Five ways to increase blog hits

I'm not really the master at this, having only just gone over 1,000 hits myself, but I have seen what works and when the hits have increased more quickly, so here's five tips:

1. As Craig S would say, post regularly. The more posts, the more there is to read, the more often people will come back. Simple really. Craig S of course is the master at this, being a man who posts many, many entries every day.

2. Try to post on controversial topics. My hit rate piked (well, it was a pike by my standards, perhaps not for others) when I stirred up the waters of infant baptism earlier this year (10 comments, 3 links, can't remember how many hits). And when people comment on said controversial topic, respond to their comment to keep the discussion alive and people coming back.

3. Similarly, try to post on topics that other people are likely to find interesting and link to on their blogs. A bit of linkage always increases the hit rate. (Or get someone with a more popular blog, like your brother for example, to link to you, or perhaps have your brother, unbeknownst to you, suggest to someone else who has an even more popular blog, to link to you ...).

4. Comment on other people's blogs. They will see your hyperlinked name and then your blog is only a couple of clicks away.

5. Now this is Dave's technique. Try to post on something topical that people are likely to be searching for, and try to mention that particular topic as many times as possible in your post to increase the prominence of your entry in any search engine results. Dave tried this with his recent post on the frog-turned-prince, piece-of-coal-turned-diamond Paul Potts, the winner of Britain's Got Talent . How did it go Dave? Did people come to your site in a Potts driven frenzy?

Anyone got any more tips?