Ever wonder how come some people’s websites get thousands of visitors a day and other languish in obscurity? I did, and that’s I started reading every article and eBook I could on the subject until I considered myself the closest thing to an expert I could imagine becoming. My little website here is far from a successful site, it’s what’s known as a niche website and it’s only really designed to attract a very small portion of the population but even then, I can easily have 70,000 people a month come to my site.

So, how did I do it? The first thing I did was followed four fairly simple steps:

Step One: I knew where I wanted to go

So many people make the mistake of assuming their blog or website will be successful without really understanding what success would be. Before you launch your website, determine what type of website you want to run and know what it would take for you to consider that website a success.

Step Two: I found the tools to help me get there

I’ve written a lot on my website about WordPress, it’s a great free tool and it’s one of the reasons that I can consider myself successful. I owe a lot to the tool because it’s helped me build my traffic base and increase my own understanding of the market. The web has billions of pages, make sure whichever tool you choose it’s right for you and that it helps cut through the background noise to help your page get noticed.

Step Three: I paid attention to the details

I tinkered a lot with my website, tried different configurations and setups until I found the design you see today. It was on purpose but I didn’t just guess, as my former boss Michael used to always tell me … without statistics, you’re only guessing. That’s why I used great tools like Google Analytics to track every mouse click, page load and ad sale on the site to ensure I wasn’t alienating my audience.

Step Four: I listened.

I can’t tell you how often I got a comment from a use but I can tell you that I have thousands of comments on hundreds of pages here on my website and that I read every single one of them. I may not have agreed with some of them and some I pouted about for days or even weeks. A couple almost made me quit blogging altogether and yet most pushed me to do better.

Is my website finished? No. It’s an evolution and as such I’ll continue to move menus and tweak code until I’m happy with it. I’ll also continue to listen to the most important people on my website, you guys and constantly work to improve the site. I want to hear back from all my readers far more often, and I know the best way to increase my readership is to produce better content so don’t be shy to correct me if I’m wrong or point me to an awesome article if you happen to find one.