From the day I began blogging I have always been amazed at how different areas of blogging can be monetized or draw traffic.

Take comments for example. Initially serving only to build community and allow reader feedback can now be used to increase traffic in other ways. There are many plugins available to keep you visitors commenting. In turn, they keep coming back again and again. One plugin that I’d like to mention is the Top Commentators Plugin. Since your visitors are spending time on your site and even giving input, why not give them something in return. Whenever I see a top commentator I know this person is spending a lot of time reading the content and may be an established user on the site. The funny thing about this plugin is that it lists the top 5 commentators. So as you might have guessed, you have greater odds and are easier to see if you are # 1. Needless to say, you sometimes see, “silent,” competitions taking place on popular sites.
So this might just be only one example but it does serve well for the concept behind blogging. A blog enables you to build community and change anything almost immediately. If something isn’t working, just try something else. If you have an idea for a blog you can literally have a working site up within hours.
And it is amazing that every aspect of the blog can be utilized in any way. The possibilities are endless.