Promoting your blog is an important step in growing your following and establishing yourself as an expert in your niche. However, the whole process can feel extremely daunting. All that promotion, finding the right people to talk to, making every social media post exactly perfect to reach the right audience, it’s enough to overwhelm anyone. Luckily, when you break the process down, it becomes much easier to form a blog promotion strategy. It’s all a matter of having a plan and knowing how to execute it, from knowing your target audience to reaching out to the right blogs. Once you follow these steps, you’ll start to see your blog’s popularity rise. Getting your blog on the map is not a quick process, but it’s a worthwhile process nonetheless, and one that will help you show your work to the world and get you connected to others who share your interest.
The Importance of Blog Promotion
It’s important to know how to promote blog posts on social media. If you don’t promote your blog when you post something new, you run the risk of getting lost in the shuffle. After all, there are several blogs out there within your niche talking about the same things you’re talking about. Using social media allows you to showcase your thoughts along with your writing, and gives you an opportunity to network with your audience and people who write about your chosen topic. Networking is especially important because this can lead to more opportunities to write and to grow your audience. Overall, it’s important to know how to promote your blog on social media because this is how you reach people. This is how you get the word out and begin growing your audience. And once you know how to make your blog stand out from the crowd, you’ll be on your way to a great audience and lots of new connections.
Getting Ready
Figuring out how you’re going to promote your blog can get stressful considering how much goes into it, so it’s best to start by identifying what your blog is. This is the stage where you think about who your target audience is and how to best reach them. The beginning stage involves a great deal of research, which can get tedious, but having a clear idea of what your blog is and who it’s for will ultimately benefit you in the long run. Keep your niche too broad and you risk getting lost in the shuffle. If you narrow it down to a specific niche you’re more likely to make an impact. Beyond that, consider what your blog will add to the conversation, and what sets it apart from the other blogs in your niche. Once you’ve determined that, you’ll have a better idea of how to market your blog, which social media channels will best reach your target audience, and which specific topics and questions you want to cover in your posts.
What Niche Does Your Blog Fit In?
The first, and most important step, to promoting your blog is figuring out your blog’s niche. This probably goes without saying, but your chosen niche should be something you’re interested in and something you know a lot about. This way you’ll have an easier time coming up with topics and explaining concepts to your readers. Speaking of topics, make sure that your topics range from top-of-mind current discussions to more general topics. Finding a balance between the two will ensure that your blog is always in the conversation in one way or another. Beyond that, research what other blogs in your niche are covering and find ways to cover those topics in creative ways. Determine if they are missing something or not covering a topic in as much depth as they could and try to fill in that gap. Then your blog is covering topics in your niche but doing more than just regurgitating the same information as everyone else.
Research Which Keywords to Use
After you’ve identified your niche and your target audience, you can focus on which keywords you need to include in your blog. There are a few things to keep in mind when you are keyword researching. First off, focus on the words that are relevant to your target audience. You’ll be able to see what’s on their mind and how to utilize this in your blog post. When picking which specific words to use, focus on words and phrases, especially phrases, that are not searched for as often. These are called medium tail keywords and long tail keywords. It may sound counterproductive to search for words that people don’t search for often, but this keeps your blog from getting lost in the shuffle of short tail keywords. It starts the slow but sure process of getting your blog in Google’s search rankings. And it will take time because there are many blogs out there and yours is new. But with some patience and a good strategy you will start to see results.
Find Out What Makes You Blog Unique
Odds are there are several blogs out there talking about the same subject you chose, so it’s important you identify why your blog stands out from the crowd. This is crucial during the planning process for your promotional strategy. Identify what you can do differently than other blogs while still staying in your niche and appealing to your target audience. Once you’ve determined that, you can start planning both content and how you’re going to promote that content. Don’t get disheartened during this process if you see lots of other blogs with a similar topic as yours. Odds are there is something that you can bring to the conversation. Don’t be afraid to really be yourself here and embrace your creative side. After all, creativity is a huge part of writing.
