I recently had an extended conversation with two bloggers who are running truly excellent blogs, but who don't get many readers. I had several tips for them, and they both agreed I should clean the advice up and post it publicly. But then Venomous Kate went and posted an excellent article on this same subject, and I found that she had already said most of the same things I had.

I'll add a few other tips:

1) Get permalinks working. Dump your software and get something else if you have to, but get them working!

I can't count the number of times I was going to link an article, only stopped because the permalinks didn't work. If you want to be taken seriously, get working permalinks!

2) Consider getting your own domain and a hosting service you pay for. Yes, free hosting is wonderful, but you can do better for as little as $5 a month. Your own domain gives you more control, makes it easier for people to find you and, frankly, it boosts your prestige a bit. This is not a huge deal, but you really should consider doing it if you can.

3) Allow public comments. A few high-traffic sites don't have them, but most do. There's a reason for this. Yes, you will certainly get trolls (i.e. nasty jerks who try to torque you off). Concentrate on the Zen of Blogging: trolls can only make you angry if you let them.

More importantly, even though a lot of readers never bother with comments, a not-insignificant segment of readers likes them a lot. These will often be your more faithful readers. Embrace them. They will help keep you honest. Frankly, you'll also be providing a way for other bloggers to make themselves known to you. I've found a lot of my favorite bloggers exactly that way.

4) Do everything Kate said.

5) Be as generous with trading blogroll entries as you want others to be with you--but never, ever, ever whine about it or expect reciprocation. No one owes this to you. No, not even if you've blogrolled them for months and sent them multiple messages telling them how much you love them. You ask once, and you hope for a polite yes or no, and you say, "Hey thanks!" either way. And then you let it go.

If you're a frequent commenter on a site, and it's a site you visit regularly, maybe you can ask again once the blogger's gotten to know you. Maybe. But never be a pest about this.

6) That said, don't be shy about asking. You're only going to offend someone if you are a pest, or if you whine.

7) Do not be shy about sending a link to an article you are particularly proud of to other bloggers. Almost no one minds this, if you don't do it constantly.

Any time I write something I'm particularly proud of, I sent it out to 2-3 other bloggers. Which 2-3? Well that depends, see: I also have a rule not to bug any one blogger more than one or two times in a month for a link. I don't limit myself to just big-name bloggers, either.

8) Develop a list of blogs you especially like, but don't obsessively visit every every day. I have only a very tiny handful I visit every day--and no, I won't say who they are, although they probably know. I otherwise have about a hundred weblogs I visit, but I try to visit no more than 3-4 a day. I find that by lightly cruising through 3-4 different blogs a day, I constantly find something new and interesting to post about.

Bonus to this strategy: if they get a note from me saying, "Hey, if you like this message I wrote, could you tell your readers about it?" they might link it. Or not. Either way it's cool. And if they send a note to me saying, "Hey, if you like this, could you tell your readers about it?" I might or I might not. Important part: It's cool either way.

Don't pine away looking for links from the Instapundit. I'm as flattered when I get a link from a new blogger with hardly any traffic as I am by some mega-blogger who gets thousands of visitors a day. You should be too.

9) In short: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Blogging's supposed to be fun. Not everyone wants to do it, and not everyone should. But if you want traffic, you're going to have to be noticed. People won't magically appear without some work on your part. Fortunately, it's nowhere near as hard or as time-consuming as it seems at first. Just develop a few good habits, and you'll do fine.