encourage feedback, grow a loyal following who are happy to recommend you. OK, you might not break any traffic records, but you will find organic growth based on actual value is far more rewarding :)