Figuring out your blog’s identity is an important first step towards promoting it. Knowing what your blog is all about can help you figure out what to highlight to set you apart. Without this, figuring out a social media strategy would be a lot more painful and more difficult. But now you can enter the planning stage with much more confidence not just in your blog, but in your ability to engage with people about it.
Using Social Media
Social media is an invaluable tool for promoting your blog. You can reach so many people from all over the world, and more easily connect to people interested in your blog. But social media can get tricky because each platform is different. A platform like Facebook is good for connecting directly with people, but a platform like Instagram is more focused on the look of something. However, each platform can be leveraged to promote your blog if you know how to use it to your advantage. It’s all a matter of determining how to reach your target audience on each platform.
How Different Social Media Platforms Can Be Used to Promote Your Blog
Social media is the perfect tool for blog promotion. There are tons of users who log in every day to see what’s new and communities you can join to talk about your interests. Because of this, knowing how best to use each social media platform to promote your blog will be extremely helpful to you in the long run. There are more general best practices to follow, like posting consistently and making your posts engaging, but how exactly do you use each platform to it greatest potential? First, you need to look at what each platform offers and how you can use that to your advantage. Keep reading to learn what makes each platform special and some tips on leveraging them for promoting your blog.
For Blog Promotion Focused on Visuals:
It might sound strange to focus on visuals when you’re promoting a written blog, but platforms like Pinterest and Instagram can still be valuable tools for blog promotion. On Instagram you can still find people in your niche and engage with them. When looking for photos, make sure they’re both related to your blog and beautiful to look at. If you’re using a platform like Pinterest, still focus on great visuals but be sure to include keywords when you are writing a title for your pin. And of course, make sure whatever you post on these social media platforms fits with your blog. Try to keep your photos consistent with what your blog talks about, or maybe post an infographic related to a blog post.
If you Want to Join Discussions:
Facebook, Reddit and LinkedIn are all great for reaching groups of people in your niche. Both platforms are known for groups, and group discussions, and finding a good group to interact with helps with blog promotion and making connections. You can start your own group or subreddit or join an existing one. The important thing to remember is to stay engaged on these platforms. Discussion requires that you stay in the conversation, and the more in the conversation you are the more people will stay interested in your work. It’s also important to remember to post regular updates on these platforms about your work. The format these updates take is up to you, just make sure that they are engaging to your audience. You should of course update people when you upload a new blog post but be careful of this on Reddit since it is more discussion focused. Overall, these platforms are great for networking within your niche and connecting with your audience, just remember to make your blog easy to find on your page and to update regularly.
Platforms like WhatsApp, Slack, or Telegram function in much the same way as Facebook or LinkedIn, but they function more like a straightforward group chat than a social media platform. Still, they provide ample opportunity to talk with your audience, share when you’ve posted something new, and share fascinating things you’ve found that add to your discussion. Post updates when you write a new blog post and be sure to discuss it with your groups. Keeping the conversation going means keeping your audience more engaged.
For Video Content:
If you’d like to make videos related to your blog, platforms like YouTube and TikTok are your best bet. Both platforms offer plenty of ways to interact with your followers, like comments or polls on YouTube, but the best way to engage your audience here is to make interesting videos related to your niche. YouTube is great if you’re interested in more long form content, since TikTok is all about short form. On YouTube you could make a video going in-depth about a topic you discussed on your blog, but on TikTok you’ll need to keep it concise. But just because you are more constrained on TikTok does not mean your content has to suffer. In fact, TikTok offers several creative ways to interact with your audience. You can simply post a video discussing a topic in your niche you find interesting, or you can engage your audience with challenges. No matter which of these platforms you choose, remember to be informative and have fun in equal measure. Your audience will appreciate you for it.
