I am away at BlogHer this week and thought now would be a great time to take the opportunity to share some tips for those who are just beginning to blog. While these Blogging 101 posts will not hold much value for more seasoned bloggers, I thought they would be a good starting point for those who may be new to blogging. When I started Life With 4 Boys over two years ago, I had no idea how to get traffic, comments, or even how to go about pitching companies. If you have just started a blog, hopefully these posts will help you grow your audience.

1. Give a Little Get a Little

Blogging is often give and take. Many new bloggers fail to realize this. Sure, there are some brilliant and charismatic people out there who post insanely wonderful content and the people flock to them in droves. For the rest of us, it is often necessary to give traffic before we can get it. Visit other's blogs, comment and interact with them on their sites, on social networks and in forums. When you start networking with other bloggers, you will get it all back and then some.

2. Learn SEO

SEO or search engine optimization is one of the most important things that you can put time into learning when you start blogging. Trust me, I wish someone had told me that when I was getting started. There are innumerable tutorials and instructions on how best to SEO your posts, but the important part is that you do it from the beginning. If you wait, it is a pain to try and go back and do it later. If your posts are properly optimized, you will soon notice search traffic trickling in.

3. Write Valuable or Unique Content

Sometimes you can write the best content in the world and hardly anyone will notice. One thing is for certain though, if you continue to consistently put out quality content day after day, the traffic will eventually come. Plan your posts out ahead of time so that you always have plenty of ideas for fresh and quality content.

4. Be Consistent

Gaining followers and traffic as a new blogger is not going to do you any good if you are not consistent. If you post everyday and then disappear for weeks on end, don't expect those readers to be there waiting when you return. Some may be, but it will take you just as long to build your traffic back up. This is a mistake even seasoned bloggers make, I speak from experience. If you need to take a break, schedule posts for while you are gone or find others to guest post on your site during that time.

There is no secret to gaining followers and traffic overnight. When you start a new blog it will take time and dedication to get readers. If you use tips like the ones above though, you will start to notice the results right away. Have a tip you want to share? Feel free to leave it in the comments below.