For Brief but Informative Content:
Platforms like Twitter, Snapchat and Tumblr are great because they are based around several small updates. This may seem odd for promoting a blog, but they are no less effective. Twitter is home to people from every niche imaginable, so you’re bound to find your people on there. And within your tweets you have many opportunities to not just post about blog updates, but also anything related to what you write that you want to discuss. You can even share short videos to change things up occasionally. Twitter is great for blog promotion because you can keep the conversation going about what you’ve written. You can also employ click to tweet to get quotes from your blog onto Twitter, but more on that later. Snapchat is like Twitter in that it’s focused on short bursts of content to update people but adding to your story when you post or just want to update your audience can go a long way in promoting your blog. This goes back to keeping people engaged with what you’re doing. Tumblr is unique because you can post longer updates like a traditional blog, but updates still tend to be short. Engage with your followers to stay in the discussion and let your followers know when you’ve updated your blog. So long as you are posting consistently on these platforms, you are helping your blog gain more followers.
Best practices
When posting to different social media pages, it’s important to consider what that platform is known for. For example, you may not think of Instagram as a place to promote a long form blog, but you can post photos related to your subject and link back to your main blog either in your posts or in your bio. Look at how each social media platform could potentially serve your blog promotion and see how you can leverage it most effectively. And once you’ve determined which social media platforms you would like to use, make sure you’re posting consistently. Determine when would be the best time to post based on when users are most active. This way they are guaranteed to see when you post an update. This will keep people interested in what you are doing, since they can always see the work that you do. If you’re looking for an easy way to consistently post about your blogs, try out Hootsuite or Buffer. It’s also important to draw people to your social media from your blog, which is why you should include social media links on your blog.
Getting into blog promotion on social media may seem like an impossible task, but with the right strategy and knowledge of how to utilize each social media platform, you’ll have a strategy in no time. Keep in mind what each social media platform is known for, whether you need to put more focus on pictures or quick written updates, to help you determine what you’re going to do with each account. And now that you’re establishing a presence on social media, you can start thinking about how you’re going to use that presence to make connections. Connections in your niche can open multiple doors for you, and help you get your blog in front of more people.
Connecting With Your Audience
If you’re looking to promote your blog, you need to connect with other bloggers. Connecting with people in your niche gives you a built-in community to promote your blog and help other people promote theirs. Getting your blog off the ground can be a slow process, and making a mark is not always easy. Networking with other bloggers can help you establish your blog because you’re working with more established voices in your niche. If readers see you posting on a well-known blog, they’ll see that you know what you’re talking about and be more inclined to follow you. It’s also a good way to get your name in front of a larger audience. Continue reading to see how to make an impact in your niche.
Make Connections in Your Niche Through Social Media
When you’re just starting out blogging, it’s incredibly important to make connections with other bloggers. These connections can translate into guest posts, appearing on a podcast, or any other collaboration that helps you put your name out there. The best way to make these connections is to be an active participant in communities of bloggers. You can find these communities on social media sites like Facebook or LinkedIn, or other online platforms like Triberr, DoSplash, GrowthHackers and more. Beyond being active on online communities, you need to be active on other blogs. Read and comment on blogs you find interesting or may want to collaborate with. The author of that blog may see your comments and, after a while, reach out to you. But you can’t just wait for someone to contact you, so be sure to reach out to other blogs you talk about in your posts. They may be willing to talk about you in return, thereby starting a relationship and helping your blog reach a new audience. You can also use your social media to share work from another blogger and have them do the same, thereby building both of your audiences.
Appear on other blogs
A great way to start establishing yourself as a reputable voice in your niche is to write something for other blogs. This is called guest blogging, and it’s perfect for both getting your name out there and helping your blog gain more traction. Guest posting can lead to links back to your website that help you gain more readers. You can also invite other bloggers to write something for your website to bring in their established audience. Overall, guest blogging is good for your blog because it gets your work out there and creates more links to help people find your work.
Speak With Influencers About Appearing on Your Blog
Influencers are excellent for getting the word out about what you’ve been working on. If you’re relatively established, look for an influencer who would be willing to appear on your blog. Their audience will follow where they appear and bring more people to your website. You can interview them for a traditional blog post or bring them on for a podcast episode or other online medium for a more in-depth discussion. Whatever you choose, notify them when you post it so they can share it with their followers. Making the first move and reaching out to an influencer may feel intimidating, but your blog will do better because of it, and it will help in your overall growth.
Connections are an invaluable part of promoting your blog. Not only do you grow your blog’s presence, but you also grow your community of fellow bloggers. This is perfect for gaining a greater following for your blog. But now that you’re growing your audience, you need to start thinking about how you’re going to engage with your audience. This is important because engaging with your audience keeps them interested in the work that you do. Establishing your presence on social media is how you gain your following but being engaging and active is how you keep it.
Engage Your Audience
Engaging with your audience helps them stay interested in your work. They can tell that you’re an expert from the blog posts you write but responding to their questions on forums and other websites will reinforce that you know what you’re talking about. It also serves to keep people abreast of what you’re doing, meaning that you don’t lose anyone from your audience between blog posts. There are many ways to interact with your audience outside of your blog posts, it’s all a matter of learning how to best interact with them on each forum and figuring out where your target audience spends most of their time.
Talk With Your Readers
It might be easy to simply write your blog posts, share them, and let that be the end of it, but going the extra mile to interact with your audience helps them stay more interested in your work. The best way to do this is through comments. When you see someone is asking a question on your blog or elsewhere, like Reddit or Quora, answer them. If you’re responding to comments somewhere other than your own blog, be sure to make a link to your blog easy to find. Promotion like this is perfect for showing that not only do you know what you’re talking about, but that you care about your audience.
Be Active on Forums
Being active on forums can be a great way to interact with your audience. Here you can see what people in your community are talking about, and it gives you a chance to make connections and answer some burning questions from your audience. You can search directly for a forum for your niche, or you can explore other forum websites to try to find your audience. The most important thing is to interact with the people you find on your chosen forum to encourage them to check out your blog. This is a good way to start building your audience if you’re just starting out.
Utilize Email Marketing
If you already have a sizeable following and need a way to keep them interested, or if you want to grab potential readers’ attention, you can’t go wrong with email marketing. Not only does this help with engaging with your audience, but it can also let them know when you’ve updated your blog. If you include a link to your blog post in your email, your subscribers will have easy access to it. But it’s also a good idea to include other incentives in your emails to draw people in. Something that will either encourage them to click on the links in your email, like a worksheet, or something that fills people in on what’s been happening in your life. And of course, include information on how to find you, such as social media links and a link back to your blog.
The key to a successful email marketing campaign is consistency and including the right information. Learn more about Commerce Pundit’s email marketing services today and how they can help you.
Staying engaged with your audience is important to promoting your blog because it keeps people coming back to it. Just posting once in a while when you write a new blog does not compare to the following you’ll gain when you start contributing to the conversations around your niche. Plus, staying engaged keeps you top of mind for your followers since they’re hearing from you often. Once you’ve established yourself on your social media pages, you can start thinking about other strategies for getting the word out about your blog like ads and link building.
Getting the Word Out
Even after taking steps to put your blog on social media and connecting with other bloggers, there are many more ways to get the word out about your blog. Social media is a great way to show people your work, but utilizing more links allows you to get your blog in front of more people. These are people you may not have otherwise reached if they were not a fan of the blog you guest posted on, and now you have gained a new follower. This is where networking comes into play, as you now leverage those connections to build a following and put your blog on the map.
How to Use Links
Think about the last time you were browsing a website. You probably started on one page, saw something there that interested you, and clicked away to wherever that link took you. It kept you on that website longer and allowed you to explore more, didn’t it? That same logic applies when it comes to blogging. A link that directs you to a different part of the same website is called an internal link, and they are a valuable part of any blog because they keep people browsing your content longer. However, you can also include external links to other websites that are within your niche, such as when you have a guest poster linking back to their own blog.
What About Paid Ads?
If you want to get right down to putting your blog out there on the internet, few things are more effective than paid ads. When planning paid ads, you really need to know your target audience. Know what they would respond to and how to make your blog look good to them. Each platform for ads, whether it’s Google Adwords or Facebook, has their pros and cons, so research how each platform could potentially help your blog before you go all in, and make sure you budget for how much you’re willing to spend on ads. And while this is a quick way to get your blog’s name out there, don’t neglect SEO and the other methods of promoting your blog.
If you want to use paid ads for your blog, check out Commerce Pundit’s PPC services. Find Other Places to Share Your Content
To truly get your blog in front of more eyes, you need to find creative ways of sharing it. There is of course sharing on your social media pages and in emails, but that mainly reaches people who already know of you. Sharing your work requires a strategy of knowing where to share it, what methods to use, and how to best make your content shareable. You can utilize content sharing sites to reach more people. These sites let you share content that you’ve written as well as build lists of other content you find interesting. There’s also click to tweet, which lets readers make tweets out of quotes on your blog that also include a link to your blog. However, none of this will make much of an impact if your blog is difficult to understand. Make sure the content you write is engaging enough to motivate your audience to share it, whether it shares exciting new information or presents a concept in an interesting way. Overall, present your information in an exciting way and get it in front of more people, and the rest will fall into place.
Promoting your blog involves a great deal of planning and strategizing, but it’s all worth it in the end. Knowing which forums to share your content on and how to advertise it helps a lot with promotion. But with promoting your blog on all these pages comes checking the results of your efforts. Analytics are a key tool in blog promotion because they tell you which strategies are working, which pages are most popular, and which parts of your promotion strategy are falling behind.
Keep Up With your Analytics
Now that you’ve taken all the necessary steps to promote your blog, from showcasing it on your social media pages and sharing it wherever you can, you now must keep tabs on how your promotion is going. Checking your analytics is crucial to long-term success because they let you know what’s working well and what needs a little more attention. It’s all part of the process. This process may seem tedious because it involves changing your strategy when something doesn’t work, but it all works together to help your blog grow.
Use Google Analytics
A tried-and-true way of looking at your blog’s analytics is Google Analytics. This service lets you see which posts are most popular, the search engines your audience uses to find you, and what words they looked up to bring them to your website. It’s great for determining future content because it allows you to see what your audience is drawn to. It’s also helpful for planning future social media promotional campaigns because you can figure out what’s resonating with your audience and what to emphasize going forward. Never ignore the analytics because they can tell you so much about your blog and how to better promote it.
Always Check Your Social Media Analytics
Probably equally as important as Google Analytics, social media analytics let you see how your audience is responding to your posts across your social media profiles. When you start a page for your blog, make sure it’s a business account so you have access to these numbers. Those numbers will then inform you about what is driving people to explore your page and what isn’t. Social media analytics are incredibly important, especially now where it seems like everyone is using one form of social media or another. Plus, given how important social media is to promotion, this can help your overall strategy. You won’t have to wonder about which posts are not doing as well or what you need to change about your strategy, because the numbers will all be right there.
Understanding your analytics will help greatly with promoting your blog. These numbers are so important for understanding how your blog is doing, and how you can better utilize the platforms you already use. The key to using your analytics most effectively is to keep checking them, so you can see over time how posts do and analyze what’s working and what isn’t. Sometimes promoting your blog requires adaptability, especially in the early stages. But sticking with it is important, because sooner or later you will find what works for your blog. It’s just a matter of learning how to look at the numbers, and what can be done to make them look better.
Conclusion
The importance of using social media to promote your blog cannot be understated. Social media is a valuable tool for getting the word out about your work and knowing how to leverage it to your benefit is a great skill to learn. It won’t always be easy, and it will involve a lot of research, trial and error, and the courage to put yourself out there, but most of all it will require patience. Figuring out a good strategy will take time, but it will be worth it in the end. If you know that you have something special to share with the world, take the steps towards getting your blog out there. Just remember to make a good strategy for promotion before you do. Hopefully now you know exactly where to start and how to promote your blog. So happy blogging, the world cannot wait to see what you have to say!
If you’re interested in learning more about promoting your blog on social media, set up a meeting with Commerce Pundit. We can help you with social media marketing by creating calendars and putting together a strategy to better reach your audience. We’re here to help your blog succeed!
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